I would like to make my EBR look glossy again, and have been thinking about one of the questions in the Bushmaster cleaning FAQ. Quoting from the FAQ:

"Get a non-drying, non-detergent motor oil. Any non-drying non-detergent motor oil will do, as long as it doesn't have additives that might attack the nickel acetate sealant that we apply as a final protective coating.  Believe it or not, non-drying non-detergent motor oil leaves a great looking finish."

My question is: what would be a non-drying, non-detergent motor oil? Everything I have seen in the stores suggests the presence of detergents, so I hesitate to get something that will damage the finish.

Any ideas?

You can find non-detergent oil at most car parts stores, or tractor stores.  It usually  comes in single viscosities, like 10 wt, 20 wt, or 30 wt.  Lots of people still use them in their antique tractors (one of my favorite hobbies) because that is what was called for in the manuals in those days.  It's usually cheaper than multi-grade detergent oil.  By non-drying, that would probably mean something with a non-vegtable base.  I never heard of that before though.

Thanks! I'll give it a try at the car part store. So far I had only tried in the big department stores (where I always buy my oil). Only things I ever buy at the car part store are car parts...

Has anyone actually used car oil on the rifle for that beautifying effect?

I wondered about the same thing back in 2002 and asked Bushy tech support.....

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 10:42 AM
To: Matt Hasty
Subject: RE: XM15 E2S M4 Type 16in Carbine
Thank you for all your help and the quick responses.  To save me some shopping time, do you mind telling me which brand of motor oil your factory uses.  I understand that it must be none-drying, none-detergent motor oil that won't attack nickel acetate sealant finish.  It probably won't be hard to find one which meets the first two criteria.  However, I think most motor oil labels don't have statements about the nickel finish.  It surely will save me some time if you would let me know which ones to buy.  Thanks.
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 1:02 PM
Since we buy it by the case we usually get whatever is on sale at the local Wal-Mart store. The one currently being used is the Wal-mart brand 10W30 Super Tech.

Well, another possibility! Hopefully I'll have a glossy rifle this weekend!

Thanks!

This is not exactly 'on point' but I've been giving some thought to powder coating an old AR to get a little more gloss.  Thinking about doing this but just can't decide.

Why not use Break Free CLP.  After all, CLP is a non-detergent synthetic oil.  It make my AR's look glossy. In the past, I was using Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil.  The gloss from the CLP is identical to the gloss from the Mobil-1 motor oil in my experiences. This includes apllications to my Glock too (Glock 35, that is  [jump] ).