Product testing and review: Gunzilla

Z

ZeSpectre

New member
Although this is a continuation of the testing begun in the "What lube is this" thread, in order to avoid some confusion I'm starting this new thread.

A new CLP (Clean Lube Protect) product was mentioned on in the "Gunzilla" thread. As with the introduction of Weapon Shield I told the poster that if they supplied me with a sample I'd be more than happy to test and review. I received my sample today (Oct 16, 2007) and proceeded to detail clean a brand new shotgun barrel (fresh from the package, grease and all), an older stainless steel Ruger Security Six, and a Taurus PT-1911 pistol.

The first part of this review is only concerned with "C" as in CLEAN.

Gunzilla is a thin liquid that smells (to me) like vegetable oil. My sample came in a nice little 2oz spray bottle (the sort that a very light press will give you a stream and a hard press will give you a spray). The bottle made it very easy to saturate patches for cleaning.

I had just bought a brand new "rifled slug" barrel for my shotgun so I pulled it out of the packaging (grease and all) and cleaned it with Gunzilla.

The top row of patches is were used on the outside of the barrel, the bottom row used on the inside.
2007_SD400_0825.jpg

Gunzilla cut right through the grease and crap inside and out. It also seemed to remove a bit of surface rust around the screw knob. As I was running the final patch through the inside of the barrel something happened that I have never had occur before... the barrel SQUEAKED! Seriously, it was quite literally "squeaky clean"!

Gunzilla also had no trouble cleaning all (and I do mean all) of the crud off my stainless security six and again the final patch passed through the barrel (on a jag) squeaked! About the only thing it seemed that Gunzilla couldn't remove were the rings on the face of the cylinder though I doubt anything short of a "pink pearl" eraser would do that.

The Taurus PT-1911 was an easy cleanup and wipedown as it was actually already clean.

So gunzilla is off to an impressive start in the cleaning department. The misting spray makes it easy to get all over the gun (and everything else if you aren't careful) and then you wipe it all up and that's pretty much it. Wipedown left the guns feeling lightly lubricated. Actual lubrication ability will be tested next.

Cleanup was nice. Gunzilla washed easily off of my hands with soap and water and although the "vegetable oil" scent did linger it was not unpleasant.

Next step... the range and an assessment of lubrication performance....
 
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Review Part 2 - LUBE

The firearms involved in this part of the test were...
c1981 Ruger Security Six, Stainless Steel, 4" barrel, .357 Magnum
2007 Taurus PT-1911

Took both guns to the range and ran the hell out of them. The Ruger was fed a mixed diet of top-shelf .357 defense loads, .38 special defense loads, and a whole bunch of cheap n' dirty .38 special range ammo (LSWC).

Given how thin Gunzilla is I expected a breakfree-like tendency to flow and drip all over the place however once I had wiped everything down to a basically dry state I got very little seepage. I found this quite interesting because while using Gunzilla as a cleaner it was easy to spray all over the place and I thought it'd run back out just as easily but it doesn't quite do so.

Given the history of the Security Six line it's absolutely no surprise that the firearm ran through this test without a hitch (though I got that sucker HOT). The gun was FILTHY by the time I was finished and I figured on a LONG cleaning session to remove the LSWC "rings" from the cylinder when I got home (and I was correct). However everything on the gun continued to function smoothly and I had no operational issues. The gunzilla had been wiped off to an essentially dry finish but seemed to continue to provide good lubrication. I noticed a slight operational roughness in the hammer strut/hammer spring area but nothing of any concern and had I not been paying especially close attention to lubrication performance I'm not sure I'd have ever even noticed it.

The Taurus was fed 200 rounds of Winchester White Box FMJ ammo from Wal-Mart. Like the Ruger it got hot and it got dirty. Gunzilla seemed like it might be just a touch light to use as the only lube on the rails and working the action was smooth (and obviously lubricated) but not silky smooth. However there were no performance issues during the test and I could see lubing this way (Gunzilla only, wiped down basically dry) if you were going to function in extreme cold.

At present I would rate Gunzilla's lubrication properties as being better than Breakfree CLP, but not quite as good as Weapon Shield or Militec-1. The firearms in question ran well, but that "butter on wax paper" smoothness that I've come to know from Weapon shield and Militec-1 was simply not there.

In other words it seems to be a pretty darn good lubricant and should meet needs for typical civilian firearms use but there does seem to be superior lubricants available for use.
 
Review Part 3 - Protect

Ah protection... the stumbling block of a lot of the CLP products.

This test was simple, I took some spare SIG 229 grip screws, degreased them and treated them with...
-Breakfree CLP
-Militec-1
-Weapon Shield
-Gunzilla

I then put the screws into my T-Shirt pocket and ran on the treadmill for an hour, after which I put the wet/sweaty screws on a plate and let them sit overnight. I did this for three nights in a row. (Important note, my perspiration is VERY corrosive and has caused me endless trouble in the past with tools and firearms)

This morning I got the following results...

