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Originally posted by 1lowlife:

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Originally posted by 220-9er:
Grease is just oil with something extra to keep it in place.
If the gun gets dirty and the oil's still there it will grab that just like grease will.

If the oil is still there..

Years ago I only used oil.
I'd shoot a firearm, clean it, and put it the safe.
Over time the oil evaporated and the gun was dry.

I currently have guns in the safe that still have the Slide Glide that I put on rails over 3 years ago.

I like that I can pick up any firearm in my safe(s) and know that it is adequately lubricated and ready to go.

I have sigs that I look at the rails and wonder what they would look like if I used grease on them from the start.
Even though I now grease the hell out of them, I'm more apt to clean them before range time rather than right after.

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Originally posted by elberettas:

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Originally posted by Ogie:
I've used Weapon Shield CLP for many years with good results. I don't have any super long range sessions and I check my weapons every few months to make sure they still have some lube on them. The oil works fine for my purposes.

Same here!

I'm another fan of Weapon Shield. They also have a grease that is fully compatible with the CLP. Sometimes I mix the two to form the consistency (viscosity) that I want depending upon conditions.

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Originally posted by Jolman:
Here is different look at the age old debate. Many think that grease will capture and retain residue and contaminants. Does not oil do the same thing? A gun is not a closed system like a car engine. The oil can’t remove the contaminants in a gun. If you oil your slide rails, where does the contamination go?

The contamination (well some of it) leaves with the oil. Of course then the oil is gone.

I use grease, primarily slide glide. Good stuff. It cleans up easily with alcohol.

I use both. I rarely clean my guns. But, they get wiped down and relubed every so often.

Want to talk about contamination? Where does all the crap come from that I find in the window of my pistol optic in such a short amount of time?

I use what the manufacturer of my pistol says to use. I'm not an engineer, I didn't design the pistol, and I certainly didn't test dozens of them to failure and inspect the wear.

That being said, if Ed Brown says to use oil in my Ed Brown, that's what I'm using. If SIG says to use grease on the frame rails than I'd use grease. I don't have any SIGS at the moment, so I simply use a gun oil or CLP on everything and haven't noticed any noticeable wear on anything. I clean my pistols every 500-1000 rounds, but do put oil on the frame rails, barrel, etc with a wet q-tip before I go to the range each time...….there is still oil on everything after a 300 round range session that I've noticed.

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PMMay 25, 2019 11:10 AMHide PostI use what the manufacturer of my pistol says to use. I'm not an engineer, I didn't design the pistol, and I certainly didn't test dozens of them to failure and inspect the wear

That's some pretty radical thinking there Jimmy. I try not to make life overly hard for myself. I use what and how the manufacture recommends. I'd love to have a team of engineers, gunsmiths, and testers at my disposal to pick the best of the latest and greatest that comes out. Until I have that I'll just follow the instructions.

PS it's CLP and TW25-b for me.

I use a homemade concoction of two parts full-synthetic 20W50 motor oil and one part full-synthetic automatic transmission fluid. Its a formula that our department armorer brought home from one of his schools, and it has served me well.

It's pretty heavy oil, but I've run it in conditions down to -20 and over 100 and not had any issues, which is more than I can say for some commercial products I've used. I've not had it evaporate, but I don't have any guns that I shoot less than at least once a year or so, so I can't say how long it would last beyond that. I know I've seen CLP evaporate in less than a month.

The best part is it cost me about $10 for materials, and I haven't had to buy any more for the past 5 years.

I recently sent my 31-year-old 226 to Sig for the service plan. They returned it wet with oil on the rails, barrel and guide rod - very similar to that illustrated by the Sig Academy video on cleaning and maintaining classic p-series.

I keep reading that Sig specifies grease for the rails but my new and old manuals only specify grease (vs oil or grease) for all stainless models. Also, Sig no longer ships new guns with grease.

I’m not trying to rebuke grease and I have been using it myself, but I do think we exaggerate to the extent we imply that the manufacturer specifies grease for the traditional alloy-framed 226, 220, etc.

My oldest friend, though we've fallen out of touch, is/was an FBI firearms instructor and competitive shooter for at least 20 years. He taught me how to shoot in 1993 (and I'm doing just fine).

About 10-15 years ago, he highly recommended G96 oil to lubricate my rifles and pistols (I use WC grease on the major moving parts of my AR, M1 carbine, and 870 shotgun).

It's been a long time, is this still a valid approach to lubrication? I have some firearms that might go a year or more without shooting, and evaporated oil can be an issue (so I reapply before shooting).

Bruce Gray used to post more here, and had a line under his name that said "use some damn grease."

I use grease where I can, oil where I can't get the grease, and I use a fair amount, and clean often. I grease rails like there's no tomorrow. Lighter amounts of grease on other contact surfaces. Lately I use Lucas grease and their blue oil in the little bottle with the needle applicator, because it's easy to get into actions and pin areas and so forth. Dirty grease wipes away easily. Even in hot climates it's still there after the firearm sits.

Grease is not simply oil in a carrier, and there are a number of grease formulations. They are not all equal.

There was a grease that I used years ago called "progold" or something like that, which came in a small plastic container with a screw top. It was advertised for firearms, fishing reals, etc. It had a gold color and was slippery. A little went a long way.

I had several firearms in the safe that were cleaned, lubricated, and not shot for a while. I didn't touch them for a year or so, and when I did, they were locked up solidly, or nearly so, as if they'd been lubricated with glue. There are presently five or six still in there in that condition, that I haven't gotten around to. I'm sure it will clean off with solvent, but what a pain in the butt, and imagine grabbing a firearm out of the safe and attempting to use it...not everything is the same.

I have purchased several firearms that were sold as used, but clearly barely fired. Glock ships their firearms with an anti-seize material, instead of a grease or oil, and I've picked up pistols at the shop that were sold as used, which had nothing in them but the anti-seize that they were shipped with (copper colored). Not really a good idea to run the firearm that way, but the owner never cleaned or lubricated the pistol, didn't fire much, and sold it. Big discount for me.

I don't have Mr. Gray's insight, but I'll echo his comment the same, because I believe it, and I'll use some damn grease. A friend at the range a few years ago had numerous stoppages and malfunctions with his pistol, a Ruger. I examined it and found it to be dry. I dismantled it, cleaned it quickly, and lubricated it. He went back on the line and had zero issues with it after that. Despite common mythology to the contrary, most pistols run well wet. Rifles, too. Even the AR...which is often touted as using minimal lubrication, does better when wet.

I use both, Slip2000 EWL30 and EWG. Grease is used in slide rails, and some contact parts.
EWL30 is used on everything else.

Due to my duty weapons being vertical and moving around most of the time, I prefer grease as gravity doesn't cause it to migrate quite as bad.



TXPO

I also have been very impressed with the Slip2000 EWL30. Good stuff...

Whenever we have one of these lubrication threads, I post this article. A lot of good information in here.

https://www.grantcunningham.co.../05/lubrication-101/

I always assumed a lot of the companies the sell gun lube don't actually make the actual product. I figure they buy commercial lubricants from large scale industrial lubrication manufacturers in non-consumer friendly amounts (55 gallon drums) and repackage and sell it in consumer friendly sizes and packages (little spray cans and syringes.) But sometimes the big industrial manufactures sell the stuff themselves in someone consumer friendly packages (bigger spray cans), at bulk pricing. Someone who does a lot of gun cleaning might want to look for these.