Over oil a gun?
- Thread starter stchman
- Start date
- Status
giggitygiggity
Member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2009
- Messages
- 2,251
I would imagine putting sand in a gun is far worse than over oiling.
There are a lot of things you can do worse than over oiling a gun. Besides, when a gun gets hung up at the range, what do people do? Wet it down with oil and 90% of the time, the gun runs better.
There are a lot of things you can do worse than over oiling a gun. Besides, when a gun gets hung up at the range, what do people do? Wet it down with oil and 90% of the time, the gun runs better.
Uh no, most of us are not in a position to question the experience of a 25 year army veteran with 15 years in delta. You must be one baaaad dude to be able to call his experience into question. Props.
You don't need to go by random unsupported feeling, you can read what he wrote about it, already posted in this thread:
Naw. But its not hard to see youre certainly in awe.
Tell you what, since you seem to have read all about how to do it, Ill let you win. Just for the sake of brevity.
I know who to listen to.
People who have legitimate experience.
Hey, some of us get it by doing, and some by reading. Its all good.
You did what I quoted and it didn't work? Care to share the specifics? I'd be most interested.
You are more than welcome to clean your guns more than is necessary BTW.
AK103K
member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2002
- Messages
- 7,610
Actually, its this part that you stated I was initially referring to....
And yes, I had a couple of experiences with just that. One of my own doing, a couple that werent mine, but I got to deal with it.
Mine was with a nasty lot of Egyptian SMG 9mm that was quite corrosive, and the quickest acting corrosive Ive ever seen. I normally clean my guns as soon as I get home. In this case, we were shooting my MAC (was VERY glad later it wasnt my MP5) on a hot and steamy August day, and got home late, and I said screw it, Ill clean it in the mornng, and went to bed. When I went to clean the gun about 12 hours later, the muzzle, bore, chamber area, and bolt, were all covered in a light coat of bright orange rust. If Id had known it was corrosive, I would have cleaned the gun, late or not. Lesson learned, and the old mans chastising jarhead voice was very loud in my head, and it was as colorful as ever.
Two other rifles, both nice (on the outside) M1 Garands I picked up off a buddy (he got them in trade for some work he did). Both were in real nice shape externally, and both had bores that were trashed from what we later assumed was not being cleaned after shooting corrosive and being put away. When I was looking at them, and looked down the bores, they both were very dirty, and I asked him if he had shot them, and he said no, thats how he got them. I took one home and cleaned it, and it was obvious it wasnt good. Shooting it proved it. He took it back and I tried the second, with the same results. We shot both rifles with GI ball, and both were shooting around 10"-12" at 100 yards.
In both cases, cleaning the guns at the soonest opportunity would most likely have eliminated any problems. Failing to do so, basically wrecked two guns, and it would have likely been three if I had just put the MAC away, and hadnt cleaned it the next morning.
Over the years Ive also personally seen a lot of guns balk because their owners were lazy, and they didnt bother cleaning/maintaining their guns.
So yea, not taking care of your guns after each outing isnt a good idea.
As far as what you quoted about your hero there, well, that pretty much made my point about my "feeling", and him taking care of his stuff.
I have talked with any number of Iraqi war veterans and depending on location, they were cleaning their rifles several times a day. The USMC guys I was pulling targets with at Camp Perry, they were in a very sandy area and were cleaning their M16's/M4's three times a day.
I worked with a retired Col who was a Vietnam Veteran and ran an Infantry Company. Even though this was late in the war, with all the M16 improvements, he was forcing his men to clean their rifles at ever march break. He claimed, when they did get into firefights, few of his men's rifles malfunctioned.
I clean my rifles after each NRA match, which is 88 rounds for across the course. This is normal for NRA competitors. I also clean my pistols after each Bullseye match. Bullseye pistols are tight, competitors well lubricate the things, and it was a truism that "your elbow is the drip point". I keep my weapons clean and ammunition as good as I can. In fact, I lube my pistol rounds to ensure positive extraction. Having malfunctions will ruin a score. I am not going to drive 2 1/2 hours, get up at some God awful time in the morning, shoot a match, only to have my score ruined by a dirty weapon. My life is never at risk in any of the these matches, only my ego, so it always surprises me to read of people who would happily get them selves killed, because they are too lazy to clean their weapons.
To each his own.
I worked with a retired Col who was a Vietnam Veteran and ran an Infantry Company. Even though this was late in the war, with all the M16 improvements, he was forcing his men to clean their rifles at ever march break. He claimed, when they did get into firefights, few of his men's rifles malfunctioned.
I clean my rifles after each NRA match, which is 88 rounds for across the course. This is normal for NRA competitors. I also clean my pistols after each Bullseye match. Bullseye pistols are tight, competitors well lubricate the things, and it was a truism that "your elbow is the drip point". I keep my weapons clean and ammunition as good as I can. In fact, I lube my pistol rounds to ensure positive extraction. Having malfunctions will ruin a score. I am not going to drive 2 1/2 hours, get up at some God awful time in the morning, shoot a match, only to have my score ruined by a dirty weapon. My life is never at risk in any of the these matches, only my ego, so it always surprises me to read of people who would happily get them selves killed, because they are too lazy to clean their weapons.
