Pistol Lubrication and YOUR MONEY

Can somebody please tell me how so, by using these such products, will my pistol not function as well or run as long or corrode faster then if I used a $15 5cc syringe of "x"?
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I can't give you an objective answer to longevity. In the end, I think it's all in how one takes care of their guns. All I know is two different people can drive the same year, make, and model of car, perform the same maintenance, and after 100K miles, there can be a vast difference in the condition of the cars.

And on top of that, both will say their car is the better one condition wise. One's perception is one's own reality.

After reading all that you use and the effort put in on keeping up, my argument is that I bet I spend less time on upkeep of my firearms. The two main products I use has superior corrosion protection than MMO, Hoppe's #9 oil, and BreakFree. Lubrication is fantastic and it has no problems getting into tight places. It still protects my firearm under heat and friction and subsequent cleanings are a breeze. To me, the less time and effort cleaning my guns pays for the product.

Of course, that's just my humble opinion. Everybody else can have ATF on their guns. Mine goes in my truck's transmission where it belongs.
 
I'm all for innovation, but sometimes things are the way they are for good reason. There are many lubrication products out there, because different firearms have different needs.

There are many factors that determine what lubricant is right for a given firearm. Some are obvious like the kinds of metals moving against each other, the kinds of finishes, the coefficient of friction against them, and so on. Other factors are the frequency one cleans and re-lubricates, how dirty the ammo is, what residues the ammo leaves behind in the gun, the outside temperature, and so on.

I'll give an example. Remoil is fine clean lubricant, and I was using it on guns I shot infrequently. But once I started competing, I felt that remoil dissipated too quickly, and it was either add more lube during the match or find something else. I switched to Hoppes #9, and after 200 .45 acp rounds of reloads using Bullseye, I would get a thin slime rather than caked deposits. But most importantly my gun never runs dry and I don't have to watch it during a match. Now its more tedious to clean than remoil, but its worth the trade off.

And that's how it goes, through trial and error you find the lubricant (and cleaner) that works for your application, which is different from somebody else's. Plenty of people get good results in some guns using the dry lubes. Others will get function problems.

Am I paying a little extra for what might be the same lube at an auto parts or other machine tools store? Sure. But what I get for that is the R&D that the company and other shooters have done to figure out what applications a particular oil or cleaner is good for. Some of these products like Hoppes have been around for years and plenty of shooters can vouch for them. But run a particular brand of transmission fluid through your gun because some guy at the range says its ok....we'll its your $$$ do what you want.
 
Being an ex Miltary Armorer, we used Break Free for cleaning, lubricating & preserving or CLP. We got it in gallon jugs. pints, 4oz bottles and .5oz bottles. I made sure every man had a .5oz bottle in his cleaning kit and told them to come back anytime for a refill. I strongly bieleve in it and so does the army. On WD-40 its good but not on firearms there was a police bulletin out on it, it appears officers used it on their firearms in rainy weather to keep them from rusting. Downside it penetrated the primer pocket past the sealant and inerted the primers. They found this out when an officer got into a shootout and his weapon went click click instead of bang bang. they disassembled the ammo and found the cause.
 
How hot is a gun gonna get/ how much damage are you really gonna do, firing off the 5 rounds in a self defense situation ?

Range sessions are another story , but for carry...

-Coop
 
I'm currently using some of the ultra-expensive stuff. It probably isn't really any better than the greasy kids stuff I've been using for years, but the dispensers are really nice and it will last me for a long, long time since you don't actually use all that much.
 
There is not a special "Gun Lubricant Factory." Petroleum products are made in to the base chemicals and turned into lube, then they are packaged. Wheel bearing grease is packed in a big tub and sold as grease for five bucks, then they take the same grease and put it in a little syringe and sell it as "Weapons Grade" for 15 bucks.

CLP is CLP and it's good stuff, I use it religiously, probably because the Army brainwashed me into thinking it was great. I got a funny thing for the smell of Hoppes No. 9 and I use it even though it's probably not any better then plain old break cleaner.

Go to wal mart, get a big tub of wheel bearing grease and break cleaner. Get yourself a little syringe and pack it full of the grease. It works great. Hot metal moving parts are hot metal moving parts, honestly does anyone really believe their M4 takes more mechanical strain then the suspension of their car?

Edited to add, "Times are tough, save money on lube and spend it on ammo"
 
The U.S. Army is having issues with CLP over in the sandbox....PASS.After using & recommending full synthetic 5W30 motor oil for years,I'm switching over to Dexron ATF as recommended in the Antipitas link.It truly sounds ideal.
 
I read that during the winter war the Finns would put small quantities of gasoline in their gun oul to thin it out.
 
One trainer says the reason "the U.S. Army is having issues with CLP over in the sandbox" is because they no longer use Breakfree CLP. He points out that the current contract product meets the mil-spec but does not work as well on the guns. Which does not say a whole lot for the "use lubricants specially formulated for firearms" crowd, does it?
It does not contain suspended Teflon for only one thing.
My gunsmith has a gallon of it that he uses on tools and guns alike and thinks it is wonderful but he is not equipping an army in harsh conditions.
 
Lithium grease

I use lithium base grease to lube my 1911s, M1, AR, etc.

I bought a 1 lb. can of it at the auto parts store along time ago and haven't even put a dent in it yet.

Price on this was a factor because the tiny amounts of grease they sell and the price they charge, because its 'for guns' is a little ridiculous.

I'm certain someone can make a good case for one of the aluminum based greases, but every time I fire one of mine I clean it and put on a new coat of the lithium. It always seems to work perfectly.

Now on the other hand if I was in a war zone or shooting high volumes of rounds per outing then Lubriplate, etc might be what I used, but I'm certain that for normal use the lithium based greases do fine.
 
There is not a special "Gun Lubricant Factory." Petroleum products are made in to the base chemicals and turned into lube, then they are packaged.
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Well, sorta...

When you buy oil you're buying about 75% to 90% "oil", as in petroleum or synthetic lubricant. The other 10% to 25% is made up of application specific additives. The oil may be the same, but the additives are not.
 
I use the best ever produced in the known world

It's called "Gun Butter"...that's right...Billy Maze will tell you that it's best.

It not only butters your gun, but at the range when you get a hunger pain....well, just slap some on toasted bread and you got yourself a mighty good meal. Save money on eating and shootin.
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Don't forget the AR hand guards that double as a toaster oven, they really compliment the "Gun Butter"
 
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