slide rail lubrication: oil vs. grease

slide rail lubrication

  • oil

    Votes: 171 38.0%
  • grease

    Votes: 205 45.6%
  • both

    Votes: 74 16.4%

  • Total voters
    450
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FP10, great stuff... think of it as a vast improvement over CLP.

Cleans, lubricates and protects. It's all I use on my handguns. I don't use another cleaner unless I've been shooting lead bullets.

www.fp10.com
 
IIRC, BreakFree CLP can gum up when mixed with other lubricants. I'm not sure about that, though...?

I use CLP on everything except my KelTec. The hammer face requires grease, so I've been using it on the slide rails, too, with good results. LubriMatic white lithium grease, $2.00 per tube from Lowes, BTW.

I'll probably go back to CLP for the rails in the fall/winter, as my P11 is frequently exposed to low temperatures and grease can fail under those conditions, as mentioned.
 
slide rail lubrication: oil vs. grease

I shoot at least 500 rounds out of each of my CZ's every week. When I used BreakFree CLP to oil the slides, there wasn' any oil left on the slides when I was finished. But there was a little more wear each time, even in the Satin Nickel 75B.

Then I watched the Wilson Combat video on care and cleaning the CZ 75. For the slide, locking lugs and upper sear, Bill Wilson demonstrated that a reasonably thick coat of gun grease was the order of the day. I followed his advice and have used Tetra Gun Grease on those parts since then. And Tetra lubricating oil on the pins and springs and other moving parts. Everything runs smooth. The grease is still visible at the end of the day, and my guns never fail to function. And absolutely no additional wear.

So the answer for me, and Bill Wilson, is grease. Use whatever works for you.
 
edefonzo

Thanks for that. I have been reading this thread wondering about my cz. I had the same symptoms you had and generally run my cz toward the dry side anyways. I have a good amount of wear already.

I'm gonna try some grease now. Some "friend" of mine told me not to oil the rails on a cz and I believed him so I oiled lightly.

Where can I get a copy of the video you mention?

Thanks -bevr
 
I guess I'm one of those oddballs. I use Brian Eno's slide glide. Kind of a grease, kind of not. But it's great on slides and softens the recoil a bit. On every pistol I've used it on, no wear showing. I highly recommend it and it doesn't dry out or run off.
 
Both. Discovered Brownell's "Action Lube Plus" a moly based grease recently.
Breakfree CLP for general cleaning and lubing. Action Lube Plus on rails w/a drop or two of Breakfree and soak up excess.
I also use ALP on the engagement surfaces of sears, sear notches and faces of striker/trigger engagement surfaces on Glocks. Smooths things out nicely. Makes trigger pull feel lighter.
 
Much virtual ink has been spilt on the oil vs. grease debate at pistolsmith.com. The engineers in the bunch start throwing around citations to groups like the National Lubrication and Grease Institute. George Fennell, the president of the company that makes FP-10, is a frequent poster there. He seems like a nice guy who knows more than I ever want to know about grease and oil. He periodically sends out out free samples of FP-10 for forum participants to try. Here's a link to a very informative thread:

http://www.pistolsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=11402&highlight=fp10


Personally, I'm just a beginning shooter and I will stick with Brian Enos's Slide Glide #1 for a while to see how it works (www.brianenos.com). I only use the gun at an outdoor range here in Texas, so there's no problem with grease getting too thick in the cold. Those pro IPSC shooters shoot a HELL of a lot, and many of them swear by Slide Glide. I have to hide my use of grease from my pistol instructor and gun-nut best friend, they think anyone who uses grease on an autopistol is an idiot.

I suspect that the truth is that both oil and grease will do the job in your average gun, as long as you use the right types.
 
I was raised on gun oil, I like the smell of it, and will only use it on my auto loading pistols . I use Riggs on the friction areas of my O/U shotguns.
 
I used Tetra Grease for about 10 years and recently switched to Slide Glide.

I use oil only as a rust preventative.

