Dry Film Lubricants - good idea?

[socalbeachbum]

I've seen the industrial/commercial applications of dry film lubricants, molybdenum disulfide or other materials, for example on piston skirts, and wondered if it's a good idea in auto pistols?

I've seen at least one spray and bake material Brownell's promotes for gun use. Has anyone out there tried these materials? I know it's a can of worms to ask what's a good lube for auto pistols

 

[Walkalong]

I use a dry lube on my powder measure, nowhere else.

 

[kokapelli]

I used them for years, but would not recommend them if you do a lot of shooting.

 

[dwjwin50]

Dry lubricants are good in dirty environments, like the desert. The amount you use will depend on how quickly it wears off. Not sure how effective it is in wet and corrosive environments because I live in an arid place.

 

[RX-79G]

How you lube your carry pistol and your range pistol are different things. A dry film lubricant may be the best possible lubricant to keep a carry gun lint free and capable of excellent reliability for 3 or 4 magazines.

Heavy wet lube attracts dirt and stains your clothes, but will cause less wear and tear for range use, and is easy to re-apply.

So I would use both, but for different types of uses.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I and a lot of guys I knew used Militec-1 in OEF. I thought it was good for that use and would use it again if I were going back. Here, I tend to use std gun oils since I can and its my routine here.

 

[usp9]

I use both Militec-1 and Eezox on all of my guns. Eezox is a great rust inhibitor as well. advantageous for guns in the safe too. My pocket gun guns get dry lube and tiny amounts of oil or grease on the rails. Keeps them ready to go.

Other guns get dry lube plus normal wet. Costs pennies to protect my guns... good investment for products that work IMHO.

 

[RX-79G]

Wet lube doesn't attract dirt. Magnets attract iron. Lube/grease doesn't attract dirt.

Are you really making an issue of "attract"?

If you are so literal minded that you believe every English word is from a science book, I can understand your confusion. But everybody else understands that English is full of phrases that aren't literal - like "inhale a cheeseburger".

Whatever. Dirt and lint stick to, hold to, accumulate in oil.

Better? Can we get back to discussing the topic instead of playing the junior high school version of linguistic police?

 

[Rinspeed]

I use dry Teflon on the interior of my mags quite a bit, also use it a lot on my 870 for some reason, not really sure why on the 870 other than it has always worked pretty well and it sees a lot of cold weather.

 

[cfullgraf]

Wet lube doesn't attract dirt. Magnets attract iron. Lube/grease doesn't attract dirt.

OK, but once dirt and grease come in contact with each other, dirt will stick to the grease. Not a desirable result regardless of how you look at it.

On the other hand, the grease could get electronically charged in which case it could attract dirt.

 

[springer99]

I'm a big fan of dry lubes, especially for my carry guns. Applied correctly, there's nothing to worry about dripping, moving, staining my clothes, etc. To be honest, I also use them almost exclusively on my range/bullseye guns as well. They provide me with all the lubrication I need for proper functioning and (especially in the case of .22LR ammo), tend to run cleaner with less gunk build-up. Longterm storage, think oils, grease, cosmoline, etc. Day-in, day-out use. Think OneShot.

 

[GBExpat]

I've seen the industrial/commercial applications of dry film lubricants, molybdenum disulfide or other materials, for example on piston skirts, and wondered if it's a good idea in auto pistols? ...

For a few years I have been using a dry-lube product named Smooth Kote on my carry semi-autos. I suspect that the key ingredient is molybdenum disulfide ... it sure looks like it. O'course, it could be graphite.

I prefer the dry lube because pocket crap does not readily adhere to it. The downside is you have to be VERY careful to not leave any of it accessible on the exterior of the piece unless you care nothing about the nasty charcoal-gray stains it can produce.

OT:
I have a little thick-glass, cork-stoppered jar of MoS2 that Dad brought home from NACA in the '50s. While maintaining the family car(s) he taught me how mix a tiny bit in with the grease to improve its performance. It always surprised me (still does) how the tiniest little bit stirred in will quickly change the look of a rather large amount of grease.

 

[DMK]

Is the OP talking about dry lubes or coatings?

I get the sense that the OP is talking about a protective coating with lubricant properties, such as this:

http://www.kgcoatings.com/products/firearm-related-products/protective-coatings/1600f-high-load-ptfe

 

[jhb]

i used to use moly on my walther p22, the early versions, when they were much more probematic. seemed to work fine but then again it's .22lr. never had to urge to try it on my larger caliber stuff and i stopped doing it to the walther years ago.