Remember into the first of the 20th Century,and maybe into WW2, Sperm oil from whales was the finest instrument oil,the sort of oil that would be used in a fine watch.
Yes,oils and lubes are engineered for specific applications. For the life of me I can't figure out why people lay awake at night trying to figure out which oil engineered for a different purpose would make better gun oil than gun oil.
Remarkably,the criteria used to select this magic oil,whether Mobil 1 or ATF or whatever,is about what "Feels" like a good idea.
You could get by as well with Vaseline and baby oil.(Probably) Those just aren't "cool"
Most machine shops I've worked in relied on two lube oils. What passed for light spindle oil was Texaco Regal R+O oil .Its a good hydraulic oil,its rated for steam turbines,it works fine for the gears and bearings in a lathe headstock.
One useful characteristic (if you know about it) it IS volatile. Which means if its resting in a sump,it works like vapor paper to inhibit corrosion maybe in the headstock bearings. Is it magic gun oil? I don't think so,but I wouldn't hesitate to put a tiny drop on the threads of my fine old Lufkin micrometer.And it would be fine on hammer pins,etc.
The other oil is Shell Vactra its a heavier oil that clings. Lathe way oil. Any jobs in a gun similar to machine ways?Just don't use a lot. Its a bit sticky.
Now,a secret!! I don't particularly use either on guns!!
My light oil is CLP. I use Tetra Gun grease. Or I have a tube of Castrol fully synthetic grease.Its blue.
Anti-rust preservative? Birchwood Casey RIG has served well a long time.
Hoppes gun oil,Rem Oil,etc have served well a long time.
YOU have to learn what works for you and how to use it, Its rumored Vitalis hair oil served as an Arctic Lube in Korea. Why? It was there and someone tried it out of desperation.
These "Which snake oil?" posts get a lot of traffic,but IMO, they are darn near silly.
If lard and motor mica works for you, or Patchouly oil and grumtine...use it!!.
Tri-Flo CLP and Tetra Gun Grease work for me.
Different lube issue, I wanted to know which gear oil (90 weight) to use in my 85 Toyota gear box,transfer case,hypoid axles. While I could get a lot of opinions,it seemed no one in the parts stores knew.
Plain old Sta-Lube GL-4 90 Wt was right for the trans. Why? No sulphur EP additives. It seems those eat yellow metals,like brass and bronze and synchros.
The hypoid gears in the third members are better served with GL-5 gear oil,which has the sulphur EP additives, No syncros in the pumpkin.
And,FWIW,reading the fine print,Mobil 1 recommended against using Mobil 1 GL-5 in my transmission.
Unless you will do the research to learn what and why, Whatever Andy Granetelli used in his Indy Turbo car has not a thing to do with my 1911.
Everybody knows Klotz Super Techni plate or Golden Spectrum are THE oils to run in your 1976 CZ motorcycle so the HAVE to be the best in everything CZ. (Except for the bean oil in the Speedway bikes. Those butyls made some HP!)