Tinhat47 Posted 25 January , 2009 Share Posted 25 January , 2009 What sort of oil was used in the SMLE oilers? Was it a particular brand? Just standard lubricating oil for metal parts or something special for firearms? Also, can it still be bought today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jermil Posted 25 January , 2009 Share Posted 25 January , 2009 What sort of oil was used in the SMLE oilers? Was it a particular brand? Just standard lubricating oil for metal parts or something special for firearms? Also, can it still be bought today? Express Gun Oil is the nearest you can get now, used to be made by Parker Hale, or Youngs 303 along with a small roll of fourbytwo (4x2) cleaning patches and the pull through. regards Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikB Posted 25 January , 2009 Share Posted 25 January , 2009 Express Gun Oil is the nearest you can get now, used to be made by Parker Hale, or Youngs 303 along with a small roll of fourbytwo (4x2) cleaning patches and the pull through. regards Norman Youngs is really a cleaner/preservative rather than a lubricating oil. It can be mixed to a whitish emulsion with water a lot like 'suds' in engineering machine tools. I think the original may have been Rangoon Oil - which was derived from natural mineral oil mined at the surface in Burma, as the name implies. It's thicker than ordinary machine oil and almost sticky. If I remember rightly it has a similar pungent "smell of the Empire" to Youngs. I can remember as a cadet the RSM used to rod the barrels of our No.4s with the stuff when we put them away after drill, no doubt to make sure we had some suitable gunk to clean out next week... Regards, MikB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 25 January , 2009 Share Posted 25 January , 2009 Im with Rangoon Oil, last tin I bought was 1982, not sure if it is still available. Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 25 January , 2009 Share Posted 25 January , 2009 is THIS the stuff? I use normal commercially available (in the US) gun oil (eg Hoppes etc) on all mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete1052 Posted 26 January , 2009 Share Posted 26 January , 2009 For the Model 1903 Springfield rifle the Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of the Army of the United States in 1917 says to "select a clean patch and thoroughly saturate it with sperm oil or warmed cosmic...." The choice of lubricants and preservatives for small arms is one area where I would not attempt to be period-correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 26 January , 2009 Share Posted 26 January , 2009 Nearest I can get is; Musketry Regulations Part 1 1909 (Reprint 1914) Chapter II para 87 A pull through fitted with a weight, and an oil bottle to contain Russian petroleum, are carried in the recess in the Butt of the rifle. para 91 No oil other than Russian petroleum should be allowed to remain in the bore. Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinhat47 Posted 26 January , 2009 Author Share Posted 26 January , 2009 Hmmm ... it seems oils from the world over were being used! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyE Posted 26 January , 2009 Share Posted 26 January , 2009 By the 1960s the issue gun oil was known as OX52, IIRC. Regards TonyE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Henschke Posted 26 January , 2009 Share Posted 26 January , 2009 Tony, OX-18 was the Lubricating oil, General Purpose which was used for machine guns and small arms. I don't know if there was an OX 52. Matt, As far as what would be the closest civilian oil to fill the oil bottle with - how about sewing machine oil. Hoppes and other solvents are way off the mark. Chris Henschke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete1052 Posted 26 January , 2009 Share Posted 26 January , 2009 Hoppe's markets a powder solvent and a high-viscosity oil that are different products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyE Posted 26 January , 2009 Share Posted 26 January , 2009 Chris I googled OX 52 oil and the following came back. It is on the list of Indian Department of Defence approvals for small arms and is listed on the Indian railways site (odd, I know) for lubrication and preservation of small arms, so I think my memory may be correct. See www.indianrailways.gov.in/RPF/files/law/orders/orders61.htm Regards TonyE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 26 January , 2009 Share Posted 26 January , 2009 Matt, As far as what would be the closest civilian oil to fill the oil bottle with - how about sewing machine oil. Hoppes and other solvents are way off the mark. Chris Henschke I was referring to Hoppes lubricating gun oil NOT Hoppes No9 solvent etc as Pete mentions. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 26 January , 2009 Share Posted 26 January , 2009 A fascinated reader asks - apart from ensuring that the bore was suitably oiled, what other parts of the rifle did the soldier have to oil - some of the moving parts, presumably? Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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