Synthetic Vs Organic. The lube for you and why?

P

Pond James Pond

New member
Last night, having waited till the family was asleep, I opened the cabinet and removed my birthday present to myself.

With all my cleaning kit spread out I starting cleaning the "new gun" gunk off my SP-01.

I used some break-free "brake cleaner" type spray to remove the factory preservative but once it was clean i was left with a choice: naturally composed Ballistol or synthetic Forrest gun lube.

Typically I have used the Ballistol on my revolvers and shotguns, whilst I use the Forrest on my rifles and auto-loader pistols. If I think about why, I can't actually remember my initial logic!!

I like the Ballistol because it is natural and seems to leave a light grease residue that is less likely to be blasted away. The Forrest however seems to last forever, with one drop seeming to slowly spread around.

I lightly squirted the barrel, rails, trigger components, pins, extractor, firing pin, and springs. I future, I will focus on the barrel and rails, hoping that the lube stays in the other places. If it all gets too dusty, I'll clean them.

My logic in choosing Forrest for the SP-01 was that it seems less susceptible to thickening in cold temperatures and it seeps into nooks and cranies.

-Do you agree?
-Does Ballistol have advantages I have over-looked?
-Which do you prefer?
 
-Does Ballistol have advantages I have over-looked?
Click to expand...
Yes - it's harmless to nickel finishes.
That's the only reason I tried it in the first place.
Since then, I've expanded using it to other guns.

Honestly though, I use whatever I grab first to clean with, unless it's a nickel gun I'm cleaning - then I always use Ballistol.
 
CLPs....

I often give big ups to Ballistol; www.brownells.com www.midwayusa.com .
It's safe, non-toxic, CFC free, you can use bare hands w/o any residue or problems, and it has a light pine tree scent. :D
I use it on wood, firearms, door locks/knobs, hinges, etc.
The only - is that Ballistol now only comes in small 6oz cans. :(
As for other CLPs, I don't mind the synthetics. I might buy a new bottle of Weaponshield(Steel Shield). It offers a good protective layer & lube.
LPX, www.mpro7.com & Gunzilla, www.gunzilla.us are decent CLPs too. Both were highly rated by US troops who used the products in SW Asia(Iraq, Afganistan).
I never really liked Break-Free.
Some like the all natural Slip2000. It's citrus based & known to clean firearms well.
IGG, Italian Gun Grease is a newer CLP/lube that many gun owners give + reviews to. It looks ok for most applications but Im in no rush to try it. The same for the new Rand CLP. It's a vegtable oil base that claims to bond to the weapon surface.

Clyde
 
I vote synthetic. I use a moly based grease, specifically Brownell's Actions Lube Plus, and found it is just about the best thing since sliced bread as far as firearm lubrication goes for rails. When I do use oil I use M-Pro7 which out of all the gun oils I have tried, and I have tried them all, it came out on top.
 
I use synthetics largely because of high stability under temperature extremes or just stability over a period of years. Mobile 1 grease and Duralube oil are some of the lubes I use along with silicone spray by 3-in-one.

Ballistol is a product I’ve never heard but I find interesting in that its non-toxic. There’s a thread here under TFL about Ballistol from 2011.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=459123
 
I'll let you know.
I've been using Hoppes9 to clean and sythetic oil to lube for years and done great.
I've switched a test group of pistols and my ARs (b/c I shoot them more often) to Froglube. I"m going to give it a year and see how the results look. I llike the wintergreen scent (my wife does too as she allows me to clean in the house now) and the non-toxic nature of the FL.
 
Hoppes #9, for lead and copper cleaning and final swab....just for the smell.

Brake cleaner for all dirty metal parts.

WD-40 for lube, the most misaligned lube is still the best. A little grease on the slide.
 
Ballistol for me, it works, and like you said is non-toxic. It is also cheap, about $1 per oz.

For the same non-toxic reasons, I only use Lubriplate SFL greases. They are rated for food machinery (that is the SFL line). Right now I use NLGI 0 grade grease (read thin), that is Lubriplate SFL-0 available at midway.com. It is also cheap, less than $1 per oz. You might want a thicker grease (NLGI grade 1 or 2) Lubriplate has those too, SFL-1 and SFL-2.

Enjoy.
 
I use three cleaners; Chlorine free break cleaner on most things, GunSlickPro foaming bore cleaner in barrels (mostly ARs after 1K rounds or so), and Hornady 4-1 on assemblies like bolts I don't want to tear down.

For lube, on my guns, I primarily use 50/50 mix of Royal Purple 30W and ATF on triggers and such. For the price of about $15 for two quarts, and a few needle oilers, it will last most people their whole life. I use Slide-Glide on bolt carriers and slide rails.

Worked in an oil analysis lab for 3 years, did Masters level course work in Tribology, raced cars and guns for most of my life. The products I use work well and cost less with less fuss.

I pick up enough gun oil at matches every year to last me for 5 years, most of it is in a box under the bench. Maybe I should sell some of it.
 
hot and cold; high rd-ct; zero maintenance; abuse

I settled on BreakFree CLP and Tetragun Grease for lubrication. I lube Redhawks and GP100s and 1911s and EAA Witnesses and a S&W with these two products.

I clean my bores with RB17.
I clean my guns with whatever I have laying around at the time. When I
bother.

Sometimes I break out my now-banned Prolix and clean AND lube with it.
 
I use Rigs. Usually. However, I was at Autozone the other day and I saw Mobil 1 synthetic grease. I use their oil in my mustang. So I wanted to try the grease. I bought it. It's purple/red and in a short stubby tub. I put it on my CCW gun and it says it's rated for -40 to 350 degrees.


Anyone use this? Seems great for Miami. Humid as heck and I havre used oil since...a long time.
 
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