Oil to Varnish

[ColtRevolver]

Today, I sat down to swap in a Canjar trigger into a Rem 541-S. I had a minor set back and decided to put the factory trigger back in. I'll revisit the Canjar later. I'd really like to use it because it's a set trigger that goes down to 2 ounces.

The factory trigger is adjustable. I adjusted it 4 years ago when I bought the rifle. It was about 2 pounds. Back then, I didn't clean the trigger or really even look at it closely. Today with it out of the gun, I could see that it had thick dried oil inside and out. It had turned to varnish. Check out the pic. You can see where I scraped it with a toothpick. I soaked it in Ed's Red a bit, brushed it with a toothbrush and scraped it with a toothpick. I finished up by rinsing it out with lighter fluid. I put it back in the gun with no changes in the adjustments. Following cleaning, it now breaks at a little over 1 pound. I believe it still has the factory trigger spring. I think I can probably get the trigger down well under 1 pound with a different spring.


The gun is about 45 years old and has probably had multiple owners. I dont know how it was lubed in the past or with what.

 

[FarmerTan]

Today, I sat down to swap in a Canjar trigger into a Rem 541-S. I had a minor set back and decided to put the factory trigger back in. I'll revisit the Canjar later. I'd really like to use it because it's a set trigger that goes down to 2 ounces.

The factory trigger is adjustable. I adjusted it 4 years ago when I bought the rifle. It was about 2 pounds. Back then, I didn't clean the trigger or really even look at it closely. Today with it out of the gun, I could see that it had thick dried oil inside and out. It had turned to varnish. Check out the pic. You can see where I scraped it with a toothpick. I soaked it in Ed's Red a bit, brushed it with a toothbrush and scraped it with a toothpick. I finished up by rinsing it out with lighter fluid. I put it back in the gun with no changes in the adjustments. Following cleaning, it now breaks at a little over 1 pound. I believe it still has the factory trigger spring. I think I can probably get the trigger down well under 1 pound with a different spring.


The gun is about 45 years old and has probably had multiple owners. I dont know how it was lubed in the past or with what.


View attachment 1584088View attachment 1584089

I'm afraid to look at some of my guns! But man, the wood on that thing looks clean. Beautiful.

 

[FarmerTan]

P.S.

I've seen worse carburators!

 

[gpjoe]

I've had oil gum up on me too.

Have a Series 80 Colt 1911 that sat in my safe for a few years. I had cleaned and oiled it befor storing it.

I decided it was time to go through my pistols, wipe them down and re-lube them. When I was done with the Colt, I dropped the slide and pulled the trigger to release the hammer...and nothing happened.

Turns out the oil I used had gummed up the firing pin plunger and it was "frozen" in the slide preventing the hammer from dropping. A little Hoppes and some persuasion on the plunger with a pointed bamboo kebab skewer got things moving again.

 

[Mlee]

Many years ago, I had an old SKS that I let sit in the back of the safe for a couple of years. When I took it to the range, the first time I pulled the trigger it fired all 10 rounds before I knew what was going on. Needless to say, I drew a lot of attention and the range officer wasn't very happy.

When I pulled it apart, I found the firing pin was gummed up with old oil.

I learned something that, now it doesn't matter how long it sits in the safe, I break it down and make sure it has fresh oil.

 

[Bhugo]

My old Wingmaster used to see a lot of rainy days. I used to literally douse it with spray oil between hunts at camp and let it drain to try and displace the water that got inside it. At the end of the season, I would soak all the parts in a coffee can of gasoline for a couple hours swirling occasional before I scrubbed and oiled them correctly. Gas might be stinky, but it really cleans shotgun parts!

 

[ctr]

Used kerosine before with success. A magazine follower on an 870 seized up in the trap lime once. One area repeatedly neglected for years. Was a pita.

 

[ColtRevolver]

Kerosene is one of the ingredients in Ed's Red