OK, some of you will consider me a few pellets short of a tin, but, I have something I'd like to share, and maybe even get some to thinking/doing.
A trick I learned during my military career, from military gunsmiths, was/is to limit as much as possible,the use of grease and/or oil on firearms. This came about after numerous failures of our sniper guns during desert ops. For those of you who've been to those type of environments, you know it's not "sand" as many would think...but image "grit" like baby powder....and you have an idea of the type of conditions a gun endures.
OK, more to the point, for a lot of years now, I have been using wax on my guns instead of oils.... and only using grease where absolutely necessary. Wax lasts longer, protects better, and most importantly, does not draw dirt or dust. What type? The simplest thing to say is that just about any type of automotive wax is good, with the exception of those waxes that contain silicon. Silicon waxes trap moisture... usually between the wax and what you seek to protect....that's bad. My personal favorite for years has been Mothers Caranuba Cleaner Wax (paste). You can find it at Wally World, and just about any auto supply store. For about $12, you get enough for years of use.
During sniper training I learned the following.....the gunsmiths would thoroughly clean new gun barrels, and then, using a bore mop, wax the bore(s) with pure Caranuba wax. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, then run a couple of clean patches down the bore. Then, after 50-100 rounds, do it all again, and then with each successive cleaning. One unexpected benefit that we found..... after the "break in" shots, a waxed bore produced significantly more accuracy than one that was not waxed. In more recent years, the trend has been to the synthetic waxes. I've been retired for a while now, but for the past 20+ years have been doing the wax thing to all my private firearms, especially those that see harsh conditions such as my waterfowl guns.
I carried this bore waxing into airguns, and I personally believe that it reduces the break in period/number of shot, and that after that break in period it increases accuracy. I stumbled on this by accident. I had a Gamo Swarm Whisper that had to returned, which had what I considered terrible accuracy. I had cleaned it out of the box but NOT waxed it. The replacement, I did everything the same, EXCEPT I WAXED THE BORE... and that guns accuracy is night and day better than the one it replaced! So for me, I'm thinking that waxing the bore had something to do with the better accuracy. Throwing this out for opinions, and possibly to see if other have done, or would be willing to, and report their findings/thoughts.
A trick I learned during my military career, from military gunsmiths, was/is to limit as much as possible,the use of grease and/or oil on firearms. This came about after numerous failures of our sniper guns during desert ops. For those of you who've been to those type of environments, you know it's not "sand" as many would think...but image "grit" like baby powder....and you have an idea of the type of conditions a gun endures.
OK, more to the point, for a lot of years now, I have been using wax on my guns instead of oils.... and only using grease where absolutely necessary. Wax lasts longer, protects better, and most importantly, does not draw dirt or dust. What type? The simplest thing to say is that just about any type of automotive wax is good, with the exception of those waxes that contain silicon. Silicon waxes trap moisture... usually between the wax and what you seek to protect....that's bad. My personal favorite for years has been Mothers Caranuba Cleaner Wax (paste). You can find it at Wally World, and just about any auto supply store. For about $12, you get enough for years of use.
During sniper training I learned the following.....the gunsmiths would thoroughly clean new gun barrels, and then, using a bore mop, wax the bore(s) with pure Caranuba wax. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, then run a couple of clean patches down the bore. Then, after 50-100 rounds, do it all again, and then with each successive cleaning. One unexpected benefit that we found..... after the "break in" shots, a waxed bore produced significantly more accuracy than one that was not waxed. In more recent years, the trend has been to the synthetic waxes. I've been retired for a while now, but for the past 20+ years have been doing the wax thing to all my private firearms, especially those that see harsh conditions such as my waterfowl guns.
I carried this bore waxing into airguns, and I personally believe that it reduces the break in period/number of shot, and that after that break in period it increases accuracy. I stumbled on this by accident. I had a Gamo Swarm Whisper that had to returned, which had what I considered terrible accuracy. I had cleaned it out of the box but NOT waxed it. The replacement, I did everything the same, EXCEPT I WAXED THE BORE... and that guns accuracy is night and day better than the one it replaced! So for me, I'm thinking that waxing the bore had something to do with the better accuracy. Throwing this out for opinions, and possibly to see if other have done, or would be willing to, and report their findings/thoughts.
