slide rail lubrication: oil vs. grease

Both of my 1911's are pretty tight. With grease they get sluggish. Weaponshield all around for me.

I use Militec grease on the rails.tom.

Mobil 1 Synthetic on all my weapon's lubrication points.

I've used it for years and have no firearms with rust issues. All my weapons cycle and operate flawlessly without any residue or buildup.

I use Bore Butter, its non toxic and smells good i also use it to pack barrels for long term storage... good stuff!

Used to use the $5.00 to $10.00 little bitty bottles of stuff.

Now I use the drippings from Mobil 1, guns dom't seem to know the difference.

I guess if it's good enough for factory fill on a Corvette its good enough for my arms.

I use CLP for all lubrication, if its good enough for the Marines, its good enough for me.

If it is a semi auto and you are trusting your life with it why would you use a lubricant that slows the action down(more so with colder temps. In Alaska folks have stripped all the lubricant out of the firing pin areas because a bolt action rifle would not push the pin because of stiff oil. Use light wt oil and keep it clean or someday it will not cycle properly when you really need it to. I would run a gun dry before I used grease anywhere on it. My 2 cents.

Phil Wood Grease

I've always and only used Breakfree CLP, but noticed some wear esp. on aluminum frame rails so I picked up some Tetra grease. I dried the CLP off the external barrel, frame and slide rails with a cut up t-shirt, then spread the tiniest amount of grease I could get on those surfaces, so they are barely shiny. Haven't shot the gun yet, but the slide doesn't "feel" as loose when I rack it by hand, so I wonder if I 1) didn't use enough grease or 2) should have used alcohol or some other degreaser to get the CLP off, instead of just wiping dry the surfaces I greased. The packaging on the Tetra grease says to buff the grease into the metal "several times" and to buff it until it's "semi-dry."

Users of both Tetra grease and CLP, any advice? How much on the slide rails (bb sized drop on each rail? Less? More?)

When shooting, how many rounds before wiping off/relubing the greased surfaces? I used to go every 50 - 75 rounds or so before adding a drop of oilt to each slide rail and barrel hood.

I make my own oils now. I want some thing that deosn't evaporate in a week.
Also I don't want grease thats hard to clean off or turns into grit. It has to be able to be blasted out of the nooks and crannies of my gun with CLP and air.

I find that cleaning with CLP works best. Just have to let the gun air out for a few days before carrying it. Maybe a little bore solvent when needed.

For oil I use STP and ATF mixed 50/50. It stays in place, lubes well, cleans off easy, and deosn't give off that gun stink that gives away the fact I'm carrying.
The STP is that super thick blue bottle engine oil treatment. really sticky. The ATF thins it out nicely.



As for Alaska, that a gun issue. Fudd guns don't like adverse conditions. Chances are the cold is just shrinking the tolerances of the gun too much. Solution: get a better gun. FP's are suposed to be dry or very lightly lubed anyways, unless it's an AR type.

Also wet lubricated dust/grit is alot more slippery than dry dust grit.

wilson combat ultimate grease in the syringe is the best i've tried. even better than mill-com, and half the price too.

Wilson Ultimalube deos rock.

Every manual I own Kimber ,Colt,Springfield,Browning all say to use oil I think this bunch might know a little something about topic. The Kimber and Browning HP go has far as to say do not use grease.

I use a minimal amount (thin film) of light grease wherever lubrication is needed on my S&W M&P40, and that's it. The reason is that grease stays put better than any oil (although some oils are far better than others in this regard). Weapon Shield grease works great for this purpose and is a strong corrosion inhibitor even when wiped off (matches or exceeds even Eezox in this regard). Be careful with Militec-1, by the way, because it appears to promote corrosion when simply used as a lubricant. Another caveat is that weapons with exceptionally tight tolerances and/or full-length slide guides may work better with oil, in which case Weapon Shield CLP works well, too, and stays put for a long time (it's an improved version of the original FP-10--the same guy made them both).

I prefer Mobil 1 20W50VTWIN.

M1 20W50VTWIN provides excellent lubrication and corrosion resistance and remains long after the longest, hottest range sessions. Good dispersant/detergency makes cleanup a breeze and as an extra benefit, buying a quart of it (a virtual "lifetime supply") won't break the bank. (@ $9-$10 per quart)

Good link, full of information on lots of different synthetic oils if M1 ain't your thing-

http://www.stoppingpower.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16727

I just use weapons shield.

wilson combat ultimate grease in the syringe is the best i've tried.

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+1, Stories about DW's seizing got me started, now I use it on all my 1911's.

Grease on the slide and Rem oil or CLP on the inside

Lubricant

I trust Weapon Shield, it cleans, lubes and protects both my CZ and my FN-9

Smells decent, no heavy petro-odor and is a time-saver, since you don't have undertake more than two steps in cleaning and lubricating your weapon.

As interesting of a poll as this is, it's non-specific as to what type of auto this is about. I don't think that all pistols should use grease nor should all use oil. For example, if you're running a tight 1911 such as a Dan Wesson or Les Baer you don't want to lather it up with grease. I'd run some Militec, FP-10 or Weapon shield on it. On a Sig with a alloy frame? Probably grease like Slide Glide. Glocks? Anybodies guess. I don't think they require much on their rails, but a drop of oil or two.

Hoppe's #9 oil in the orange bottle, but will have to admit I am experimenting with other products. I do know that regular oil has some things going for it that the silicone and teflon lubes do not. It is all about film strength. If you want a lubricant that has superior film strength you want the (EP) designation. This stands for (extreme pressure) this will be found on most thick industrial gear lubes Like Shell Omala 220 EP Gear lube. Or for the gear heads out there, the 90WT you put in your differentials of your trucks is a EP lube. However thick EP lubricants do not like cold weather, they turn into a thick STP type situation.

Hoppe's #9 oil in the orange bottle

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Grease.

Fudd guns don't like adverse conditions.

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Most "Fudd" guns (improper usage of the term) are based off of military actions.

I go with a mix of G96 oil and Tetra grease, works great, stays slick through whatever you want to put it through but comes off easily taking most of the dirt with it come clean up time.