Lubrication/Cleaning/Maintenance

Dr. Dingus

Dr. Dingus

Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2023
Messages
90
What Oils/Lubricants/Solvents/Etc,
Do you guys/gals use and why? What are your favorites? What have you sworn off?

I personally use Hoppes #9 field wipes along with Ballistol and Lucas oil, but I would like to try some other products. I've used CLP/Rem Oil/Slip 2000 as well.

Edit: I have not tried gun grease, but have heard amazing things!
 
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I've been a Hoppe's #9 fan for decades. But later bottles didn't seem to have the same solution old Hoppes had? I scour our local gun show and anytime I find Hoppes in old bottles I know are old enough to be the old formula I buy them.
For lube I use a mix I got the recipe from a buddy who was a military armorer. It's a concoction of ATF, Hoppes #9 and other components. It made up 1 gallon, so I've oiled my guns for decades using it. I wrote the recipe down on the 1 gallon jug, so I'll have to go look again and see if it's all legible still?
 
I use:

Ballistol for stainless steel outer finishes,
Hoppes #9 for most general cleaning and light bore cleaning,
Clenzoil for wood finishes and blued steel cleaning/protection,
Slip 2000 or MPro 7 for primary lubrication and
Either Hoppes Benchrest or Barnes CR-10 for heavy bore cleaning.

These products seem to work well for those tasks for me.
 
Ballistol is my CLP, with tiny dabs of thin Mobil One (reddish) added, in order to have grease on the rails.

Any product which cleans, lubes and protects is a CLP.
Some guys seem to think that Breakfree is the only (available) choice as a combined, single product. We all know that a single product is a compromise.
 
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Dr Dingus: my choice of Ballistol is partly because it is basically non-toxic.

A friend from Germany sometimes sprays it on his gun's external areas like a can of Bug Spray !:)
 
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Dr. Dingus said:
What Oils/Lubricants/Solvents/Etc,
Do you guys/gals use and why? What are your favorites? What have you sworn off?
Click to expand...
Project Farm conducted comparison testing of various gun CLP for friction, wear, corrosion, etc. and results may surprise you.
www.youtube.com

Best CLP? Hoppe’s 9 vs Break Free CLP, Slip 2000, Ballistol, Frog Lube, Extreme Force, Clenzoil

CLP Brands: Clenzoil, Break Free CLP, Slip 2000, Frog Lube, Hoppe’s, Extreme Force, Hoppe’s 9 Kit, Ballistol and Fluid Film. Testing approach took into cons...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

In this 46 product long-term comparison, they were tested for lubricity and rust prevention under salt spray conditions and WD-40 Specialist came out on top along with One Shot and Frog Lube (Frog Lube turned out to be coconut oil under laboratory chemical analysis) - https://dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667

I have used Hoppes #9 solvent going on 40 years with good results and it's what I still use. Was introduced to BreakFree CLP in the Army during early 80s so that's what I have used primarily past 30 years of shooting, including USPSA matches in the 90s.

But since firearm lubricant in terms of friction/heat/load limits are way less than motor oil, if BreakFree was not available, I used whatever motor oil was available. (If I needed gun lubricant when shooting with friends in the field, few drops from car dipstick worked in a snap ;)). In recent years, since all of our vehicles run synthetic motor oil, that's what I use on the bench.

While I have used Bag Balm for lubricating rifle cases for resizing, after conducting myth busting with One Shot with no bullet setback wet or dry, I am now fan of One Shot - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...affect-on-neck-tension-bullet-setback.834035/

When we moved to our retirement acreage at the coastal beach area, everything rusted, including stainless steel gun parts. So now after Hoppes #9 solvent cleaning and wipe down, everything that could rust gets sprayed down with WD-40 Specialist "Long Term" that's certified to prevent rust up to 1 year in salt spray and humidity chamber (All of my automotive and garden tools also get sprayed with WD-40 Specialist) and have not seen any rusting of WD-40 Specialist treated gun parts (Specialist comes in several formulations, including Silicone, so be sure to get the ones that says "Prevents rust up to one year" with note on back of can specifying salt spray and humidity chamber testing). I got the "Gel Lube" formulation that clings to gun parts really well, like BreakFree, instead of running thin.

Gun Lube.jpg
 
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LiveLife said:
Project Farm conducted comparison testing of various gun CLP for friction, wear, corrosion, etc. and results may surprise you.
www.youtube.com

Best CLP? Hoppe’s 9 vs Break Free CLP, Slip 2000, Ballistol, Frog Lube, Extreme Force, Clenzoil

CLP Brands: Clenzoil, Break Free CLP, Slip 2000, Frog Lube, Hoppe’s, Extreme Force, Hoppe’s 9 Kit, Ballistol and Fluid Film. Testing approach took into cons...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

In this 46 product long-term comparison, they were tested for lubricity and rust prevention under salt spray conditions and WD-40 Specialist came out on top along with One Shot and Frog Lube (Frog Lube turned out to be coconut oil under laboratory chemical analysis) - https://dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667

I have used Hoppes #9 solvent going on 40 years with good results and it's what I still use. Was introduced to BreakFree CLP in the Army during early 80s so that's what I have used primarily past 30 years of shooting, including USPSA matches in the 90s.

