What lubricant is NO good

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TailGator

New member
Anyone ever use lithium or high quality marine grease? I wondered if a small amount on a bolt or slide rails would be a good or bad idea.
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I have used lithium grease on rails and on the locking blocks of Beretta 92 and PX4 pistols. Gives every appearance of working well and staying in place. I only have one pistol, an antique, that ever goes more than two or three months without being shot, though, so I don't test the "staying in place" characteristics too rigorously.

I have messed with lots of different lubes without being terribly impressed with the advantages of one over another. Remoil and Froglube are not on the list of things I have tried. Recently I picked up some Weapon Shield, though, and I think I like it as well as anything I have tried so far.
 
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Wyosmith

New member
In the 50 years of being around guns as well as other precision mechanisms and machines, I have learned something about lubes.
I have come to one conclusion.
Bad products (including lubes) are like lies. You can't number them and there is no reason to do so if you could. If you could someone can always make up 1000 more in just one day.
You need only the truth. All else is not worth your time.

Lubes come in many types and one problem is that a product could have been made in the 50s or 60s that is still sold in the same can today with the same name, but that formula has been changed. Sometimes for the good, and sometimes not.

So I have stopped looking for something new and better as a lube. I use a mix that I learned about 15 years ago, and I use it on all my guns and all my machines.
I use 90% Mobile 1 full synthetic 10-30 with 10% Automatic Transmission fluid, mixed together.

The only other lubes I ever need are a top quality high pressure grease and a top grade gear oil, both of which I buy at NAPA.

With these 3 lubes I cover all my needs from my windmill to my lathe to my guns to my wife's sewing machine. With these 3 I have yet to find a need that I don't have covered, and the 905/10 mix is what I use for about 98% of my needs.

Never had a problem and it seems to work better than any other commercial "gun product" I have even found.
 
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DMZX

New member
Does it burn my fingers?

I rode dual-purpose motorcycles, most off pavement, for many years.

I used a variety of chain lubes from the sticky foams to motor oil, to gear oil. I usually carried a bottle or can of some sort of chain lube when I was on a long road trip and lubed the chain at least once a day, or if the chain looked dry. I could never tell if one lube was better than another, so.... I finally decided to conduct a very unscientific test of lubes.

I would lube my chain and ride for 30 minutes of so and then put my fingers down on the chain to feel how hot is was. I figured the better the lube, the cooler the chain and sprocket.

The results surprised me a bit. The heavier the lube, the hotter the chain. I was not sure why. Maybe the heavier stuff got flung off easier, did not penetrate well, or tended to gather dirt/dust easily. Nonetheless, found that CLP worked very well as did WD-40. I started using WD-40 primarily due to low cost and I could get a small canister that was handy to carry. I used it for years and my chain and sprockets lasted a good long time.

I use CLP on my firearms.
 
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scoobysnacker

New member
A slight variation to the OP, that might benefit a lot of us casual shooters:

what's the worst product to use on a semiauto pistol, if you occasionally field strip it, inspect/clean/wipe down, and then keep it stored (meaning it's shot every several months, but is broken down and wiped off more often than that)?
Steel and/or aluminum frame.
What is the best for this application?

I have a number of old, metal pistols. Surplus, "Wondernines" (not the Glock variety) and such. I'm not a competitive shooter and don't carry in my line of work, so I just shoot a few hundred rounds every so often, and rotate which pistols I take to the range when I do. But since I like all my guns, I do also occasionally handle one, break it down, dryfire (with snapcaps) etc, and then put it back.
 
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Guv

New member
I have been using Rem Oil:eek: forever. The liquid for friction surfaces and the spray on a flannel cloth for wiping down the firearm. I've got hunting rifles that have been in the family for 45+ yrs and don't have any corrosion or gumming issues. None of these are self loaders, I'm pretty sure their requirements are different than a bolt or lever.
 
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45_auto

New member
wyosmith said:
So I have stopped looking for something new and better as a lube. I use a mix that I learned about 15 years ago, and I use it on all my guns and all my machines.

...

Never had a problem and it seems to work better than any other commercial "gun product" I have even found.
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I have an uncle who swears that VHS is the best and most convenient video format ever created. Of course, he quit looking for anything "new and better" about 30 years ago.

There's an excellent possibility that you would be surprised at how much more effective many of the specialty lubes are if you tried something that was developed in this century ...
 
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Sport45

New member
But sometimes good enough really is "good enough". If everything functions fine and there's no wear then using a "better" lubricant really isn't providing a benefit.
 
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EnoughGUN

New member
lube

Im not sure the conditions they are used under or how many decades people are letting these lubricants sit but...
I have used wd 40 in auto applications for years. Put it on every type of metal, plastic, rubber, even clear plastic. Never has hurt any surface plastic or paint. You can literally wipe down an entire car inside and out with it with no problems. I guess if you load it on and let a pool of it dry you can get a varnish but ive never seen it even on clear surfaces.
As for synthetics motor and trans oil if they are drying out on you the laws of physics have ceased to apply on your firearm. Modern synthetics will take more sheer load, compression load, heat range or cycling than any firearm will ever see. As for drying out if you spill a drop of motor oil behind your tool bench and find it thirty years later I GUARANTEE it will be there albeit covered in dust. No modern synthetic will breakdown or dry out in mormal atmosphere. At least not in any readonable amount of time.
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