Grease better than oil?

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Got_Lead?

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Hello all:

A week or two back a fellow posted a thread concerning SIG frame wear. One reply referred to an armorer's post mandating grease on the slide to prevent pre-mature frame rail wear.

I tried some light grease on the frame rail of my SIG, it really slicked it up. Now it feels like it's floating on a film of lubricant, and no metal to metal contact can be felt, unlike the thinner gun oils, which while smooth in operation, felt like some metal contact was being made.

OK, now the question: Should grease be used on the barrel as well? One of the most evident points of wear on all my closed slide autoloaders is the barrel where it contacts the front of the slide, or bushing in the case of 1911's.

Also wondering about all steel guns, if grease offers any reduced wear advantages. Should I be greasing the rails of my steel framed guns as well, rifles, shotguns?

Help?
 
Yes, grease works good. You can us it outside the barrel. I use only CLP to clean and protect the inside.

But grease is pretty thick. It deosn't flow well. A good lube will grab dirt and allow itself to be wiped clear of the sliding surface as the gun cycles.

So I mix grease and oil until I get a ketchup like mixture. Way thicker than oil, but still pours like a liquid.

ATF, 15w40, STP mixed evenly makes a great oil, mix that with some Lucas Red & Tacky bearing grease until it's as thick as Ketchup, and you're all set.

Similar to the thicker Wilsons Ultima Lube and Tetra gun grease, but way cheaper and easier to clean.
 
The grease is OK for frame rails that make full contact with the slide (such as the SIGs mentioned, which also have aluminum frames), but IMO is unnecessarily heavy for other contact points and not necessary at all for most polymer frames, whose rails generally make little contact with the slide.
 
Grease can also hold grit and foulings acting like a lapping compound.
 
TW-25b is all I use now. Used to use Break Free, but comparing identical
guns side to side, one with BF and one with TW-25b, the TW-25b lubricated
gun is much smoother. Just need to use a small dab on the whole pistol too.
 
I have been using grease as well for many years. It is inexpensive, easy to find, it stays where you put it, it does not migrate to where you don't need it, and it does not splatter. Additionally Carbon sticks to it so it is easier to just wipe down the gun and get the majority of the gunk off quickly and easily. Every training course that I have ever done I have used grease. The majority of them are over multiple days and high round count, even my practice sessions are typically 500rds or more. At a class I show up with a cleaned and lubed gun, and may re lube but that is it, if i do that at all.
 
I have started to use grease in all my autoloaders but I still use oil in revolvers.

It definitely does a great job on frame and slide rails. I use it on aluminum, carbon and stainless steel and polymer/plastic. In autoloader action parts, it seems to work as well or maybe even better than the light gun oils and CLPs I used in the past. It doesn't evaporate or dry out as fast as oil either.

Does it hold dirt, dust and debris? Sure. But I've never had a gun jam up on me during long range sessions of several hundred rounds at a time. Any gun I carry gets field stripped, checked, cleaned and lubricated frequently and there's never been enough gunk in the works to cause any concern. Plus, I think the worry over grit causing excessive wear on the rails is overblown. Modern combat pistols are designed with enough play in the slide area to prevent excessive wear from debris. 'Course if you bury the gun in a sandbox and run hundreds of rounds through it without ever cleaning it, you will defeat the design in the long run.
 
I use Slide Glide or TW25B pretty much exclusively now, and usually Hoppe's #9 as a solvent. The grease works great and really smooths out the action and DA/SA hammers. I'll also use a thin film on the outside of the barrel and on the locking lug.
 
I thought grease would be better than oil when I got my first semi-auto, but I was advised against it. It may attract and trap more grime/unburnt powder/ brass shavings ect... and may slow the rate the slightest bit over oil.

A good grease would be beter than a cheap oil, but there are good oils that are better than any grease.

Gun butter/miltec-1/slip200 and some others.

Some of them dry so they dont attract grit, other are very thin so again they dont attract grit and the slide can move freely ithout being gummed up with grease.

Just my Opinion. Good oil is better than good grease
 
The key to using grease, or any gun lubricant, is to use it sparingly. Stating good oil is better than good grease without the facts to back it up doesn't fly.
 
Grease is better than oil for some applications or it wouldn't exist.

