jakeswensonmt
New member
Do you use any sort of dry lubricant/coating on your firing pins? I've always been told to leave them dry, so I left them unlubed, but was curious about dry lube possibilities.
firing pin dry lube?
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bushidomosquito
New member
Graphite, if you must lube. Just scribble heavily with a pencil on a small piece of paper and rub it on the firing pin. Don't worry about it with Glocks because they have a plastic liner in the firing pin channel and metal on plastic needs no lube.
Bill DeShivs
New member
Firing pins should be lubed lightly with a quality rust-preventing lubricant.
Why would anyone want to leave them dry?
Why would anyone want to leave them dry?
Curtis(USAF)
New member
Read somewhere that lubricated your firing pins can cause primer failure. The man at the Box o' Truth website tested this one, and proved it fallible. exposed primers (In the reloading process) can be rendered duds by penetrating lubricating oil, but primers seated in their cartridges are pretty much safe. Either way, lubricating oil won't make your ammo go bad if you are about to shoot it. I lube my magazines (By either field stripping the mags, or depressing the follower and spraying in lube,) and I've never had a dud round save for some 22LR. And those were cheapies, I'm pretty sure they were duds when I bought them.
I would think that the only threat to primers is if it is a round in the chamber of an auto for some time and the gun is just dripping oil on the breach face or the firing pin, which would seem to me to be pretty poor practice. Suppose oil on the breach face or running out of the firing pin channel could migrate onto the primer and if the round was not one with the laquer seal around the primer, it might possibly penetrate round the primer and get inside. This would take time and would be enhanced by holster carry which would add gravity to the flow. A dry firing pin would not attract much crud to impede it's function. I can't see that a very very thin wipe with a dry type lube or one that just leaves a film would cause trouble. How bout wiping it with a silicone cloth? It ain't gonna rust unless you get water down inside the channel or somehow residue from corrosive primers blows back in there. So don't oil up the breach face, and keep the chamber and bore dry on carry guns I guess. If it is stainless steel keep it dry and clean.
Edward429451
Moderator
Lube in the firing pin channel slows down the action of firing pin movement which may cause failures to fire. Oil also will collect dust and compound the problem. Ask me how I know.
I oil my channel and fp, but remove it before assembly. Works for me.
I oil my channel and fp, but remove it before assembly. Works for me.
jakeswensonmt
New member
The wizened grayhairs I've talked to say leave it dry to prevent slam fire/fail to fire due to wet lube collecting crud and jamming the pin. I hadn't heard of the primer failure possibility.
The reason I asked in the first place was I was cleaning out the Kel Tec P11 that gets carried IWB a lot, and as usual the open back end of the slide was furry with lint. I clean it out regularly, the lint builds up fast esp in winter. I wouldn't want to risk a wet lube on the firing pin of a fuzz-magnet carrry pistol like the P11.
Like the cost factor on that lube!
Bill DeShivs
New member
No lube because of the absolute remote possibility of a misfire from oil contamination (which doesn't happen), but you would run the risk of firing pin obstruction from rust or seizure?
Metal needs lubrication!
You don't have to put a quart of oil in there......
Metal needs lubrication!
You don't have to put a quart of oil in there......
Shadi Khalil
New member
I swab it real quick with an oiled patch, not to much. At sig they teach, "if its shiney, lube it".
Because crud and powder granules get under there and stick. I have had sticky rotation and revolver functioning glitches. A piece of powder was under the extractor star and you could barely make out the fact it was not fully flush with the cylinder, thus binding things up. Popped up the extractor and wiped it away. Fixed. Guess then the idea is that you should dry fire your EMPTY revolver to make sure things are moving smoothly, before loading up for carry. But that has been a pretty rare problem for me, if the powder burns cleanly, not so common. But I suppose lead slivers or brass chips can do the same.
bushidomosquito
New member
Lint under the hammer, happens on my father in laws kel-tec a lot too. He left it with me for a holster form once and I couldn't believe the crud around the hammer. That's why I don't like hammer fired guns for defensive use. I'd hate to have a misfire because I had a sloppy lunch and a chili bean or something found it's way in there.
Shane Tuttle
Staff
Hmmmmm....
Well, those that know me here already know what I'm going to say...but I will again anyway...
I skirt the whole issue by using Eezox. It penetrates the metal to protect it from corrosion. It dries so that it doesn't attract debris...so much so as it provides oil/fingerprint resistant surface. It protects the metal on a molecular level from friction. And, the best part is subsequent cleanings are a breeze...
So, do I "lube" or "coating" my firing pins? The answer is yes. That way I can have my cake and eat it, too!
Well, those that know me here already know what I'm going to say...but I will again anyway...
I skirt the whole issue by using Eezox. It penetrates the metal to protect it from corrosion. It dries so that it doesn't attract debris...so much so as it provides oil/fingerprint resistant surface. It protects the metal on a molecular level from friction. And, the best part is subsequent cleanings are a breeze...
So, do I "lube" or "coating" my firing pins? The answer is yes. That way I can have my cake and eat it, too!
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Bill DeShivs
New member
Anything that "penetrates" metal would have to dissolve it!
Not saying Eezox is not good-I have no experience with it. But their advertising leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Not saying Eezox is not good-I have no experience with it. But their advertising leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Shane Tuttle
Staff
Yes.
Yes.
I think you might be taking the term "penetrates" to a legalistic context. What I'm saying is that metals are porous. Eezox penetrates the actual surface of the metal and makes its way down into the crevices on a microscopic level.
Think of it as how a rain jacket works. Gore-Tex even. Your body can easily "breathe" with the jacket on due to the material having thousands of tiny hoes so to speak. Water may make its way through cotton like no tomorrow, but the material of your rain jacket is still able to keep you dry. Why? Because water has a surface tension that's too high to make its way through.
The same can be said of some cleaners/lubricants/protectants. Their chemical makeup doesn't necessarily perform as well as ones that specialize in a single category.