What is the best way to oil/lube a handgun?

[Ovid]

I have been keeping my handguns lubed with breakfree CLP (meaning a very light spray over all of the internals, and slide/rails). I've never had any problems that I know of with doing it this way, but I am assuming that it is sub-optimal, and would like to find out how the 'pros' do it.

My main question is; what is the difference between oil, and grease? Are you supposed to use both? I picked up some Tetra gun grease today, is this considered to be good stuff?

[ugaarguy]

Semi autos I put a little - tiny dot - of grease on each rail and cycle the slide to distribute, wipe off the excess. Any good gun oil, CLP (breakfree) included, is just fine on the moving parts of semis and wheelguns. A friend has recently turned me on to EZOX oil to wipe down the externals on all guns. It works great for that purpose, but again a oil rag with any good gun oil works fine.

[mrmeval]

Call the manufacturer and order the manual. Call and order a lazy boy. Sit.
Read. :)

They do have good information in them and some guns require grease in some areas and oil in others.

[Handgun Midas]

I've been using Slide Glide (http://www.brianenos.com/pages/slide-glide.html) rather, um.. liberally on my semi-autos for a bit. I put it in the rails, the barrel lugs, and all over the guide rods.
I even put a very, very light coat on some mags that didn't want to drop free fully. I like this lube over oil for major moving parts because it stays put, and while it does mingle with the powder residue like oil does, supposedly this does not hinder it's effectiveness.

I only use FP-10 oil in the locations indicated in the gun's manual; places I can't lube with the grease, basically.

[evan price]

I over oil. We have a humidity problem at my house. Every moving point gets a dot of oil. Cycle every moving part a few dozen times wipe down excess. Wipe entire gun with oily cloth. You can tell my guns because they are like that old Chevy motor with tired valve cover gaskets when I take them out. Smears of oil all over. Wipe 'em down and they run fine. Now if I lived in the desert I would not do this.
I recently bought a nice revolver that had been stored dirty & not oiled for undetermined amount of time, the cylinder release and action were stiff and gritty, did not like to latch closed, had to "fiddle" it to open, felt like poop when you cocked it, barrel full of carpet fibers... Cleaned and oiled the he77 out of it and it feels like new now.

[WT]

5 drops of oil on an auto - rails, barrel, slide above barrel and trigger mechanism. Wipe down outside with silicone cloth.

2-3 drops on a revolver - hammer, maybe ejection rod.

[Ala Dan]

Here in central Dixie'Land summers can get very HOT, humid, and muggy so
I alternate between Break Free CLP, and Eezox; as both do a mighty fine
job. Also, I use a little bit of Tetra Grease on the rails of all my semiautos.

[Flame Red]

I threw all the various 'gun' oils away and only use Mobil-1 0W oil on everything. This was at the suggestion of Cobray (for a FA NFA where all the other crapola gummed up). The stuff is $5/quart at Wally World which will last you a life time. It will not cake up, burn off, gum up or dry off. Make a good protective coating too.

The only gun I grease is a M1 and M1a (no oil on those). Tetra lube is great on those.

[RNB65]

Gun oil evaporates and/or runs off within a few days so be sure to oil both before and after shooting. Oil before shooting to lubricate and minimize wear. Oil after shooting to prevent rust. And if you're shooting a large quantity of ammo in one session, you may want to add a little oil mid-session also.

[XDKingslayer]

Once I clean my XD I wipe everything with a rag damp with CLP. Internals get a pretty good coating externals get a light coat. I take a q-tip and dip it into CLP and get the various springs and the extractor. Then it gets grease in the slide rails and that's it.

Then it gets a fresh coat of CLP on the outside every other day or so.

[robctwo]

I've just started using the TS Moly paste. Thought I'd give it a try for a few weeks. So far so good.

http://www.tsmoly.com/old/ts70.shtml

[kansas45]

This go's against everything Iv'e ever learned about lubeing a firearm.
My buddy, one of the threegun Guru's in this part of the country told me that if a hand gunner dosen't have oil running down his arm after fireing a freshely cleaned wepon he didn't do it right:confused: ! Well I tried it. I use Mobile 1 5W30 on my stuff. (fishing reels,slot car's, door hinges ect). So the next time I cleaned & oiled my XD45 Tactical I put quit a bit on the slide & guide rod & more than usual in the trigger area. I prettymuch over oiled everything. Then, feeling a little guilty about it I stood the thing on it's nose overnight & let the oil run off on a rag. Then before I left for the range I wiped off the excess. The thing worked so smooth that I could hardly believe it! Of course I had to wipe the oil off several times during the session but it was no big deal. I doubt that I would do that with a shotgun or rifle that I was takeing out to hunt with but now it is a standard thing with all my range guns!:)

[sm]

Search under this member's username for the Correct Answer to Original Post...

Then just read Mr. Kennan's old posts period.

