After seeing several short articles on this as a gun lube decided to give it a try on a new, unfired by me, Rock Island GI 1911 45. I used 5-30 wt. as that's what I had. I cleaned the bore wiped off all lube that the gun was shipped with and lightly relubed all moving parts rubbing it into the barrel and barrel bushing. After 100 rounds of Factory American Eagle and Gold Dot 230 gr bullets shot at an outdoor range under ideal conditions; 60 degrees , no dust or dirt, shot as fast as I could get the one magazine it came with reloaded there were no malfunctions.

After field stripping it for cleaning the only part of the gun that appeared dirty was the bore. There looked to be enough lube left to keep shooting but I wiped it down, re lubed it, put another 100 rounds of the same ammo through it with no malfunctions and took it home.

A week later I took it down cleaned the bore, brushed the extractor recess and reassembled it without relubing as it appeared clean with lube still on the moving parts. Back to the range for another 100 rounds with no malfunctions.

Granted all 300 rounds were shot under ideal conditions but I'd bet most of us shoot under ideal conditions. I can't say it's the best gun lube you can get but for it's cost compared to specific gun oils cost I'd say it's a viable, economic way to go and maybe it works under bad conditions too.

I use Mobile 1 sparringly on some parts.

I get great mileage :-)
JK
:-)

any motoroil/transmission fluid would work fine. People over think stuff.

I have been using Mobil On, 0 degrees for many years with out a problem

Most lubricants, including motor oils work fine if applied rationally.

And it's free, sorry about thinking like a liberal.. LOL. But after an oil change, I would tip the bottle upside down and recover the leftover in the lid and use it to lubricate door hinges, etc. also.

You could lube it with Crisco and get the same results. People make way too much noise about gun lubes.
I've lubed pistols with 70spf sunblock and they ran fine.

That’s what I use! memtb

Any tan lines?

Mobil 1 is my goto firearm oil. If I need an grease application for the slide/frame rails on my glocks or Sigs I use CRC Sta-Bil engine assembly grease. This is an moly graphite bases grease and it the same stuff the gun lube companies sell in the small Carmex glass containers only the gun guys highly inflate the price. IMO the whole firearm lube business is a scam.

Hunting trip to middle of nowhere, I took a chunk out of my thumb doing a fast reload of a Ruger No.1. Turned out neither of us had brought a cleaning kit (that won't happen again), the only oil we had was cooking oil. I cleaned the blood off and lubed everything with that veggie oil. Worked fine and there wasn't even a blemish on the blue.

Who believes most gun lubes are,

"Carefully Formulated to Meet the Needs of Your Fine Firearms!!!"


You need lube and corrosion protection.

Most oils provide that.

Most of the chemicals we use are just bulk product sold in little containers at
hugely inflated prices.


Does anyone believe Brownell's formulated Acraglass?
Hell no. They found an epoxy that they liked, then payed someone to put it in
nice little tubs.

Your vehicle dipstick makes a nice oil applicator.

#farmerloggerlogic😁

Mobil 1 syn ATF fluid is my go to. One quart will last till my grandchildren die. Cost me 10 bucks

Last year… the Blue 20 Wt 3 in 1 oil got too cold in my CZ 22 lr it caused light strikes, EVERY Time. I did not feel it had too much lubricant on the firing pin assy. but it was gummy. Went back to the truck and flushed it out, ran fine. I’ve used Mobil 1 in cold weather and it works great. Also if you have a gun that fowls a lot try Mobil 1 compared to a strait mineral oil and you’ll see the M1 suspends crud from the cracks. Runs ARs clean

One night while I was chamois hunting in New Zealand we met a commercial meat hunter who was shooting rabbits and pigs. He had got his jeep stuck in the river and came into the lights of the government cabin we were staying in to dry off and get help. He wanted to re oil his work gun, a suppressed Ruger 10/22. I found some random can of generic spray lube in my guides Toyota but he said that makes the guns action too loud and he wanted something thicker. I jokingly said we had some olive oil in the kitchen. He said that was perfect and he had used it before. He said it’s keeps the action from making a clacking sound. I had never heard that one before. I would have thought the smoke point was too low not to burn? Never saw him again so I didn’t get the chance to ask.

Full synthetic engine oil kept in some small applicator bottles is my primary gun oil it works fine even on guns that like to be run wet, 1911’s, AR’s ect.

Yes. There are so many good lube options these days that it would be simpler to compile a list of what shouldn't be used.

Art's Gun Shop has been saying for years a few drops of synthetic motor oil on the friction rings and recoil spring of A5's make them function smoother. Been a follower for years.

I’ve been using Mobil One 5W30 as a lubricant for many years. Works fine.

I use 0W-20 Mobil 1.

I have written about this here before a number of times.

The short version is motor oils work fine. Pick the right one for the environment conditions.

