Oil or grease for semi auto?

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brandyspaw
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#16

Post by brandyspaw »

Flash wrote: June 25th, 2018, 7:02 am
Steve_In_29 wrote: June 24th, 2018, 9:01 pm Froglube... :lol:

Someone likes paying a premium for Crisco.
One of the guys in my weekly shooting group accumulates gun like RJ does. Anyway, he used Froglube for a while. A few months ago he found a gun he'd used it on and hadn't shot in around a year.

It was locked up tight and he had a hard time getting it apart and getting the old Froglube out.
I found that stuff gets gummy when the guns are stored as well.

Back when Frog Lube came out my local FFL guy had bought a bunch of it to sell. I try to buy some things from my FFL guy occasionally rather that just use him for transfers. So I bought Frog Lube and degreased and lubed a couple of AR's that got stored away for the summer. They were so gummy when I got them out to use they wouldn't function.

If you use Frog Lube be careful about storing your guns long term in the heat. Anyway, I've pretty much went back to cheap old Mobil 1 oil for most everything and I rarely use grease except for certain applications like the M1A, Garand, etc.
Last edited by brandyspaw on June 25th, 2018, 3:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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WRMorrison
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#17

Post by WRMorrison »

Steve_In_29 wrote: June 23rd, 2018, 5:39 pm Which is interesting as I remember using LSA (a light grease) to lube my M16s in the Marines before CLP was ever a thing.
Just checked the bottle, and your right; it's LSA and not CLP. Getting close to being empty though, and I'll need to find more. They still sell that stuff?

-WRM
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Steve_In_29
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#18

Post by Steve_In_29 »

WRMorrison wrote: June 25th, 2018, 8:42 am Just checked the bottle, and your right; it's LSA and not CLP. Getting close to being empty though, and I'll need to find more. They still sell that stuff?

-WRM
AFAIK LSA is still in use in the Military (though not for M16s) so is still in production.
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#19

Post by airedalex2 »

I know this is going to seem strange but back in the late 80’s I read an article in gun test magazine. I don’t know if it is still published. They compared lots of different gun lubes, rem-oil etc and they came to the conclusion that 20w 50 motor oil works just as good. I bought a quart and am still using it. Smith 469, Sig 226, my first Glock 17, Ruger 10-22, Mini 14, AK, AR back in the day. And all of my current firearms. Afew drops and everything keeps running good. Not real tactical but seems to work.
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Steve_In_29
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#20

Post by Steve_In_29 »

airedalex2 wrote: June 25th, 2018, 7:09 pm I know this is going to seem strange but back in the late 80’s I read an article in gun test magazine. I don’t know if it is still published. They compared lots of different gun lubes, rem-oil etc and they came to the conclusion that 20w 50 motor oil works just as good. I bought a quart and am still using it. Smith 469, Sig 226, my first Glock 17, Ruger 10-22, Mini 14, AK, AR back in the day. And all of my current firearms. Afew drops and everything keeps running good. Not real tactical but seems to work.
In reality (advertising claims aside) pretty much ANY oil is going to work just fine on a weapon.
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lew
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#21

Post by lew »

Steve_In_29 wrote: June 25th, 2018, 7:13 pm In reality (advertising claims aside) pretty much ANY oil is going to work just fine on a weapon.
Yup. Guns aren't very demanding, especially compared to engines and other precision machinery. Everyone has their favorite lubes, but it comes down to this: you're an idiot if you're paying $8 for 2 oz. of "gun" oil/grease, when you can get bulk quantities of many other lubricants that aren't specifically marketed towards the firearms crowd for a similar price. Case in point: a quart of motor oil is less than $5. I paid $13 for a pint of Magnalube. Both of those quantities will last me decades.
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#22

Post by Steve_In_29 »

Free is even better.

I acquired :dance: some Turboshaft oil from my previous employer (used in M1 tank turbine engines) and have a lifetime supply of high quality gun oil.
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#23

Post by PWilliam »

I used the cheap red auto grease from Wally-World. Had the same bucket of it for 3 years and haven't even made a dent in it yet. Works great.
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#24

Post by Ballistic Therapy »

Any light weight oil will work.
I go to Lowes and buy the bottles of oil they sell for swamp coolers.
It only cost a couple of dollars and works as good as any gun oil out there.
3 in 1 oil also works good and is cheap to be had.
I have even been known to use WD-40.
I have never had any of the problems that everyone says they have with such and such oil.
Then again I got my experience long before the internet was invented to tell me I was wrong.
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#25

Post by Mako72 »

Like a lot here I usually just use motor oil. I think last time I topped off my dropper bottle it was with some 20w50. I used to use gear oil, but it’s a little smelly.
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#26

Post by XJThrottle »

I use both, but nothing gun specific.

My education, and work background, are automotive/mechanical. So, I use what I know survives that harsh environment.

WD40 and ATF to clean, Moly based engine assembly lube for my grease needs, and a quality engine oil for the "wet spots".

If it can last 10k miles in an engine, it's good for a day at the range.
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#27

Post by Harrier »

I usually use oil in the winter and grease in the summer.
I like to lube my guns before shooting. they get minimal lube after cleaning unless its grease.
Grease tends to pick up fouling grime and needs to be cleaned off well after shooting.
Oil tends to run but I will still use it if lube is needed in the summer while shooting an AR.
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#28

Post by Flash »

PWilliam wrote: July 4th, 2018, 3:19 pm I used the cheap red auto grease from Wally-World. Had the same bucket of it for 3 years and haven't even made a dent in it yet. Works great.
As do I. Something like $4.00 for 14 ounces and it lasts forever. I also use oil, whatever I find cheapest.
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#29

Post by 87jeep »

Same here on the grease & oil. Still have leftover oils a grease from racing days. Like the Redline red grease on the sliding parts. sticks like crazy to the metal. Have some newer grease coming to try from a friend in NASCAR, claims it cannot be washed off with any solvent. Always game to try something new!
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Re: Oil or grease for semi auto?

#30

Post by AZ1 »

How do you clean it?
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