Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

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65bee
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Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by 65bee »

I have been browsing through my collection of old American Rifleman magazines and happened upon an article written in a 1933 issue on the subject of bore protection for rust and corrosion. The author performed a series of tests using all the then-available solutions, including plain old lanolin. The tests consisted of coating samples of bare steel and exposing them to harsh outdoor environments. Surprisingly, the anhydrous lanolin mixture beat out everything else, hands-down! This got me to thinking, as the anti-rust solution known as Fluid Film is primarily lanolin based also. For several years I have been undercoating my vehicles with this stuff every Fall, and it has worked great in retarding corrosion from the salt-laden highways here in northern New England. I understand that there are probably far better anti-rust compounds out there now than there were in 1933, but I bet they are not as safe to use or environmentally-friendly as plain old sheeps wool lanolin. I checked and found that anyhydrous lanolin is readily available. Have any of the forum members used it for firearms preservation?
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Grizz
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Grizz »

I think you are on the right track. It's natural and not petroleum based, not that there is anything wrong with that. I tried fluid film and it didn't seem to have much stick-to-it-ness.


for about 40 years I've used heated vaseline for firearm layup, both inside and outside. I bed blued guns in vaseline and the under side looks better than the exposed metal..

I've used waterproof wheel bearing grease, sparingly on levergun internals, because it tends to stay on steel, which would seize a gun solid in cold weather... I use unique brand case lube, which is lanolin based, I think... sometimes I use it for drill and tap lube... sometimes I wipe it onto steel to act as an ad-hoc barrier...files and ratchets... lately I've been using ballistol for bore wipes, though I don't notice any build-up on the externals...

I use sno-seal sometimes for steel, files and the like, and carbon based knife blades. a neighbor keeps his tools outdoors in a trailer, uses sno-seal, and that works great for all his stuff... I believe that sno-seal is a combo of bees wax and lanolin...maybe

maybe sno-seal cut with lanolin would give a better result.. or a home remedy mix of bees wax with lanolin.

I'm interested in the lanolin, what are sources for it, other than case lube?

Grizz
65bee
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by 65bee »

I found pure anhydrous lanolin in 4 oz. containers on ebay for between $10.-$13. Must be pretty safe stuff, as they recommend it for nipple protection for nursing mothers! That 1933 article mentioned using vaseline and other vaseline-based compounds and he found it inferior to lanolin. You mention that you found Fluid Film 'unsticky', but that is probably because it is designed to 'flow' and seep. My son-in-law is a 30 year heavy equipment mechanic for the state DOT. They started using Fluid Film on all the new State vehicles, salt trucks, etc. several years ago and he says it has extended the life of the vehicles considerably. They did their own experiments on bare steel exposed to the elements and found that it truly does 'flow' and provide great protection. It does, however, require annual applications to maintain effectiveness. I just wonder if we have all been brainwashed into buying the myriad expensive 'concoctions' being peddled as the ultimate in firearms protection all these years, when a good old natural product does a better job.
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Nath »

Anhydrous is mixed with water!

You want pure and cut it with olive oil.
I have been using animal and vegetable oils and fats on my guns for years.
Llanolin makes a good bullet lube and waterproofs boots a treat.
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by piller »

Nath wrote: Fri Dec 28, 2018 12:38 pm Anhydrous is mixed with water!

You want pure and cut it with olive oil.
I have been using animal and vegetable oils and fats on my guns for years.
Llanolin makes a good bullet lube and waterproofs boots a treat.
In Chemistry classes we used anhydrous productc when any water would react badly. Hydrous products had water in them. The anhydrous lanolin we sell has no water in it.
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65bee
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by 65bee »

Pillar is right! Anhydrous does not contain water, and it is important to make sure it is this and not hydrous lanolin. Use of hydrous lanolin will wreak havoc on any steel.
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Nath »

Oh, if I have got it wrong my apologies.

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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Nath »

Nope sorry, you are advised not to use anhydrous.

"A substance is anhydrous if it contains no water. Many processes in chemistry can be impeded by the presence of water, therefore, it is important that water-free reagents and techniques are used. In practice, however, it is very difficult to achieve perfect dryness; anhydrous compounds gradually absorb water from the atmosphere so they must be stored carefully.".

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65bee
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by 65bee »

Still wrong! Because anhydrous lanolin does NOT contain water is the point of the whole matter.
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Nath »

65bee wrote: Fri Dec 28, 2018 1:40 pm Still wrong! Because anhydrous lanolin does NOT contain water is the point of the whole matter.
Yes, however the part you are missing is the additives in anhydrous llanolin naturally absorb moisture from the atmosphere, it is hygroscopic once anhydrous. Did you not read the quoted paragraph?

Years ago I bought some anhydrous llanolin to protect my boots as advised by a friend. My friend did not emphasis non anhydrous! The boots were ruined!

Now I have pure wool fat and it is completely different!
Ignor me ofcourse, just don't say..........
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Catshooter
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Catshooter »

When my father was a lad he was scouting out some woods and doing shooting when he found an old abandoned house. Like any boy he went in and searched it for treasure. Of course others had done the same before him and the house was just full of junk.

But he persisted and in a closet he looked around a corner, and then realized the corner kept going he kept looking. Lo and behold there was a Winchester 86 in .45-70! Naturally the years hadn't been kind to it and the outside was quite rusty. But it wasn't bound up so it still worked.

The great point though was that the last owner had cut a long strip of sheepskin with the wool still on and pulled it through the bore. The wool hadn't been washed so it still had it's lanolin and the bore and chamber were just fine with no rust at all.

Wish he'd kept it . . .


