When did Break Free change?

[Petrol & Powder]

I didn’t want to hi-jack another thread, but the topic of Break Free CLP was broached. I have used the old Break Free and I know that the formula changed (or at least was presumed to have changed) somewhere along the line.

I had a supply of Break Free in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s but the stuff I had was already old at the time, so I assume it was the original formula. Sometime in the early 1990’s, I drifted away from the stuff and when I purchased it later, it was different. I can’t say when that shift took place because I used the old stuff until I ran out and then didn’t replace it for years. The labeling didn’t change, at least not at first, but the product seemed to change.

I will say the original Break Free I used was a decent product. When I went back to it years later, the labeling was similar, but the product was noticeably different. At that point I stopped buying it and went with Clenzoil. (Awesome product, by the way!)

The original Break Free had a distinctive odor that I can’t describe but it was a far better cleaner than the stuff that came later.

So – If the Break Free formula changed, when did that happen?

 

[Jeff H]

@Outpost75 could probably tell us. Hes written on it.

I've stayed pretty well stocked on it since 81 or 82, when we started using it in the Army, so I missed the change and found out years later when I started running low. I believe when/just after Safariland got it?

 

[Outpost75]

The military specification only specifys the performance standards, not the formula, so there are several approved formulations of Mil-C-63460, A, B, C, etc., depending upon who made it. The commercial products may not conform to the current military specification

 

[Petrol & Powder]

Just a quick internet search with the equally highly dubious information gleaned from that source, it looks like the formula offered to the public changed around 2001? That’s when people report the old amber colored BF meeting Mil Spec MIL-L-63460D was discontinued and the lighter greenish colored MIL-PRF-63460E showed up. This roughly corresponds to my observations, but the change could have occurred far earlier because I wasn’t buying the stuff after about 1995/1996.
I do recall the old stuff being more amber/tan than green.

Now this is hardly proof of anything but if I had to guess, (and it REALLY IS a GUESS) the commercially available stuff changed around 2001.

 

[Jeff H]

Last good stuff I bought was probably 89 or 90. I remember carrying two 4-ounce bottles around the Toledo gun show in a plastic bag, enjoying my own "essence" and wafting proudly as I strolled.

When I out-processed from Fort Lewis, one of my last stops was my battalion supply room. When the clerk who checked me off realized I was leaving, he told me to wait a minute, disappeared behind the counter for a while and came back with two of the most prized commodities on post - a quart of Break-Free and a big ol' spool of 550 cord. That was in 1982. I still find pieces of that 550 cord around, but the Break-Free was used up some years ago, except for the tiny sample I transferred into a tiny quarter-ounce bottle for old time's sake.

The latest Break-Free I got was BLUE! It looks like two-cycle oil and STINKS! It's especially nasty when it mingles with Alox, either tumble-lube or the greazy stuff. Not a fan, really.

When I think of all the Break-Free all those grunts wasted over the years, hosing down all the weapons on the quad' when we came in from the field,... I bet more ran off the guns and into the gravel by at least ten to one. The one-pint spray bottles (not aerosol) were really popular with guys running crew-served weapons.

 

[Bazoo]

I got into guns after the change had already happened. I am always looking for the old stuff though. I got a small pocket sized bottle at a yardsale once, It's good stuff.

 

[Outpost75]

Dating myself, but I am still hoarding 4 ozs. of Vietnam era VVL-800. Water displacing, dewaxed, polarized oil for low temperature applications. Widely used in aircraft. The stuff is still available new as VVL-800C and several commercial aviation oils meet the spec. If you want your GAU8-A auto cannon to function at -65 below zero F this is the stuff. Google is your friend to source some.

 

[fiver]

i been giving the old break free tan creamy colored stuff away to anyone that'd take it for years and finally tossed like 5 cases full of it since i could never ever,,, ever have used it all, unless i used it to change my engine oil a couple of times.

in fact I never knew or cared that it got changed,,, or thought it was anything special.
i'd have to go look but i probably might still have a box full of the stuff shoved in a dark corner around here somewhere.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I was never really enamored by the stuff, but I was required to use it for a time.

 

[oscarflytyer]

I was never really enamored by the stuff, but I was required to use it for a time.

Ditto. I hated it when I was first required to use it in '83. In '84 I smuggle Hoppes. Never use CLP after that. I now use Ed's Red and it is my go to.

 

[Brad]

Dating myself, but I am still hoarding 4 ozs. of Vietnam era VVL-800. Water displacing, dewaxed, polarized oil for low temperature applications. Widely used in aircraft. The stuff is still available new as VVL-800C and several commercial aviation oils meet the spec. If you want your GAU8-A auto cannon to function at -65 below zero F this is the stuff. Google is your friend to source some.

I only use my GAU8-A in warm weather

 

[Outpost75]

I only use my GAU8-A in warm weather

And at low CAS altitude...

 

[Brad]

And at low CAS altitude...

Of course.

 

[Outpost75]

Of course.

Pre Phalynx in F4C used for fleet area defense for high altitude missile intercepts... Dating myself...

 

[RicinYakima]

That is because you are elderly.

 

[Brad]

I dated myself once. It didnt work out so I broke up with me.

Damn, I need to get away more. Getting a bit of cabin fever. Oh well, at least the word play and puns still work.

 

[fiver]

ish...........

 

[nanuk]

I dated myself once. It didnt work out so I broke up with me.

Damn, I need to get away more. Getting a bit of cabin fever. Oh well, at least the word play and puns still work.

My Mom used that term to describe something completely different

I need glasses

But I am NOT Blind!!!

 

[CZ93X62]

The old Break-Free was all right, I guess. It's virtue came from it's ability to prevent galling on stainless steel pistol slide rails, but I've always used RIG +P for those sorts of applications. Whatever.

 

[Monochrome]

I have a can of the newer crud by safariland what a joke. Two years ago the stuff in the spray can was fine.. now it turns into a wierd goo when it dries on the gun.