Grease and Why Grease? (threads merged)

The stuff that Glock ships with is more commonly called an anti-seize compound or anti-seize assembly compound - sometimes called anti-seize thread lubricant.
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Here's what Glock says about the copper colored lube. From the armorer's manual.

This is the first item under the section entitled "Lubricating the Field Stripped Firearm". Emphasis as in the original text.

NOTE: The copper colored substance on the interior of the pistol is a high-temperature factory-applied lubricant for new guns. The copper colored lubricant should remain, as it will assure long-term lubrication of the slide.​

I don't think it matters hugely what sort of grease you use, but you definitely need something in that spot that won't run off/evaporate or the gun won't work. A friend of mine put one of his Glocks through an ultrasonic cleaner which completely stripped all the lube from the gun. When he re-lubricated the gun, he missed the area that had previously had the copper colored lube because that's not one of the spots that's generally noted as an oiling point in a Glock. The slide was hard to rack and he was getting repeated malfunctions until I stripped the gun and noticed that the area was dry.
 
The advantage of grease is that it stays put better than oil does. Grease will not dry up like oil will and it doesn't run, and attract dirt, to parts it wasn't meant to as easily as oil can. Grease is often preferred by those who live in particularly warm climates which increase the evaporation and decreases the viscosity of oil. Oil is generally preferred over grease by those in colder climates because the viscosity of grease may be increased beyond what is preferable by extreme cold.

Grease is also the most common lubricant/protectant for firearms that are to be stored for long periods of time because of it's decreased evaporative properties when compared to oil. People who are interested in military surplus weapons are usually quite familiar with the brownish-orange cosmoline grease that milsurp guns are often caked and filled with for long-term storage.
 
So does anyone have any suggestions for a good grease to use?
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Something light. You definitely don't want a heavy axle grease or something like that.

I really don't think you can go wrong with a light, white, lithium grease. Something like Permatex WL-9. It's not too thick, stays put, doesn't smell and is white so it doesn't turn things colors if it gets on them.

I make my own grease from very fine molybdenum disulfide powder and either Dillon Snake Oil or Breakfree CLP. Moly is a really great steel-to-steel lubricant, so even if the oil dries out, you're left with a very good dry lube. The down side is that it's black, so it can be messy. But it does a good job. I've got one Glock that has over 3500 rounds through it and barely looks used. Even the normal wear points show little evidence of use.
 
Any other tips for maintaining?
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Some lube spots you can figure out by looking at how the gun works. Slide rails are one example, the interface between the hammer & sear or trigger bar & striker is another.

Other spots you can find by looking for wear spots on the gun when it's disassembled. If you've shot the gun, the finish will start to show wear spots where parts rub together and those are good places to apply lubrication.

Generally, when it comes to lubrication, people tend to use too much, so don't get carried away.
 
[QUOTEWhy Grease?][/QUOTE]
I've always sat in silent wonderment when the subject of greasing handguns comes up. I've got a couple oils I keep on hand, but the only thing that gets grease are my M1's and M1A.

In fact, now that I think on it, the last Sig P6 I brung home had quite a bit in it. I cleaned it, wondered about it, greased it back up the way it was and thought it to feel sluggish. It came out again. Granted, I used a heavier GI (artillery) grease than what it was sold with... maybe that was the problem. I don't know, but I see no reason to change my ways just yet.
 
I really don't think you can go wrong with a light, white, lithium grease
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+1 to that. Oil works better on springs, but a little grease on the slide rails will stay put and keep things running smoothly
 
Grease

Cheapshooter...
Search *is* my friend, true. And I did.
But with new synthetic products in auto stores (and elsewhere) new opinions are formed. :) That's why I like these forums.
 
