Red Oil

Another Bullseye enthusiast recently passed along his formula for “red oil”. (This is *not* the same as the so-called “Ed’s Red” which, by the way, is *not* named after me. I have no connection to either of these concoctions.)

Red Oil formula:

• Empty gallon can
• 8 oz Hoppes #9
• Can of STP
• Qt of 30W oil
• Fill with Automatic Transmission Fluid (2+ Qts)

Reportedly that will be more than you can use in a lifetime.

“Red Oil” smells a lot better than “Ed’s Red”, possibly because of the primary constituent of the latter, Kerosene, which is becoming hard to get.

At the moment, I’m still using MilComm’s TW-25B but recently ran into a problem when the temperature suddenly dropped 20 degrees at a match. I found the slide on my 1911 very sluggish and, as the Slow Fire match was already in progress, didn’t take the time to take it apart and add more TW-25B. Instead I just oiled the heck out of it and went back to shooting.

I’ll try a heavier application of TW-25B for this evening’s cool temperature event but, if the slide again becomes sluggish, I’ll look into trying “Red oil” (as per the formula above).

If you’re in Phoenix and want to try a pint, let me know. (That offer applies to both Red Oil and to a pint of Guinness.)