But, I think it depends a lot on where you live. I work in (arguably) the two hottest cities in North America, Lake Havasu City, Az., and Bullhead City, Az., where summer temps frequently top 120. Winter temps rarely crack freezing. When they do the plumbers wear ear-to-ear smiles.

We have no humidity so rust prevention is not an issue. Oil will run out of your gun and stain you clothes and leather - not to mention splatter all over your clothes and shooting glasses.

I wipe my guns with CLP and then wipe them dry. I lube my guns with Slide Glide (just ran into one earlier tonight that was still in Tetra Grease).

When I lived in Idaho it was eight months of CLP and four months of Tetra Grease.

In a 1911 I lube the trigger bar, disconnector and sear, hammer faces, safety contact surfaces, pins and all other metal-to-metal surfaces with grease. Oil is just a corrosion preventative.

The most important part about lubing with grease is to keep it light. Never put more lube on a part than what it needs to function properly.
 
I use Hoppe's oil. I've never owned a pistol that malfunctioned because of my cleaning and maintenance routine, which is to simply clean after every range session, light oil on the barrel and a drop of oil on each rail.

I know some shooter that collect greases/oils like baseball cards... I suppose if you shoot in an "extreme environment" and don't clean your guns, maybe this is more important?

Heck, what do I know. I stick with what has worked for me for years. Cheap, simple, effective.
 
Somewhere, it may have been mouseguns.com, I read you should use GREASE on a Kel-Tec. I use Militec-1.
 
Mobil 1 20w50 Synthetic.

After trying all the gun specific oils, this is the best lubricant for guns that I have ever used. Doesn't burn off, makes cleanup a breeze and is very smooth.
 
So far I have only used FP-10 anywhere lubrication is needed, including the slide, locking blocks, trigger mechanism, etc. I also use it for cleaning everywhere, including the bore. I find it excellent for all those, and it is especially good on stainless steel. I have some Rugers where the trigger improved a great deal after simply lubing the mechanism parts with FP-10.

BUT, after reading all this, and seeing how many of my guns are bone dry after a month or two without lubrication, I am inclined to try grease in some of the areas with looser tolerances, like the slide to frame rail fit on most handguns. I think the oil works fine when the tolerance is really tight, held in place by surface tension.

I'm also inclined to start using T-9 as my primary outside rust protectant, but that's getting slightly off topic.
 
slide glide until it runs out. i'm tempted to use all the chassis lube i have in the garage. smells and looks the same. :shrug:
 
I was always told you oil pistols and grease rifles. If I want lubricant to stay on the rails I use Gunslick, a little bit will do you.
 
An old thread which could use an update: George Fennell, the inventor of the original FP-10 was bought out and now the new FP-10 is different. Fennell now makes Weapons Shield which he says is an improvement over the old (phenomenal) FP-10. So if you like FP-10 back in the day, you should get Weapons Shield.

Oh and he is a tribologist and even though he makes a grease, he recommends the oil on the rails for reasons I am too lazy to type right now. You could ask him though. I know he lurks over at TFL and maybe even here now.
 
I used tetra grease in my AR-15 for a long time, till one year I went bunny hunting in sub zero weather, gun worked fine but the grease started making the gun very stiff, now I use CLP when it's cold out.
I have had good results when it's hot though.

I use coper anti-seize compound on the slide rails on my Pistols most of the time.
(Same stuff that Glocks come with)
 
i haven't used oil to lube anything in a long time other than my car. i have been using high temp lithium grease for the longest time, on handguns, ar, ak, shotgun etc. i am currently extensively experimenting with the wilson combat grease just because it is in a syringe that makes applying so much easier and faster.

oil splatters, migrates, and is just overall nasty to work with. grease stays put where you apply it, and it doesnt run, smoke, and it wipes right off. and a little bit of grease goes a long way you don't need much.
 
Old thread, but whatever...

The frame rails of my pistols get plain NAPA lithium grease. It stays put.
 
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