Gun Grease Evaluation

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I have been using Mobil 1 20W-50 grade motor oil almost exclusively for most all of my gun lubrication and rust proofing requirements for quite some time now where oil is required. About the only supplemental oil I use along with it is ATF, (Automatic Transmission Fluid), and Mobil 1 Synthetic Gear Lube, where I require a little more viscosity.

I have also been using the Mobil1 Synthetic Grease. It comes in a one pound tub and is an excellent product. The only negative I’ve found is that it doesn’t have the “tackiness” I like when you apply it. You more or less have to “work it in”, then it works very well. I decided to experiment with other greases that are readily available in an attempt to perhaps find something a little more suitable for firearms lubrication purposes. There is an old saying in general lubrication that says, “If it rotates oil it, if it slides grease it.” I don’t follow that to the letter, but it does have some merit.

Over the last couple of months I picked up several different greases from various auto parts stores. These products are not very expensive, and come in a very wide range of different types of lubricant content. Most come in a large enough size that if someone only used them for lubricating firearms, one purchase would last several years. The products I decided on were as follows.

GunGreases001.jpg


1.) CRC White Lithium Aerosol Grease

2.) CRC Industrial Aerosol Red Grease

3.) LPS “Red & Redi” Aerosol grease

4.) Lucas Oil “Red-N-Tacky” #2

5.) Super Tech Moly Lithium Grease

6.) Super Lube Synthetic Grease With Teflon, (PTFE)

7.) Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease

8.) Rig Grease

....................................

CRC White Lithium Aerosol

& CRC Red Aerosol Grease


Both the CRC White Lithium and Red Aerosol Greases were unique in the fact they were aerosol products. I found out about these from the maintenance guys that I work with in our company. Because they are an aerosol product they were the easiest to apply, and allowed for a very non messy application. The small application tube reaches into hard to get at places, and being careful you could dispense as little, or as much as you wanted.

Another plus these aerosol greases offer is as they are dispensed they come out very thin. Almost like a motorcycle chain lube product. Then after several seconds the dispersant evaporates, and the product becomes very thick and tacky like regular grease.

Both of these greases were extremely good for auto pistol slides and frames, as well as AR-15 bolts and bolt carriers because of this. On AR-15 bolt carriers you could “lay a bead” of this product along the 4 areas of contact, then smear it around with your finger very easily. In about one minute it will thicken up and really stay put. The White Lithium Aerosol was the easiest to see on blue or black firearms, so you know exactly where you’ve applied it, as well as knowing when you might need to reapply it.

LPS “Red & Redi” Aerosol Grease

The LPS “Red & Redi” Aerosol Grease was very much like the CRC Red Aerosol Grease. In fact I couldn’t detect much, if any difference between the two, except I thought the CRC product had a better smell to it. Other than that I would call them pretty much identical.

Lucas Oil Red-N-Tacky

The Lucas Oil “Red-N-Tacky” is by far the stickiest grease of all the ones I tested. It certainly was correctly named. This grease stays put the best of all. It is easy to apply with your fingers, or else one of those stamped metal handled “acid brushes”. I found this product to last the longest of any grease I tested. One application should last an entire range session for all but the most demanding high round count shooters. It also remained the thickest on hot parts like AR-15 and AK-47 bolts.

Super Tech Moly Lithium Grease

The Super Tech Moly Lithium Grease is black in color, and not as tacky as any of the above products except for the Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease. It is also the messiest if you should get any on your clothes, gun case lining, etc. It does however, have excellent lubricating qualities, as most Moly type greases do. It also lasted very long once applied.

Super Lube Synthetic Teflon Grease

The Super Lube Synthetic Grease With Teflon, (PTFE), comes in a tube, and is transparent in color much like Vaseline. The tube makes it vary easy to apply. It helps to have some toothpicks handy in your gun cleaning supplies to move this stuff around the area you want it. In fact it’s not a bad idea to have some toothpicks in your gun cleaning kit for applying most any of these greases. This grease really adhered well. The one thing I did notice with this grease is after you apply it with your fingers, it is very difficult to wipe completely off. Even after washing my hands with soap and water, water would still bead up and roll off my skin where it made contact.

I think this grease would be excellent for applications where rain or wetness of any kind would be encountered. Some of it lightly rubbed on to the external metal areas of a firearm would really help in preventing any long term rusting issues in humid, rainy climates. The fact it’s clear in color is also a plus for this type of application. It wouldn’t stain the inside of a gun case like the black Moly Grease will.

Mobil 1 Synthetic Grease

This product I’ve been using for some time now with excellent results. This grease is the least “tacky” of any that I tried. Once applied however, it does provide excellent lubrication. It does not seem to last as long as several of the other products tested, which is why I decided to test other products to see how they would compare to the Mobil 1 product. I think a lot of this is due to the fact it isn’t as “tacky”, and because of that it doesn’t adhere quite as well to the surfaces it’s applied to.

Rig Grease

This product has been around longer than most of the people reading this, including myself. Rig is a very oily grease that provided excellent protection. It almost has properties a lot like Cosmoline in that regard. I’ve found it’s best applied with a Q-Tip. When you open the jar there is usually a small puddle of oil sitting on top that you can easily blend in with a toothpick before you apply it. This will occur if the product sits too long, or is stored in a warm environment.

