Henry Rifle Forums

A friend called earlier in the week and wanted to bring over a shotgun with a round stuck in the action. A Sears Ted Williams 300 semi-auto 12 gauge that he had recovered from his Dad's place during the cleanup. His dad passed earlier this year, and he had pulled this gun and a couple others from the home before they settled the rest of the estate. I tried to find a Disassembly/Reassembly video on the gun on YouTube when he got here with the gun, but no joy. I was able to clear the gun for him, the action was VERY stiff and he wasn't pushing the bolt far enough to the rear to clear the rounds. In fact, none of the guns functions were working well.

I got the shells out of the mag tube and cleared the gun and made it safe. He was good with that. I told him I would do some research and get back to him. The next morning, I remembered that Sears guns were all just other maker's guns rebranded as SEARS. His gun was basically a Winchester Model 1400 with VERY minor cosmetic changes.

Found the videos I needed and texted him to let him know. I'm sure all the gun needs is a very good cleaning and it will function fine. I told him it was no rush, I saved the links.

A few years ago a friend's pump wouldn't function. I got the slide moving, but it was STIFF. Broke it down and completely disassembled it. The problem became clear. The lube had turned solid, mixed with the buildup of carbon and old gunpowder it was basically concrete in the action. Soaking the pieces and parts in Hoppes, and a few hours work with plastic dental pics, brushes, and q-tips and the shotgun was as slick as a new one.

Sometimes you have to clean things...

BOM -

I think, but have no proof, that actions with lube/oil which turned solid were the victims of 3-In-1 oil. Great stuff for gate hinges but bad stuff for firearms.

I have a large book, The Rifle In America, by Sharpe and he cautions against using 3-In-1 oil in firearms. And this book is probably 80 years old.

I have used Hoppe's Gun Oil for many moons and have never experienced any such problems. I think I read somewhere that Hoppe's Gun Oil is mineral oil.

I apologize if this got your post off track.

James

Always nice to bring a mechanical device back from the grave.

I was always told not to use WD40 on guns as it solidified in cold weather. I never used it on one, so I wouldn't know.

It is interesting to put the Sears or Wards version of the rifle or shotgun next to the original manufacturers.

I've always used Hoppes #9 or other products made for firearms, although we were taught in the Corps that in a pinch you use what's available until you get back to a better source. Better to lube and insure function than risk loss of function, but clean the relube soonist.

I think a lot of these issues were caused by "why not" or "why should I" guys. "Why not use what I have, oil is oil", or "Why should I buy gun oil when I have this sitting right here on the shelf."

Oh, and guys... Please feel free to chime in at any point on my threads. It's family.

daytime dave wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 06, 2025 10:21 am

I was always told not to use WD40 on guns as it solidified in cold weather. I never used it on one, so I wouldn't know.
...

It also doesn't age well. It gets waxy hard. I've not used it on guns, but I think ones I had inherited had been.
Garage door lube appears to be WD40 like. It gums up with age.

I clean the my Henrys and revolvers after every range session and I shoot 50 to 100 rounds per, or in the case of the Henry 22, I can empty a full Speed-D-Loader pretty quickly. I've actually limited how often I take it with me, just to slow down a bit.

I use Bore Snakes, Brass Brushes, Brass Jags with cotton patches, q-tips, pipe cleaners, toothbrushes, microfiber cloths, and for the last several years, Ballistol. I stopped using CL/P or Hoppes after watching Hickok45 demonstrate his process on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7mTtKJV5wo

I use Remoil sparingly and/or Break Free CLP. Back in the Army in Vietnam we used diesel almost exclusively. It worked great but you had to clean it everyday. We were never issued any cleaning supplies. I had an M14 at first and then later an M16 which I had never fired before being issued it.