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August 10, 2025
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Hello everyone. I have a Winchester 74 and various other older rifles including a 1894 Spruce Gun etc that I am trying to preserve the best that I can. I am admittedly a novice to protecting guns in general and probably got bad advice when I was younger. My current way of doing things is to just slather every surface with hoppes #9 (the more the merrier I was told) and wipe off excess. A few years ago I discovered renaissance wax and have been applying it to wooden stocks and non moving parts of gun for storage. I was also told that using clean unused motor oil to oil moving parts such as bolts was a smart choice, would this be ok? Any and all advice or suggested changes to my current regiment would be very appreciated.
On another note I have a few non Winchester older pistols I am trying to keep nice(ex. Ruger Standard) and I keep them in custom leather holsters but I think I have started to notice a little finish wear on them even though they sit untouched. I use the same routine as above on them and am starting to suspect the leather holsters may be affecting them someway. Any opinion on that matter would be appreciated as well. Thank you all.
May 2, 2009
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I would not use Hoppes on a Winchester. The Renaissance wax is good for the metal and wood if the wood has a varnish finish. If the wood is just a oil finish then not. With the wax you put it on and leave it dry for several hours before wiping it off and you might have to do it several times to get it to get uniform coverage. Most people wipe down the metal with a rag with a little gun oil or the wax.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
November 7, 2015
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Noah-
If you’re referring to Hoppe’s #9 gun oil I would advise you to lighten up a bit, the metal only requires a light coat of oil applied with a soft cloth. A little bit of oil on most threads is seldom a bad idea. Any excess may run off and damage the wood. For parts that move under pressure I like a light grease, all other moving parts just need a little bit of gun oil. I like Ren Wax but I always forget which guns have wax on them so I wipe them down with my oil rag after I handle them. I generally use CLP for oil, Hoppes #9 for solvent and white lithium grease but I’ve had good results with most of the popular products including Rig, RustPrufe and Rem Oil. Too much oil is a problem as it will attract dust and gum up the works. A heavy oil like automotive engine oil is a bit too high a viscosity for most moving parts on a gun, IMHO.
Mike
January 20, 2023
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Noah, before anything else, don’t store handguns or anything else made of steel in a leather holster. The tanning chemicals leach out and corrode the steel over time.
Hoppe’s #9 is primarily a lead and powder residue solvent, not a preservative. It can soften and damage some stock finishes. Many guns have been ruined by slathering petroleum based chemicals — including gun oils – that get into the inletting and rot the wood.
What you should use to protect the steel depends on whether you are storing them or shooting them.
If you are storing them, I prefer a VERY THIN coat of rust inhibiting grease, wiped on with a cloth. Some prefer a liquid like Breakfree CLP or RemOil. Whatever you use, wipe it on with a cloth, dont squirt it into every crevice. Wipe it into the bore with a patch.
Don’t store guns in a gun case meant for carrying. Store them bare on a rack or inside a treated gunsock. If you have a safe or cabinet, consider a Goldenrod to lower the interior humidity.
Forget motor oil. It can be death to gunstocks. Wiping a TINY amount of BreakFree or RemOil or any of a dozen similar products, will be sufficient.
A particular product I like because it is not petroleum based and will not harm wood or leather is Ballistol. For longer term storage, I use R.I.G. grease.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
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