What lube is this???

Testing will happen after I finish moving.

George,
Replied to your PM as well. As I said, I'm mid-move so if you can wait a week to send the sample I will cheerfully test and report. I have every intent of buying another SIG 229 in .40 S&W so this may be the perfect side-by side test.

I have also made a note of your corrosion test and will try it and post the results (probably with photos) after I finish the move and get a little settled so there may be a bit of lag time involved but you, and others here, can rest assured that I will run the test and report back.
 
First Round with "Weapon Shield"

Finally settled enough to clean and review!
CPO SIG 229 in .40 S&W

This pistol was taken to the range about two weeks ago where I fired just shy of 200 rounds of dirty, nasty, lead truncated cone, ammunition through it. The pistol functioned flawlessly and was extremely accurate. It was then worn for CCW during my entire move (dirt, sweat, and all). In the end it was about as dirty and nasty as I’ve ever let a sidearm get.

For this entire test the only chemical used on the firearm was “Weapon Shield”.

I started by field stripping the firearm down and then swabbing the inside of the barrel with Weapon Shield CLP. I then let the barrel sit for 20 minutes while I cleaned the rest of the gun. The frame cleanup went very quickly with Weapon Shield easily removing any and all gunk from the rails and other parts. One note is that Weapon Shield greatly reduced the stiff, gritty, feel of my magazine release button.

Cleaning the slide was, of course, more involved. Weapon Shield was doing such a nice job of removing fouling and gunk that I decided to go the extra mile and actually disassemble the firing pin and extractor. Again Weapon Shield (on several Q-Tips) did a first rate job of removing all gunk from the parts and the recessed areas, especially the firing pin channel.

By now about 20 minutes had passed so I took a bronze brush and scrubbed the barrel (which had some lead fouling from the LTC ammunition). I then ran a patch through which came out BLACK with lots of lead flakes. Visual inspection of the barrel showed a little more lead but I would estimate an 85% removal on the first go. As you may imagine I was pretty impressed at that. I swabbed the barrel with Weapon Shield again and set it aside while I reassembled the slide.

About 5 minutes later I brush-scrubbed the barrel again and ran more patches through it and visual inspection showed the barrel to be clean and shiny and ready to go. I don’t know if Weapon Shield is supposed to be a lead remover, but in this case it certainly seemed to make the job easier.

Now one of the issues I have with my SIG pistols is rust in the grip screw slots (on the side that faces my body). So far I’ve had good luck with Birchwood Casey “Barricade” spray to greatly reduce this issue, but not much else has helped at all. Since this pistol was going to be a testbed I hadn’t treated the screws and sure enough there was a hint of surface rust in the slots. Weapon Shield and a Q-Tip removed the rust. Time will tell if Weapon Shield also succeeds in preventing rust in this troublesome area.

This particular firearm is already an extremely smooth operating one so right now it’s a little difficult for me to tell by feel if Weapon Shield has had an effect on this aspect. The magazine release button was certainly smoothed out and is much easier to operate now. The barrel, guide rod, and rails all seem very slick and well lubricated. I also noted that the viscosity seemed very good. Thin enough to work into just about anyplace you put it, thick enough to avoid running all over the place. Testing and time will tell if the lube stays put or not. Odor is fine and passed the wife test as well as my own chemically sensitive nose.

Next stage will be a series of 100 round range trips with only a barrel swab-out. At 500 rounds I will report back on how Weapon Shield is holding up as well as detailing how the 500 round detail cleanup goes.

Ze
 
gcfennell has good info.
Thanks for the posting.
I had read somewhere that Millitech falls into the catagory of corrosion in a bottle some time ago. I have no idea why, or how the military started using it. But, I decided that I would not use it based on comments about it by a technical guy on another Forum who know lubes as you do.

Martyn
 
Update on the Weapon Shield aspect of the test.

Pulled the SIG out of the safe today just to inspect and found that the tiniest bit of WS had seeped out. Four DAYS to get any seepage and even then I'm sure it's just because I tend to lube heavy. Working the action showed that Weapon Shield is still clinging tenaciously to the slide rails and interior mechanisms. I'm very pleased with the viscosity of this product and am looking forward to the upcoming range trip.
 
