That "precision mechanism" smell
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:51 pm
I knew that there was something missing from my childhood memories and associations about firearms for years and years, but I didn't know what it was.
When I cleaned a gun and put it away, there was always something missing, something that was not quite right.
I was never quite satisfied.
Then my wife asked me to fix a door latch that needed a drop of oil. In the tool shed, there was an old can of 3-In-One oil, and when I smelled it, I suddenly knew what I had been missing so badly.
This was the smell from my childhood that I associate with fine mechanisms such as fishing reels, firearms, etc.. - That distinctive, metallic odor of 3-In-One oil.
As an experiment, I wiped down a Mauser that didn't really need it, just to experience the smell. It brought back some really great memories of watching my uncle clean his treasured Remington 1100, back when I wasn't old enough for school yet.
Of all things! 3-In One oil.
When I cleaned a gun and put it away, there was always something missing, something that was not quite right.
I was never quite satisfied.
Then my wife asked me to fix a door latch that needed a drop of oil. In the tool shed, there was an old can of 3-In-One oil, and when I smelled it, I suddenly knew what I had been missing so badly.
This was the smell from my childhood that I associate with fine mechanisms such as fishing reels, firearms, etc.. - That distinctive, metallic odor of 3-In-One oil.
As an experiment, I wiped down a Mauser that didn't really need it, just to experience the smell. It brought back some really great memories of watching my uncle clean his treasured Remington 1100, back when I wasn't old enough for school yet.
Of all things! 3-In One oil.
