Hey 1911 owners? Wet/dry, oil and/or grease?

[Sour Kraut]

How do you lube your 1911? On my other autos I use grease on the rails and bearing surfaces, and oil on the pivot points. I run my Sigs wet.

What about the 1911 platform? I'm a noob to 1911s.

 

[1KPerDay]

How do you lube your 1911? On my other autos I use grease on the rails and bearing surfaces, and oil on the pivot points.

Sounds good to me.

 

[Sour Kraut]

Sounds good to me.

Thanks....love Utah by the way....son lives in Kaysville.....

 

[AK103K]

I always just used a light lube on mine and skipped the oil.

 

[Fiv3r]

I use Teflon grease on all my gun rails. Maybe a little bit of lube spray on my 1911. The only gun pretty wet is my Ar.

 

[19-3Ben]

I just use militec on the rails, pivot points, and basically all around the whole thing for rust inhibition and lubrication. I give it a wipe down so that it's not sopping wet, and call it a day.
Haven't had a failure yet with any type of ammo.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

Used LSA 45 years ago in the Army because that's what we had. I use CLP today because that's all I need.

 

[BYJO4]

I use FP10 on all my 1911s.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

I only use grease on my autos.

For my guns, I use a light coating of oil. I used to use some type of "gun oil" exclusively, until I decided that it was insane to spend $5 or more on a tiny bottle of gun oil when I could simply refill the ones I have using the dregs of the Mobil 1 synthetic oil whenever I do an oil change on my auto.

 

[Slamfire]

I did not like grease. It took too much time to wipe out the grease from all the nooks and crannies the stuff manages to work itself into. Oil was much better and worked fine. I use Mobil 1 10W-30 or 5W-30.

Bullseye shooters used to tell me the elbow was the drop point, but that much oil was messy for carry. But, talking again to another Bullseye shooter recently, for those ultra tight match guns, lube, and lube constantly.

 

[AK103K]

......the elbow was the drop point, but that much oil was messy for carry.

That, and I hate getting a bath with the first mag out of the gun in practice.

I always found oil was a pain with a carry gun, as it seemed to be much more of a dirt/dust magnet, especially in the environment I live, work and play in. Grease isnt near as bad in that respect.

 

[2wheels]

I use oil, normally CLP, without any issues. A few drops here and there and you're good to go, with carry guns reapply every so often.

Honestly at the end of the day it really doesn't matter that much, you'll find people using everything from grease to motor oil to gun oil to magical synthetic wonderlube and all of their guns still somehow function.

Just treat your 1911s like any other auto.

 

[zerobarrier]

I use Shooters Choice FPL04 Elite Gun Lubricant on my Kimber. a decent amount on all the points that have friction and a light coat on the whole slide and barrel. Never had any rust or any other problems with this pistol. I carry it about half the year. I try to add a small amount of oil to it once a week if I have been carrying it all week in my leather holster.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

Yup...they ain't that picky I don't think. I lube all my guns with Breakfree CLP and let it pretty much dry up. Leaves enough of a film that I clean 'em and reoil and that's it.

Never had a problem but have considered white lithium grease from time to time just to say I have something in there folks can see if they look. Some folks who borrow or shoot my guns get nervous if they don't "see" wetness and oil.

VooDoo

 

[1911 guy]

Assuming you've got a decent quality 1911 (most are decent or slightly above), I'll tell you exactly what has worked for me for several decades:

1) Clean it well after every use.
2) Lube it moderately after cleaning. Any lube is better than none, but I prefer the method you describe in the OP for your other autos.
3) Use quality magazines. Cheap mags are cheap for a reason.
4) Clean it well after every use.
5) Change recoil springs every 2,000 rounds or so.
6) Clean it well after every use.

The same guy who would never dream of going 10,000 miles between oil changes will burn through a case of ammo over the course of a year, clean the 1911 every six months, use the cheapest mags he can find, has no idea where to get replacement recoil springs and constantly complain that his 1911 is unreliable. Don't be that guy.

 

[Water-Man]

I use Wilson Combat Ultima-Lube II Universal. It's in between oil and grease.

 

[sauer1911]

I love my Sig 1911's i have 3.

I mixed up a batch of %25 STP, %25 Mobil1 5-30w, %50 Dexron ATF fluid.

It is a GREAT cleaner, it stays where you put it, and works both for sliding and rotating parts. I run my 1911's slightly wet. That is after I clean an lube, I lightly wipe off the outside of the weapon before it goes back into its case.

For match shooting, it keeps a majority of the carbon residue in suspension so it is easily cleaned off. BUT no lube or oil makes up for thorough cleaning.

be safe.

 

[JTQ]

Here is Wilson Combat with Ulitma-Lube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4D2mRlDo48&feature=player_embedded

Here is Hickok45 with Ballistol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wPPUXU3Lhc

Here is Dave Anderson at FMG Publications http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eUacqOIAaU

 

[Sour Kraut]

1911 Guy

Thanks for the 6 Points!

 

[Sour Kraut]

Here is Wilson Combat with Ulitma-Lube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4D2mRlDo48&feature=player_embedded

Here is Hickok45 with Ballistol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wPPUXU3Lhc

Here is Dave Anderson at FMG Publications http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eUacqOIAaU

Thanks for the links....I had not seen two of them. Interesting that in one, he used all grease on his carry weapon, but used all oil in competition. The Wilson product looked like a nice compromise between oil and grease. I use Lubriplate or TW25 grease and CLP on my guns. So many choices and so many different opinions!

Based on what I've seen, I think I'll lube the same as my non-1911 autos.

 

[1KPerDay]

A wise policy.

Just remember what my pappy used to say... any oil* is better than no oil.



*or grease

 

[JTQ]

A point to consider, chances are your SIGs have aluminum frames and many get the recommendation to grease their SIGs from this excellent article from Gray Guns. http://grayguns.com/lubrication-of-sig-sauer-pistol-rails/

Most 1911's don't have aluminum frames, so the need to protect them from the steel slide vs aluminum frame interface as in the SIG, is just not a problem. For a 1911, the grease advantage is it won't leak out, not really that you need it to protect your gun from undo wear.

I'd say the 1911 would fit between a Glock (or other polymer gun), that may need only a few drops of oil on the entire gun, and those aluminum framed SIGs that need the grease slathered on.

 

[JTQ]

The big take away from the Dave Anderson video, in my opinion, is where to lube without field stripping the gun. For instance, you're at the range, or a class, putting a bunch of rounds down range. You don't need to field strip the gun, just lock the slide back, put some oil about 1/2" back from the muzzle, close the slide, and put some oil on the barrel hood and you should be good to go.

 

[wheelyfun66]

Grease the rails on my aluminum-framed 1911's.....

Oil is fine for steel-framed 1911's (but I still use grease)

 

[1KPerDay]

The big take away from the Dave Anderson video, in my opinion, is where to lube without field stripping the gun. For instance, you're at the range, or a class, putting a bunch of rounds down range. You don't need to field strip the gun, just lock the slide back, put some oil about 1/2" back from the muzzle, close the slide, and put some oil on the barrel hood and you should be good to go.

and down the inside slide rails.