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Old 09-23-2017, 05:46 PM
scoobysnacker scoobysnacker is offline
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Originally Posted by Tom S. View Post
People tend to get carried away when it comes to the subject of gun oil and lubricants, just like they do when discussing which cleaner is best. There are really only a few things to test your lube against:

Is it waterproof?
Will it operate under extreme temperatures (hot and cold)?
Will it adversely effect any material the gun has such as wood or plastic?
Will its chemical properties change over time?

The only lube specifically designed for guns I know of that fails one of these tests is Frog Lube, which has reported to gum up under certain adverse conditions.

Beware too of using non-gun rated lubes just because you read on line that you use them - or that you can combine certain things to make the world's wonder lube. If you use a product that is designed for firearm use, you put your firearm and self in danger, should it fail to work. I can assure you that if you use cooking oil and damage your firearm, the manufacture of both the firearm and the cooking oil are going to tell you to go pound sand should you try to hold them responsible. Also, all oil/lubricants have flashpoints at which they will ignite. Products designed for firearms are designed to be impervious to the heat firearms can generate.

Also be advised that all lubes will eventually succumb to the effects of gravity. How long that takes, depends on the viscosity of the lube. That's why you should recoat/relube periodically. As a case in point: people look at glass as a solid stable material, yet glass used in buildings constricted centuries ago show the glass thinning at the top and thickening at the bottom. If glass can run, so will your oil/lubricant.

There's also an old saying that goes: if it rotates, use oil, if it slides, use grease. There's a lot of truth to that.
I agree with these points whole-heartedly. I've done Hoppes, Rem oil, Mobil 1 full synthetic, Breakfree CLP and Ballistol. In addition, I've done additional things for just external protection- letting both the CLP and Ballistol sit and dry, I've rubbed a blued pistol down with Mucilin (per my late dad's recommendation), and I now have a tub of Johnson's Paste wax for that. I've rubbed a parkerized HP down with vaseline and let it sit in the heat, and then wiped it down (it's now velvety smooth to the touch, instead of "dusty" feeling).
I cold-blued a slide on a rough pistol I'd gently filed and sanded the pits out of, then rubbed the external with a rag dampened with boiled linseed oil lightly, and let it cure.
Basically, all sorts of various remedies for both lube and preservation. Everything seems to work satisfactorily.

I've moved towards non-toxic stuff, since frankly, I have my collection because I like them, and I like to take one out and handle it. When I do, I clean and lube it. I figure that if I have over a dozen of them, I probably need to use something that won't come back and bite me later... I work in healthcare, and I've seen what some of these chemicals can do with prolonged exposure.
If there's something food-grade that works, then that's great for that cause.
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