[Leftyboy81]

I have been in rc boat building/ racing since 1978. During that time the hobby has gone from a fuel mixture of nitromethane& alcohol used in drag racing along with a 18% mixture of high quality lubricant to more gasoline engines similar to weed eater engines. the comb. of the alcohol and nitro has always been VERY damaging to metal parts in the engines. As an after run oil many of us old timers have used a 50/50 mixture of marvel mystery oil and air tool oil. We found that the combination flushed the alcohol nitro mix out very well and one additional benefit, storing the engines all winter the air tool oil had could dissipate water and protect the metal all winter with no rust.

I have about 2 quarts of that mixture left and have started swabbing the insides of my mosins with it after cleaning up with windex. I also wipe down the bolt, and muzzle of the bore with it. I let it set over night and then wipe the areas down lightly with a soft rag. Maybe it is something some of u could consider in storing your mosins for long periods of time. I have never found rust on ANY metal surface over the years. I clean my shovels, rakes, hoes, and outdoor power tool blades with it in the fall before winter storage.

It is cheap to mix as the mmo and the airtool oil r both pretty cheap. IT does not separate and can be stored for years without any effects. I would bet the 2 quarts I have r 8-10yrs old.

 

[AZshooter]

I have been in rc boat building/ racing since 1978. During that time the hobby has gone from a fuel mixture of nitromethane& alcohol used in drag racing along with a 18% mixture of high quality lubricant to more gasoline engines similar to weed eater engines. the comb. of the alcohol and nitro has always been VERY damaging to metal parts in the engines. As an after run oil many of us old timers have used a 50/50 mixture of marvel mystery oil and air tool oil. We found that the combination flushed the alcohol nitro mix out very well and one additional benefit, storing the engines all winter the air tool oil had could dissipate water and protect the metal all winter with no rust.

I have about 2 quarts of that mixture left and have started swabbing the insides of my mosins with it after cleaning up with windex. I also wipe down the bolt, and muzzle of the bore with it. I let it set over night and then wipe the areas down lightly with a soft rag. Maybe it is something some of u could consider in storing your mosins for long periods of time. I have never found rust on ANY metal surface over the years. I clean my shovels, rakes, hoes, and outdoor power tool blades with it in the fall before winter storage.

It is cheap to mix as the mmo and the airtool oil r both pretty cheap. IT does not separate and can be stored for years without any effects. I would bet the 2 quarts I have r 8-10yrs old.

Interesting application for MMO, since it's got good penetrating & solvent properties. Don't have any Air Tool Oil at present, but it should have good anti-corrosion properties. In combination I'd think it would be handy stuff to have on hand.

 

[loosenuts]

That sounds like a very good mix for an perservative oil. I have both around and am going to try it.

Thanks for the heads up!!

 

[shucks]

We used a mix of diesel and mmo for motor storage and cleaning many times. It will do both.

 

[psychocontractorguy]

Being a GC, I own many pneumatic tools, so naturally, I have plenty of oil around for them. I have used air tool oil as a stand-in lube for many things (including guns), and I'll second Lefty's idea, especially as a storage preservative. Adding MM oil seems like a pretty good idea, too.

However, I wouldn't use the normal airgun lube if I planned to go cold-weather hunting. When I did a lot of framing, I had to buy a special viscosity oil for winter use, 'cause the regular stuff would slug up the innards of a framing nailer in no time flat....I lost some time in heating nailers over a scrap fire. I could just about see that happening to a firing pin if it got cold enough. Wouldn't want that to happen when the Big One is on the line!

 

[gremlin1945]

We used a mix of diesel and mmo for motor storage and cleaning many times. It will do both.

It is the stuff to use to fog a motor for long storage.

 

[m60 tanker]

When I was Gulf War in 1990 we used turbo shaft oil which Mobil One 5W oil. We used it on wll weapons. I did this the same this time. As tanker we had it on the tank.