Grease

Just my opinion from using a synthetic grease ie Sentry Hi-Slip among others. I believe that using grease (on 1911 pistols especially) reduces wear to essentially zero. To buttress this, I've read an article by a factory shooter that stated he had to replace several slides due to wear early on in his career. Since he switched to grease he's not experienced any wear at all. I know my experience mirrors his. I have pistols with many thousands of rounds and they are as tight as new. When I clean a pistol I look for "contact" points or wear marks from metal to metal. Just a smidgen of Sentry is put there and on bushing/barrel contact points, locking lugs, blocks etc.. Then lubed with RemOil, my experience is the Teflon in RemOil works very well for a loooong time.

As an aside I feel even .22 pistols run better with some grease. All my .22 pistols get the same treatment as the larger calibers. Same with rifles of all calibers. Perhaps my experience is biased and "your mileage may vary". Most anything will work well enough for the rounds most people shoot.
 
I use a VERY thin layer of grease on the slides of my autos. Both handgun and AR-15s. I have also put a thin layer on the bolt of my bolt actions however that is mostly for protection since they are my hunting rifles and they sit in the safe most of the time. It's climate controlled but it can't hurt to have that 2nd layer of protection.

As for running them dry...go over to AR15.com there are people over there that shoot a lot more than probably 99% of us here (deployed military people) and they run their AR15s dry all the time.

I guess there is a fair argument that running a gun dry will cause more wear than running it lubed, but I don't think any of us are shooting any weapon enough to see the gun break down because of it.
 
Lately I've been using Mobil 1 synthetic oil and grease. Depending on the gun, I grease the bolt or slide contact areas like the rails. Anything shiny from rubbing gets a little grease. Oil sparingly all the other moving parts and lightly coat everything else with oil. Reassemble and wipe down with a rag.
 
spent a year and a half out of the country and the few firearms I didn't sell before leaving stayed with a friend. I recently went to a training class and just sort of picked up my Glock before I went. Did not relube it. Had been put away with CLP. Previously put a lot of rounds through the gun, a Glock 27 with little to no problems.

We were doing some shooting at odd angles, from the hip, etc., where my grip was one handed and not always perfect. The gun was significantly more sensitive to limp wristing during the exercises, and I believe it was b/c all the CLP had evaporated. It was none the worse for wear on inspection with 200 rounds through it.
 
Most greases have an NLGI rating to them, they range from NLGI Class 000 (very soft) to NLGI 6 (very stiff). Your general purpose grease is usually NLGI #2:

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The Lubriplate I use is NLGI #0

I have fired my Glock with NLGI #2 GP grease and it has worked, but I think its really too thick a grade.

I have not been able to find NLGI ratings for most of the copper anti-seize compounds, but at least the Versachem I purchased seemed to be thicker than the Walmart Super Tech Extreme Pressure Multi-Duty Complex Hi-Temp grease - which is NLGI #2

The copper grease that came on my Glock was fairly thick, mostly came off after the third firing / cleaning. There is some trace of it left - which resembles copper fouling - which jives with what another anti-seize manufacturer says about their product.

I was reading the tech sheet on Jet-Lubes copper anti-seize - and it states

"will not separate, settle out, harden, or dry out in storage"

^ This may be why Glock ships their pistols with it.

Their TDS also states:

JET-LUBE SS-30 literally copper plates mating and sliding surfaces to provide protection against seizure, galling, and heat-freeze. Its high content of copper particles prevents metal-to-metal contact, maintaining lubrication qualities under wide variations of temperature, expansion, contraction, and cyclic loadings.
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So even though it feels gritty to me, it's not harming the steel and it's preventing steel on steel contact.
 
I know that lead is a good lubricant - but its toxic.

Gold makes an excellent lubricant BTW.

See if you really loved your guns and REALLY valued your life - you'd spring for NanoGold:

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I generally don't use grease except the cocking cams on bolt rifles. The little jar of Brownell's Action Lube Plus grease I have should last me a few years.
 
how good is the corrosion protection of lithium grease? I live about 5 mins from the gulf of mexico so anything metal that's not highly stainless rusts overnight.
 
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