Oil or grease to lubricate the slide?

[Center fire]

Hi Folks,

Curious as to which you prefer oil or grease to lubricate the slide? I recently switched to grease (pro shot gold I believe it's called). To early to tell if one is a better option over the other.

 

[postalnut25]

I prefer grease, because I feel it actually stays where you apply it. To me, oil seems to migrate down to whatever is underneath your gun.

 

[twofifty]

a few questions

- What climate or seasons do you shoot that gun in?
- What problem are you trying to solve?
- Or are you looking for an advantage over how your semi performs with oil?
- Or are you experimenting?

 

[Center fire]

I'm just experimenting. I do find oil not stay in place as well as I like. It hasn't been an issue thus far. I'm hoping the grease will do a better job. So far at least this summer grease appears to stay where it's placed.

 

[Impureclient]

Pool pump "o" ring grease, dielectric grease or any silicon grease works just as well as any fancy "gun" specific grease. They're all slick and stay where you put them until you remove it.
Having a picture of a gun on the tube it comes in doesn't do any better. Every one of my autoloaders has "o" ring or dielectric grease on the slides and after thousands of rounds and it
doing the job, I have my answer for slide lubrication.

 

[sigarms228]

I prefer grease on my SIGs for range shooting because the slide is steel and the frame is anodized aluminum alloy. I use Slide Glide medium. On my other pistols I use a good quality oil like Weaponshield or M-Pro7 LPX.

 

[DaddioDan]

Funny. I have a can of Valvoline high temp auto grease. I'll bet I've had it for 10 years. And likely to have it for another decade.

After I've field stripped, cleaned, and lightly lubed my SR9c, I put a little dab of grease on the rails. I use a toothpick for just a tiny glob (another reason this can will last forever). After wiping the excess off with my finger, I reassemble and cycle the slide several times just to spread it out.

I don't know if it's made a difference or not. Don't really care. It's just my routine.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

I use oil. I tried grease but didn't see the advantage. I use Breakfree CLP and it seems to evaporate to some degree leaving a super slick residue behind it on the moving parts. So most of my guns are running dry with only the slick residue and I have not seen any abnormal wear nor rust on guns that actually have no bluing or protective finish left on them. I shoot several pistols that are pushing the 100 years old mark and there just is not much finish left on them.

Nor do they pick up any dirt or dust that gets trapped in the grease/oil and they wipe down clean very fast after range sessions where they get re oiled lavishly and wiped with a chamois. Modern oils specifically manufactured and formulated for guns usually contain additives that are much like a steel treatment in that lubricity is enhanced even if the excess lube runs off, migrates, or reduces due to evaporation or whatever.

Experiment, ask a lot of questions, use what works for you and your routine - there's more than one good way of doing it.

VooDoo

 

[olm911]

Oil if it rotates, grease if it slides.

 

[kokapelli]

Automobile engines put enormously more pressure on parts than any gun does and I am not aware of any auto engine that uses grease

Gunzilla for everything on pistols works great.

Oil if it rotates, grease if it slides

wheel bearings rotate and as far as I know they are all lubed with grease, so so much for that.

 

[fatcpa]

A drop or two of Gun Butter on any contacting surfaces.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Gun care products.....

The # of gun care products has risen sharply since the early 1990s, when I got into firearms & started buying-owning guns.
In 2014, you have a lot of choices. I've heard + reviews of gun-butter. I think Lenny Magill sells it on his websites; www.glockstore.com www.gunvideo.com .
Brownells.com may stock a few greases & lubes too. I used RIG products in the early 1990s. Slip2000, www.slip2000.com is well known.
There's a new grease/gun care formula called; www.italiangungrease.com . I never used it, but a few forum posts & reviews said it worked great. Some shooters with older guns & black-powder rifles gave IGG good remarks.
There's also Eezox, Gunzilla, Weaponshield & the new SEAL1.net .

I got a CLP bottle of Frog-Lube. It comes in liquid & a green paste. The stuff is fantastic. I'm satisfied with it. FL is non-toxic, has no fumes or harmful chemicals, lasts for long periods & prevents rust, corrosion on most firearms.
Frog-Lube was co-designed by a ex SEAL & spec ops service member(US Navy specwar). It's sold in the gift shop of the SEAL-UDT museum in south Florida, .
A recent T&E of different gun cleaners/rust prevention products by a forum member had Frog-Lube and Hornady One Shot do extremely well.
The big - of Frog-Lube is the steep price for the sizes you can purchase but I'd say about 90-95% of US gun owners or armed professionals who buy it, like the results.