Range day

Took the "twins" out to the range today.

SIG 229 (9mm) - Militec-1 testing
100 rounds of fairly dirty range ammunition. Weapon functioned flawlessly (now up to 250 rounds with only bore/barrel cleaning). The Militec-1 grease is clinging tenaciously to the slide rails and seems to be keeping the powder fouling out for the most part. The remainder of the pistol is dry of any detectable lube but the surfaces still have that "slick wax" feeling. Did notice a tiny bit of corrosion in the grip screw slots (my usual trouble area) after carrying the weapon for most of a week. As far as lubrication and cleanup are concerned the Militec-1 is holding up fine. Corrosion protection seems to be adequate so far but not especially impressive.

SIG 229 (.40 S&W) - Weapon Shield testing
120 rounds of reloads from a trusted source. (The powder was absolutely FILTHY though) bringing this weapon up to 210 rounds with only bore/barrel cleaning. Once again Weapon Shield only required a little brushwork to remove the lead from the barrel (only slight leading was present anyway). This powder fouling caked all over the innards of the gun but the weapon continued to function flawlessly through several close combat drills. Disassembly showed a lot of powder mess building up on the rails and the breechface but the weapon shield CLP seems to be keeping everything lubricated and slippery in spite of how UGLY it all looks right now. IMPORTANT NOTE: The grip screw slots are still clean and corrosion free after over a week of daily carry (some hot and sweaty weather too!).

So at this point Militec-1 and Weapon Shield are both holding their own in my "real world" testing. However Weapon Shield is (in my mind) slightly ahead due to some apparently superior corrosion protection.
 
Final range day and the conclusion of the testing.

Made one more mid-day trip to the range before I start my new job. I'm going to miss having the whole range to myself in the future :rolleyes:

Anyway here's the results for both lubricants...

SIG 229 (9mm) - Militec-1 testing
250 rounds of Remington UMC ammunition.

The weapon continued to function flawlessly right up to the conclusion of the test. At this point there was a notable amount of powder fouling present but all functions of the pistol were smooth and reliable. The lubrication abilities of Militec-1 lube seem to be holding up well. The only issue seems to be the definite indications of corrosion in the screw slots on the grip (side that faces my body).

Cleanup of the pistol was pretty easy. It was like cleaning a Teflon coated frying pan and it just seemed like all the crud just about wiped off with little effort on my part. The barrel required some Hoppes #9 solvent but very little effort after that.

SIG 229 (.40 S&W) - Weapon Shield testing
250 rounds of reloads from a trusted source. This was the last of the same batch I used before and as a reminder the powder was still absolutely FILTHY. The innards of this gun were just caked with fouling and I have to say it was really tough on my "neatnik" soul to let it get to this point!

As with the 9mm version, this gun functioned flawlessly through the entire test. Field stripping revealed rails FULL of an ugly sludge of fouling and dirt and Weapon Shield, yet the Weapon Shield was still lubricating and slippery in spite of all the contamination. Given how smoothly the slide racked I was astonished at the sheer amount of gunk that had built up. It operated like a clean weapon.

Cleanup was a bit more involved than the Militec-1 gun, but not much and I really blame that on the dirty powder used. Basically I still just had to wipe things down, (again, a lot like cleaning a Teflon coated pan) it just took a few more patches and a little more time because there was just so much crud to wipe away.

Also there is still no corrosion on the grip screw slots!

In some ways I feel like this wasn't quite a fair test because the .40 ammo I was using was so unbelievably DIRTY that it was like I had shot the .40 almost twice as much as the 9mm.

Conclusions....
So I realize that my "method" is only semi-scientific and that there are a lot of variables unaccounted for. I also realize that there are about a zillion other factors that could be examined (like metal hardness, and other high end testing) but in the end my "real world" testing conclusions are as follows.

Militec-1 and Weapon Shield are both top notch lubrication. My observations indicate that both products lubricate better, and create less mess, than my previous standby of Breakfree CLP.