-Control screw: Slight surface rust in the slot and on the threads
-Breakfree CLP: Slight surface rust in the screw slot
-Militec-1: Distressingly heavy surface rust in the screw slot
-Weapon Shield: No corrosion at all on the screw
-Gunzilla: No corrosion at all on the screw
 
Conclusion(s)

I intend to continue testing Gunzilla for a while yet and will continue to report my findings but as of right now my summary is basically this.

Clean - Gunzilla is a terrific cleaner and may actually be slightly better than Weaponshield (which seriously surprised me). The thinner liquid is easier to get into all the tiny spots of a firearm and the spray bottle helps enormously. Gunzilla seems to clean WAAAAAY better than poor old Breakfree.
Personal note: My chemically sensitive nose still likes Weapon Shield better than anything else. Gunzilla doesn't bother me, but the scent does seem stronger to me.

Lube - Gunzilla seems to be a very good lubricant. Not quite in the same league as Militec-1 or Weapon Shield but better than Breakfree CLP and a LOT less messy!

Protect - I had no idea what to expect here and was very pleasantly surprised to see Gunzilla holding it's own against Weapon Shield. Militec-1, for all it's amazing lubrication properties, is still prooving to be the "anti-protectant".

I don't see Gunzilla pulling me away from Weapon Shield as my "general use" lubricant but I do see myself buying more Gunzilla to use for cleanup especially for it's ability to be sprayed down long-gun barrels and into the lockwork of pistols.
 
Hey, ZeSpectre, nice job. I got into a conversation about this very subject the other day, and recommended what I have been using for over 20 years- RIG grease. But it sounds like I need to get with the times now. I will be ordering some Weapons Shield and Gunzilla to try.
 
Nice Job!

Very nice and through reviews, ZeSpectre, very, very helpful. I really like Gunzilla so it's nice the tests agreed with my own experience, but even if they hadn't, it's still an excellent review.

I now use Gunzilla for cleaning and light lube, and a touch of grease on a few other places. This saves me mucho time, money and mess, and stops my gun-cleaning drawer from looking ridiculous with 50 bottles and sprays and tubes falling all over each other.
 
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Testing update

Not quite a month but time for an update on the "Gunzilla" Testing.

I am still every bit as impressed with Gunzilla's cleaning capabilities as I was from the start. It's the only thing I've used on my stainless and the gun shines like brand new. It also seemed to bring a new luster to my nickel plated gun. (EDIT: I was being unclear. I'm talking about cleaning up POWDER fouling here. For any amount of copper fouling I still use a good foaming bore cleaner as nither Gunzilla nor Weaponshield are particularly effective with copper removal.)

My impression of the lubrication capabilities remained the same. Seems like a pretty good lube but there are better lubricants out there. I finally gave in and used some Weapon Shield on the internal lockwork of my stainless Security Six and it got the "buttery smooth" feeling I've come to expect. So as I say, Gunzilla's lubrication capabilities seem to be very very good, just not quite the best.

Gunzilla's corrosion protection finally started to give up the ghost on the "screw test". So in the end it doesn't protect quite as tenaciously as Weapon Shield seems to but it's endurance is pretty darn close and folks that is damned impressive!

The bottom line is that I discarded all of the other lubricants and nearly all of the other cleaners I had sitting around after I switched to Weapon Shield. Now I intend to add Gunzilla into my lineup for it's astounding cleaning capabilities and that, my friends, is a pretty strong recommendation from one such as myself.

Gunzilla is good stuff and I'm ordering more.
 
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No offense to your nice review, but Gunzilla is clearly INFERIOR for removing fouling vis a vis products such as Sweets, SC or even Hoppes bench Rest.....

I gets me free samples, I uses em :)

WildfirsthoppesthenfoulingremoverthenoilAlaska TM
 
I guess the server error axed my reply...

so I'll reply again.

Apparently I was unclear about cleaning (will go back and edit earlier entry).
I'm talking about cleaning up powder fouling not copper fouling.
I agree completely that Gunzilla is just so-so for removing copper and I do use a foaming bore cleaner when I feel the need to remove copper.
 
Nearly a year update

Posted a one-year update to the related "what lube is this" thread
See this link

The short summary is that I'm VERY happy with a combination of
-Outers foaming bore cleaner (for copper)
-Gunzilla (for powder and general cleanup)
-Weaponshield (for lube and protect)
 
There is no all gun in one wonder cleaner/lubricant. I tried to find it but it is the Holy Grail of the gun world. One day it might exist but not at this time. I have found that I need six dedicated products: three general cleaner, copper cleaner and two different lubricants. For myself I narrowed it down to M-pro 7 as a cleaner, Barnes for copper and Slip 2000 & Shooter Choice grease for lubricants. My black powder weapons I will replace the MPro-7 for Ballistol and Bore Butter for a lubricant. I also use Eezok as a rust prohibiter. Maybe I will one day try this Gunzilla and it probably will work as one of the above. I doubt it will replace all of the above.
 
A combo of Mpro 7 cleaner for FAST cleaning with a minimal amount of material needed, followed by Weapon Shield CLP for lube and protection, is the best I've found.

Not the cheapest solution, though.

I messed around with PrOlix for a while but abandoned it when I found that Mpro 7 blows it away. PrOlix is also expensive and while you'll find people who are fascinated with the stuff, it is not worth it.
 
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