I use 0w-20 for freezing and sub zero temps.



Having done some testing of both man and machines in temps in the negative numbers, guys quickly figured out that their regular gun lube/lubricant applied excessively gummed up their guns to the point of repeated failures.

Also when I worked out of the various embassies, and would periodically be assigned to oversee the weapons/armory programs I would go to the vehicle maintenance shop and get a few quarts of motor oil. I put these in spray bottles and kept spray bottles of motor oil in each of the fixed machine gun locations to keep the MGs running.



These days, for the average shooter/hunter/sportsman, even the cheapest quart of generic motor oil is going to keep your handguns, shotguns and rifles lubed for an incredibly long time.

Ditto.....

It's always fascinating to watch the winds of change blow around here. It wasn't long ago that threads about cleaning and lubrication products for firearms would have quite a number here ready to come to blows over whose snake oil of choice was far and away the best ever and the only thing fit to apply to a firearm and if you didn't agree you must be a girl (or at least really want to be a girl.) Now everybody is jumping on the "synthetic motor oil is all you need" bandwagon.

Same here, Mobil 1 0/20 was what we used the most, and we also mixed it with the Mobil One red grease. A dollup of the grease then mixed with 0/20 until it runs like a warm molasses worked excellent as well. Lubed with either seemed to keep hard carbon from forming as much and was easy to wipe down. In the desert plain old light coat of 0/20 great since you could rub it on and wipe it down and the metal still has a light coat retained.

Being in the automotive business, I've wondered if a full synthetic 0W16 or 0W20 motor oil would work as a gun oil. I have tried a cooking oil about 15-20 years ago and I found if applied to a firearm the didn't come out of the safe for a good length of time, the oil would start to get tacky and gummy. I would think the light/thin motor oil would be good in extreme cold conditions.

Birddog

The first time I saw that done, I was you could have knocked me over with a feather; why had I never thought of something so simple? But that time in WY I needed more than a few drops.☹️

I use the same oil on my guns that I use in my car - Liquimoly 5w-40 (German synthetic). The only thing I don't oil is the insides of bolts/breechblocks. They stay dry or at most lubed with colloidal graphite. The 20W-50 Castrol I use in the MG is probably too thick.

Years ago I was an advocate of CLP, and stocked up on it. Now with that stuff I figure I have a lifetime supply of oil for my slip stones and sharpening stones.

So, are you guys saying that 3 in 1 oil is not the be all and end all of lubricants these days? Dang, I still have a can my mom bought in 1962 for her sewing machine.


I bought a quart of ATF a few years ago when that was the penultimate panacea for everything that moved or rusted. My heirs will probably get what's left of it and then pass it down to their heirs...

Either will be fine.

There is a lot of talk about oil causing trouble in cold weather.
Way more talk, than guys hunting in sub zero weather.
We haven't had sub zero daytime Temps during hunting season in years.
If we did, participation would be low!

Not say guys don't hunt in the cold,
but overall the percentages aren't high.

Dust is probably a bigger concern.
Everyone deals with dust, hunting or storage.

My guess is that any petroleum lubricating oil is fine, but a synthetic oil might be less likely to congeal and gum things up.

Also, I've wondered about the utility of mixing in a little halogenated solvent like "perc"
(for solvency and dispersion); that's what I'd guess "CLP" is from the smell of it.

It's like the old saying of tractor owners. You don't hear about breakdowns from using the wrong grease. You do hear about breakdowns using no grease.

I like Lucus gun oil. It's probably the same stuff they put in their motor oil cans but the applicator tip was worth the few extra dollars I paid for the bottle. Before you start railing on me about paying too much for oil, keep in mind a bottle of gun oil can last 10-15 years.

Duck hunting in cold weather taught me to lube very sparingly. Basically use brake cleaner to remove whatever is in there and apply a very thin oil and then wipe it off with a cloth leaving nothing but a very thin film - almost dry.

I would lube my guns with motor oil anytime.

But not the other way around.

I’ve used Mobil 1 on handguns and AR-15s. Works just as well as any other oil. I use Super Lube grease now.

Ron

I've gone to 100% grease myself for the last few years - Slip2000. There doesn't seem to be a downside.

I have a reprint of a U.S. WW I era rifle manual and it recommends Vasoline petroleum jelly as a lubricant. Gun grease has improved quite a bit since 1917. I've got a can of U.S. Army gun grease circa 1960s that works quite satisfactorily that my great-grandchildren will still be able to use. It just takes a little dab. I generally use the old rule of "if it slides, grease it and if it rotates, oil it".

50/50 Mobil 1 and Slick 50

I have a old 3&1 oil bottle, 2/3 Mobil #1 plus 1 tea spoon of STP works on every thing, Freezing or Max Temp 2000 deg. Rio7