Weapon Shield seems to be a better cleaner than Militec-1. If you clean a weapon with other chemicals, and -then- treat it with Militec-1 then it seems like the weapon is "teflon coated" and it becomes very easy to clean thereafter. However it does seem that you can clean a weapon right from the start with Weapon Shield. In order of apparent cleaning ability I would say it's Weapon Shield, and then Breakfree CLP and then Militec-1.

Last but not least, corrosion protection. I ran the test George suggested earlier on a bit of old gun barrel. The results were actually kind of shocking! (Stupidly, I screwed up and deleted the pictures I took and I have already thrown out the metal so no pictures... I'm very sorry :( ). Militec-1 did TERRIBLY in terms of corrosion protection. Not as bad as bare, degreased, metal, but seriously not much better. Breakfree CLP did better and Weapon Shield was the best of the group by a large margin. On a smaller scale the same results were shown by the infamous grip screw slots on my SIG pistols.

It should be obvious to all by now that I'm not prone to leaping on the "hey this new stuff is great" bandwagon until I've tested to my own personal satisfaction. Well after about a month of investigation I have to say this... I'm convinced, Weapon Shield does a good job and I placed an order for more last night.

P.S. Loading 500 rounds into magazines SUCKS! Next time I remember my speedloader or I'm NOT doing that again! oooh my poor thumb!)
 
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Long overdue update

Let's see, it's been about two months since the last post. Since then I've been using just Weapon Shield for cleaning and lubrication (with the exception of using a foaming bore cleaner for heavy copper removal).

I've also been using very light applications of the "Lithi-Shield" grease on the rails of various guns.

The "Twins" have continued to perform flawlessly and cleanup after each session continues to be a breeze (I've run about 800-900 rounds through each since the last update).

I have been "ignoring" the screw slots on my carry gun (haven't been wiping them down) and finally after the last range session saw that there was just the faintest hint of corrosion starting to show. A quick wipedown with Weapon Shield removed it easily. So that's nearly THREE MONTHS for even a hint of rust to show on a known trouble spot even after a lot of concealed carry and handling/shooting.

In the interest of complete disclosure, I did have one trigger spring (Maverick 88 shotgun) that seemed to develop a sort of "watery" rust pretty quickly after treatment. I have absolutely no idea why this particular spring did this when there hasn't been even a hint of corrosion on 15 other guns I've been treating, but there it is.

Pulled the spring, cleaned it well with Weapon Shield, and it's been fine since.

EDIT - In another thread someone is mentioning something new called Gunzilla. The timing is perfect as I'm getting a brand new gun (NOT treated with Weapon Shield) so I may be able to do another comparison run. If so I'll post it here and continue this "test" thread.
Ze
 
My 1oz bottle is almost empty so I ordered two 4oz bottles from M-P Store. Weapon Shield is the best CLP I have ever used.
 
The work that's gone into the reviews here deserves to be bumped back up for review. Having carefully studied the thread, I'm wondering what products Militec users can employ for preserving their arms? What's the best all round preserving agent? BreakFree used to be recommended by many of the gun writers, and I vaguely recall that it seemed to hold up fairly well in salt spray tests. (Since I only have one blued handgun and one blued rifle, the rest being stainless, lubrication is my primary concern.)

Since this thread was first posted, does anyone have any recommendations for good gun cleaning, lubrication and/or preservation products?
 
Thanks for the compliments. I'm glad folks find my posts helpful.

Several months later and I'm still using Weaponshield and still very happy with it. Gunzilla was great for cleaning, I've just been lazy and haven't ordered any more.
 
I'm still using Weapon Shield on everything. I'm impressed enough with how well it cleans, lubes and protects, I haven't even bothered to try anything else and probably won't. I'm about ready to order more though.
 
ZeSpectre said:
Thanks for the compliments. I'm glad folks find my posts helpful.
Click to expand...
Actually it's we who owe you the thanks. If not for folks for you, we'd be at the mercy of the marketeers. I know how fleeting these threads can be and sometimes hard work needs to be revisited, not only for our sakes, but to make your time and efforts, and the time and efforts of others, worthwhile.