But since firearm lubricant in terms of friction/heat/load limits are way less than motor oil, if BreakFree was not available, I used whatever motor oil was available. (If I needed gun lubricant when shooting with friends in the field, few drops from car dipstick worked in a snap ;)). In recent years, since all of our vehicles run synthetic motor oil, that's what I use on the bench.

While I have used Bag Balm for lubricating rifle cases for resizing, after conducting myth busting with One Shot with no bullet setback wet or dry, I am now fan of One Shot - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...affect-on-neck-tension-bullet-setback.834035/

When we moved to our retirement acreage at the coastal beach area, everything rusted, including stainless steel gun parts. So now after Hoppes #9 solvent cleaning and wipe down, everything that could rust gets sprayed down with WD-40 Specialist "Long Term" that's certified to prevent rust up to 1 year in salt spray and humidity chamber (All of my automotive and garden tools also get sprayed with WD-40 Specialist) and have not seen any rusting of WD-40 Specialist treated gun parts (Specialist comes in several formulations, including Silicone, so be sure to get the ones that says "Prevents rust up to one year" with note on back of can specifying salt spray and humidity chamber testing). I got the "Gel Lube" formulation that clings to gun parts really well, like BreakFree, instead of running thin.

View attachment 1183357
Click to expand...
Thanks for the information! I will try that version of WD-40 out!
 
My view on CLP's. If I buy a CLP I it seems to me to be 33.3% cleaner, 33.3% lube, and 33.3% protectant. The old one size fits all theory. My experience is that with CLP's is that they kind of do a little of each but not one thing well. I have good cleaners, lubes, and protectants and none of them come in the same bottle. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
 
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I generally use whatever is on the shelf at the right price. Out of all the years I'v been cleaning guns I've never found a brand name, on the shelf, cleaning or oil to fail to do what it was advertised to do. My guns, from 1 - 60 years old all get the same of whatever I have today. I clean and oil the everloving heck out them after every range trip. They are just metal wood/plastic. Nothing more nothing less. If they need something special for cleaning oiling I probably don't need them. A decent oil or grease, you'll probably never be able to tell the difference. My oldest gun I bought new in 1975 nor any other gun that I've bought since has ever failed, repaired or had any parts replaced. And, I top off every cleaning/oiling with a good wipe down using WD40.
 
I have somewhere between 8-15 gun lubes, oils. Probably about 5-6 different cleaners. A few grease/paste type as well.
I usually use the one within my reach.
I do have specific choke lube and grease for my Over Under guns
I do like foaming bore cleaners over the liquid.
I'm far more picky about what I use on 1911/2011's and have a separate Plano box just for them with tools and oils/grease
 
My ammo can filled with gun cleaning stuff includes Hoppes #9, G96, Ballistol, Flitz metal polish and an SKS oiler filled with Mobile One. I also keep a spray bottle handy filled with moose milk (1 part Ballistol in 4 parts water). I have some Hoppes lead solvent around here somewhere but I can't recall using it in the past decade.
 
I shoot mostly AKs so cleaning is not really that important but if I shoot corrosive I do tear them down & do a good cleaning on them. But with corrosive ammo the biggest thing is to wash out the salts. I do that with a soapy water flush/scrub & rinse, followed by a compressed air blast, then I clean as I normally would using Hoppes #9, Action Blaster, Rem OIl, & CLP sometimes.
If you shoot or hunt in sub 0 temps be careful on what lubes you use. They get thick in the cold & it can (I found out) keep you gun from firing when the deer is standing right in front of you.
 
Here we go again. :p

I started cleaning a Remington model 12 22 when I was still in grade school. That would have been around 75-76 years ago. Yes, I can still do math if it is kept simple. Hoppe's #9 on patches cut from worn out bed sheets and then either 3 in 1 oil or mom's sewing machine oil, which ever was closer. The rifle still works just as well today as it did back then. I have no idea of how many rounds it has fired but it's a lot.

Today it is is still Hoppe's or in some instances just 91% rubbing alcohol to clean, Mobil 1 for oil simply because that is what I use in my jeep and when I need more it is just drain the dripping from the bottles. I have switched to a grease called Super Slip for where grease is needed and it certainly is. It has reduced trigger pull on every trigger/sear I have applied it to. Back in the late '60's I discarded oil for surface protection and started using Johnson's paste wax. In the '90's a boat dealer tipped me off about the protection given by Pledge furniture polish and that is my wipe down after shooting product now. You will find no rust on any of my guns no matter what age they are. None of these are expensive super duper latest and greatest products but they work and work well.

My lead remover is copper chore boy strands wrapped around a bronze bore brush and it has done the job every single time I have needed it. It is also a quick and easy way to clean a a 22 rimfire barrel when I do clean one. A few stokes with it followed by an alcohol soaked patch and a couple of dry patches result in a shiny clean bore ready to re-season.
 
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For smokeless guns, I use Seal1 CLP on everything, and Hoppes Elite Gun Cleaner on mags (to keep them dry).

For black powder guns, Ballistol on everything.
 
I will start trying next time I clean and lube. I like Eds Red, a handmade concoction that has been proven to clean and protect. I like to season my barrels with Motorkote applied a couple of times after a deep clean.
 
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