FIREClean Gun Lube: Snake Oil, Canola Oil, or What ?
FIREClean is a gun lubricant that has recently made a splash in the gun world. Their website claims it cleans deeply, repels carbon, and lubricates. Made in USA, odorless, non-toxic.
Recently, some have claimed that FIREClean is nothing more than canola vegetable oil. Vegetable oil that may work great on guns, but that would make FIREClean essentially the exact same thing you buy for scorching up some venison in the frying pan, except it costs a whole lot more than a jug of Crisco oil. On September 12, an article was published detailing the claims and ultimately the results of an infrared spectroscopy test of FIREClean and two types of Crisco brand cooking oil.
What did the tests show? FireClean is probably a modern unsaturated vegetable oil virtually the same as many oils used for cooking.
Further, the professor who conducted the test (who apparently holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry) said this: “I don’t see any sign of other additives such as antioxidants or corrosion inhibitors. Since the unsaturation in these oils, especially linoleate residues, can lead to their oligomerization with exposure to oxygen and light, use on weapons could lead to formation of solid residues (gum) with time. The more UV and oxygen, the more the oil will degrade.
” Anyone who has been around guns very much knows that oils that turn gummy are strictly NG. I’m talking about 3-in-1 and other low-cost oils that leave “varnish” and gum after they’ve been on a gun for some time. This can cause guns to fail to operate, and I personally have repaired a shotgun whose hammer was broken due to this kind of buildup. Therefore, one must conclude that FIREClean is not a good product to have in your gun’s internal workings. But neither is Crisco oil, so nix the thought of cooking-oil gun care. It may work well in the short term, but nobody–and I mean nobody–wants to pick up a gun in time of need and find it gummed up and inoperable.
In addition to the analysis, a look at the patent shows that it’s for using vegetable oil to lubricate guns. FIREClean has since posted a response on their Facebook page. It’s rather long-winded, and although it uses a number of negative adjectives for articles like the one you’re currently reading, nowhere does it deny that FIREClean is, in fact, common Canola oil.
As for me, I’m not planning to use FIREClean on my guns, but I’m not going to use cooking oil, either. I’ve seen the residue and gunk that can form on a pot, pan, or cooking utensil that’s been oiled with vegetable oil and stored, and I don’t want some of that on my firearms.
Further, the professor who conducted the test (who apparently holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry) said this: “I don’t see any sign of other additives such as antioxidants or corrosion inhibitors. Since the unsaturation in these oils, especially linoleate residues, can lead to their oligomerization with exposure to oxygen and light, use on weapons could lead to formation of solid residues (gum) with time. The more UV and oxygen, the more the oil will degrade.”
Anyone who has been around guns very much knows that oils that turn gummy are strictly NG. I’m talking about 3-in-1 and other low-cost oils that leave “varnish” and gum after they’ve been on a gun for some time. This can cause guns to fail to operate, and I personally have repaired a shotgun whose hammer was broken due to this kind of buildup. Therefore, one must conclude that FIREClean is not a good product to have in your gun’s internal workings. But neither is Crisco oil, so nix the thought of cooking-oil gun care. It may work well in the short term, but nobody–and I mean nobody–wants to pick up a gun in time of need and find it gummed up and inoperable. In addition to the analysis, a look at the patent shows that it’s for using vegetable oil to lubricate guns.
FIREClean has since posted a response on their Facebook page. It’s rather long-winded, and although it uses a number of negative adjectives for articles like the one you’re currently reading, nowhere does it deny that FIREClean is, in fact, common Canola oil.
As for me, I’m not planning to use FIREClean on my guns, but I’m not going to use cooking oil, either. I’ve seen the residue and gunk that can form on a pot, pan, or cooking utensil that’s been oiled with vegetable oil and stored, and I don’t want some of that on my firearms.
