Further Gun Goo testing - A bit long
Okay folks, I also offered my valued firearms as a test bed for Dave's Gun Goo and this is my first official report.
I cleaned and completely de-lubed the following firearms for the test;
1. Sig P226ST in 9mm – My duty match competition gun
2. S&W Performance Center 945-1 – My distinguished match competition gun
3. Sig P220ST in .45
4. S&W 1911
5. Springfield XD .45 Tactical (brand spankin’ new I might add)
6. Walther P22
For each of these firearms, I completely cleaned and de-lubed (as in detailed tear down) them using brake cleaner to remove any residual oils. All firearms were re-assembled using FP-10 on internals and Dave’s Gun Goo on the slide and frame rails. I prepared a cross section of ammunition as follows;
.22LR
• CCI Mini-Mag
9mm
• Magtech 115 grain ball
• Independence 115 grain ball
• Remington 115 grain ball
• Handload 115 grain SWCBB over 4.0 grains VVN340
• Handload 115 grain SWCBB over 3.8 grains Titegroup
• Handload 120 grain Montana Gold IFP over 3.8 grains Titegroup
.45ACP
• Magtech 230 grain ball
• Independence 230 grain ball
• Remington 230 grain ball
• Handload 200 grain SWC over 4.0 grains Titegroup
• Handload 200 grain Montana Gold JFP over 4.0 grains Titegroup
• Remington 230 grain Golden Sabre
For the test, I took guns 1 and 2 to the range with me, as these two are my primary shooters. Gun 3, is my current carry gun and as such, was lubed up and tucked in its holster to test lube drying. Gun 4 is also a carry gun, but I decided to use it to run through the NC CCH concealed carry qualification course a few times. The last two were taken to the range and while fired frequently, were not fired near as heavily as the first two. I did however, take ALL of them to the range on one occasion and let my co-workers fire them. Essentially for one day, they were fired constantly for about 2 hours with time off only for reloading. Here’s how it went.
Range Trip 1 – Just me and my guns
Sig P226ST 9mm
• 200 rounds mixed headstamp 115 grain ball
• 100 rounds Remington 115 grain ball
• 100 rounds Handload 115 grain SWCBB over 4.0 grains VVN340
• 100 rounds Handload 115 grain SWCBB over 3.8 grains Titegroup
• 100 rounds Handload 120 grain Montana Gold IFP over 3.8 grains Titegroup
S&W Performance Center 945-1 .45
• 100 rounds Magtech 230 grain ball
• 50 rounds Independence 230 grain ball
• 50 rounds Remington 230 grain ball
• 100 rounds Handload 200 grain SWC over 4.0 grains Titegroup
• 100 rounds Handload 200 grain Montana Gold JFP over 4.0 grains Titegroup
After the range trip, both firearms were dismantled, examined and reassembled without cleaning. The gun goo was obviously dirty and had trapped significant carbon, fouling, etc. from the spent powder. When sampled however, the goo was still very slick and didn’t feel in the least bit gritty. I also dismantled the P220, and found that the goo had changed colors somewhat, but being unfired was clean and didn’t seem to have dried in the least in the 2 weeks it had been sitting.
Range Trip 2 – 1911 Wring out
S&W 1911 .45
• 100 rounds Magtech 230 grain ball
• 12 rounds Independence 230 grain ball
• 100 rounds Remington 230 grain ball
• 100 rounds Handload 200 grain Montana Gold JFP over 4.0 grains Titegroup
Shot the NC CCH course of fire until I ran out of ammo. Gun functioned perfectly until the last box, which was the Independence 230 grain ball. Began getting failures to extract, failures to feed on almost every round. Shooting 12 rounds out of the box took almost 30 minutes. Once the jam was cleared however, the gun functioned perfectly. Holstered the gun for the time being and went home. I was out of decent ammo.
Range Trip 3 – PPC practice
Sig P226ST 9mm
• 20 rounds Handload 115 grain SWCBB over 4.0 grains VVN340
• 50 rounds Handload 115 grain SWCBB over 3.8 grains Titegroup
• 150 rounds Handload 120 grain Montana Gold IFP over 3.8 grains Titegroup
S&W 1911 .45
• 50 rounds Independence 230 grain ball
• 50 rounds Remington 230 grain ball
• 50 rounds Remington 230 grain Golden Sabre
Since the 1911 was giving me fits last time, I picked up additional ammo for testing, including especially my preferred carry round. I won’t carry a gun that fails. I loaded 1911 mags with 8 rounds each of the Independence, Remington Ball and Golden Sabre. I loaded up the Independence and watched the gun jam on every round. I loaded up the Remington Ball and the gun functioned perfectly… hmmmmm… I then loaded up the Golden Sabre and again, the gun functioned perfectly. I repeated the test with the same results and concluded the Independence was crap ammo. I examined some of the rounds that were failing to feed and discovered that the bullet, upon contacting the feed ramp, were pushing back into the case and the bottom edge of the case seemed to be catching on the feed ramp! No more of that ammo for me. Good point is, the lube was not the failure point. For the Sig, I removed the barrel, cleaned it, lubed it with FP-10 and reinstalled it without cleaning the rest of the firearm. I locked the Sig in a Ransom rest and all of my match loads shot around 1.25 inches at 25 yards. I reassembled the Sig and ran through the Duty Match course of fire twice (96 rounds) before heading home.
I also took apart the P220 when I returned home to find the lube present and accounted for. No drying had occurred and the slide cycled as if on ball bearings.
Range Trip 4 – Company Outing
This trip was pretty cut and dried. I typically bring my hardware to the range and invite whomever wishes, to join me for some shooting.
All firearms listed in the beginning of this were brought. We put Magtech ammo through each of the firearms listed above except the .22 for about two hours. I don’t know how much ammo was expended. When I returned home last night, I dismantled each firearm and examined them closely. Without fail, regardless of the amount of ammo burned, the Gun Goo was still slick and intact and although flat filthy on the high round count guns, still lubricating as expected. Wiping the Goo out on all firearms and then reassembling them left the metal still slick and the slides cycling as if on ball bearings.
Needless to say, I’m very impressed with Mr. Berryhill’s efforts. This stuff works as well as any lube I’ve used before, and holds place as well as most grease. If I had one complaint, it would be that it is a little thin for my taste and I would like it a smidge thicker. This weekend, I will be scouring all my firearms and cleaning them thoroughly. I will be applying the Gun Goo to all of them on reassembly.
Hey Dave, put me on your distribution list for further testing and the final product.
P.S. Most of the testing took place in 40-45 degree weather except for the last one.