Next question.
Are some of those applications inside a gun?

In my opinion the answer is yes, but with reservations. If you live in an area that gets really cold or in a dusty/sandy area then maybe a good oil or maybe even a dry lubricant is better for you.

And you don't need grease for everything--just some spots call for it. I like a very light grease for areas that experience sliding contact where there's significant pressure involved, especially where oil will just drip off. Hammer/sear contact is a good place for grease.

The grease I use most commonly, I make myself from very fine moly powder mixed with BreakFree CLP. It doesn't really thicken significantly from the cold, and if the oil migrates out of the grease, it leaves the a moly residue in place which is still an excellent steel-to-steel dry lubricant.
 
I use Mobil 1 on all parts -no grease. Grease is to difficult to clean up and I find it slows down the slide. I've not seen nor heard of any premature wear issues using oil.
 
The purpose of grease is to hold lubricant in place where an oil will disperse. I have used Gunslick graphite lube from the little tube on slides of semi auto actions and other metal to metal contact points on rifles and shotguns for as long as I've owned guns and find that it works well in keeping the gun lubed regardless of how long its stored. A very small amount is all that's needed and it isn't as thick as most greases.
 
I use grease on my carry guns and oil on my range guns. My carry gun spends a lot of time sitting in a vehicle at extreme temperatures and oil seems to evaporate quickly. The grease will be there till the cows come home.
 
+1 To TW-25b that is what I use on my Sig P226. I use the grease on the rails, the oil on the extractor, and finish with a wipe and the spray grease. The only thing I use regular gun oil on anymore is my Henry .22.
 
Grease can also hold grit and foulings acting like a lapping compound.
Click to expand...

+1. I used to use grease on my frame rails until I realized just how much more grit, lint, and carbon was trapped in the grease. Personally I prefer a good oil like Mobile 1.
 
Oh Poo. Isn't there any product that will lubricate clean protect prevent metal contact so my gun will last forever act as a buffer so my slide wont hammer but recuce friction so light loads will function in 100 degrees below weather stick on everything that moves so it never runs dry and have negatively charged ions to expel carbon and poweder residue so direct impingment in AR-15's becomes a non-issue never oxidize in any heat or gum in the gun safe after 35 years without cleaning remove lead powder and metal fouling from the bore as i shoot to higher velocities obtained with moly coating get a better gas seal eliminate gap spitting and gas cutting reduce chamber pressures while improving accuracy and velocity while increasing ballistic coefficient and terminal performance?

That's not too much to ask is it?
 
jon_in_wv said:
+1. I used to use grease on my frame rails until I realized just how much more grit, lint, and carbon was trapped in the grease. Personally I prefer a good oil like Mobile 1.
Click to expand...

This is why I mix the two to get a liquid. Stays longer than oil, flows dirt away better than greas.

I don't get the slides/spins bit? Nothing spins in my pistols, and grease is for wheel bearings.........which spin?







My cliffnotes on homebrew ingredients:
What worked for me.
STP- the little blue pint oil additive. Thick sticky goo. Leaves a layer of lube behind if everything else gets wiped off.

Mobile1 15w40- oil, just plain old oil.

ATF- good for thinning your mix. Excellent at keeping carbon suspended and makes the brew easy to clean.

Grease- a thickener, I add it as needed to keep the lube from dripping away.


What didn't.
Marvel Mystery oil- tried this as recommended by another shooter, complete failure, this stuff is useless as a gun lube ingredient, better as fuel injector cleaner.

Lithium grease- too sticky when it dries, too heavy, grit city.

Thin engine oil by itsself.- just runs away

CLP, Remoil etc. - evaportates and won't last a whole class. I use these for cleaning and protecting only, not lubeing metal parts.

Dry lubes- graphite, chain lubes, etc. Messy. No luck.
 
Last edited:
I use Brian Enos' "Slide Glide Heavy" in our summer heat and Break-Free CLP in what passes for our "not summer" season.
 
I use Brian Enos' "Slide Glide Heavy" in our summer heat and Break-Free CLP in what passes for our "not summer" season.
Click to expand...
your mention of "summer heat" reminds me, and something I forgot to put in my above post. Wilson Combat's gun grease is a no go in cold weather.
 
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