How WD-40 Can Ruin Your Gun! (ft. Otis Technology)

Otis Technology CEO Bill joins State of the Second hosts Kaylee and John for a deep talk on gun cleaning, the science behind lubricants, and why so much common maintenance advice is wrong. Bill opens with his favorite Otis tool, the Ripcord, which uses Nomex woven over the cable to handle a smoking hot barrel up to 700 degrees, and explains how he runs it through the ejection port between competition stages to stay clean. He walks through the company's story: Otis is celebrating its 40th year, founded in 1985 after Doreen Williams got the muzzle of her rifle stuck in the mud while hunting with her dad and went looking through her grandpa's World War II kit for a way to clean it. From a kitchen table to a garage to four decades of family reinvestment, Otis has supplied the U.S. military almost exclusively for the last 30 years, cleaning everything from small arms up to 155mm, and makes its commercial products on the same machines with the same people. The heart of the episode is the WD-40 warning. Bill explains that WD stands for water displacement, the product was built around the 50s or late 40s to push water out of a mechanical part, and a gun should not have water in it to begin with. Because the viscosity is so low, it migrates everywhere. John backs it up with a story about a Columbus police officer who sprayed his service revolver with WD-40 every day with the ammunition still loaded. When the officer got into a shooting, he pulled the trigger six times and every round failed because the WD-40 had soaked into the ammunition and made the propellant inert. Bill and John also cover real maintenance habits: more lubricant is not better since excess turns to mud and can cause malfunctions, EDC guns should be cleaned every couple of months and more often in humid summer heat to fight rust, and magazine springs should not be compressed for too long so feeding stays reliable. Bill also covers Otis kits for new owners, noting roughly 20 million new shooters have entered the space since 2019, and details three new products launched at SHOT Show: a suppressor cleaning concentrate, a muzzleloading kit, and an air gun cleaning kit. As a firearms instructor in New York, he closes on the post-Bruin legal landscape, the state's 16-hour CCW classroom requirement, and the three topics he considers most important to teach: de-escalation, situational awareness, and suicide prevention, the last tied to about 1,700 lives lost to suicide a year in New York. The episode wraps with Otis returning to GOA's GOALS event in Knoxville, Tennessee on August 9th and 10th. Questions this episode answers Why is WD-40 a bad choice for cleaning or lubricating a gun? WD stands for water displacement, a product built in the late 1940s or 1950s to push water out of mechanical parts, and a gun should not have water in it to begin with. Its viscosity is so low that it migrates everywhere it shouldn't, including into places that cause problems. What actually happens to ammunition when WD-40 soaks into it? The low-viscosity WD-40 seeps into the cartridge and renders the propellant inert. A Columbus police officer who sprayed his loaded service revolver daily had all six rounds fail to fire during a shooting because the propellant had been deadened. How often should you clean an everyday carry gun? An EDC gun should be cleaned every couple of months, and more often during humid summer heat to fight rust. The goal is to keep it working, not to let it become a safe queen that never comes out. Can you use too much lubricant on a firearm? Yes. More lubricant is not better, because excess turns to mud and can cause malfunctions. A light, correct amount keeps the gun running reliably. What is the story behind how Otis Technology was founded? Otis began in 1985 after Doreen Williams got her rifle muzzle stuck in the mud while hunting with her dad and went looking through her grandpa's World War II kit for a way to clean it. It grew from a kitchen table to a garage into four decades of family-reinvested business, now in its 40th year. What three new products did Otis launch at SHOT Show? Otis introduced a suppressor cleaning concentrate, a muzzleloading kit, and an air gun cleaning kit. They were announced alongside CEO Bill's broader update on the company's lineup for new and existing shooters. What does Otis teach as the most important parts of a CCW class? As a firearms instructor in New York, Bill teaches three topics as most important: de-escalation, situational awareness, and suicide prevention. The suicide focus is tied to roughly 1,700 lives lost to suicide a year in New York. Why should you avoid compressing your magazine springs for too long? Magazine springs should not stay compressed for extended periods so that feeding stays reliable. Leaving them under load too long can work against consistent function. Chapters 00:00 — Welcome and introducing Bill from Otis 00:35 — Rapid fire: favorite cleaning tool, the Ripcord 01:32 — Content creators and bucket list gun 02:54 — Life as a gun owner in New York after Bruin 06:31 — Who is Otis: 40 years and the 1985 founding 08:28 — What kept Otis going for 40 years 11:02 — Kits and advice for first-time gun owners 15:07 — Are the products safe on finishes and corrosive propellants 16:37 — What makes a good lubricant, and CLP explained 20:08 — EDC habits, lint, and carry storage advice 21:37 — The WD-40 myth and the failed revolver story 24:02 — From the Soapbox: three new SHOT Show products 28:25 — How often you really should clean your guns 30:42 — CCW myths, use of force, and New York law 36:38 — Where to find Otis and GOALS in Knoxville About the guest Bill is the CEO of Otis Technology, a position he has held for about the last three years. Otis is celebrating its 40th year, having started in 1985 when Doreen Williams looked for a way to clean a muzzle that got stuck in the mud while hunting with her dad. Bill is also a competitive shooter and a firearms instructor who teaches CCW classes in New York State. His surname is given in the episode as Cleftis [VERIFY]. Key quotes "That's what WD stands for is water displacement." — Bill "And the WD40 had soaked into the ammunition and made the propellant inert." — John "first thing I would say that if some lubricant is good, more is not better." — Bill "We're celebrating our 40th year this year. And it all started in 1985." — Bill "the last thing you want to do is have your EDC be a safe queen where it's just sitting in the safe and never comes out." — Bill "we've been supplying the US military almost exclusively for the last 30 years." — Bill