Yeah, he is that knowledable...

Get finished with him -then start reading usernames : dfarriswheel, Old Fuff, Jim Watson, Jim March, Stephen A. Camp...finish these I can suggest others...

[mljdeckard]

I use break-free as a default for everything. I live in the very dry desert of Utah, so the rule is, when in doubt, use less. I clean all my guns as well as I can, and then apply very sparing ammounts of oil to only the moving parts specified by the owner's manual. I am a big fan of teflon lubricants for everything.

I used a G.I manual from an M-14 for my M1A, and it said that in emergencies, motor oil could be used in emergencies, where GI lube was not agvailable, and that it should be cleaned off as soon as possible, and not used for long durations. I am not at all mechanically inclined, but is there a reason some of you guys have said you use motor oil? (I use only full synthetic 5w-30 in both of my cars.)

[usp9]

I view lubrication as a three part preventative program these days. The parts being;

1) Lubricating to reduce friction - Hoppes gun oil

2) Rust prevention -- Eezox

3) Metal conditioning --MilTec

I use all three on the theory that no single product does all three parts as well as another. These three products in my opinion are the best, or at least good enough, in their respective areas. My hope is that I gain the best quality of each, which lessens the weaker qualities of the others, (or something like that).

[RustyShackelford]

For general use I suggest a well made non toxic CLP(cleaner/lubricant/protectant). I really like the German made Ballistol(check spelling). It has a nice cedar type smell, is non toxic, works great on all firearm parts(metal/wood/plastic) and provides a protective coating. Slip 2000 is a orange based CLP that works well too.

The RP-07 CLP, sold in the DeltaForce.com website and Uncle Mike's is based on a cleaning product the USAF uses on 20mm cannons, :D . The CLP works for smaller firearms too. RP-07 provides a protective coat, smooth operation and lubes the working surfaces.

www.ballistol.com www.unclemikes.com www.deltaforce.com www.slip2000.com

Rusty S

;)

[MidnightRambler]

I clean and lube with Breakfree and it's worked very well so far. To the folks who use Mobil One -- do you also clean with it, or just lube?

[desert gunner]

I used to use break free for everything but noticed sometimes on my 1911 it would gunk up a lil so switched to using the basics like hoppes and ever since the gun feels smoother

[tantrix]

I used to use break free for everything but noticed sometimes on my 1911 it would gunk up a lil so switched to using the basics like hoppes and ever since the gun feels smoother

Breakfree CLP is notorious for attracting every particle of dust in the universe to your gun.

I stick to Militec-1 on all my guns since it's a dry lubricant. You can apply it, heat up the slide & barrel with a hair-dryer, and wipe it off. Silky-smooth, no dripping oil, and virtually NO dust/dirt collecting in your gun.

Of course, most of my handguns are Glocks and they require very little lubricant to operate so Militec-1 is perfect for them.

[The-Fly]

of my semi auto handguns (Glocks, a beretta 92fs, and ruger mark III 22-45), i've found that breakfree clp works just fine for me. The only gun that ever gives me issues is the ruger, and the issues are not lube issues.

[Vitamin G]

I spray the inside of the slide with CLP, let it drain, and grease the rails with Shooter's choice. Works fine for me. The only time its jammed was when my rounds were WAY overcrimped.

[dairycreek]

A tiny bit of Tetra on the rails of autos and Eezox (used sparingly) for everything else. Don't forget periodic inspection. Rust just never rests:fire:

[Ovid]

Any experience with "Micro X" from LPS?

[MidnightRambler]

Cleaning guns is my least favorite thing about owning them, so I tend to favor lubes and/or techniques that are the fastest. Therefore, I'm not going to use something that requires me to use a hair dryer. I want to clean and lube, and get the thing back together as fast as possible. I find Breakfree does that the best on my Glock.

[kansas45]

My update. I tried using Mobile1 75/90 gear lube on the slide of my XD45 Tactical for the last two week's. One session with 200 round's & tonight I shot 250 round's of Winchester 230g. The gear lube stay's put & the gun worked smoothly each time. I still oil the other part's with Mobile1 5W/30.:)

[orionengnr]

--Disassemble (field strip).
--Blast slide, outside of barrel, recoil spring assy with Eezox.
--Clean inside of barrel with Hoppe's, brush (if necessary), patch
--Blast inside of barrel with Eezox
--Clean patch down the barrel
--Using a clean rag, wipe off excess Eezox
--Use that Eezox-damp rag to wipe down the frame externals and internals.
--If it is a polymer frame, a drop of FP-10 on each frame rail.
--Reassemble and cycle by hand 10-15 times.
Done.

Revolvers--similar, but less time on dis-and re-assembly, more time brushing cylinder.

Eezox rules!

[GeorgiaGlocker]

I use Breakfree CLP and Mil-Comm oil and Mil-Comm grease for the rails.