BTW, does your unique body chemistry react adversely with stainless steel as well as standard carbon steel? (I had a friend who couldn't touch anything without leaving a corrosive fingerprint. That's why I first started buying BreakFree!)
 
I seem to get along with stainless pretty well though I do still need to wipe it down once in a while. Regular steel that is well coated (blued, parkerized, etc) does okay but I'll raise rust/find the weak spots on any poor blue-job stupidly fast so I have to be pretty careful with that. (same with a lot of tools :( ) I'll also turn silver BLACK and copper green at a pretty rapid rate.

Must be something about being a redhead 'cause I've heard of others with the same issues.:rolleyes:
 
I'm wondering what products Militec users can employ for preserving their arms?
Click to expand...

So you are looking for a product to make up for Militec's poor corrosion resistiance? Yet you will continue to use Militec? :confused:
 
I have been useing Militec for a long time and so have many of my co-workers. We still use CLP on the outer rustable surfaces. Militec works better than all the hype. Where the metal wasn't treated with Militec, the dust began. It is like it repels dust dirt and anything that might want to stop your rifle. Cleanings went faster, and it worked so well at work I brought it home and use it on my personal weapons. The stuff is unreal!

As for corrosion, I train in every type of enviroment you could imagine and have NEVER had a problem with rust ever on any of the treated portions of my weapons.

A little goes a loooooooooooong way and lasts longer, so I do not have to re-apply every cleaning.
 
Well, MILITEC-1 doesn't claim to be a CLP. Don't rightly know about WeaponShield, though it's name implies it probably preserves, but it may not be the best at that.

This has been a confusing topic, frankly, because I'm not a lube expert. When a good lubricant becomes a good preserver, does it introduce any particles or properties that alter its lubrication capability in any way?

What about Eezox Synthetic Gun Oil and Kano Kroil Penetrating Oil and Bore Cleaning Solvent? I've heard good things about both of these.

But where does the hype end? Based on Ze's review, I'm probably going to try both WeaponShield and MILITEC-1. I've alro read other reports where the latter was still detectable in a barrel even after many rounds had been fired through it. I can tell you that didn't happen with BreakFree! BreakFree might have increased velocity for a clip or two of ammo, but then it kind of blew out and was gone.

But in answer to you, Tempast45, yep, I would buy MILITEC-1 despite its poor corrosion resistance unless I could be absolutely sure that WS would be just as effective a lube and add the protection I was after.

I'm sorry Ze lost those photos. I am getting a free sample of Militec being sent to me and I'm anxious to see if it will increase the reliability of some of my little guns. I have one small .32ACP made by Bryco or something like that, which I found in my safe. Looks like it's never been shot and I have a full box of .32 ammo. Can't decide to shoot it or sell it.

Makes a great paperweight and has a purty nickel finish.
 
I've been using Weapon Shield long enough now that even though a little goes a long, long way I'm down to about 1/4 left out of a 16oz. bottle.
A couple things of note that might answer your questions about it;

It's definitely still there even after a day of shooting. After treating one and then a day of shooting again, the next cleaning goes easier. I noticed even more improvement in ease of cleaning on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th cycle.

As a lube. Everything works lighter and smoother. My son thought I had done some trigger work on my Makarov. It improved it that much over any other oil I've used.

As a protectant. When I first started using WS I stll used a silicon cloth on the outer blued finishes. On my ccw pc. (carried in leather) I always noticed after an hour or two it would look blotchy. It was suggested to try WS for the finish and after I did I carried the same pistol in the same leather holster the next day for 9 hours. Still looked good. I put it away without even wiping it down that night and did the same over the next two days. Still looked good. I threw away the silicon cloths just like my other cleaning solvents and oils.

I've not used Miltec so I can't offer any comparison. I was about to order some to try when I got a sample of Weapon Shield and was so impressed I don't feel the need to try anything else.

BTW, the big plus in my wife's opinion is no strong chemical smell. I can clean them now in the kitchen and every time I do she comments that she's glad I got the Weapon Shield.
 
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