 

[jjk308 In Memoriam RIP]

Marvel Mystery Oil is an antique from the days when low or no additive motor oils and blow by in engines combined to give sludge and varnish in the engine and it was designed to dissolve that. But it doesn't have dispersants so is only really useful right before an oil change in an old engine. It seems to be a very light oil, about 3W, and according to the best analysis I could find, "about 20 percent solvent (probably mineral spirits), dye, wintergreen for smell, and 790 PPM of a phosphorous additive." Many people swear by it but I've never seen one of them do a controlled test aginst a variety of competitors.

Air tool oil is any of a great variety of light, paraffin free oils with various additives. Marvel also makes a specialized air tool oil.

I'll stick with grease as none of the light oils worked well on my firearms testing in a sheltered but very humid and corrosive environment. Assuming you want to protect something without extreme lubrication requirements, like boat trailers, outdoor metal furniture, tools stored in sheds, anything but the innards of firearms and engines, then the best is probably Boeshield T9. After 3 years I have zero rust on a poolside steel patio set.
http://www.experimentalaircraft.info/articles/aircraft-corrosion-protection.php

 

[Clyde]

Uncle, who had a service station back in the day of cars needing ring and valve jobs every 30-60K and did mechanical work (where he made money, as opposed to selling gas, which didn't do much more than cover costs of pumping it) used a lot of MMO during reassembly. Also Motor Honey (another old-timer).

 

[Leftyboy81]

Marvel Mystery Oil is an antique from the days when low or no additive motor oils and blow by in engines combined to give sludge and varnish in the engine and it was designed to dissolve that. But it doesn't have dispersants so is only really useful right before an oil change in an old engine. It seems to be a very light oil, about 3W, and according to the best analysis I could find, "about 20 percent solvent (probably mineral spirits), dye, wintergreen for smell, and 790 PPM of a phosphorous additive." Many people swear by it but I've never seen one of them do a controlled test aginst a variety of competitors.

Air tool oil is any of a great variety of light, paraffin free oils with various additives. Marvel also makes a specialized air tool oil.

I'll stick with grease as none of the light oils worked well on my firearms testing in a sheltered but very humid and corrosive environment. Assuming you want to protect something without extreme lubrication requirements, like boat trailers, outdoor metal furniture, tools stored in sheds, anything but the innards of firearms and engines, then the best is probably Boeshield T9. After 3 years I have zero rust on a poolside steel patio set.
http://www.experimentalaircraft.info/articles/aircraft-corrosion-protection.php

Grease in my view is a cleanup mess. Slap some grease on it, shoot it for an afternoon and then man u r going to spend a buttload of time cleaning up the mess. Different strokes for different folks, just not for me just as my mixture is not for u. Don't we have a great country where each can lean to his own value.

 

[jjk308 In Memoriam RIP]

You don't slap the grease on, you wipe the gun with a rag that has some grease worked into it. End result is the same as a coating of light oil, except the light oil will, in time, evaporate or open up from surface tension and leave lots of little pinholes of bare metal that starts to rust. Grease lasts a lot longer, expecially the ones with lots of anti-corrosion additives.
This isn't just my opinion, it's the result of long experience and, finally, a test of competing protectants on a surplus blued gun barrel. It was left outdoors but in a location completely sheltered from rain. Our climate here near tampa bay is humid, and a swimming pool was less than 15 feet away . I did 2 test patches of each product. WD-40 was useless, light oils poor, and Eezox disappointing. RIG and Penn Reel Grease were best.

 

[milprileb]

RIG has stood the test of time for protecting weapons exterior and bores for those weapons put into storage or not being fired routinely.
Use a shaving brush and apply light coat for normal use on weapon exterior if you want absolute protection and it wipes off with paper towel.

If I wanted a lighter protective coating, I just apply Ballistol with a shaving brush. CLP works fine too.

My findings over the past 43 years is RIG does what JJK308 says: Best.

If automotive products were really ideal, the military long ago would have gone to using them as lowest cost drives their
contracting process. That said, its one thing to use what you got in a war zone to clean a weapon and another thing when
you are at home preserving your own personal weapons. I have used Diesel to clean when nothing was available but only
in a pinch. Same with the OSHA nightmare insect repellent they gave us in Viet Nam war: it would clean a bore , melt its own
bottle and was miserable to use as a insect repellent (great to kill leaches though). When we got bore cleaner: we used that immediately.

