Gun lubricant

[bonknhead]

As someone who goes through a lot of gun cleaning supplies in a year I look for products that provide the most bang for the buck (pun intended). While I agree that synthetic motor oil is an excellent gun lube (some non-military federal agencies used it almost exclusively in their M-4's and reported zero lube related failures) it is a poor cleaning solvent. After 23 years in the military some things stick, and what stuck in regards to weapons cleaning is BreakFree CLP. It works great under a wide variety of environmental conditions, can be found in any Wal-Mart and most gun stores and if you buy it in the 'large economy size' it is fairly economical.

So BreakFree and a small tube of a good grease (I use Tetra) should be all you need to keep everything in your gun safe running smoothly.

Yeah, I don't plan to use the M1 for cleaning at all.  I bought some BreakFree CLP over the weekend.  I read it's a great solvent.  I'll use it to clean, but I'll continue using the M1 Fully Synthetic EP for lubing.

[meistermash]

I use more mobil 1 than anything else.  5 20
I usually have a bit left over after an oil change and it goes in the oil can. 
Back in the day I knew an old boy that worked at a ford Garage.   Probably for 20 years.   He would up end the oil bottles after an oil change and let the tiny bit drain into a bucket.  He used that to change his oil when needed.  He said it was just every kind of oil that anyone could guess of. 

[bonknhead]

I use more mobil 1 than anything else.  5 20
I usually have a bit left over after an oil change and it goes in the oil can. 

I use Mobil's FSEP 5w-20 too.  That's the weight that Acura recommends for my TL-S.  I use a large syringe from when I did dialysis from home.  Those syringes hold a lot and you don't need more than a cc or two to lube what needs to be lubed.

[rwschill]

What is lube included with Dan Wesson pistols that they seem to be big on.

[Joe L]

You guys are overthinking this.  I drive to a match, unload my pistols and set them on the shooting bench, go pull the dipstick out of my truck engine and put a few drops of warm oil on the slide rails and barrel and call it good.  The hard part is running from the truck to the bench without losing any oil.

 

Joe

[cntrydawwwg]

The hard part is running from the truck to the bench without losing any oil.

 

Joe

Now you're over thinking it Joe. Just park the truck at the bench[emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]

[Joe L]

And why would oil just drained from a prized Corvette or high tech turbocharged Ford engine suddenly not be suitable for simple handgun?  It was the perfect lubricant for a very demanding application for months and thousands of miles of continuous service.  Should be fine for another hour's cumulative service in a handgun seems to me. 

Joe   

[Cz75sp01J]

This is good stuff!!

Sent from my SM-G925R4 using Tapatalk

[brianh]

And why would oil just drained from a prized Corvette or high tech turbocharged Ford engine suddenly not be suitable for simple handgun?  It was the perfect lubricant for a very demanding application for months and thousands of miles of continuous service.  Should be fine for another hour's cumulative service in a handgun seems to me. 

Joe

Joe, you are correct. The lubrication properties of any modern motor oil exceed any conceivable stress a cycling firearm would place on it. In fact, in the early days of the GWOT some military units in Iraq were experiencing shortages of CLP (Break Free) - the supply system just couldn't get it to them fast enough. The weapons technicians at Rock Island Arsenal recommended motor oil as a perfectly good substitute. They had just a few cautions - first, motor oil is just a lube and is a lousy cleaner (they actually recommended transmission fluid as a substitute cleaner because of its detergent properties). Next, motor oil has lower viscosity and lower adhesion properties than most gun lube, so it tends to run off more readily and may not do a good job as a rust preventative.

Evan Marshall often states that right after 9/11 he was hired as a contractor by the DOE to run training programs for their nuclear site security teams. They ran hundreds of thousands of rounds through thousands of M-16s and M-4s using Mobil1 as the only lube. They would just swing by a local auto parts store and pick up a case of oil before heading to the range. He reports that they never had a single lube related weapons failure.

[SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM]

Funny how this type of thread will just go on and on because each individual thinks their lube or cleaner of choice is superior to the next guys choice.
Plain and simple the cheapest lowest grade engine oil or plain machine oil will provide more than enough protection for any of the small arms the average person has access to.

[oldcur73]

I use break free CLP,works great for me and readily available here(southern WV.)no complaints,and I shoot a LOT!

[Rhino]

Funny how this type of thread will just go on and on because each individual thinks their lube or cleaner of choice is superior to the next guys choice.
Plain and simple the cheapest lowest grade engine oil or plain machine oil will provide more than enough protection for any of the small arms the average person has access to.

For your entertainment.........

My choice of lube/cleaner is better than the other guys choice! Force Field Weapon Conditioner Cause Craig Boddington said so.........kind of like Forrest Gump endorsed his flex-o-lite ping pong paddle.
^^^sarcasm^^^😐😏😉🤔😜

Honestly I use whatever I have available.

[Glocky_Balboa]

I agree with the posts that say it really doesn't matter all that much, especially if you clean your gun regularly. 

For me, it's more about my preference for how easily it's applied, smell, toxicity, etc.  I was going to post that test from the firing line before I saw another member posted it.  I actually started using Rand CLP recently because of those results.  Most of my gun cleaning happens in my living room while watching TV.  While the smell issue and toxicity doesn't matter that much to me (I actually like the smell of Hoppes and Ballistol lol), it sure does for those around me.  I like the fact it's a vegetable based formula, but you don't have to degrease the gun and re-apply every time after using a separate cleaning product.  Rand has their own separate bore and bolt cleaner that's formulated to work with the CLP.  And it is a fantastic cleaner btw.  If your product is designed to repel and displace carbon, it obviously won't be the best at dissolving and cleaning high temperature areas.  You really do need a separate cleaner for certain parts.  I also like that the company has actually performed lubrication tests (coefficient of friction of .008) and freeze (-22F) and heat tests (flash point of just under 480F).  https://randbrands.myshopify.com/pages/faqs

[Sod Buster]

Slip 2000. I believe that is what I will simply continue to use for all my firearms. No drama like FireClean and it seems to work just fine.

[1SOW]

JMHO:  One size fits ALL,  to me means it doesn't excel at any single task.  I'm not saying it can't do the job,  just that it won't be the best choice for each task.
Lubricants and solvents are specialized.  Cleaning requires a great solvent.  Lubrication requires a great oil or grease, depending on the use.

Joe's dip stick with a high end oil is a great lubricant,  depending on whether he changes his oil more often than he cleans his pistols.