Gun Lube recommendations?

Make mine Fish & Chips.

 

Yes.. The sutle sent of Hoppes wafting around the house will stir a womens soul. Well, maybe over stated a little..

 

My wife don't go for that ..

 

I need a good gun oil lubricant. The tube I grabbed at the shop is garbage.

 

I've been using Hoppe's on my bolt actions and Mill-Comm MC2500 oil and and TW25B grease on my AR's and semiautomatic pistols. The Mil-Comm products came in a kit that had two bottles of the oil and one tube of the grease. They have worked very well so far.

 

Please, when doing research on this specific topic, be sure to read the descriptions...and stay away from Gun Oil, which is a water based lubricant and has NOTHING to do with firearms.

I'm still disturbed by the coworker who found some of this stuff and thought it was "funny".

 

Tetra grease works, but you need to be careful with it. It does not prevent rust, meaning you need to pay attention when the guns are in storage.

 

I use the brown GI issue grease in the clear plastic container with the yellow screw on lid for rifles that run fast enough to sling oil off. Then Mobil 1 5W30 and on semi-auto pistols, and everything else I use Ballistol.

 

You use motor oil and that works fine? I have read that before but unsure if the source could be trusted. Just regular motor oil?

 

Mobil 1 synthetic is far from "regular motor oil." Most firearms need only about three drops.

I'd use CLP, but after a couple decades using it to scrub machine guns I can't stand the smell of it.

 

Yup, plain motor oil works, and so does 3 in 1. Gets into and on everything, from the hardware to your sleeves, even on slow mechanisms. Bad choice (sez me and maybe me only) on semi-autos, gets thrown ALL over. Do NOT use with wood stocks, in the long haul, it will soften the wood and mess up the bedding to a fare-thee-well.

CLP is good stuff, but as with most multi-purpose products, there are some compromises.

 

breaks free isn't too bad...

 

Had to research that one...

 

Also, know where, what type, and how much lubricant to use:

 

You were warned.

 

After, literally, a lifetime of using all sorts of different gun lubes I have finally settled on Safariland’s current formulation of Break-Free 'CLP'. Over prolonged periods of time (beyond, say, 3 or 4 months) Break-Free stands up better than any other gun lube I have ever tried; and unlike Ballistol, my second favorite (multipurpose) gun lube, Break-Free leaves no residue that might either gum-up, or acidify on the gun during prolonged storage. (Yes, this has happened to me!)

I like FrogLube. In fact I’ve got a large container of each of the aforementioned gun lube products, here, on my desk as I type; but FrogLube shines more as a general external protectant than it does as a lubrication product.

FrogLube doesn’t get along well with petroleum-based oils; and special surface preparation with an alcohol soaked cloth is required in order for FrogLube to adhere well to gunmetal. What I’ve been doing with FrogLube is using it on my knives in order to protect them, as well as on the outsides of my rifles, and pistols in order to do the same thing.

Typically, I'll apply FrogLube to my EDC pistol and carry it inside my holster for up to 4 months without any other sort of other external care — except for, maybe, an occasional wipe down with a dry cloth. I still treat the inside of my guns with either 'CLP', or Ballistol. (Ballistol for guns that I intend to use in the short term; and Break-Free for guns that I might not intend to use for a while.)

I do, on occasion, use Sentry Solution Products. They are magnificent lubricators and protectants; and certain of them will neither collect nor hold any sort of external dust or firing residue; HOWEVER, and this is a big 'however', a few of Sentry Solutions' best lubricating products are, both, mildly toxic and skin permeable.

So, with the exception of 'Tuf-Cloth' I use most Sentry Solution lubricants INSIDE rather than outside of my guns. (Whether chlorinated or not, I never clean my guns with anything like, either an automotive carburetor and/or brake cleaner; and I’m extra careful with certain Birchwood Casey gun products, as well as Acetone which, on too many occasions, I have watched others use; and I always keep Sentry Solutions' 'Hi-Slip' grease, and ‘Smooth Kote’ INSIDE of the gun.)

No matter how damp or dirty an environment might be, and no matter the length of storage, (up to, say, 5 or 6 years) for all-weather, all-temperature use I still like commonly available Safariland Break-Free, and/or Weapon Shield, 'CLP' products the best!

