Grease or oil?

Big Calhoun · #1

This past weekend, I decided to strip my guns and apply grease. The rationale behind this was during a few trips to Houston from Dallas, I noticed that the summer heat seemed to make the oil run from my gun, ending up on the bottom my drivers side map-box. I did some looking around and it seemed a good rule of thumb to follow was to apply oil to parts that pivot, and grease to parts that slide/rub, which is what I followed.

The grease that I used is called (IIRC) Shooters Grease -- comes in a push-plunger type applicator; the actual grease is red in color. When I purchased it, one of the salesman was saying that it really should only be used long term storage rather than everyday use because it slows down the action. After applying, reassembly, and chambering, I didn't reaily notice any changes when charging the weapons. Haven't had a chance to get to the range in order ot test yet, hopefully on Wednesday.

So do other folks use grease instead of oil or is oil the best way to go?

G.C.Montgomery · #2

Sometimes it depends on the gun. I had a Jimenea built, Caspian Widebody that was so tight I could only run it with oil. I could use heavier oils like gear lube but still, grease was out of the question for that gun. On the other hand, these days I run a light grease (Tetra) in all my guns except my AR15s which I keep "wet" with CLP.

JasonH · #3

Hey, quick and somewhat related question:

Do you all run a coat of oil in the barrel? I had one guy tell me he runs a patch with some oil through the barrel after cleaning the gun and another tell me that it just enables to gun to pick up residue easier.

I would just run a patch through and then a dry patch for a super thin coating of it.. but now I'm not so sure.

PhilR. · #4

I've used the same grease on the rails of three different auto's, and it seems to work just fine, and it won't run out like oil. One of these is a Glock, and although the common recommendation is to use oil (and very little of it), I decided to try the grease and it worked without any problems at all.

Since this stuff stays in place and seems to work fine, I will continue to use it on the rails, along with regular gun oil for the pivot parts and the portion of the end of the slide that surrounds the barrel....

PhilR.

PhilR. · #5

JasonH wrote:Hey, quick and somewhat related question:

Do you all run a coat of oil in the barrel? I had one guy tell me he runs a patch with some oil through the barrel after cleaning the gun and another tell me that it just enables to gun to pick up residue easier.

I would just run a patch through and then a dry patch for a super thin coating of it.. but now I'm not so sure.

I keep a thin layer of some type of protectant (Eezox or Breakfree CLP usually) in the bore. I don't particularly care if it does make it easier to pick up residue, as I will always clean the pistol after use. I've seen enough rusty bores to know that rust, like ca-ca, happens....

PhilR.

T3hK1w1 · #6

I use oil on everything except semi-auto slides, on them I use gun grease.

Dan20703 · #7

I use a light coat of "Slick 50" grease with teflon on my automatics. Works great and doesn't drip.

lrb111 · #8

I use a high temp lithium grease on slides and cylinders. Rem-Oil spray on triggers and hammers. I do pass a a dry patch though the wet barrel, to leave a light film.
However, I also put a used ear plug in the end of the barrel tp keep pocket lint and dust from trashing up the barrel.

AFJailor · #9

If you have never used it there is a relatively new product called Militec, it was designed to be used in extremely hot climates on weapons that fired a loooot of rounds. Ive used CLP for years but i like Militec better.

Big Calhoun · #10

I've read a lot about the Miltec product but haven't been able to find any locally. About time to start searching the net and pick it up that way.

Thanks for the info!! I did get a chance to run a few rounds through each of my guns last night and everything seems to be stat-quo. The pistols I did this with are a Kimber Ultra Carry and a HK P2000SK. I have a few other pistols that are more 'house' guns that I'm going to sit down and do the same thing -- grease the slides and oil the pivot points.

jbirds1210 · #11

AFJailor wrote:If you have never used it there is a relatively new product called Militec, it was designed to be used in extremely hot climates on weapons that fired a loooot of rounds. Ive used CLP for years but i like Militec better.

+1 I really like Militec.....I have used it over the last year with great results.

Jason

AFJailor · #12

For those who have never used it, Militec uses the heat the gun builds up during firing and bonds itself to the metal. So it basically makes your weapon self lubricating. Ive used it a few times on my AR and now i can basically just use a little solvent and wipe the parts down and it still looks like i just coated it with CLP. There is no greasy residue but it will maintain a wet appearence. Its primary design is for "Evil Black Rifles" and the like but ive used it on my Sig's and its worked great.

Also while re-qualifying on the M249 we used it and had excellent results.
Each person has to fire...i think its 600 rounds but i could be wrong...and there were 12 of us firing only 2 weapons. So that makes... a crap load of rounds fired and we had very few issues.

I got my supply from some friends, ill try to find out where you can buy it from and post it up here for those interested.

jbirds1210 · #13

Militec1 can be purchased direct.

http://www.militec1.com/

They offer a small and inexpensive bottle for those that want to give it a test run. They sponsored the Texas State IDPA match this year and included a small bottle in everyone's welcome kit. I really like the stuff and plan to continue using it.

Jason

ttorion · #14

A while ago I ran across a thread on the Kel-Tec Owners Group forum where one of the members did some unscientific testing of various lubricants. I was all set to order some Militec-1 until I saw these tests.

Or course, these tests may be meaningless considering how they were done versus how a firearm operates.

Lubrication Tests

Xander · #15

ttorion wrote:
Or course, these tests may be meaningless considering how they were done versus how a firearm operates.

Yup...I'd agree with that. I think a test to see how fast you could clean each one off your hands would be just as useful. Unscientific was a good word for that test, considering it tested qualities that firearm lubes don't need, and didn't test qualities that they do.

FWIW, Militec-1 is what Sig recommends for their guns, and the last new Sig that I bought even came with a little bottle of it.