Motor Oil = Gun Oil...... Opinions?

What are you trying to accomplish?
Cleaning?
Lubrication?
Corrosion protection?
Some products do one exceptionally well, but fail miserably at others.
Some do all three adequately, or do more than one reasonably well.
Everyone has his own opinion.
There are a number of threads dedicated to this subject, and few of them are conclusive.
Since you are asking for opinions, I base mine on the following:
http://www.6mmbr.com/corrosiontest.html
http://www.thegunzone.com/rust.html
 
I love statements like that
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On the flipside, why are you so convinced that all oils are the same? Why not use cutting oil, sharpening oil, olive oil, fish oil or vegetable oil? It should be "convenient" because you should already have some of those oils around. :rolleyes:

Sorry sirs, "I use it and it works" just ain't good enough for me. Motor oils have a lot of detergents and additives and you guys have absolutely no idea what the long term effects are. When I care for my $50,000 gun collection, I'll use products intended for such use and proven to work. Saving space and eliminating clutter, saving three dollars??? Please.
 
"Motor oils have a lot of detergents and additives and you guys have absolutely no idea what the long term effects are."

True, but I sincerely doubt that those effects will cause damage to a firearm when they're part and parcel to helping an automobile last for 100,000+ miles.

If those long-term effects were actually deleterious to steel and other kinds of metals, I really think that they would show up as identifiable problems in, say, my Mother's 1962 Lincoln Mk III or my Friend's 1971 Corvette.


To be perfectly blunt, does anyone here know EXACTLY what's in the popular gun oils?

Or what the long-term effects of those addititives might be?

Or are we simply casting our faith with the manufacturers, hoping that since they sell the product as a gun oil that it won't damage our firearms over the long haul?
 
I use Mobile One after it's been warmed up and broken in a bit. When I need a drop of lube I just pull the dipstick on my Jeep and let a drop or two flow down the stick and onto my gun. Sometimes there is some grease oozed out of my ball joints and that is usable on guns, too. This technique also works if you have an automatic transmission and just need a drop or two of ATF. Anyway, when I go to Jiffy Lube I think of my guns, too. :D
 
Yeah well, engine blocks and crankshafts ain't a 50yr old blued S&W, a 100yr old Winchester 1894 or a $4000 Merkel shotgun. My point, which you reiterated, is that there is simply too much we don't know. Since we have absolutely no credible testing, there is nothing but "I use it, it works" statements from anonymous internet posters. As I said before, motor oil is not something you want in constant contact with your skin, especially ATF.
 
"Yeah well, engine blocks and crankshafts ain't a 50yr old blued S&W, a 100yr old Winchester 1894 or a $4000 Merkel shotgun."

And there are no 50-year-old blue Chevy's, 100 year old Fords, or $4,000 Hudsons still plying their trade, all using modern motor oils?

"Since we have absolutely no credible testing..."

We've got far more credible testing for motor oils, under a wide range of usage conditions, than we do for gun oils. If any class of lubricants suffers from the "I use it and it works" it's firearms lubricants.

Years ago, when I worked for American Rifleman, one of the staff had the bright idea to do an article about gun oils, their properties, advancements, etc.

What he found out (and what killed the article, ultimately) was that unlike motor oils, there are absolutely NO published industry standards, at all, for what constitutes a "gun oil." Any manufacturer could, at that time (early 1990s) take any oil he wanted, slap a label on it, and call it "gun oil."

To the best of my knowledge, there are still no standards as to what constitutes gun oil. It's wide open and subject to huge interpretation and manipulation by the manufacturers.

I'm sorry, but I simply do not buy the theory that an additive that is perfectly safe in a modern, high precision, high performance internal combustion engine, and which is perfectly safe to be "back used" in automobile engines dating back to the origin of the device, are going to some how cause damage, or even a disasterous failure, in a firearm.

What credible evidence do you have to back up that theory?

What credible evidence do you have to back up the apparent theory that gun oils, being marketed as gun oils, won't cause serious issues?

If you're truly worried about possible damage, why are you putting anything at all on your firearms?
 
What credible evidence do you have to back up that theory?
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None, there is NO evidence for either side. None. Thus, there is NO reason to chance it.

And there are no 50-year-old blue Chevy's, 100 year old Fords, or $4,000 Hudsons still plying their trade, all using modern motor oils?
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Last I checked, the innards of engines are not brightly polished and blued, color case hardened or nickel plated. Nor does a crankshaft come into close proximity to finely checkered walnut, stag or ivory. You damn sure wouldn't ATF in contact with your ivory or stag grips.
 
"Last I checked, the innards of engines are not brightly polished and blued, color case hardened or nickel plated."

You're joking, right?

Internal combustion engines work at tolerances and temperatures that firearms could never hope to match. I've no clue what pressures are generated during the firing stroke, but I suspect they match the pressures of some firearms.

As for polishing, you don't thing a cam is highly polished? Or a piston, or bearings? They're just left chunky and raw?

The polished finishes that are put onto many parts in an engine put those found on modern firearms absolutely to shame.

If you don't polish a firearm finely, it looks like crap. If you don't polish internal parts of an engine finely, it can fail -- messily.



