Controversial opinion: RemOil is actually pretty good

I agree that RemOil is good. But for preservation I use R.I.G. and/or paste wax.

Bazoo said:

I dont see how folks can use motor oil on guns. It leaves a very thick and tacky residue. I don't want to have to cut the oil off my hands after handling one of my babies.

Click to expand...

If it does, youre using the wrong stuff.

Aerosol RemOil has been my all-purpose "go-to" but unfortunately I can't find it anywhere in stock any more. Is it still being made?

wiscoaster said:

Aerosol RemOil has been my all-purpose "go-to" but unfortunately I can't find it anywhere in stock any more. Is it still being made?

Click to expand...

I ain't seen it for a year anywhere. The old cans I bought were at a pawn shop on their gun junk shelf. I was tickled pink to get it.

trackskippy said:

I quit using "gun oils" for a lube quite a while back. Switched to Mobil One and never looked back. Works just as well and a quart usually costs less than what a small bottle of gun oil costs. Lasts forever too. Im still on the first quart I bought years ago, and its still 3/4 full.

Most of the "do all" stuff usually doesn't do "all", all that well. Ive had a lot better luck with using things that are meant for their specific purpose. I use oil for lube (except for a couple of guns that specifically need grease), Eezox for rust preventative and on my wipe down rags, and Hoppes for cleaning.

Click to expand...

When my gun oil bottle gets low, I just top off using the dribblings from my next Mobil 1 oil change. Usually more than enough to top off that small needle tipped bottle.

Now that I have three additional cars to care for, courtesy of our kids, there's definitely no chance of me running out of gun oil!

Just picked up some Lucas CLP last week from Sportsman's Warehouse. Seems to work pretty well. I also have a bunch of RemOil and it's OK. But, I also have some Mobil 1 5-20w in a squirt can for slides and rails. It really smooths out an action.

I haven't seen any for years. It's one of the best lubes I have ever used to lube the bolt on a bolt action rifle. Smooth as butter.

Bazoo said:

I dont see how folks can use motor oil on guns. It leaves a very thick and tacky residue. I don't want to have to cut the oil off my hands after handling one of my babies.

Click to expand...

Because you don't saturate the whole gun with it but put one or two drops here and there kind of like they tell you in the owner's manual.

bdickens said:

Because you don't saturate the whole gun with it but put one or two drops here and there kind of like they tell you in the owner's manual.

Click to expand...

Fair enough.
I was thinking about rust prevention. Most of the time folks that use it say they use nothing else.

Anchorite said:

Oh man…..pass the popcorn .

On a more serious note, I try to ascribe to the maxim, if it slides, grease it, if it pivots, oil it.

Over the years I’ve tried many oils, I have lately settled on Mobil 1, ballistol and something called “zero friction” that I picked up in a sample tube at a gun show. Seems good.

For grease, I’ve used Rig and something from Brownells called “action grease,” that I’ve been using for 20-plus years. A little goes a long way. YMMV

Pick what you are comfortable with and go forth and bust some caps.

Click to expand...

I use the "rattle rule." If you shake it and it rattles, grease, if not, oil.

As for Remoil........

I had a customer who used it all over his car. Door hinges, dashboard, even the engine cover! I can still smell the hot fumes erupting from under the hood.

Never again, God no.

Remoil isn’t magical but it’s plentiful, and for me it seems to always be free. I have never bought a can but I have 4 or 5 laying around. Christmas, birthday, random crap I acquire seems to have a can stashed in it.

I use rem oil on my pistols and break free on my ARs. I would use rem oil on everything but I noticed the break free clp worked better for the ARs after using both. I know they are both clp's but the break free seemed more oily. I miss the free gallons I used to get... now I have to pay for them.

I’m still very fond the mixture of ATF/STP/Mobil1 I began using 30 years ago, but I’m fairly convinced all I really need is any decent motor oil and bearing grease you can buy in any auto parts store in the world, plus a can of Johnson’s Paste Wax for long-term rustproofing.

The conditions inside a modern 4 cylinder engine and a trailer wheel bearing are far more punishing than inside any sporting gun, probably more than most military ones as well. Automotive products are more than capable of doing the job for gun stuff.

wiscoaster said:

Aerosol RemOil has been my all-purpose "go-to" but unfortunately I can't find it anywhere in stock any more. Is it still being made?

Click to expand...

It's possible I might have bought up the last case. When the pandemic started I had to make sure I had a lot, cause I use it for my locks, gates, door hinges, door locks, every outdoor keyhole... it lasts longer than wd40.

There is a lot of trial, error, experience, and advice from gun owners about lubes. Over the years I have learned from this and have some really nice gun oils/lubes now. I doubt someone is going to talk me into driving down the the motor aisle section of Wally World to replace what the oils/lubes that I am using now with a bottle of motor oil.