ADDENDUM:

1. I should have, perhaps, added that gun cleaning can be a tricky business, and is not without certain personal health risks — Real personal health risks that should not be ignored, and especially not if someone has done as much gun cleaning as I have over the past several decades!

With this warning in mind, for more than the past 25 years, I have never (as in ‘never’) cleaned a gun without (A) adequate ventilation, and (B) wearing a pair of either Nitrile, or Latex gloves. (I buy these gloves in hundred-count boxes from either Amazon, or one of the larger hardware or supermarket stores.)

2. In the above document, and wherever possible, a second highlighted link to the same cleaning product will bring up that product’s Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). This information is well worth reading; and several relevant facts continue to stand out in my mind:

3. With all of the (usual) IGF scuttlebutt about Ballistol being unusually safe to use, and (occasionally) even safe enough to drink — DRINK! — I found its MSDS to be particularly informative!

(Do not even think about drinking Ballistol in the same way that I have, more than once, read of several users doing by taking a swig just to prove their point!)

4. In the product MSDS, Safariland went farther than government regulations require in describing the potential hazards associated with the use of Break-Free CLP.

5. Same thing for Weapon Shield; but adequate ventilation, and the use of Nitrile/Latex gloves remains highly recommended.

6. FrogLube, while it isn’t a terrific bore cleaner or the world’s greatest lubricant, is — by far and away — an extremely safe-to-use gun maintenance product. (Others have told me that FrogLube is essentially made from a highly refined coconut and/or canola oil base; and I think that I believe them.)

7. Birchwood Casey gun cleaning and maintenance MSDS product information:

(A) Gun Scrubber

(B) Bore Scrubber, and

(C) Barricade

8. So that you can decide for yourself, here are the Material Safety Data Sheets for the several Sentry Solutions products I’ve mentioned; and, yes, with certain precautions I’ve used and continue to use them all:

(A) ‘Tuf-Cloth’ (Located in Section #1)

(B) ‘Smooth Kote’ (Located in Section #2)

(C) ‘Hi-Slip' Grease Located in Section #3)

9. Truth be told, I have cleaned so many guns so often in my life that I have finally learned to take any available shortcut in order to leave gun cleaning’s ‘donkey work’ behind. In spite of the fact that some IGF members have taken strong exception to certain previous comments I have made about the efficacy of the following products, as far as I’m concerned, the finest and fastest bore cleaners on the planet are any, or all, of these three choices:

(A) Flitz Metal Polish >>> Flitz MSDS,

(B) Simichrome Metal Polish >>> Simichrome MSDS, or

© Iosso Bore Cleaner >>> Iosso Bore Cleaner MSDS and/or,

(D) Iosso ‘GunBrite’ >>> GunBrite MSDS This is the same product as Iosso Bore Cleaner except it contains an added long-lasting wax protectant. (Shoots off with the first several shots; so, believe me, the residual wax in the bore is usually no ‘big deal’.)

All four of these bore cleaning products work in exactly the same way — very fast, very well; and, as long as they are kept away from any gun bluing, each of them will — in no way — do any harm or cause accelerated wear to a gun’s bore. (And, I’ve got more than two decades of extensive gun cleaning experience, and almost daily use to prove it!)

10. In conclusion, this list is by no means a complete listing of all gun cleaning and maintenance products. These are only those products which I, myself, have used — OK!

THERE ARE, however, certain personal safety risks involved with ALL GUN CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE PRODUCTS of which each and every user should be aware, and against which sensible safety precautions should be routinely taken.

 

I use CLP, but make sure to go light with it, and always swab the bore out. That is what they used at the armory at JSOC when I did a tour with them. If you put any oil on too heavy you might have issues unless you swap your ammo out frequently. (Assuming you are using it on your CCW).

I also like Mobil 1 synthetic oil spray. I carry that in my range bag. It is harder to find around here, though than Triflow CLP.

 

Concur with all you said. Quick way to clean handguns is to put them (sans grips, or accessories) in a sonic cleaner and you can use ATF fluid to clean them, then wipe/blow them off until dry and relube. Very quick way to clean, gets all powder residue. I use rubber gloves these days when handling any solvent.