Grease As A Lubricant
(OK, I'll begin by 'fessing up. For years I overlubricated, primarily because I lived in Houston, Texas where corrosion from humidity and sweat was more of a problem than dust causing jams. When I went to the range, I would run a patch through the bore before shooting. All my semi-autos functioned fine, but they WERE a royal witch to clean afterwards, and I imagine I may have created extra slide-to-frame wear from the grit which was trapped..)
Now I've seen the light. My guns function as well as ever, but cleaning is a LOT easier.
Lubrication still includes greasing the slides. I use Tetra because it's easily available from Wally World, but there are a lot of other excellent hi-tech greases available. Pay your money and take your choice. The secret when using any grease is to put it on so lightly you can barely see it -- and THEN use a patch to rub it as totally off as you can. There should be absolutely NO visible grease when you're ready to reassemble. Good hi-tech greases leave enough of a thin film to still provide excellent lubrication, and the film is too thin for unburned powder and other crap to adhere.
I'll also put a drop of MPro-7 on the barrel lugs of my 1911 .45, a small drop in the pin for the internal safety if the gun has one, and a small drop on the trigger mechanism. Then, again, I'll lightly wipe off any excess with a clean patch. (Again, I happen to like MPro-7. There are a lot of excellent hi-tech liquid lubricants out there, too.)
I used to use white lithium grease. It worked ok, but now that I use so little cost just isn't a factor any longer. One tube of Tetra last me a long, long time.
But I still use home-brew Ed's Red for cleaning. It still works better than just about anything else I've tried. However, I will use Mpro7 bore gel once every six months or so when I'm feeling anal about cleaning.
Just my 10 cents. Your mileage may vary.