In praise of grease

[Geronimo45]

Previous to this time, I was an avid user of oil for my guns. Remoil, to be exact.

Thanks to Xavier and his article on how park'd guns' finish does best with grease, I've got a slickly-running GI 45. The slide action is much smoother than before, and the finish is looking greatly improved.

Plain ol' automotive grease of some kind. Transluscent yellowish stuff. Lithium grease, I think. Whatever it is, it works very well - and seems to be better in resistance to water than oil.

I've sprayed the Remoil on thick on the slide rails and barrel - and it didn't have nearly the effect that this grease does. The action's slick and quiet. I don't have oil running out of crevices any more. The grease stays put.

Y'all might want to try grease on your pistols - specifically, slide rails. Done wonders for mine.

 

[dfariswheel]

Many of us have used grease on pistols for many years.

It's especially good on defense and CCW guns, since unlike liquid lubes, it won't dry out, evaporate, run or sling off, or wick out.
Since it stays put, you don't have to worry about the gun's lube disappearing unnoticed.

 

[torpid]

I've used pretty much only RIG +P grease for over 10 years now, and it has worked brilliantly. Man, is it slick- and it keeps on going!

 

[obxned]

Once you have stripped a well-oiled gun and found it bone dry, grease seems like a great idea. I always use it on the rails because it makes the slide seem so much smoother.

 

[crankshop1000]

I've had good results with mil surplus LSA light weapons oil. It's a creamy white stuff that may be a grease / oil mix. Chuck.

 

[Ala Dan]

I use some Tetra Gun Grease on the rails of my newly acquired
Smith & Wesson model 39-2 last night~! Its also on all the rails of all
my self-loaders.

 

[DawgFvr]

Me too...I'm a Tetra Gun Grease guy. Good enough for my M1 Garand and sold by Fulton Armory...good enough for all my auto slides.

 

[SeanSw]

How about the standard black automotive axle and bearing grease? I keep it around for minor stuff on my motorcycle but never considered using it on my guns.

 

[Lonestar49]

Me too

Quote: I use some Tetra Gun Grease on the rails.
------------
...

Yep, same here, as I found out that shooting range practice will basically dry-out any oil after 200 rounds, give or take, so as others have said, I too use Tetra Gun grease on the rails and, for the upper interior and side walls of my Beretta Px4 40's slide, 1 inch forward of the extractor, along with the entire barrel.

Seems like harmonic's can come into play with the Px4, and trigger sting can result if these areas go dry. With the grease, this has never come up (again), even with 250 rounds per practice session.


LS

 

[Smokey Joe]

Grease and cold weather

Well, guys, in the warm weather your greased gun slides will work just fine.

It occurred to me to try slide greasing, about last November, on my Colt Series 80 1911, for the very reasons y'all have been stating.

Used Wilson Combat gun grease, that comes in the little syringe, just because it was at hand and applies easily. Cleaned up my 1911, and greased the slide rails. FYI, Nov. can be kind of frigid around here. At the indoor range, it was fine. But then one day I took it to the outdoor range....

Voila! On most shots, there was a distinct pause before the slide moved, another pause at its extreme movement, and it failed to close all the way and lock up the bbl for the next shot. I had to push on back of slide to close it.

So with grease and cold weather, a 1911 turned into a 3/4 autoloading, single-shot pistol.

Needless to say, that was the end of my grease-plus-pistol-slide experimentation. Cleaned the slide, lubed with Kroil, and now clean and lube frequently (which is what a 1911 wants anyhow) with XLNT results. The slide snaps open and closed like a bear trap.

Given that experience, I'd think twice about greasing the slide on a pistol to be used when exposed to the cold. The above does not apply if y'all live in a tropical climate.

 

[RNB65]

I use Mobile 1 Synthetic grease on the rails of all my pistols and the hinge pin on my Browning O/U. Everything runs great. Now if I was over in the sandbox and having to deal with sand and silt, I'm sure I would rethink the grease approach.

 

[The Law]

Another vote for RIG +P!

 

[ZeSpectre]

Disclaimer-I do live in "warmer climes"

Not too long ago somebody passed along the advice "oil for pivoting parts and grease for sliding parts". I have found this to be a good bit of knowledge.

Mostly I use white lithium grease as it has to be pretty cold to gum it up, but I've also taken to using high temp wheel bearing grease and it seems to work very nicely in my leverguns.

 

[Geronimo45]

The above does not apply if y'all live in a tropical climate.

In other words, Texans need not worry.

 

[JoeHatley]

"oil for pivoting parts and grease for sliding parts"

That is a good rule of thumb.

BTW: I've been using RIG Universal grease for about 30 years.

Joe

 

[bakert]

A gunsmith recommended either RIG or the Shooters Choice to me some yrs ago. I've used Shooters Choice High Tech grease for a long time now and it works fine. I cringe when I hear the word the word "wet" though. I think far too many people use way too much grease, and dirt, soot and other stuff can build up and hamper the operation of an auto. A very small amount is all that's needed.

 

[JohnBT]

My pocket guns get TW-25B, but everything else gets grease and a little oil. I have Lubriplate and Wilson white grease for the stainless guns, and Shooters Choice red grease for the blue/black guns. Sounds like I'm picking wines for a meal or something.

John

Here's an interesting write-up on lubing a weapon.

www.vickerstactical.com/Tips/weaponlubrication.htm

 

[03Shadowbob]

A ? on cleaning

So do you clean your firearm the same way as if you were using Remoil or similar product? Use Hoppes #9, right? I guess I am just wondering if the cleaning regimen is the same or different with greases.
Where do you pick up this grease? I have never seen it.

 

[shooter1]

Any good synthetic grease works. The lithium grease maintains it's viscosity down to about 40 below, as does the synthetics. Used sparingly it is far superior to oils.
str1

 

[obiwan1]

Tetra grease or Militec1 grease both work well for me on all of my autos.

 

[03Shadowbob]

I just bought Hoppe's gun grease and want to try it on the slide rails first. I have a parked SA GI. Does anyone else use this? Will it be OK to use this on the entire gun or should I stick with Break Free Lubricant?

 

[Geronimo45]

I don't use Hoppes - but if it's explicitly made for guns, there should be no problem whatsoever.

 

[Plink]

I've always used grease on my rails. The way I do it is anywhere that metal rubs against metal gets grease. Anywhere that metal rotates, gets oil. Slides, bolts, etc., all get grease. Pins, trigger components, hammers, etc., all get oil. Works for me. Rig or Tetra are usually my greases of choice.

 

[jsebens]

I'm a big fan of the lithium grease sold in tubes at your local automotive store. Small, convenient, and very functional.

 

[New_geezer]

I've had good luck with Tetra grease as well, but you can see there are several good products available. With grease, as with oil, you can easily overdue things. Too much grease just attracts dirt and grit without any added benefit. If anything too much grease can get sludgey regardless and cold weather won't improve things. I use a Q-tip to put a light coating on all sliding surfaces and have very happy guns.