Automatic Transmission Fluid

[Forestclimber]

I read a site that said to wipe down your long rifle with automatic transmission fluid after cleaning it.  Have you ever tried this?

[pastorp]

I've never personally used it but knew a guy in Alaska that kept a tub of it covered in his shop. When he came in all wet from the constant rain, he pulled the grips off & put the whole gun in the tub of ATF fluid. His gun was a S&W m29. A blued model. It had no rust on it.  don't know about black powder guns.

Regards,

[SHOOTALL]

transmission is oil with different additives . Years ago it was 30 weight but I'm sure there are different grades /weights now. I have used it on eletric motors with good result. Others use it as penatrating adding something else oil so care might be need around loaded cartriges .

[Hellgate]

Mixing it 50/50 with acetone apparently makes a superior penetrating oil for loosening rusted & stuck bolts.



I have read (and everything I read must be true)  :>)  that the original ATF was whale  oil (sperm whale, I think) but synthetics needed to be developed when it started to become more scarce. It was an oil that could handle high temperatures. FWIW

[mcbammer]

Dont know  about  A T F  ,  my  uncle   use  to  clean  his  Remington 1100  with  diesel   fuel  after  a  dove  shoot.

[SHOOTALL]

I have been told to either change the tranny fluid on a regulat basis or don't do it with alot of miles as it is a cleaner and will stop up the screen/filter or passages . So it must be a cleaner of sorts .

[bubba.50]

i used it years ago to free up an old harley engine that had been used as a boat anchor so i can't imagine it would be good for yer stock finish. for what it's worth & have a good'en, bubba.

[coyotejoe]

I"ve never used it with my muzzleloaders but I use a 50/50 mix of ATF & STP as a case sizing lube when reloading centerfire cartridges and it works better than anything else I've used in 50 years of reloading. STP & motor oil also works but the two seperate and have to be remixed every time, ATF stayes mixed.

[Nobade]

Ed's Red is ATF, Mineral spirits, acetone and Kerosene. Cleans and protects guns very well. I don't see why ATF wiped on the metal wouldn't keep it nice.

[Larry L]

Any fluid made for the automotive application is just that, made for a specific application. ATF can be more related to hydraulic fluid as it doesn't have to deal with combustion gases like motor oils but does have to deal with heat generated from the slipping clutches. The slippage, or frictional coefficient, is determined by the makers specs to allow the clutches to slip at the right amount. To do that there are friction modifiers employed, most are phosphorus based and some are sulphur based or a combination of the two. Dextron which is used in the current GM transmissions, contains per GM spec, 2200 PPMs sulphur and 650 PPMs phosporus. In an enclosed transmission case and as a moving fluid there are corrosion inhibitors to make sure that everything doesn't corrode up. But on a gun as a placid coating and in free oxygen, the inhibitors never get to work. Would anyone like to guess what acids are produced from the sulphur and the phosphorus that are in the ATF? I strongly suggest, use at the risk of destroying your weapon. Short term usage- most likely no problem. Long term storage from season to season- problem. Gun oils are made for a specific use, why chance it when the correct fluid is available. It's not like it's too expensive as compared to your guns. YMMV

[Ranger99]

i'll go with larry l.
gun specific oils and lubes are relatively
inexpensive, and are proven so why bother
with the other?
if i were zero broke, or stranded to where
i couldn't get any other, well of course i'd
use what i had including skillet grease.
i've yet to eat a possum either while i can
get something better and am not starving,
but i wouldn't rule it out if i had to.


good luck

[bubba.50]

well, i have eat a 'possum. it ain't the worst thing i ever ate but i can tell ya this-ya can get enough grease from one 'possum to keep all yer guns rust free for years to come!
 
but seriously, like larryl & rangr99 i'll use real gun lubricants as long as they're available.

[Ranger99]

i know for sure my ancestors ate 'em regularly,
so i'm sure one or ten wouldn't kill me.
what holds me off is the memory of seeing one
who had set up housekeeping in a rank cow
carcass at the back fence of one of my relatives
pastures. it had gnawed a hole and got inside
and made a combination cafe, abode, and commode !


when i get hungry enough, i'll likely have no trouble
putting that mental picture aside, but for now i'll
stick with the less "rustic" animals that i hunt for meals.

[pastorp]

Well there ya go bubba, eat more possum and get free "grease". 

Regards,

[JPShelton]

I haven't tried wiping down my muzzleloader with ATF or any other petroleum based oil.  I've been using extra-virgin olive oil in my .50 Great Plains Rifle's bore and on the exterior metal surfaces since I bought the rifle second-hand but unfired in '88 or '89 and it doesn't have a speck of rust on it anywhere.  I usually use Pyrodex P in it, too.... 
On the exterior, petro oil is certainly okay, but petro+blackpower in the bore results (at least for me in a cap and ball revolver I had before the GPR) in a tar-like fouling that is very difficult to remove.  Lessoned learned for me, so I just avoid petro oils all together with my blackpowder guns.
Ymmv, and all of that...
JP

[garbhead]

I think Jethro used possum grease on his baseballs that enabled him great accuracy and 120 mph speeds.

[darkgael]

When I bought my first fowler from Matt Avance at Tennessee Valley Muzzleloading, it came with vey detailed instructions about cleaning and preservation. The first instruction was to apply a coat of paste finishing wax before doing anything else. The last instruction was to apply a coat of type A ATF and then wipe off the excess. The gun stays in really good shape as do the guns that I have acquired since.
Pete

[theratdog]

 i have used atf many times to lube rifle cases when sizing cleans them some what too.

[coyotejoe]

When I bought my first fowler from Matt Avance at Tennessee Valley Muzzleloading, it came with vey detailed instructions about cleaning and preservation. The first instruction was to apply a coat of paste finishing wax before doing anything else. The last instruction was to apply a coat of type A ATF and then wipe off the excess. The gun stays in really good shape as do the guns that I have acquired since.
Pete

True, TVM uses ATF as a combination wood stain and stock finish.