As voluminous as the latest Fireclean lawsuit is at 50 pages of complaint and 200 pages of exhibits, what’s most notable is not what is in the suit, but what is not in the suit. Put more precisely, what is no longer in the suit is what really caught my attention.
On March 17, 2016, Fireclean filed a lawsuit against me. On page 6 of that lawsuit was the line “The product itself is specially formulated so that it will not “gum,” or leave behind a solid residue from its use.” Elsewhere on this page, continuing to page 7, was the line “Fireclean contains at least one high-oleic oil…which is preferred…due to the non-gumming nature of high-oleic oils.” On page 14 of this lawsuit was the line “Simply put, the statement or inference that the normal and proper use of Fireclean will lead to corrosion or the formation of solid residues on firearms or weapons is false.”
On September 11, 2016, Fireclean filed another lawsuit against me. On page 31 of this complaint was the line “A non-drying oil such as Fireclean will not gum or form solid residue when exposed to air.” On page 11 of this complaint was the line “Fireclean contains at least one high-oleic oil…which is preferred…due to the non-gumming nature of high-oleic oils.”
On February 8, 2017, Fireclean amended their September complaint. While they added claims of aiding and abetting George Fennell’s tortious conduct, they also removed several lines from the complaint. All of the above lines were removed from the First Amended Complaint.
Editing mistake, you say? Well, even if we ignore that these lines appeared numerous times throughout both prior complaints, examine this Plaintiff’s Memorandum in Support of Motion In Limine Regarding Withdrawn Gumming Claims in the Fennell case, filed January 24, 2017:
Furthermore, when Fireclean provided the FBI with Fireclean in late 2012, they were receiving complaints of “tackiness” as early as March of 2013. They claimed in court that these issues resulted from the size of the bottles used by the FBI.
Fireclean has intentionally removed the words and phrases “gum” and “solid residue” from the defenses of their product in the lawsuit against me in Arizona. They have abandoned their claims that Fireclean, when used properly, will not gum up or form solid residues, and they have admitted that they were informed by the FBI of “tackiness” issues with their product in 2013.
Andrew, I built a FAL from a kit a number of years back. It is worn, but I was tired of cleaning the carbon off of the face of the gas piston. I bought some Fireclean and used it per the instructions. Took the rifle out a few months later, it stopped ejecting the rounds after about 30 rounds. Opened the gas regulator to the max, no luck. Took the rifle home and cleaned it, yup, it was gummed up. I had never had an issue before.
Well, well. That explains their overzealous over the top tactics. They feel very vulnerable.