I was left wondering from some comments in another thread, do you folks run your 3rd gen pistols with grease or oil?

I used Breakfree for lube till I found excessive wear on a 3913 pistol. A former armorer advised me to use grease only on the aluminum framed guns, as oil did not adhere to the aluminum frames.

I switched to TW25B around three years ago, and have noticed no additional wear. I use the TW25B on my all steel 3rd gen pistols as well.

So what are y'all using?

Are you running them on the dry side or wet? Regards 18DAI.

I use Wilson gun grease on my autos. I never had a problem with it.

You'll probably get ten different answers on what is best, and they will all most likely be right to one degree or another.

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Stu

CLP on the springs, Tetra Grease on the slide rails.

If I'm going to be cleaning and lubing them fairly frequently I'll use an oil-type lubricant (Militec-1 or FP10 are the ones on my bench at the moment).

If I'm going to be subjecting them varying temperatures and moisture in the air (think duty rig), and/or I'll be in the area of the ocean or other bodies of water, I'll use one of the synthetic greases (Wilson Ultima or Mil-Comm TW25B). Oil-type lubes can run under gravity, thin out, evaporate and wick away to some extent, especially when being subjected to temperature variations.

Just depends.

I've also used a "slurry" of oil & lightweight grease on the rails of some alloy-framed guns.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

After I clean my semi-autos. I spray them all over with RemOil and wipe down excess, then I put Shooter's Choice grease on the rails. Seems to be working fine for me.

If it slides grease it, if it rolls or turns oil it.

Sliding parts get greased with Slide Glide. Other parts get oil. 3906, 3913 3953, & 6904.

Sheath Oil by Birchwood

............+1...........

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Bob

Grease seems to make the most sense. I've been using either Slide Glide, or Militec.

/c

Me too!
I rub the Tetra grease into my magazines as well, especially the blued ones. I wipe it all off and they seem to shed dust and dirt pretty well.

Tetra on the rails.

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Sie vis pacem parabellum

I'm real old school - That nasty black Gunslick grease stuff on the rubby parts like rails, barrel bushing and barrel cams, and oil on the other bits.

"Tetragun" grease on the rails..very sparingly.

I do not lube springs,barrels or areas where spent powder can cause issues sticking to the grease.

I've been using Militec-1, both the grease and the oil. When I first got my 6906, just thinking about the steel slide riding on the alloy frame made me nervous. I used Slide-Glide on it with great results, but have been using the Militec-1 grease for no other reason than it's in the little tubes and my Slide-Glide is the older version in the little tub that you have to put on with a brush and it's a PITA. I've not noticed any wear with either of them.

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"I'm your huckleberry."

I wonder what our grandparents would think about this thread, if they had been around for the internet.

Did they use oil or grease? I watched my grandfather clean his duty gun (Alabama Sheriff) and not put anything on it.

I know that things change with time and new products come out almost daily but how much is hype and how much helps?

When I was in the US Army during the early 60's, we would clean our 1911s and just wipe them down with an oily rag.

One of the gun magazines has a great article toward the back of it about this subject and how often we should clean. Some clean their guns if they are fired once. Some do not clean their daily use guns yearly and they keep on working fine with either treatment.

As for me, I clean my duty gun after a good use and I lightly oil it along the slide rails using Hoppes Oil.

On the rails I use WS grease or as they prefer to call it "synthetic lubricant" cha ching......

I use Shooter's Choice red grease on the rails and locking points. Sometimes I mix it with CLP; usually before training or matches.

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N.R.A. BENEFACTOR Member

For you Militec-1 fans:

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09735r.pdf

I use BreakFree on the barrel, bore, and internal surfaces. I have been using Pro-Shot Pro-Gold lubricant on all rail/slide surfaces.

A barely visible coat of marine wheel bearing grease on the rails. Never had any issues.

Birchwood-Casey synthetic gun oil has been working very well for me in all the semi-auto pistols I shoot. Easy to clean off too.

All my Smith's are steel and since steel has the propensity to gall, I use grease

I had always been an oil guy. Then I saw suggestions here about grease on the aluminum framed ones, so I am trying that now on my 4003.

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M&P .40, M&P 9c & Shield 45

+1 for the Shooters Choice grease on the slide rails and +1 for the Birchwood Casey Synthetic Oil everywhere else. Was using the lighter oil on the rails too at first, but when you run your gun pretty hard, the lighter stuff works its way out the back of your slide. The grease seems to stay more where you put it. I also clean my guns every time I shoot them. I know some do not. I do not think my father knows what a cleaning rod is for. Anyway, it's probably more a matter of personal choice. I worked hard for the firearms I have, I like to keep them as nice as possible.

Your post got me thinking about something I do. I grease it if it slides, oil it if it rotates. I clean any gun of mine every time it's fired. So there's the set-up.

Recently I've been giving my handguns a RemOil shower, cleaning the disassembled parts thoroughly, showering clean parts again, wiping off excess R.O., greasing the rails and reassembling. There is plenty of R.O. left on the clean gun. I like to run my guns wet.

So there is opportunity for spent powder to cling to my gun and mix with intentionally left-over lubricants. Is this damaging the gun slowly I wonder or, since I clean the gun each time it's fired, is it no big deal?

Either way, I'm probably worrying about nothing. I hope.

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John F. - recovering Statist

I always ran mine on FP-10 once out of the academy and how a choice. During training we used Hoppe's oil. Wet or dry? I don't know, average I guess. Same as I do my 1911's and Glocks. I'm sure there are a few guys I worked with running them all but dry. Seems like those old 3rd Gen's just run and run.