"None, there is NO evidence for either side. None. Thus, there is NO reason to chance it."

So, you do or do not use gun oils on your firearms?

If you do, it's based on what, faith in what the manufacturer says?

The oil fairy?
 
My point, one more time, is that engines are not blued, color case hardened or nickel plated and you have absolutely no idea what the long term effect of using motor oil or ATF is on those finishes.


If you do, it's based on what, faith in what the manufacturer says?
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Uh yeah, for starters, and gunwriters and industry standards. No sure thang but it's a hell of a lot more credible than a handful of anonymous internet posters trying to save five bucks on gun oil. :rolleyes:
 
You're comparing apples to orangutans.

ANY oil can lift nickel plating, if it's plated over copper.

I don't know if any internal parts of automobile engines are nickel plated or not. Can you definitely say?

What I can say, though, is that you've thrown out a bunch of arbitrary "standards" to which you hold motor oil, but you created no similar set (or any, as far as I can tell) by which you're holding "gun" oils.

As I mentioned before, the ONLY industry standards that I know of apply to motor oils, NOT gun oils. If, however, you have a set of industry standards that all manufacturers use when making "gun" oil, by all means, share. I'm sure that they would be enlightening.

As for gun writers, can you name me ONE gun writer who has ever done the kind of in-depth, long-term investigation of a "gun" oil that would satisfy the arbitrary criteria that you've created for motor oils?

Jan Libourel? No.

Mike Venturino? No.

Wiley Clapp? No.

Ed Matunas? No.

Ed Harris? No.

Mark Keeffe? No.

John Zent? No.

Jim Carmichael? No.

Mas Ayoob? No.

The list goes on and on and on.

Even I didn't attempt to do anything like that when I was writing for American Rifleman.

So, we're back to the question that you've steadfastly refused to answer.

What "gun" oil do you use on your firearms?

And a few new ones.

What criteria did you use to select it?

What additives are in it?

What are the long-term effects of those additives on nickel plating, bluing, color case hardening, walnut, ivory, etc.?

What "industry standards" did you use to select that particular oil, given that there are, in fact, NO industry standards for "gun" oil?
 
Mobil 1 might be uber-good, but i use it at work and it stinks to high heaven like most synthetic oils. In a pinch I would use it but Hoppes # 9 doesn't make me nauseus.

Cant imagine deer/bear or women hangin around anything that smells like Mobil 1.:rolleyes:
 
Hey Mike, I am getting a negative vibe from you regarding commercial gun oils. I use Kroil, and Rem-oil (or the S&W gun oil) and they seem to work well. Do you not like "gun oils" because of the marketing or do you honestly believe there is no difference between lubricants sold for firearms and those sold for vehicles? Doesn't the military do tests of firearms lubricants? What do firearm manufacturers say in regards to lubrication of their firearms? Also I would imagine that in order for companies to sell their "gun oil" they have to demonstrate to buyers that it works. Just a few internet searches and I found several videos salt spray tests, and lubrication tests, etc. But, these are all short term tests. IE from the S&W website there is a good video showing the corrosion-protection properties of their gun oil -- it clearly shows that the oil works as advertised. The motor oil tests I have seen all seem to be aimed at proving their lubrication properties in an engine.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you use for your firearms and why? You seem to be taking the side that all gun oils are a sham. You obviously have a history with firearms and quite a bit of experience in keeping them running, plus you are staff here, so to me your opinions hold more weight (and water). I just want to know if the can of Rem-Oil I use is all BS.
 
Just reposting this link because so many people seem to forget about its existence: http://www.grantcunningham.com/lubricants101.html

Looks like Grant Cunningham has done some research into lubricants and came to the conclusion that ATF is a fine gun lube. Considering he's a fairly well known gunsmith, I'll take his recommendation over most others any day. Until the gun industry develops some honesty regarding firearms lubricants, that's the best we have.

I started using non-gun lubes a few years ago. I started with a light grease designed for suspension forks. I no longer own any semiautos, so I use the grease on the internals of my revolvers and as a very light coat (patch with grease followed by tight fitting dry patch) in the barrel of my CCW (it sees pocket duty, a hot and humid environment during the summer).

About a year ago, I started using ATF as a general purpose cleaner and lubricant. So far, it has done fine job. Lubricity in rotating parts is noticeably better than with any gun lube I've used. Corrosion prevention seems as good or better than any gun specific formulation. I have not seen any issues with the finish on any guns, finishes ranging from coated aluminum to blued steel to stainless. Just as with "gun" oil, I try to keep ATF away from natural materials. We've all seen what decades of exposure to "gun" oil will do to a walnut stock, no doubt ATF will have similar effect.

Chris
 
BTW, what do we do about gun oils that haven't been around very long? Many of the current favs haven't been around for more than a couple decades. How do we know they will not damage a firearm after 50 years of use? When do you decide it's safe to trust them with your fine firearms?

I bet grandpappy was using all sorts of general purpose oils on his guns long before "gun oil" became commonplace. He was probably too stupid to know you should only use "gun oil" on the family heirloom. :D

Chris
 
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