Over oil a gun?

Status
Not open for further replies.
stchman

stchman

Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2009
Messages
2,617
Location
Saint Louis, MO
I was watching The Armory Channel on YouTube and Pete made a statement that the worst thing you can do to a gun is over oil it.

B.S.

You can't over oil a gun. Any excess oil will drip off when you wipe it down. Oil does not embed itself into the metal causing jams. Now you can over-grease a gun, but I rarely use gun grease.

During cleaning when I am getting ready to assemble the firearm, I spray everything down with Rem Oil and use motor oil for places where metal rubs together. Yes, I use motor oil, it is cheap, works well, and very plentiful. I figure that if it keeps an engine in good shape at several thousand RPMs, it can lubricate a gun.

After I put it all together, I wipe everything down and put firearm away. No adverse effects. I have been doing this for years and my guns always go band when I pull the trigger, even my CCW piece.
 
Over oil a wood stocked firearm, then store it vertically for a bit. Then say you can't over oil one. One of the worst things about gun safes is that they are, mostly, designed to store long guns vertically with the butt stock down. I can't count the number of used guns I've passed on because the butt stock wood was softened by oil saturation.
 
When I was in basic training the drill instructors, half of whom were Vietnam Vets, would hose down the inside of our M16's with CLP at the range. Literally 5 or 6 squirts with the old big bottle. Oil running everywhere. Most of them swore it was the only way they'd run.
 
yugorpk said:
When I was in basic training the drill instructors, half of whom were Vietnam Vets, would hose down the inside of our M16's with CLP at the range. Literally 5 or 6 squirts with the old big bottle. Oil running everywhere. Most of them swore it was the only way they'd run.
Click to expand...
Hey, if they used the same version of the M16 I did, they were telling the truth. Crappy design that took decades to improve into a barely acceptable combat arm.
 
stchman said:
I own several striker fired pistols and none of them have had ill effects. What's so special about the XD striker?
Click to expand...
I don't know about the XD, but if you oil an XDs striker channel there is a very good chance that you will be deviled by light strikes.

I bought a Bushmaster AR a dozen years ago that arrived well-oiled ... looked like about SAE10 or a tad lighter ... I thought it a bit much but I had always read that ARs like to run wet), so ...

... I ran acoupla patches thru the bore & chamber, checked the action for function, stepped out back, inserted a mag containing 2 rounds (just in case it went Rock&Roll on me) and squeezed off a test round into a nearby stump.

It failed to load the 2nd round, so I called the quick test finished.

Next day, properly cleaned & lightly oiled it and it ran as it should.
 
All glock manuals, say not to lube certain parts of the gun. Glocks run better dry. You can in this case foul up the gun by over oiling it.
 
... Cannot over oil a gun...
Click to expand...

Umm yeah you can. Ask a younger me about it sometime.

I was using Frog Lube (fine product, but not for me) and I accidentally got some into the firing pin channel and you know what happened?

Nothing. All click and no bang.

Very similar to this fellow:
Walkalong said:
Slosh too much oil in the striker channel on an XD and see how it does. ;)
Click to expand...

Took it to the gun smith (a friend) and he had a few very choice words for my stupidity.

Only apply what is needed. DO NOT OVER OIL.
 
The colder it gets the thicker oil gets. As C_A recounted, get too much oil in the inside of your bolt in cold weather, and you're done. Once you've surpassed a thin film, the extra oil does nothing and is potentially detrimental for several reasons. I think the belief that an AR15 has to run "wet" is greatly overstated.

Laphroaig
 
I had an AR fail to fire. More like refuse to fire. Round, after round, after round, manually cycled into the chamber...click, click, click.

The fire control group was gummed up with froglube (paste and liquid) and just general "gunk" from having been fired thousands of rounds previously without having taken the lower apart for cleaning (shouldn't need to right?).

The hammer moved noticeably easier when I cleaned all the froglube crap out of it. (it was also around freezing for this).

Although maybe the problem was in the BCG or interfering with the firing pin. I don't know. But I am pretty darn sure too much FrogLube paste + crud from previous range sessions + possibly the cold weather = lube induced epic failure

I may have taken a small, conditional step back on my "impossible to over lube" opinion...it depends on what the lube is, how much there is, what firearm, and WHERE the lube is applied/gets to. Striker channels were mentioned above. Fluid in a striker channel is not a good thing...
 
Corpral_Agarn said:
Umm yeah you can. Ask a younger me about it sometime.

I was using Frog Lube (fine product, but not for me) and I accidentally got some into the firing pin channel and you know what happened?

Nothing. All click and no bang.
Click to expand...

frog lube isnt an oil.....its paste like consistency makes it behave more like a grease than anything....
 
Oil soaked and oil softened wood stocks has taken it's toll on many an over-oiled old gun.

Over oiling is just a waste of oil, and the curse of old wood butt stocks.

rc
 
You certainly can "over oil" a gun or anything else. I've bought guns that "didn't work" that were gummed up from too much "oil" that congealed or varnished up. In my area where it gets well below Zero lube gums guns and other out door stuff up. Not to mention the oil causing beutiful old wood stocks to get punky and turn to mush in the bedding areas. Yeah you can over oil. If you got a synthetic black rifle throw it in a 55 gal drum of oil if you like.
 
USAF_Vet said:
Came to post that exact same video, lol.
Click to expand...

That video is pretty dumb, all things considered.

A lot of people who don't want more lube say it is because of dust dirt debris etc...well if you just throw lube on and then shoot it, once, in what is effectively a perfectly clean environment (for the gun), that isn't going to happen. As an example.
 
Er, yeah - you CAN over oil. Gets into the nooks/crannies & traps particles and cause gunk. Gunk will mess you up. Also, if you over oil the bore, I hope you have a good AD&D insurance policy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

I
  • Locked
Grease or Oil?
Replies
10
Views
1K
Dr. Peter Venkman
D
stchman
  • Locked
Using motor oil on guns.
2 3 4 5 6 7
Replies
153
Views
20K
Robert
Robert
S
  • Locked
Oil, or Grease
Replies
19
Views
2K
redneck2
redneck2
D
  • Locked
Gun Oil Question
2
Replies
44
Views
4K
Rampant_Colt
R
S
  • Locked
Firearms lubrication
2
Replies
29
Views
2K
mc223
M
Back
Top