I used Breakfree CLP on everything for a long time, and still use it for everything but rails.

That Coonan 357 Auto I should have kept, came with directions to use white lithium grease on the rails - and a small tub from the auto parts store has kept my rails sliding for years now.

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July 4, 1776 not Jan 30, 1909

I use graphite grease on the rails.

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God save the SOUTH

Wilson grease on the rails. Break Free on everything else that moves. Never had a problem.

Yrs ago, my SW CQB was a single shot using tetra grease on the rails and barrel.

Temp was in the 20s and it was night shoot and rather dark skies.

I was shootin PMC ball which was known for being dirty.

Couple of things to note....the tetra grease was old (seemed a lil clumpy...thought it was just cold), very cold temp for south TX, tighter tolerences of CQB and shooting dirty ammo.

The next day...I cleaned my CQB and the grease was very black.

I oiled with breakfree and shot the next day....it rran fine.

I use whatever oil I have. No rem oil...has viscosity of water and designed for slow moving parts.

I've used Corrosion-X the last couple of years. It's a fairly heavy oil, and I've seen no issues develop since using it.

Jerry

Breakfree CLP for me. I've been using it on my pistols since 1991 with no issues or problems.

I use TW-25B on the rails and barrel, and any area I can see the black worn off. I use oil down in the frame internals.

This is the precise regimen & same products I use on my semi's as well. Great minds think alike.

Well I am starting to question my choice of grease for my S&W 1911. My last range session it started feeling like the rail was dry after about 100 rounds. I was shooting some reloads with Unique powder and it seemed pretty sooty. NoW while the 1911 didn't malfunction in anyway, I am considering another grease for the rails of the 1911. The Shooter's Choice still has worked well for my 5906 & 2206. Looking at some Brian Enos Slide Glide Lite.

The Rem Oil is mostly used for just a film coating for the frame & slide.

I've tried the SC all-weather grease. Personally, I didn't care for how hard it was for some of our people to apply to everywhere it needed to go and how thick it remained. It's good that it doesn't rum or fly off the gun, but neither does it seem to spread with use.

While I'm sure there are some great new synthetic grease products from which to choose, I've remained pretty much with the Wilson Ultima grease and Mil-Comm's TW25B. Both are easy to apply and spread to all spots where I want it to be present, and yet they seem to remain there under use pretty well.

For heavy shooting days with my 1911's I often use a slurry of one of the greases and some FP10 or Militec-1. It's a bit messier as far as what can ooze out the back of the rails under extended shooting, but the guns seem able to easily run for 2-3 range sessions of a few hundred rounds each when lubed that way between cleanings.

FWIW, when the Mil-Comm company connected me to their "chemist" one time when I had some questions, he was quite specific about a couple of things. First, he said for best results the metal ought to be stripped of the solvent/CLP used for cleaning before application of the grease. That's done by using 91-92% alcohol to wipe the residue from the metal. Second, he said that if it was applied so thickly that the white color remained after spreading it around, that too much had been used. He said the white color ought to disappear when the product was spread out (and yet still appear present/shiny).

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

As always Fastbolt, thanks for the very informative posting. I have to admit the SC grease tube is miserable to work with--as it either doesn't want to come out, or comes out too fast. The use of alcohol on the rails prior to grease application is a great idea, will add that to my current regimen. Right now I think I am going to try Slide Glide by Brian Enos.

I like Slide-Glide on the rails, oil every place else.

While I haven't tried Slide-Glide, I've heard good things about and can't imagine he'd connect his name to a product that wasn't decent.

The chemist said the reason for the 91-92% alcohol was to strip the metal surface so their product could better get into the surface and remain there. That's probably why Sig was (is?) using the product and used to include a sample of it with their guns. The Sig armorer instructor said something to the effect that the TW25B seemed to better prevent moisture from getting to the metal and helped prevent oxidation cells from forming. It can be messy, though, especially if too much is used.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

I just posted this elsewhere-

I usually use Breakfree CLP or another cleaner/lube on my 3rd gens, then wipe off as much as possible. (which sometimes seems almost impossible with Breakfree- even if I only put a very small amount on the gun it seems to multiply and ooze out of the pores of the metal............)

Then I use Birchwood Casey +P Stainless Steel Lube on the rails, and judiciously on a few other parts.

I really like using the +P Stainless Lube on these guns

Just because it hasn't been mentioned, Mobil 1 synthetic grease for slides and shotgun hinge pins, Mobil 1 5 weight for everything else. Sparingly of course. Both are inexpensive and take heat well. I have a qt. of oil and a can of the grease. I'll never have to buy either ever again.

After reading this thread, I picked up the available grease at the local shop...Hoppe's grease. I have now read the label and it states that it is designed to protect idle firearms. Am I correct that I shouldn't be lubing my 3913 rails with this stuff?

The rails get tw25 and the rest get Breakfree.

My cleaning and lube process - Disassemble - spray down parts with WD-40 and let soak for about 30 minutes - brush/wipe parts until clean and wipe off as much of the WD as possible - Clean bore with Hoppes No. 9 bore cleaner and lube with Rem Oil - Spray down parts with Rem Oil wipe down leaving a light coat - lube rails and hammer/trigger/sear contact points with Aeroshell 33MS (apply with a small paint brush). The Aeroshell 33MS I have left over from several AR builds (Used on the upper and barrel nut threads)