Engine oil use on guns

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Don't think engine oils prevent rust? Go to a junk yard, find an engine, ANY engine even one out of the vehicle and lying on the ground. Remove the crankcase oil pan. Remove a connecting rod cap and a main cap. Look at the highly polished crankshaft journals. How much rust do you see? Assuming it hasn't rained directly into the crankcase (with water standing inside) you will not see any rust because the journals are protected by run of the mill engine oil.
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I have been in junkyards, and been amazed when I have pulled intake manifolds and found little or no rust. Or lifted the oil pan and everything looks good.

An oil coating, even an oil without additives, will provide better rust protection than an unprotected surface.

However, that does not mean motor oils are made with any consideration of rust protection.

It is unfortunate that you have to pay to see the SAE oil standard specs, SAE Standard Report J183, or the associated ASTM standards.

The military standard for oil is very incomplete, but it follows industry standards. You can look at Mil-PFR-2104 (better look at the older Mil-L-2104) at DoDiss. You can look at the test conditions and you won't see a rust test. You will see lots of other tests, but you won't see rust protection.

http://assist.daps.dla.mil/quicksearch/basic_profile.cfm?ident_number=3148
 
One other nice thing about synthetic motor oils is that their viscosity is stable over a wide range of temperatures. That is, they won't get too thin when they get hot, and they won't do a molasses imitation in the cold.

I used to put Mobile 1 in my truck to make cranking easier in the winter when I lived up north.

Bob
 
Boesheild T-9

I use Boesheid T-9 on my firearms, fishing gear,tools and marine electronics.To me ,the product is the undisputed king.Waterproofs,once dry leaves no residue,and doesn't attract dust.The only downside is it's a little pricey,and sometimes hard to find.
 
No...look closely at the label, it says Birchwood Casey and is yellow not the Silencio colors. It is new stuff. I have read the B.C. news release in National Rifleman magazine and also in a email notice from "The Shooting Wire".
Joe
 
Hey Hey Hey you're right fantastic. Wonder just when it'll start appearing in the stores. It is one of the best.

Thanks for enlightening me.
jcwit
 
Here's a suggestion, to save a few bucks; save the containers from the motor oil you use for your auto engine oil change. Turn them upside down and let them sit awhile. 5 or 6 quart bottles, well drained, should yield enough oil for your gun use. Cheap.

I use a 50/50 mix of regular oil to synthetic oil, in my truck.
 
HaHa, back in the 50's thats how we kids used to get cheap oil at the gas station. They used to set the "cans" upside down on a section of eaves trough that was sloped down. It was called drippings. I remember paying 10 cents a quart. If i cleaned out the bays I got a couple for free.
 
Nothing wrong with using motor oil on your firearms.
I am sure olive oil (extra virgin) would be better than running it dry.
I can not believe how emotional THR member get over some subjects.
 
Oh but the 2 oz. bottle of hokum kokum surper semi synthis compined with the secret formula handed down by gread uncle Charlie who worked in the oil fields of eastern Texas compounded this special forumla made from an unidentified species of catus that guarantees satification for 10 years. Superior lubing qualities and total rustproofing of any and all sporting equipment for the life of the lube.

This can also be used to cure chigger bites and poison ivy and poison oak. Use sparringly on rattle snake bites, and quananteed to draw all poisons from any and all infections.

Do youhave a Pick-up using oil because of low compression or a worn muffler, 2 bottles of this elixir is guanenteed to rejunivate your motor to as new condition.

Please send $9.99 for one or save and get 2 for only $5.99 each plus $22.00 shipping.
 
I love these lube threads. They get better and better...:banghead:

BTW, I agree in a pinch many things will work and under most conditions our civilian arms will be okay with pet lubes. Just throwing more wood on the fire.

The US military has a standard for the full auto small arms and artillery applications and they did tests on the oils submitted for contract approval.

That lube is what we may purchase as Breakfree. If all the synthetic oils are so good for firearms, then why didn't the military spec that out in their arms maintenance and use program?

If one is able to emphatically say Mobil 1 is better than Breakfree, Tetra Gun, FP10 or many other lubes formulated for firearms, I'd like to see that test data. Engines do work under greater loads than firearms. Some of those additives need that pressure to "work" as they do.
 
My personal favorite is Mobil white synthetic grease with Teflon. I buy it from McMaster-Carr in full-size tubes, and the price is very reasonable. It is very similar to TW-25B synthetic gun grease, at a fraction of the price. It can be blended with Mobil-1 or any other synthetic oil to reduce the viscosity, and I don't worry for one minute about compatibility. I also bought some surplus synthetic turbine oil from CMP a while back, they were selling it as gun oil for $1/quart (I think), and it works fine too.