I’ve read several articles that state this grease is one of the best for use with Stainless Steel firearms, because it has properties that greatly reduce the chance of galling. Galling is a problem with Stainless Steel because it’s “gummy” because of the Nickel content of the metal. When like stainless Steel surfaces wear against one another, (like the frame and slide of a Stainless Steel 1911), Galling can result if the surfaces are not well lubricated. Rig is one of the best products for this. The original company that produced Rig went out of business not too long ago, but it was purchased by another company, and fortunately this product is back on the market.

Synopsis

It was a lot of fun doing this test, and I enjoyed the time I spent evaluating these products. While none of these products could be considered unsatisfactory, some were better than others. The aerosol greases were quite unique. They are not an easy product to find, as CRC is more of an industrial supplier. They can be purchased from W.W. Grainger Co., who is a major industrial supplier that sells to the general public as well. They were the most expensive of the products I tested, running around $11.00 a can. Again, one can would last the average shooter for years, if not a lifetime.

All the other products I tested are available from most any of the better known auto parts franchise stores. Pep Boys, O’Reilly, Auto Zone, etc. all stock them. And none cost more than a few bucks each. All are a much better value than these super expensive “gun greases” that can cost over $10.00 an ounce. You can purchase a plastic hypo type applicator for any of these products at any drug store. They are easily filled with your finger, and are much handier to keep in your shooting kit when you go to the range, or clean afterwards.
 
The Lucas is very popular for HD applications like Bucket pins and parts on dozers and such.
 
Grease can be good for high impact shock loads like firearms get and most will be more resistant to washing out in a rainstorm.

The problem most people have with using grease in guns is that they don't remove the old, dirty grease that's loaded with fouling and grit.

Greases are also poor in creeping between surfaces that aren't disassembled but still need lubrication, like fire control groups and extractors.

BSW
 
The best grease is probably Exxon Unirex N2. It is not EP but will cary close to the load. It is the best waterproof grease on the planet.

It was just about the only grease we used in the power plant where I worked. I worked with Exxon and also Mobil at the time and found it to be the best.
 
Originally Posted By: bsmithwins
The problem most people have with using grease in guns is that they don't remove the old, dirty grease that's loaded with fouling and grit.


True. I have gotten into the habit of giving all of my firearms a good wet cleaning before I relubricate. I use clean Kerosene. I especially like this on my weapons that are easily field stripped, like AR's and auto pistols. It's unbelievable what you can wash out. Starting out with clean Kerosene, it ends up looking like coffee when you're done.

I then blow everything dry with compressed air and the relubricate everything with clean fresh oil and grease. The gun come out cleaner than when I removed it from the box. Kerosene will not harm plastics or wood. And it evaporates quickly when blown dry.
 
Another little trick I found out, is after you clean, and the Kerosene is dirty, is to let it sit for a day. Most all of the particulate and dirt will settle to the bottom of the container. (I use a clean metal coffee can). Then you can pour off the top into another can, and you'll be good to go. The dirty stuff that gets left behind makes an excellent weed and vegetation killer. I live in Arizona and have a "gravel lawn". If you have grass this might not be such a good idea.

If you don't care for the smell of Kerosene, you can use WD-40. It comes in gallon cans, and is reasonable priced. You must use compressed air for this. If you don't, any WD-40 that gets left behind can get sticky and cause problems. Kerosene leaves zero residue. If you have the space in your garage or workshop, one of those little auto parts washers works great for this type of application. Just be sure to purchase one that is compatible with petro based solvents. Many of the cheap ones from places like Harbor Freight are not.

This is also a great way to clean bolts on bolt action rifles, and magazines without having to disassemble them. I've never taken apart a bolt or a magazine using this method, because it's not necessary. This is the absolute best cleaning method I've found for cleaning all of the Ruger Mark .22 auto pistols. These weapons are an absolute PITA to disassemble and put back together. I presently own and shoot 3 of them. All I do is remove the magazine and start washing. I give the magazine the same treatment. After a good blow dry with high pressure compressed air they come out spotless. And best of all do so with zero aggravation!
 
So in conclusion, you registered yesterday and already have 19 post. You lube your guns with auto engine oil. You bought a lifetime supply ($50 worth) of various greases to use on your guns. You clean your guns with kerosene. And you water your lawn with kerosene to "kill the weeds".

Does that all sound about right? Because if it does, this is EXACTLY the kind of non-sense I came to bitog to avoid. Please stop contaminating the water supply by dumping kerosene on the ground.

You must REALLY hate the idea of buying gun specific lubes. Like what the heck man?

Get you a 4 ounce bottle of Slip 2000 EWL and a tube of TW25B gun grease and that will last you years and set you back $20.

Stop the insanity!!
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
You must REALLY hate the idea of buying gun specific lubes.


What exactly does a "gun specific" lube possess that the ones I use don't? Other than a higher price, a smaller amount, and the ability to get people like you to buy them.
 
I've used a variety of oils and greases on my firearms. None seemed to work better than another. I clean them after I use (maybe 200 rounds) so the lubricants don't get stressed and they don't even get that dirty.

Some of the ones I've tried are CLP, SLIP 2000 EWL 30, Mobil 1 5W20, Miltec-1, TW25, G96, and FP-10.

They all seem to work fine. I use CLP or G96 to clean and lube my pistol slides with TW25 use SLIP 2000 where the oil goes.

I steer clear of kerosene.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
I thought this was on grease guns not grease for guns.


"Grease gun" is exactly where my mind went!

My 10mm AR takes (adapted) grease gun magazines:

ARPistol1.JPG


A modern grease gun.

I do use a little grease on certain slides. Old style Amsoil spray grease, red in a can with a funky odor. Works really really well, but alas Amsoil quit selling it. Arrgh!!
 
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