Gunsmithing Stinky Guns

[northshore440]

Just curious if anyone else has ever experienced this...
A few years ago a friend of my inherited a couple of handguns from his father in law. The only problem was they stunk. Not like solvent, or chemical, or plastic breaking down, but a more funky, pungent, almost sh*t like odor. And not just a little; all three reeked.

His father in law could not offer any explaination. They had been sitting a pistol case together for years.

Naturally, we joked about them being concealed in various uncomfortable places, and just about any other grade-school humor you can conceive.

The problem was, the guns were all reasonably clean, and gave no indication as to the cause of the odor. My buddy cleaned them again, and they smelled as bad as when he started.

I suggested he remove the grips(some were wood), tear the guns down, and thoroughly scrub them down with brake cleaner.

He did, but they still had a funk about them, just not quite as bad.

I really couldn't think of any other way to remove odor from metal, aside from hanging a pine tree air freshener off the front post.

He put them in an airtight bag,assumed they were ruined, and that's where they've been ever since.

My only guess as to what might have caused this was some sort of gun oil going bad, or maybe an incompatible combination of lube(not that kind

) and solvent.

So I have two questions:
1) has anyone else had this happen, and if so, do you know the cause?

2) does anyone have any suggestions as to how remove the odor?

thanks in advance.

 

[Wolvenhaven]

Re: Stinky Guns

It was probably cleaned using a natural oil based cleaner. I've smelled peanut/canola/almond/linseed oil which has gone rancid and it smelled like what you're describing. If it was the standard cleaner he or whoever owned them used regularly, then the oil probably seeped into the pours of the metal and then went bad after sitting for years in a gun case.

The only thing I could think of to remove the smell would be to dump the guns in a bucket of remoil or kerosene and let them sit for a few weeks, hopefully having the new oil seep in.

 

[CanPopper]

Re: Stinky Guns

You could also break the guns down into the component parts and clean them in a sonic cleaner with the gun cleaning solution. Then re-oil using synthethics.

Can you describe your gun cleaning process?

 

[KHOOKS]

Re: Stinky Guns

Not sure if this would work for all the parts. But couldn't you heat the metal parts up and let the old oil release from the metal. I know on my AR I can see the barrel get oilly after a 30 round mag is run, and after the second mag is run right behide the first I start to see the oil turning whiteish and chalky looking as it burns off the barrel. Now keep in mind the barrel heat may be high then the gun parts could handle. Just a thought.

MAY BE SOMEONE ELSE WILL CHIME IN ON THIS.

 

[Tactical Support]

Re: Stinky Guns

Hot soapy water will remove the funk. You are trying to remove an organic and gun cleaners will not do the job.

Boil distilled water with Dawn dish soap for Carbon steel or SS.

On plastic frames just use hot soapy water.

Rinse with Hot distilled water, dry and oil. Funk will be gone.

 

[darkstar]

Re: Stinky Guns

It was probably cleaned using a natural oil based cleaner. I've smelled peanut/canola/almond/linseed oil which has gone rancid and it smelled like what you're describing. If it was the standard cleaner he or whoever owned them used regularly, then the oil probably seeped into the pours of the metal and then went bad after sitting for years in a gun case.


+1 on the organic oils going rancid. They can get a nasty smell.
The only thing I would add is maybe remove all wood and soak the components in alcohol first to degrease and kill the bacteria, air dry and then soak in a quality gun oil. You probably will have to strip the wood anyhow if the oil is in the grips too.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Re: Stinky Guns

The first thing I would suspect is that somebody had/has used "cold blue" on them.

One massive tell-tale of using cold-blue is that it stinks. Myself and my buddy both hated working on arms that had that crap on it.

Secondly, I would highly suggest that you (or he) NOT store your firearms in an "air-tite" bag. Nearly a damn-sure way of having them rust.

Fwiw,

 

[northshore440]

Re: Stinky Guns

Thanks tactical support; When you suggest boil distilled water and Dawns dishsoap for SS and carbon, do you mean to put the metallic parts into the boiling water, or bring it to a boil, cool, and use the solution to clean the parts?

I too suspected it was oiled with some sort of more natural compound, but given that I had no real history with the weapons,

I couldn't confirm. As for not storing them in an airtight container, I agree that oxidation could be accelerated on them, but they stunk so bad that unless you were going to keep them outside, you wanted them sealed up.

As for the cleaning process used by my friend, I don't know exactly how he cleaned them the first time. When I became involved, we dissasembled the guns to the point of pins and springs(bear in mind, I am not a master smith), sprayed everything down a few times with industrial brake cleaner--the high Ether and ethyl-methly-badshit kind, wiped them down, sprayed again and let excess cleaner evaporate(which it quickly did).

At this point it was difficult to say whether the odor was removed, because the garage we were cleaning the guns in now smelled like a combination of a meth lab and detonated shithouse.

We reassembled the weapons, relubed with shooter's choice, and put them in a cabinet.

A few days later, everything in the cabinet smelled like the stinky guns, including the guns.

My buddy packed them up, and the rest is history.

I think I will let him know about Tactical Support's suggestion, and see what happens.

Thanks to all who replied.

 

[steelman303]

Re: Stinky Guns

"Methlab & detonated shithouse"... People in the office are wondering what the hell I am laughing about !
Never heard that one before.

 

[drmarc]

Re: Stinky Guns

One of my good friends works in petroleum products so I have been around him for some time. I was surprised to learn that petroleum oils will ultimately degrade and can sure cause a funky stink when they do. He tells me of times where he has gotten into old rank stuff that the stink wouldn't wash off for weeks.

 

[Sportin Wood]

Re: Stinky Guns

You are gonna have to send em here for me to test out and smell!!

 

[19Scout77]

Re: Stinky Guns

Stinky petroleum products?? Take off a couple old diff covers.

 

[lw8]

Re: Stinky Guns

Clean in a parts washer....

 

[Tactical Support]

Re: Stinky Guns

Thanks tactical support; When you suggest boil distilled water and Dawns dishsoap for SS and carbon, do you mean to put the metallic parts into the boiling water, or bring it to a boil, cool, and use the solution to clean the parts?


Correct once it boils turn off the heat source and place the parts in the water wait 15 minutes and start scrubbing parts.

Remember that oils unless Synthetic are of an organic nature. Hot soapy water and elbow grease has never failed me. I also have a Ultra Sonic that I run @ 170 degrees used with distilled water and crest ultrasonic soap.

 

[Straight Shooter]

Re: Stinky Guns

Break them down to individual parts and soak/scrub with Simple Green. Rinse in super hot water and then towel and blow dry. Reoil with TriFlow (cause it smells the best) and reassemble. Clean the grips with a citrous based wood cleaner. This method has worked on even the worst smelling guns.

 

[northshore440]

Re: Stinky Guns

Straight shooter:
Thanks. I will pass the info along to my buddy. He pretty much assumed the guns were a lost cause.