I can't provide any definitive facts relating to this, so take it for what it's worth, but from what I've read and heard is RemOil w/Teflon is a lil heavy on mineral oil and very, very light on Teflon (PTFE). Which would kind of make sense to my logic since it burns off after a magazine or two and doesn't really lubricate well in my experience. Other lubes like SuperLube is kind of the same consistency, goes on thin and gets into lots of places and is apparently loaded with a goodly amount of Teflon, lasts a very long time and is cheaper. It's an automotive lubricant, can be found at Autozone for like $6 for a big can. I know that it's good stuff and works well, lasts a long time but the drawback is it's very toxic and one should exercise caution with PTFE lubricants since once absorbed into the body can never be voided back out of the body and is known to cause health problems like cancer, etc...

That's one good thing about ballistol, which I've also used. It burns off very quickly too but is completely skin safe although smells like cat urine. I use it sometimes when I just want to hose down my BCG or something and can't take special care to avoid contact with skin, etc...

I guess it depends on the application, for guys who don't send alot of rounds down range in quick succession and don't heat their rifles up and take it at a much slower pace, Rem Oil, Ballistol and others are more than fine. But ones I would avoid no matter what kind of shooter you are is Froglube and Hoppes oil. They will gum up the works something terrible, especially in the colder months.

I'd really like to go into this more (I have elsewhere), but I'll sum things up here:

Oil, as a gun lubricant, needs to have a few qualities to be considered "good".

1. It has to lubricate. (Duh...I know. )

2. It has to prevent/minimize corrosion, generally accomplished by preventing water and oxygen from coming into contact with the metal.

3. It has to adhere to the metals and remain so for a fair amount of time. This is important because it cannot lubricate, nor prevent corrosion, if it does not.

There are other factors, but these generally are in support of these three. Chemicals which stabilize the lubricant or enhance corrosion resistance, for example.

A lubricant is NOT a cleaner. In fact, trying to combine lubrication and cleaning is opposing purposes and generally will result in compromising on both qualities.

That said, the "best" lubricants are ones specifically designed AS lubricants.

NOW...

The are a lot of lubricants on the market and a lot of people have personal testimonies as to their effectiveness.

What those testimonies mean is that these people find those lubricants to be satisfactory IN THEIR OWN PERSONAL USE AND UNDER THEIR OWN CLEANING/LUBRICATION PRACTICES.

In other words...if it works for you, great. No rust? Moving parts operate freely? Awesome!

HOWEVER...

If you are not as diligent at maintaining your firearms, if you keep yours stored for extended periods without any attention, if your home is drier or more humid than other people's, if you're in a hotter or colder climate...then your specific needs may not be best served by what another person uses.

SO...it's not necessarily about what's "best" so much as it's about what works for YOU.

I started using Hoppe's 9 a long time ago. My uncle who taught me gun safety and the finer art of plinking used it so I did. Well that did not last long. I found it evaporats and gums up. I have tried alot gun oils, sprays, and snake oils. Kriol was my go to for a while then for the past 10+ years I have been using Amsoil MP spray for cleaning. A synthetic motor oil and Kluber altemp q nb 50 paste.
This has worked well for me and my firearms.

If your lube keeps your gun(s) wet for your longest rang session then a good lube you have.

If you like plain old oil, the reason people hate it is:

Rem Oil used to be just fine to rather good.

Since... sometime this century I think, but unclear, Rem Oil is some oil in a can with a remington label on it. It is sometimes actively bad but mostly it varies over time. Part of the outsource, commodify, DNGAF nature of too much of every industry.

I have used RemOil for 30+ years, without issue.
I used Mobil 1 synthetic for awhile. It got sticky after a bit.
AmsOil left some of the additives out of their synthetic MOTOR oil and added some different ones to make a GUN oil and a spray cleaner

Been using both for 3 years and I like them.

I have been using Rem Oil on my guns for decades. I use CLP to clean them after firing, but then I use Rem Oil to preserve the metal parts. Yes, it dries up quickly because it is so thin, but it only takes a couple minutes to wipe down the exterior and interior metal surfaces every couple weeks. I have never has even the slightest hint if corrosion on any gun. I used to do a lot of winter hiking and camping before my near 80 years slowed me down. I used Remington DriLube before going cold. It was excellent winter lube. Remington maintenance products are among their finest products.

"I" (note that horrid pronoun that's frequently associated with validating a certain product one may or may not use) have tried both Sesame Seed Oil (yum!) and Peanut Oil.

Of the two, Peanut Oil is superior due to cost - they have very similar thermal characteristics.

And you don't have to worry about Cancer.

The Glockodile said:

... have tried both Sesame Seed Oil (yum!) and Peanut Oil.

Of the two, Peanut Oil is superior due to cost - they have very similar thermal characteristics.

And you don't have to worry about Cancer.

Click to expand...

... but have you tried popcorn oil? I imagine you'd soon have a cluster of hungry shooters gathered around your shooting table. Anybody bring the salt???