My caution to all who yearn to save a penny and chase possibilities is to focus on the obvious : use the best stuff designed for
gun maintenance if you can afford it. I buy CLP at 7 bucks a quart a gun shows: I can afford that , most can.

 

[Leftyboy81]

You don't slap the grease on, you wipe the gun with a rag that has some grease worked into it. End result is the same as a coating of light oil, except the light oil will, in time, evaporate or open up from surface tension and leave lots of little pinholes of bare metal that starts to rust. Grease lasts a lot longer, expecially the ones with lots of anti-corrosion additives.
This isn't just my opinion, it's the result of long experience and, finally, a test of competing protectants on a surplus blued gun barrel. It was left outdoors but in a location completely sheltered from rain. Our climate here near tampa bay is humid, and a swimming pool was less than 15 feet away . I did 2 test patches of each product. WD-40 was useless, light oils poor, and Eezox disappointing. RIG and Penn Reel Grease were best.

Sounds like u did a great job of testing what u had. Congrats to u for that too. However I will say that nitromethane mixed with methanol will eat up any thing it touches long term that salty atmosphere will. Here is why I say that. Many and I repeat many rc boaters run in the salty waters of the gulf, east coast, and west coast. They dunk those engines every weekend in salty water running at 220000 rpms AND with the nitro/methanol mixture in those engines. Now went that boat goes under it take a GOOD gulp of salty water, along with the fuel mixture into it guts. If the engine survives ,ie no rod bent, etc all the other is there. When at the end of the day these guys and my self for years, flushed out the motors they did not experience any metal failures because of the mixture we used. As said before my mixture is just my approach as is urs. It is debatable which is best!!! Until u have tried mine there is no proof urs is any better than mine. End of discussion. different strokes for different folks. Oh and I have cleaned a few m-16s in my day NW of Saigon near Dau Tieng too.

 

[PRegner]

When I was Gulf War in 1990 we used turbo shaft oil which Mobil One 5W oil. We used it on wll weapons. I did this the same this time. As tanker we had it on the tank.

x2 on the TSO (Turbo Shaft Oil). It penetrates well, is impervious to any heat generated in a firearm and is some of the slickest stuff I've ever come into contact with. It doesn't seem to attract a whole lot of dust either.

For routine cleaning, it's Ed's Red all the way. For long term storage I use Ed's Red with the optional addition of lanoline (I keep two jugs on hand; one with, and one without the lanoline).

 

[TheGreenMan]

and is some of the slickest stuff I've ever come into contact with.

Then you've never been around bentonite. (As used in drilling mud.)

 

[jjk308 In Memoriam RIP]

here's the standard procedure for an engine dunkled in saltwater from Boat-Problems.com

If your motor is submerged whilst it is running:
1.Wash the motor completely with fresh water making sure you get into every screw hole, crevice or joint.
2.Completely drain all the fuel, discard that fuel and replace with new clean fuel.
3.Remove and replace the spark plugs or remove the spark plugs and wash them with clean water and allow to dry for 12 to 24 hours before replacing them back in the motor.
4.Hand Crank the motor while holding it upside down, on its side and at any angel you see fit to help drain the water from inside the motor. If you find that cranking is difficult, please see a professional to get it serviced.
5.Using Alcohol, Flush the crank case and cylinder to adsorb the water.
6.Wash all the parts that you are able to disassemble with warm soapy water, rinse, dry and then coat with oil.
7.Try starting the motor after all the above have been completed.
8.Run the motor for at least 30 minutes under load to heat it up and to clean it from the excess water and other particles.

If the motor was not running:
1.Was the entire motor with fresh water, making sure to get every spot.
2.Start the motor after you are sure you have washed it completely.
3.Run the motor for at least 30 minutes on load to dry the motor’s internals.


I'd drain the oil and use the water and alcohol treatment on the innards, myself, to be sure and get all salt out.

We did this on an old V4 Johnson of my son's about 15 years ago after it ended up under saltwater overnight , and the motor, with electrics replaced (everything copper had turned to green mush), is still running perfectly for its new owner. No Nitromethane needed!
BTW Nitromethane is a solvent and will soften or dissolve some plastics and glues.