Grease or Oil?

oil ftw. I use oil due to greases gummyness ... if thats even a word. Grease fails in extreme conditions either side of the spectrum. When to cold it becomes gummyness, where as in hot and humid temps it tends to start to be leaky (not in a technical way but it thins out you know?) opil seems to behave within norms to an extent in either extreme cold or extreme hot.

Another thing is grease attracts dirt like a fly on.... well you know. Grease is by nature pretty sticky while having the effect of being slippery. So with prolonged use of a firearm you'll start to see negative results including the hardening of grease from all the barrel fouling and even complete blockage.

This is my opinion. I don't use grease because i have encountered problems with it as a lubricant. Oil in my opinion is more reliable for guns in constant use.

read the owners manual, if you don't have one, get one. As far as slides vs. rotates, bolt actions do both. Will dirt trapped in grease keep the bolt from fully closing, maybe, maybe not. Using to thick of grease can jam even the venerable AK variants, there is a youtube vid of it. A guy didn't clean his "new" WASR 10, load, charge, fire, stovepipe. He did this severeal times before saying the gun is crap, which it is, but if it was cleaned properly first it wouldn't jam.

btw a WASR 10 is a Romian knock off, built from left over parts, packed in cosmoline. known for being of low quality, but a good entry level gun.

I live in the desert and I use MILITEC-1 dry lube.

This is what many military units use in Iraq in the fine dust and dirt.

www.militec1.com...

reply to post by ANNED


Thanks for the tip ANNED.

I personally just stick to the good ol cheap rem-oil. Worst thing I've ever had to do was clean the packing grease out of a friend's SKS he had just purchased. The barrel was completely packed with the stuff. Went through a few cans of WD-40 etc.

reply to post by ANNED


Cool, I'll have to check that out too at some point, I still have yet to try out the stuff I just got, which is this Magnalube-G. So we will see how it works I have yet to go to the range, but when I do I'll post how it works.

I already cleaned it and applied it and it doesn't take much. I might have to try to plan a trip out to somebody's property so I can shoot about 100 rounds then clean it and apply an even thinner coat to see if I get the same performance. I noticed when I was applying it just a little bit leaves a slick film over the are you apply it too.

Again thanks for the miltec-1 tip. I'll have to pick some of that up.

The absolute best lubricant for weopons TW-25B
TW25B ® - Light Grease Lubricant/Protectant TW25B ® Light Synthetic Grease is Mil-Comm’s original formula and a top-selling, extreme performance firearms lubricant worldwide. Its exceptional performance in adverse conditions (sand, dirt, high-humidity, salt-water and extreme temperature environments) has made it the choice of the U.S. Military, leading law enforcement agencies and sport shooters worldwide. Provides ultimate lubrication protection for all wear parts and the bore; eliminates galling, short-stroking; improves bore accuracy; increases muzzle velocity…best choice for extreme pressure, heavy load bearing conditions. EXCELLENT for long-term storage, maintaining weapons in fire-ready condition. All-synthetic, non-toxic.

And not only does it protect from rust but it even removed it!

reply to post by dragonridr


I second your choice
MilCom TW25B synthetic grease
Wipe it on wipe it off
Leave no residue
Best stuff ever

reply to post by Hastobemoretolife


I actually like both. I'll use grease on a pistol when I'm breaking it in. Usually Pro Shooter or Gun Butter, but I also have used slide glide and it works very good as well. After break-in, I use oil generally. FP-10 is a good product, but one I've found that I absolutely love is Wally's Rapid Fire. Unfortunately, it's had to find, I generally pick it up at a gun show.

I've used the FP-10 more than anything as I use to shoot anywhere between 12,000 to 18,000 rounds of .45 ACP a year in competitive shooting.

reply to post by gray_man


Cool. More stuff to try out at some point in time. I've always used oil on my guns and haven't ever used grease, and when I have gone to buy grease before I've noticed that the temp ranges were either not enough, or too much, where I live the temperature fluctuations could be go outside the bounds of the operating temp of the grease at even given day or night, then I came across that magnalube stuff.

I don't shoot competitively and I rarely get to shoot as much as I would like too. So that is one of the reasons for trying out grease.

I can't back this up with specs!

I am in the tool and die/machinist trade, we/I see lots of techies/salesmen.
The lube techs always get hammered, by everyone and the answer is predominately for guns and small moving parts that require lube and rust protection, such as micrometers, and precision measuring tools.

The answer is %90 of the time ATF "automatic transmision fluid"
It has great penitrating ability and leaves a film...very lite...
And is very high in detergent ...will break up junk....

I have used it for over 30 years and never had an issue, but what do I know.
Just throwing my .02 out there.