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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Nath »

Many substances occur naturally as hydrates, compounds that have a specific number of water molecules (H2O) attached to them. This water can often be removed by heating and/or vacuum to give the anhydrous material. ... Anhydrous materials can absorb water from their surroundings and find use as desiccants (drying agents).10 Aug 2016

Another quote.

Wool fat is not a true fat. It contains thousands of compounds all of which are useful.
Some of the compounds in wool fat contain an amount of water ( logical really!). The water in wool fat is in lock down generally and the oxygen atom contained safely.

Once the naturally present water is forced to leave to make anhydrous llanolin how the substance reabsorbs water is changed.
To illustrate silica gel is an anhydrous compound and is used to absorb huge amounts of water vapour.

Smearing anhydrous llanolin on steel will infact soak up more water than using pure llanolin.
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Sixgun »

The way I see it is this is the year 2018 and what can be better than RIG gun grease which is specially formulated for the preservation of guns and it's blue finish. $6 buys enough to last several years and that's me using it. No worry with full confidence.

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65bee
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by 65bee »

Just did a bit of research on anhydrous lanolin on the net and without exception it is recognized as an outstanding rust preventative. Some mix/cut it with mineral spirits and find excellent results. One website dedicated to blades/knives says it is the best out there! Many use it on machinery, tools, etc. kept in unheated buildings. The main ingredient in Fluid Film rust coating is ANHYDROUS LANOLIN! I guess all these folks and companies must have it wrong?
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Grizz
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Grizz »

good discussion. time to set some steel in the half tide zone with both kinds of lanolin to figure it out... :D
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Nath »

65bee wrote: Fri Dec 28, 2018 5:03 pm Just did a bit of research on anhydrous lanolin on the net and without exception it is recognized as an outstanding rust preventative. Some mix/cut it with mineral spirits and find excellent results. One website dedicated to blades/knives says it is the best out there! Many use it on machinery, tools, etc. kept in unheated buildings. The main ingredient in Fluid Film rust coating is ANHYDROUS LANOLIN! I guess all these folks and companies must have it wrong?
Yes they have, shocking isn't it.
It's a bit like wonder lube for muzzleloaders. Nothing but cosmetic by products based on mineral oils. Everything that should not be used to protect steel from black powder fouling!
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by AmBraCol »

You were asking if any of us use it. Well, yes. Have been using it for years. The good ol' PPPPPP gets wiped down with it every now and then. Since this became my treatment of choice the ol' pistol simply hasn't had any more rust issues. BEFORE using it, nothing would protect it over two or three days in the local conditions.

Now, as to manner of usage, I heat a couple of ounces or so of good ol' ATF (automatic transmission fluid) in a double boiler. Well, actually, in a jar inside a pan of water on the stove. Bits of anhydrous lanolin about the size of a pea get dropped in and stirred until they dissolve into the ATF. About 1/2 to 1 oz of anhydrous lanolin, perhaps a bit more gets stirred in this way and then cooled. This produces a thick oil that is easier to apply than straight anhydrous lanolin is. I keep it in a dropper tip plastic bottle as well as soaking a piece of flannel in it and keeping it in a ziploc baggie in my range bag. A quick wipe down with this rag keeps rust at bay. Even when carried daily inside waist band in a Simply Rugged leather holster the faithful old sixgun just does not rust. Mind you, this is with yours truly who sweats like an overworked horse here in this semi-tropical climate with humidity too close to the triple digit mark for comfort.

I've never used it plain as it's tough to apply uniformly that way as well as being very sticky. But cut with ATF as described above it's a great rust preventative. I use it on the outside of all my airguns as well, with the same results.
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Bullard4075 »

Been using it for over 40 years as a sizing lube as one would use Imperial Sizing Die Wax. I still have the 4 ounce, screwtop jar (still half full) I bought for $1 in the Sav-Mor Drug store in Mountain Home, Idaho in 1976. After thousands and thousands and thousands of uses the jar is still half full....a little goes a long way. It is as slick or slicker than anything I have ever used. I used it exclusively for probably 15 of those 40 some years
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Ji in Hawaii »

My dad swore by the original formula "Fluid Film" which was rich in lanolin so much so that you could smell it and see it as it came out thick from the aerosol can almost in a foam. Dad used it on his '03 Springfield, '98 Mauser, and Type 77 Arisaka as well as his 1911 Colt, and model 27 S&W. Then they changed the formula, and Dad could tell right away that they had reduced the lanolin to almost zero probably just enough to claim it as an ingredient. He wrote them a letter letting them know how displeased he was with there new "improved" formula. He treasured the last two cans of old formula Fluid Film he had left.

I found this 100% pure lanolin on Amazon Prime. I could not find if it is "anhydrous" or not. Seems like a fair price so may have to try a jar out.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000I1OYNK/?c ... 6H7D&psc=0
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Nath
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Re: Anhydrous Lanolin - Firearm Protection?

Post by Nath »

Pure llanolin is so rich in compounds it has so many uses.
It's also has a number of alcohols and other substances that can irritate skin, it does mine. It is still amazing stuff.
The primary reason to make it anhydrous is to aid a few things. It aids chemical processing in the extraction of the various chemicals, some for other uses and or to remove irritants for cosmetics and or if a cosmetic product is desired like a hand cream the anhydrous forms ability to absorb water say by skin and air thus making the modified llanolin soak in the skin better. With pure one would simply have sticky greasy fingers!

Any I use today(and I have pure) is cut with olive oil. It makes very good leather dressing, boot dubbing and forms a good barrier on steel.

Use anhydrous by all means but be aware that you are using a product not dissimilar to a hand cream and you can wash that off easily with water!
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