To each his own.
MagnunJoe
Member
All I ever use for lube on semi autos is 5 drops of Ballistol. I've been doing it for over 12 years with no problems at all.
Gun Master
Member
Some of you may want to try synthetic motor oil such as 10w-30w Mobil 1.
rskent
Member
A very interesting thread with lots of anecdotal evidence.
I generally believe lube is a good thing and more lube is a better thing. Mobile 1 is your friend.
Having said that, I have had one problem with over lubrication. Just one. At the range. With a 1911.
I started getting inertia feeds. Warn out mag springs right? No, dumb guy with gun oil all over
his hands loading rounds into his magazines. Those slippery little buggers would just jump right
out of the gun during recoil and land on the ground. Fortunately the round behind it would chamber
and the gun would still go bang.
Do what you want, but I think I will follow Kyle Lamb's advice.
I generally believe lube is a good thing and more lube is a better thing. Mobile 1 is your friend.
Having said that, I have had one problem with over lubrication. Just one. At the range. With a 1911.
I started getting inertia feeds. Warn out mag springs right? No, dumb guy with gun oil all over
his hands loading rounds into his magazines. Those slippery little buggers would just jump right
out of the gun during recoil and land on the ground. Fortunately the round behind it would chamber
and the gun would still go bang.
Do what you want, but I think I will follow Kyle Lamb's advice.
herrwalther
Member
- Joined
- May 1, 2013
- Messages
- 8,130
Slamfire said:
Entirely location dependent I agree. The sand in Iraq is thick, similar to talcum powder. As such it can be crippling to weapons without proper and routine maintenance. They also have routine sand storms or shamals which can force dust into crannies even more. In eastern Afghanistan, where I was, it was more rocks instead of sand. Locals didn't even have a word for sand storms as they don't happen in those parts. When I wasn't patrolling, my rifle never went longer than a week without cleaning. Most people in the military have different depths of weapon cleaning from "white glove inspection ready" to "just keep the **** thing running when you pull the trigger".
On most trips to the range, 2-4 quick shots of CLP inside the upper receiver is enough to qualify with. I have seen some range masters (second word used loosly) spray into the trigger assembly and soak down the upper receiver. Even one who sprayed oil down the barrel. If you pull the trigger and oil sprays into your eyes, that is too much.
So, we have a consensus. You can over oil a firearm, you can under oil a firearm, you can over clean a firearm and you can under clean a firearm. It all depends on the firearm, environment, usage and storage conditions.
With all that said, AR's suck. Until one tries its very best to kill you (and you're on the back side of it) you will never understand.
And lastly, thank God of JMB. If only Stoner had been his equal.
With all that said, AR's suck. Until one tries its very best to kill you (and you're on the back side of it) you will never understand.
And lastly, thank God of JMB. If only Stoner had been his equal.
Baron_Null
Member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2011
- Messages
- 210
With all that said, AR's suck. Until one tries its very best to kill you (and you're on the back side of it) you will never understand.
I'm very interested in hearing about your perspective on ARs given your experience, but I think it's safe to say that this is not the place for it. This is a thread about lubrication of firearms, not about ARs. I would rather not see this thread locked, given that there has been a good deal constructive discussion, at least when members aren't bickering.
Joshboyfutre
Member
When I was in Iraq if I use too much oil on my 240 it would turn into a big glob of dust. It's just as simple as oiling a part and then wiping it off in most cases
Respectfully sir, I didn't bring the AR15/M4/M16 into this thread. That was done by a number of others.
Respectfully sir, nobody else is using this thread in an attempt to bash a particular type of firearm
stonecutter2
Member
I was told in my CCW training that using too much oil in a CCW can cause unreliability in ammo. The oil can seep into primers or at the neck of the casing, potentially causing it to not fire.
While I don't think you should run a CCW dry, I do think you need to be conscious of how much oil you're using when oiling a gun. Not dry, not dripping wet, but good enough to get the job done.
I go for a nice oily sheen and call it done.
On semi-autos, I also apply a very thin layer of Tetra gun grease along the top of the barrel, as I see wear there. The slide sometimes rubs on the barrel. I put a teeny dab on my finger, run it along the top of the barrel, then wipe it off. There's still a good grease layer on it.
Last edited:
Gun Master
Member
Synthetic motor oil doesn't tend to "varnish" like petroleum based oil does.
Well, someone has to bash the M16. And since I have personal experience involving it I choose to do so as frequently as possible. Might just save some poor fool that thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread.
So now every gun that anybody has ever had a negative experience with, sucks?
Man, I guess it's time we design a new gun that doesn't suck.
Then not let anybody use it so that it too doesn't suck lol
- Status
