Ack! WD-40! Ack!
I loaned my brother a .38 revolver years ago. It was stolen from his Memphis home, then turned up a year later in a Shreveport, La. pawn shop.
The Shreveport Police hosed it down with WD-40 and stored it for a while, presumably while they investigated who had it.
Then, it was transferred to the Memphis Police and my brother picked it up at the station.
The darned thing wouldn't ****! My brother, not a gun nut like myself, thought it was broken. When I visited at Christmas, he showed me revolver.
It wouldn't **** for me, either. The cylinder would only swing out if a fair amount of force were applied with the fingers. It was severely stiff.
I managed to get the sideplate off and it was filled --- FILLED --- with congealed WD-40. A quick washing down in white gas (it was all my brother had) got rid of the WD-40 varnish and restored it to operation.
In another instance, I unwittingly sprayed some WD-40 on an open box of .38 Special cartridges in the background. A few months later, at the range, only half of the cartridges would fire. The WD-40 deadened the primers.
I would NEVER use that junk in any firearm, lock (that's another story), car door hinges or basically anything.
I don't even have a can around the house. Use Break-Free CLP. It's what the U.S. military uses on its firearms, and not without good reason.
WD-40?
Ack!
