Wonder Lube 1000 Problem or Not ?????

JAGG · Post by **JAGG** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 11:54 am

I have been using Wonder Lube 1000 to coat the bore of my rifles for years and not had a problem with it ! But have heard others say that it caused rusting in their bores etc.! Well on my last outing into BUG country i fired smokeless and then BP and then Smokeless and then BP loads cleaning inbetween ! I always clean and coat the bore with wonder lube till i get home for a final cleaning ! This was done but i used nitro cleaners also for leading as i bought bullets that turned out to have antimony in them ! That done i coated the bore with Wonder Lube 1000 and let it set for a week or so before running a dry patch down the bore to check it out ! WELL this Brown stuff that looked like rust from HELL came out on my patch when i was finally able to get it out of the barrel ! So thinking that i was in real trouble i broke out the Shooters Choise to tackle the rust ! Use a 50 cal bore brush in the .45 barrel and was expecting the worst ! WELL NOTHING ! No rust or red stuff on the brush on patches just dissolved Wonder lube 1000 ! In other words NO RUST as others have said ! I don't know if this was from the Wonder lube drying or mixing with the bore cleaners weeping out of the pits as this is a pitted bore rifle or what , but i do know it wasn't rust ! Anybody else have this HAPPEN to them ? JAGG

LJBass · Post by **LJBass** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 2:43 pm

JAGG,
What you experienced was probably tar. Very similar to what gets put on your local roads. Some time back on the old Shooters board the Mad Monk, who is a chemist by trade, waxed long and loud about the bad things that can happen with Wonder Lube and Bore Butter. They are evidently very similar to chap stick, which contains among other things, petroleum jelly. The result when you shoot enough rounds across it is tar. Had this happen to one of my Brownings. He recommended Goof Off and elbow grease to clean it. Got it clean and have used a good quality gun oil ever since. I don't think you can season modern steels, just keep them from rusting.
Good luck, LJ

buffalocannon · Post by **buffalocannon** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 7:15 pm

Dear Jagg

I have heard similar stories about certain of the products becoming waxy in the bore and attracting pollutants. I have also heard the explanation that Mr. Bass offers, and it sounds plausible to me. Cleaning the heck out of the bore with a good bore cleaner and rough patches and/or a good bore brush works for me. I never use brushes but I know many who do.

Steve

wwben47 · Post by **wwben47** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:30 pm

Jagg..Is it possible the culprit in this case was the fact you used a nitro cleaner to get the lead out?..I use Bore Butter in my .50 and .54 muzzleloaders and they stress removing ALL traces of petroleum based cleaners with scalding water before using their product. I am no expert by any means, but have used both Bore Butter and RIG for years in my .50, and .54 flinchlocks..With RIG after over winter storage you often get a red color to it. (they even mention that you might)..But once either is cleaned out with a couple patches i have never found rust.

JAGG · Post by **JAGG** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 1:55 pm

WW ! We will see as i just used Shooters Choice Lead remover with a 50cal bore brush to remove more traces of leadingfrom this ww alloy that i could feel in the bore ! Now i am waiting a few days and will wipe every day to make sure it is dryied out ! If the same red stuff shows up after i put wonder lube in the barrel again i will do the hot water thing ! Which is what i had done to this rifle years ago ! This last cleaning removed all of the coating in the bore ! I had originally hot water cleaned this rifle years back then dried , then put gobs of wonder lube in the bore and pluged up both ends part way then poured boiling water over the barrel and rolled the rifle back and forth to coat the inside and more boiling poured over the outside of the barrel i needed a rag to hold on to it ! That worked out fine as i had little to no fouling in the barrel after shooting on a hot dry day after this ! If those bullets i had bought had been lead /tin i wouldn't have to be doing this again ! Bummer ! JAGG

wwben47 · Post by **wwben47** » Thu Jul 01, 2004 8:37 pm

Hope the hot water solves the problem for ya.Jagg..I know "zackly" what you mean..I used enough scalding water to float a boat before i finally felt mine was clean..and i do feel it was worth it....My first flinter was an import .50 that i shot a LOT of powder thru..i would put the RIG to it at the end of the season and it was still shiny bright when i got rid of it...My rifle (.54 Great Plains flint) seems to load easier and shoot better with the bore butter..In that original 50 cal i had tried the TC Maxi balls..finally realized there was literally a ring of lead buildup..Went to swaged round ball only and solved that problem. I hope a reaction with the shooters choice is where the red is coming from.

JAGG · Post by **JAGG** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 12:30 pm

Well i waited and dry patched the bore for 3 days and then put the wonder lube in it again ! And then waited until now and there isn't any RED on the patches ! I think it was a reaction of the wonder lube with the bore cleaner before and that it never was rust ,as no red came out on the patch after brushing with the Lead remover ! The pits held more bore cleaner and then slowly released and mixed with the wonder lube and dried it out or turned it a RED like rust color !

JAGG

crazeyiven · Post by **crazeyiven** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 3:40 pm

[quote="JAGG"]Well i waited and dry patched the bore for 3 days and then put the wonder lube in it again ! And then waited until now and there isn't any RED on the patches ! I think it was a reaction of the wonder lube with the bore cleaner before and that it never was rust ,as no red came out on the patch after brushing with the Lead remover ! The pits held more bore cleaner and then slowly released and mixed with the wonder lube and dried it out or turned it a RED like rust color !

JAGG[/quote]

I've not used either product, but, what about mixing a bit of each in a glass and see if the red color develops?

JAGG · Post by **JAGG** » Mon Jul 19, 2004 9:08 am

Craz ! How about i just soak the first red patch in water to see it it really was rust or a chemical reaction ? First i will look at it under a 10x for rust particles ! Your starting to scare ME again ! JAGG

Matthew_Q · Post by **Matthew_Q** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 2:16 pm

I've used Bore Butter in my flintlock since I got it... I haven't shot her in a couple y ears, but that coating of bore butter I put in the last time I cleaned her, has kept the bore nice.

I think if anyone was getting rust when using something like that or Wonder Lube... isn't cleaning the bore good enough. It's probably rusting UNDER the lube/butter. If you get it CLEAN, the lube stuff will protect it.