Rusty S
www.froglube.com

 

[JTQ]

The big - of Frog-Lube is the steep price for the sizes you can purchase but I'd say about 90-95% of US gun owners or armed professionals who buy it, like the results.

Two other commonly reported problems…

- it is an organic product and if on a gun stored for long periods of time, some have found fungus/mold growing on their guns.

- also with guns stored for long periods and then used in cool temps, the users have found the product congealed and it has hampered the function of their guns.

I do suspect both situations probably involve overuse of the product.

 

[RustyShackelford]

I agree...

I could see the mold/fungus issue, but it could also be a humidity or storage location issue too, .
I'm not one to pack guns away for years then never check or clean them.
I can see obtaining a firearm from a relative or from a yard sale/estate sale that you don't know where it was kept or for how long but you can keep track of your weapons & accessories.
I live in a hot/humid climate. I'll check my guns & handcuffs(yes I cleaned my cuffs with FL too ). If green fuzz gets all over it, I'll let you know.....

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

I think it's appropriate to note that what products one uses and whether it is grease or oil or wax or whatever is dependent on things like how frequently the gun is fired, cleaned, re lubed, whether it is a revolver or an auto, how long it is stored and under what conditions, (controlled humidity? In a safe?) type of finish on the firearm, geographic location, whether it is carried concealed and how/where on the body, type of ammunition, etc.

Lot's of factors and variables and lots of product variables. What we do and the appropriate outcome with what product/mindset is gonna vary from gunner to gunner. There are so many products available and many of them (most of them) are really very good overall. It's nice to have choices!

VooDoo

 

[Balor]

Lubrication 101

Lubrication 101 (As Posted from Grant Cunningham)

Introduction
Firearms enthusiasts are the targets (pardon the pun) of some of the most misleading advertisements regarding the proper lubrication of their guns. The purpose of this article is to give a background on basic lubrication concepts, the technology behind them, and some guidelines for selecting lubricants based on facts, not hype.

http://www.grantcunningham.com/lubricants101.html


RNGR1

 

[JO JO]

I use oil , sometimes I feel this modern gun care is way over done I dont know
I look back at my fathers and grandfathers and they just cleaned and wiped
down with a oily rag and there guns all still work just fine and no rust
sometimes I think this modern stuff is way over complicated or our guns
are made with much less quality anyway I stick to oil

 

[jcwit]

I use Lucas grease, Red & Tacky #2, stays where you put it and doesn't migrate.

 

[JDR]

I don't make a science project out of cleaning & lubricating. A light dab of Shooters Choice grease on the rails works fine. My Glocks run great with a light film of BreakFree. I also like to use FP-10 or Ballistol as a general CLP.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I always use grease. RIG +P

 

[Eb1]

I use the outers grease on my 1911 and sometimes on other autos. For AR rifles just spray it with CLP or what ever oil/grease I have at the time. Which is generally Remoil/Outers or even 20W/50 if needed.

I have a rag that has been used for over 10 years that now has balistol/remoil so saturated in it that I don't even have to pull out the canisters to clean the outside or lube the parts of the gun that it touches.

I am a believer that you use whatever works for you. I have noticed that my 1911 has over 1000 rounds through it, and is a Turkish GI 1911 A2 model. With that said, the gun has never had a failure. I have used outers grease on the slide rails when I come home from the range every time I clean the gun. It is tight, works great, and is dead nuts accurate out to 50 yards.

I wish you all safe shooting, and here's to having functional firearms however you decide to keep it clean. Just keep it clean.

 

[brickeyee]

Mobil 1 grease with some molly added.

 

[sig228]

My carry gun is greased with Permatex white lithium grease. Stays put and lasts. Readily available at any auto parts store.

But my "shooting guns" are only lubed with oil.

Grease makes a big mess and makes cleaning a whole lot harder.

 

[Desolo]

Anytime one of these threads comes up I always wonder, but never ask...
Does anyone else like using gunslick on the slide rails of automatics?
I came across an ancient tube of the stuff years ago and love using it, and one day I found they still made it and nabbed some more.... im still using the remains of the old tube though.

I never see anyone mention it though.

 

[Drail]

Grease is normally used on sliding surfaces that are bearing heavy loads - the slide of your pistol doesn't fit that category. It's just rattling back and forth. Oil is what you need. Having seen plenty of guns start choking in cold temps because the owner used grease I'll stick with a good high/low temperature oil.