Gun Lube Oil Tests

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Gannet167

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There is a ton of B$, conjecture, urban myth and speculation about gun lubes. Probably as much as there is about engine oils. However, there's very little empirical evidence to support much of the claims.

Rather than have a thread where people chime in with "I've been using this for years" or "never had any problems" or the "I use _____" all of which are useless, does anyone have any scientific comparisons between products?

I find the price of some of these products and their marketing claims hard to understand. It seems that just because the word "Gun" is on the label, it gets priced like it's made from baby unicorn tears. 4 ounces of Hoppes #9 is $14 at my local store. Apparently someone's great grandfather used it and it smells funny and therefore that makes it amazing. But it doesn't do well in any of the tests I've seen on it.

Good old Dexron III seems to be the most consistently well regarded product to use on a gun, possibly cut with kerosene or in "Ed's Red" mixture.

I'm not trying to save money necessarily, I just find it amazing that some 70 year old recipe using mineral oil can out perform modern ATF which is really a chemical engineering masterpiece. I realize auto lubes are not intended for guns and I wouldn't run CLP in my engine. But, as lubricants go, M1 is awfully good even at extreme temps and high speeds/pressures. I'm sure it prevents corrosion and doesn't gum up either. ATF is an excellent cleaning agent.

If anyone has an scientific comparisons of these over marketed gun specific products, please share.
 
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I remember reading this a while back (probably a link from here in bitog). It's what made me want to try frog lube, not just for firearms, but to coat my axes between use. I'm fairly new to firearms, so I don't have an extensive history of previous lubes. Obviously there are still some holes in the testing, such as operation in high/low temps, etc.

http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667
 
Not scientific but I was sold on G96 years ago when I was doing a cylinder head rebuild on a friends Ford and left the open short block outside for 4 months in the winter covered only by an old canvas and sprayed with G96. In the Spring there was zero rust on the exposed machined parts.

I have used it since. I stored a S&W revolver with it only sprayed down once for 30 years and no rust.

So I use it exclusively on everything along with the G96 synthetic gun oil.
 
Probably start with ones that has certification to standard specs like MIL-PRF-63460 like G96, slip2000
 
Originally Posted By: Gannet167
I find the price of some of these products and their marketing claims hard to understand. It seems that just because the word "Gun" is on the label, it gets priced like it's made from baby unicorn tears.


Now there is one that actually is!

 
lol
Yep..over priced and over rated.

I use 50/50 ATF/Mobil 1 75W/90 Gear Lube. Very cold weather more ATF. Unlike Motor oil both "shed" water. Extremely high AW additives.

I use this to apply:

1_IMG_3325.JPG
 
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Originally Posted By: Al
lol Yep..over priced and over rated.


I'm completely convinced they ALL are. I have never heard what actually is required in order for a lubricant to be titled as a "gun lube". It's all advertising nonsense. "Frog Lube" is the biggest crock of silly B.S. to come down the pike yet. The stuff is nothing more than repackaged roller coaster track lubricant, with a mint smell added. And people pay top buck to lap it up. All this foolishness of requiring a hair dryer to apply it. As if that's going to make it a better product. Along with how it was formulated by some ex Navy Seal. I guess today one is required to go through seal training to add mint to grease and oil.

The foolishness they employ to sell these gun lubricants is all but laughable. So it "prevents rust". So does lard. It wouldn't surprise me if someone repackaged that as a "gun lube". Both "Frog Lube" and "Fireclean" are vegetable oil products. That means they have a limited shelf life because they can and will go bad and spoil. "Fireclean" even has a "use by" date on the bottle. Just like milk at the grocery store. Yet people can't seem to get their money out fast enough to buy this $h!t. And then go on forums like this one and rave about it.

I will say the one line of products that has gotten my attention recently are the Weapon Shield line of oils and Lithium greases. They're produced by a guy named George Fennel. He was the guy who invented FP-10. He sold the company, and over time they changed the formula until it no longer represented what he originally invented and put on the market. So he started the Weapon Shield line of gun care products. He's a straight talker who doesn't condemn other products. He does test them against Weapon Shield on a Falex Lubricant Tester. It induces a very high wear condition that visually shows how Weapon Shield performs against all of these other "wonder gun lubricants". This a test he did against "Frog Lube". The results are pretty impressive. There are many other tests he has done on You Tube with other gun lubes. While these tests don't produce reams of scientific data, they do provide a visual wear comparison against other similar gun care products. That's a lot more than the B.S. these other overpriced gun lubricants provide you with.
 
Depends on what your cleaning and/or lubing. Any CLP meeting mil spec is plenty good for most handguns and AR type systems. It falls short in a bolt action where you need to de-copper a copper fouled barrel.

FWIW my grandfather showed me how to clean a break action 12ga and he used MMO!!!!!!!!! Cleaned that barrel like a champ. Old sheet with small nail in middle and a sting was the cleaning patch.
 
I bought a quart bottle of Mobil1 V Twin 20W50 for gun lube. It'll last me the rest of my life.
 
You can use your homemade recipes.
I'll use my retail store gun oils.
.... currently (2)... Birchwood-Casey Barricade / Synthetic Oil.

Whatever floats your boat.
 
I've never bought into the $72 an ounce of super mil-spec lube.

I just use the residual Mobil 1 out of the 6 bottles I use (usually a couple of ounces left over) and that is good. I figure if a lubricant is good enough to use in an engine it can lube some gun metal.
 
Originally Posted By: stchman

I just use the residual Mobil 1 out of the 6 bottles I use (usually a couple of ounces left over) and that is good. I figure if a lubricant is good enough to use in an engine it can lube some gun metal.

I have mentioned this before and got flack for it. But Engine oil mixes with water (absorbs). Neither ATF or Mobil 1 Gear Lube absorb water. I won't argue the point.
cheers3.gif
 
I've used motor oil for years, (both dino and synthetic), and have never had any rusting issues on any firearm I've ever owned. And that is in both Chicago and Arizona climates. So if they "absorb water", they sure don't absorb very much of it.
 
Originally Posted By: Al
Originally Posted By: stchman

I just use the residual Mobil 1 out of the 6 bottles I use (usually a couple of ounces left over) and that is good. I figure if a lubricant is good enough to use in an engine it can lube some gun metal.

I have mentioned this before and got flack for it. But Engine oil mixes with water (absorbs). Neither ATF or Mobil 1 Gear Lube absorb water. I won't argue the point.
cheers3.gif



What mixes with water is the detergent in oil. Gear lubes, ATF, and engine oil all have detergents. It takes a lot of agitation to get the oil to mix in, but that is not really a concern.
 
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