Low temperature lubricants

D

Daryl Douthat

Inactive
I would like advice on keeping autoloaders working in very low temps. I now carry a BAR 338 on travels. Keeping the bolt actions working was pretty easy (clean with white gas and lube with graphite) no matter how cold it got. I have acquired some of the new synthetic lubricants but don't have any experience with them yet. Anyone from Interior Alaska with experience in this area?
 
I use, and recomend, synthetic automatic transmission fluid (Amsoil). Besides having a base stock that does not thicken at low temperatures (Anything you're likely to hunt at, like above 50 below) it contains extreme pressure lubricants. My BAR (.308) wouldn't cycle @ 17 degrees with Browning Gun Oil, but it works fine with ATF.

Degrease your action with spray carborator cleaner, let dry and lube with the ATF.

If you want to test the various lubes, put a small amount in a pill jar, and put them in the freezer. If they won't flow at that temperature (circa 0 degrees) discard them.


Yr. Obt. Svnt.

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Fred J. Drumheller
NRA Life
NRA Golden Eagle
 
I'm not in Alaska, but can suggest that there are several synthetic lubricants which will offer fine cold weather (sub-freezing) performance. For example, TW25-B will not gum or thicken. Also look into Eezox, Break Free CLP and Tetra Lube. I have used TW25-B, Eezox, and CLP for years, along with synthetic grease on high-friction surfaces, and have had no problems.

You could also try carefully cleaning and degreasing, followed by an application of spray molybdenum disulfude (e.g., Birchwood Casey).

There is also military surplus LAW (Lubricating Oil, Arctic Weapons) on the market cheap, but I have not tried it. The US Army recommends either CLP or LAW from 0 degrees F down to -35 degrees F, and LAW for anything colder. I have seen cans of LAW sold by mail order surplus houses (Cheaper than Dirt?) pretty cheap.

Also see:
http://www.alloutdoors.com/aolibrary/hunting/firearms/coldarmcare.asp

[This message has been edited by LIProgun (edited November 02, 2000).]
 
I have read (but not confirmed myself) that Marvel Mystery Oil is a good lubricant for extreme cold weather conditions.
 
I have seen the CLP turn to goo when it got nasty.
The LAW stuff seemed to work OK but I never really used it long enough for me to determine if it was that good. We would get out of the cold before long and clean the weapons and relube them. I really can't say that I was that concerned when it was below 0 about my weapon. Dying from the cold was far more likely.
A good suggestion that I have is to leave the weapons outside when possible rather than bring them into the warmth. This will cause condensation on the entire weapon that is hard to clean up.

Never used anything but CLP and LAW so can't comment on the synthetic stuff. However, they may be better than either.

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He who dares wins.
NRA Life Memeber
 
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