Re: Henry U.S. Survival Rifle AR-7 - Myths and Rumours
Posted: Sat May 27, 2023 5:53 pm
MYTH AND RUMOUR 9 - Cleaning a firearm with WD-40 may cause ammunition to fail to function.
This is not specific to the Henry U.S. Survival Rifle, but I read a post where it was claimed that some police had experienced ammunition failures after cleaning their firearms with WD-40 and the keeping them loaded. I have used WD-40 on several firearms but have never stored them loaded. I had a hard time believing a WD-40 film on a firearm would lead to ammunition failure.
Decided to try and test this but took it to the extreme. I put 16 cartridges into five pill bottles. Eight CCI Mini Mag 36 gr CPHO and eight CCI Standard Velocity 40 gr LRN in each bottle bullets facing down. I sprayed in WD-40 in each bottle until there was enough liquid that it covered the joint between the bullet and the cartridge case. I filled five bottles with the intent of firing 16 rounds today, 16 rounds tomorrow and the rest next weekend. I thought the WD-40 would cause some problems but figured it would take several days to occur.
I hit the range and fired 8 CCI Mini Mag and 8 CCI SV that had not been exposed to WD-40. I had one misfire with the CCI Mini Mag and it fired the second try. I then loaded up 8 CCI Mini Mags that had been in WD-40 for 1.5 hours. The first two rounds fired but the recoil and audible report was extremely light. So much so I removed the barrel to verify there was no obstruction. I was shooting paper that was shot up and at 50m I couldn’t see if the bullets were hitting the target. On the third round I switched to a 25m steel target so I could see the impact. Third round had a weak recoil and report but hit the target. Forth round was even weaker and did not hit the target. I removed the barrel and sure enough there was a barrel obstruction, I had to return home to deal with the problem so that was the end of testing. Bullet made it 4” down the bore. It was easy to push out. I will return to the range and will finish off the remaining rounds from the first bottle. These cartridges are not in WD-40. The cartridges in the remaining pill bottles that are still soaking I will pull the bullets and check the powder.
I still have a hard time believing a light coating of WD-40 on a firearm would cause ammunition failure but it appears it is possible.
This is not specific to the Henry U.S. Survival Rifle, but I read a post where it was claimed that some police had experienced ammunition failures after cleaning their firearms with WD-40 and the keeping them loaded. I have used WD-40 on several firearms but have never stored them loaded. I had a hard time believing a WD-40 film on a firearm would lead to ammunition failure.
Decided to try and test this but took it to the extreme. I put 16 cartridges into five pill bottles. Eight CCI Mini Mag 36 gr CPHO and eight CCI Standard Velocity 40 gr LRN in each bottle bullets facing down. I sprayed in WD-40 in each bottle until there was enough liquid that it covered the joint between the bullet and the cartridge case. I filled five bottles with the intent of firing 16 rounds today, 16 rounds tomorrow and the rest next weekend. I thought the WD-40 would cause some problems but figured it would take several days to occur.
I hit the range and fired 8 CCI Mini Mag and 8 CCI SV that had not been exposed to WD-40. I had one misfire with the CCI Mini Mag and it fired the second try. I then loaded up 8 CCI Mini Mags that had been in WD-40 for 1.5 hours. The first two rounds fired but the recoil and audible report was extremely light. So much so I removed the barrel to verify there was no obstruction. I was shooting paper that was shot up and at 50m I couldn’t see if the bullets were hitting the target. On the third round I switched to a 25m steel target so I could see the impact. Third round had a weak recoil and report but hit the target. Forth round was even weaker and did not hit the target. I removed the barrel and sure enough there was a barrel obstruction, I had to return home to deal with the problem so that was the end of testing. Bullet made it 4” down the bore. It was easy to push out. I will return to the range and will finish off the remaining rounds from the first bottle. These cartridges are not in WD-40. The cartridges in the remaining pill bottles that are still soaking I will pull the bullets and check the powder.
I still have a hard time believing a light coating of WD-40 on a firearm would cause ammunition failure but it appears it is possible.