CLP does a great job of cleaning, but I am not jeopardizing the wear parts on my gun by using a different lube. At worst, it just takes much longer to clean out carbon fouling on my ARs. As long as you keep an oil film on them, metal parts will be protected.

I will say that I think CLP is a poor choice for guns with fine walnut stocks. CLP is made to penetrate roll pins and detent springs on autoloaders, and it does this extremely well. The same properties will make it migrate into a wooden stock and soak it over time. I always stick with a higher viscosity grease on my older mil-surps, whether it is labeled for guns or something else.

For a corrosion inhibitor, LPS-3 is the absolute best that I have tried. Absolutely wonderful. It is available in gallon cans or an aerosol version from McMaster-Carr. The spray version foams up to a large volume to cover parts, then it dries to form a waxy film similar to cosmoline. It cleans up easier than cosmoline and it smells way better. You can spray a barreled action with LPS-3, then let it dry several hours before reassembling to the stock. The metal parts will stay fully protected indefinitely, and the corrosion inhibitor will not soak into the wood. When you remove it from storage, just swab out the bore with light oil and it's ready to go to the range. So much easier than dealing with cosmoline.
 
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First I would never use engine oils on my firearms, they are much to valuable to risk for the savings I would get between a good gun oil & engine oil.

But if you really want to try this there is a test to find the best oil.
We did this test back in high school shop class, it really surprised me.
Take a qt. of the oils you are planning to use, heat it until it starts to smoke & drop in a polished steel ball bearing.
Let it cool & set it on the shelf for 3 months.
Three months later when you pull the ball bearing out of the oil if it has any rust, pitting, or a dark color on the polished surface don't use that oil on your gun or in your car.
This is why the oil producers suggest that you change the oil in your car every 3 months even if you have not driven the car after the last oil change.
Oil does break down and it absorbs moisture, you would not want that against the metal in your guns.
 
That shelf that you put the container that the ball bearing is in, is it in a humid enviroment or a dry enviroment, is it hot or is it cold.

I believe the oil industry has moved way past the High School Shop test for their lubricating, rust resistant, and any other requirements.

Furthermore the major oil companies selling synthetic oil no longer push for a 3,000 mile OCI.

Oil does not absorb water, water floates on oil in case you haven't noticed.
 
That lube is what we may purchase as Breakfree. If all the synthetic oils are so good for firearms, then why didn't the military spec that out in their arms maintenance and use program?
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There is absolutely no technical inhouse capability left in the Government. For the past couple of decades there has been a deliberate decline in the inhouse technical capabilities. It is about zero now.

If you notice on DoDiss, 99% of the specs were obsoleted 15-20 years ago. Back then, the Government no longer had the technical expertise to update product specifications. The problem got so bad, vendors were complaining about 50-60’s vintage specifications, that the powers that be obsoleted the DoD specification library. Can only use the old specs for reference. The best they can do now is write “performance specifications”. That is, specify that they want something that works, but not specify how it works, or what makes it work. They are barely bright enough to understand the problem, no one wants the numb nuts specifying a solution.

Private Industry has tribologists, where are they in the Army? LubeCom? Does not exist.

So, who in the Government recognizes that the current lubrication specifications need to be updated, and why would anyone care to make the effort?

Stupid is as Stupid does.
 
x man im pretty sure you shouldnt do that. theres a reason they say dont put synthetic in any engines that have over a few thousand miles on them. that being cuse the conventional oil doesnt mix good with synthetic.
 
I use Triflow on my guns.
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This is seriously great stuff. I use it on guns and anything that moves. I spray outdoor combination Master Locks that go through each season in Pa. Never had a problem working them.

Do what ever you are comfortable with.
 
Funny, Oil that is used to protect a high reving Ferrari or Lamborghini engine isn't good enough for guns! FWIW,camshaft gears and other press fit parts are heated IN OIL to just under flame-up temps to allow them to be installed. THEY DON'T RUST AFTERWARD.
 
x man im pretty sure you shouldnt do that. theres a reason they say dont put synthetic in any engines that have over a few thousand miles on them. that being cuse the conventional oil doesnt mix good with synthetic.
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Just where did you come up with this gem? What do you think synethic Blend is. Being as you don't know do a little research on bitog.com

Triflow is basically nothing more than Slick 50, put up in small containers.
 
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