Lubricants for Firearms?

There has been a bit of a debate over gun oil and grease in the Black Rifle Forum on GlockTalk.  One post has a link to this lubricants article by Grant Cunningham, which I found to be very interesting.

What about greases - do we even need them? You bet! I use the General Rule of Lubrication: oil for rotating parts, grease for sliding parts that carry a load. In firearms, grease is most appropriate for any part interaction that has a scraping (aka "shear") type of action, and will be subjected to pressure or shock. What kinds of parts are we talking about? Slide rails, bolt carriers, and sears - especially double-action sears.

One product that scores pretty well in corrosion testing is also the readily available and dirt cheap. It also has good migration, a good boundary lubrication package, is the right weight (thickness) for general firearms use, doesn't oxidize over long periods of storage, and is compatible with a wide range of metals and plastics. In addition, it is recommended by at least one real degreed firearms engineer! Just what is this miracle elixir??

Dexron-type Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF). That's right, plain ol' ATF.

 

For such things as autoloader slides and rifle bolts, Lubriplate "SFL" NLGI #0 grease is my choice. In my testing it's proven itself superior as a general lubricant. It is white, aluminum-based, low odor, has superb boundary lubricants, and is designed specifically for use in environments that encounter a huge temperature range. It's also resistant to water washout and acid/alkali environments, has great shear resistance, and doesn't oxidize like lithium greases will. As an all-around grease I've found nothing better. It's available from www.lubriplate.com, in their online store. It comes in a 14oz can which will last you for years - no matter how many guns you have!

If there's benzene in motor oil, you really shouldn't get that on your hands.  I'll have to remember to put on some gloves next time I do an oil change.

As I said in my cleaning article, I've pretty much given up on "miracle gun lube."  Although I'm sure that Slip 2000 and TW-25 work very well, they are very expensive, if you break everything down to a dollars per ounce figure.

Hoppe's No. 9 Air Freshener

It's been joked about by gun writers long enough that's it has become real.

Hoppe's recently rolled out a new air freshener that smells like their No. 9 solvent.

I'm not creative enough to make this up folks.  This is for real.

Now, how much longer do I have to wait for cologne with the WD40 scent?

Cleaning Mags That Don't Disassemble

A question just came up on forum, asking how to clean magazines that can't be disassembled. This would apply to many of the "high-capacity" Ruger 10/22 magazines, and some others.

What you can do is clean them in the sink with dishsoap. The dishsoap won't hurt the polymers, or any glue that might be holding the magazine together.

Swish the magazine around in the soapy water, and squirt the water into the magazine with a large syringe if you have one. Brush the follower and whatever you can get at to remove powder fouling. When you're finished, pour in some rubbing alcohol and shake it around to displace the water so that nothing rusts up on you.

It doesn't sound like much, but it actually helps quite a bit.

Cleaning, My Way

I've been using the Otis Tactical cleaning kit exclusively to clean everything from rimfire benchrest rifles through .45ACP pistols. I'm pretty confident that the "rods" will not harm the barrel, which I cannot say of rigid push-through rods. The only downside that I can think of is that the rods will probably not be able to push the bullet of a squib load from a barrel. Would be nice if it came with an AR-15 chamber/lug brush (it IS a tactical cleaning kit) and a small brush for cleaning breechfaces and other tight areas. There is a little extra room for cotton swabs (in lieu of the brush) in the pouch, which is about the size of thermos cup.
Updated 1/2/09


The little tube of solvent is a CLP (Cleaner, lubricant, protectant) type deal. Doesn't work horribly well for cleaning bores, but will get the job done in a pinch. At home, I've used Kroil, Shooter's Choice, Butch's Bore Shine, or Hoppe's, whichever is easiest to come by and cheaper.  I still use CLP for rust protection sometimes, but I started to use multi-purpose grease (the $2/pound stuff you can find in the automotive aisle) for lubrication.  A coat of the grease works to prevent rust too.


The patches that come with the Otis kit can't really be used 6 times, 3 times is about the max before they're so dirty you can't tell if you're really making any progress. Sontara patches don't unravel, so there's no threads to hide in the guts of your guns and make them jam.  You may want to order a size larger if you like your patches to fit tight in the bore.  If you are cleaning a 9mm bore, order the 20 and 12 gauge shotgun patches, for example.


How often to clean depends on the action, ammunition, and whether you NEED the firearm to work 100%. Rimfire target barrels probably shouldn't be cleaned too much, you'll just have to dirty up the bore a bit to get it back to where it was the last time you shot. Carry and defense guns should probably be kept pretty clean. AR-15s bolts and bolt carriers should be generously lubricated.

Pat Roger's Keep It Running article on how to maintain AR-15/M-16 type rifles.


Larry Vicker's tips on AR-15 lubrication.


Shotgun cleaning is not an area of expertise for me, and I will not begin to tell you what to do with scatterguns.