To oil or not to oil?

cjcutter1

cjcutter1

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So I recently came across GunBlue on YouTube and have really enjoyed watching his stuff seems very knowledgeable and has the credentials to back it up. So I'm just asking everyone's take on the oiling guns his seems to be none other then rust protection is the way to go. I've never been much to oil guns but recently have gotten into 1911s and seems most are on the side of oil is your best friend.
 
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Gunblue is absolutely correct. Use as little oil as possible. Oil does not reduce wear. That is a myth. The forces of friction acting on steel during the guns operation are NOT nearly enough to wear down or damage hardened steel (a gun is not a combustion engine). However, sand, dirt and grime, lint and leather shavings all adhere to oil and turn into an abrasive paste that will wear on the guns steel. Ok, I exaggerate some here but the point about oiling guns is: Less is more! Gunsteel will not deteriorate because steel rubs against steel - there is not enough heat generated by the guns operation. Also, in the case of semi-auto-pistols, to much oil or grease on the sliding surfaces act like a brake. Hope this helps....
 
Going to disagree with blackpowder.

To a certain extend it depends on the construction of the weapon. Plastic guns have absolutely minimum metal on metal contact and need less lube. Metal frame guns can be steel slides on aluminum frames. There because of the difference in hardness of the parts lube IS required to cut down excessive wear.

Also on non-plastic guns the friction between the frame rails and slide can cause reliability issues. I've seem move then a few guns that would malfunction every couple of rounds. A quick field strip and oil and they returned to 100% reliable. These were mostly Beretta 92s, Sigs, and 1911s.
 
I’ve found that less is more in terms of oil on my 1911’s. A drop of sewing machine oil or other light machine oil on the frame and slide interface (one drop total) is plenty.

An additional few drops of oil on an old t shirt to wipe down the exterior after any handling is also a good idea.

A couple ounces of oil is enough for many years.
 
blackpowder said:
Gunblue is absolutely correct. Use as little oil as possible. Oil does not reduce wear. That is a myth. The forces of friction acting on steel during the guns operation are NOT nearly enough to wear down or damage hardened steel (a gun is not a combustion engine). However, sand, dirt and grime, lint and leather shavings all adhere to oil and turn into an abrasive paste that will wear on the guns steel. Ok, I exaggerate some here but the point about oiling guns is: Less is more! Gunsteel will not deteriorate because steel rubs against steel - there is not enough heat generated by the guns operation. Also, in the case of semi-auto-pistols, to much oil or grease on the sliding surfaces act like a brake. Hope this helps....
Click to expand...

I wish I had a dollar for every AR-15 owner who said "She likes to run wet!" Not true at all, and I think the folks who say such things have a marginally functioning rifle, and they hope that slopping on the oil will fix it. It won't.
 
Pat Rogers did a lot of testing on ARs and saw somewhere over 500K rounds down range a year for 20+ years. What he found was that they had to be wet to run reliably under hard use. At less than 200 rounds, a dry AR would start to malfunction. I doubt I've gone more than 1500 rounds without a strip and wipe, but that's just me being anal. Pat had rifles that had a ton of rounds down range with only lube. (Filthy 14 for one had well over 40K rounds downrange without a cleaning.) He admitted that this was solely for testing and that he would have cleaned a rifle he was using for serious purposes. Note that he was not using marginal rifles - most of the ones I saw at class were Bravo Company.

Not every platform is like that. Some pistols should have very sparing amounts of lube on them.
 
Gunblue knows what he's talking about.

I watched that video by gunblue and my main take away was that the main benefit of oiling your guns is rust protection. Doesn't take much. Just a very light coating rubbed off with a cloth. I believe he did say that the hardened steel moving parts of a revolver were so hard you couldn't possibly wear them out with regular cleaning. A good cleaning with Balistol is pretty much all I do. Wipe it down well, and it leaves a good thin protective coat of oil while it rests in the safe with a good drying system. All you need. Your guns will outlast you, your kids, and your grandkids.
 
mscampbell2734 said:
Going to disagree with blackpowder.

To a certain extend it depends on the construction of the weapon. Plastic guns have absolutely minimum metal on metal contact and need less lube. Metal frame guns can be steel slides on aluminum frames. There because of the difference in hardness of the parts lube IS required to cut down excessive wear.

Also on non-plastic guns the friction between the frame rails and slide can cause reliability issues. I've seem move then a few guns that would malfunction every couple of rounds. A quick field strip and oil and they returned to 100% reliable. These were mostly Beretta 92s, Sigs, and 1911s.
Click to expand...

I agree. Metal on metal will wear, and some metals will wear faster against other metals. I'm not metallurgist, but galling can occur when metals slide against each other. I firmly believe lubrication can slow down this process.
 
I use oil on my guns sparingly except for my Ruger Mark IVs. They get a spray of RemOil to prevent malfunctions during Steel Challenge Matches.

There is so much dust during a match it helps to keep them oiled.
'
I also use Brian Enos's Slide Glide on the internals like hammer sear engagement and inside of my revolvers. The grease stays better than oil and I haven't found it to retail dirt and grime.
 
diyj98 said:
I agree. Metal on metal will wear, and some metals will wear faster against other metals. I'm not metallurgist, but galling can occur when metals slide against each other. I firmly believe lubrication can slow down this process.
Click to expand...
I didn't say not to lube. I said to lube very sparingly. One single drop on sliding surfaces, bearing points and linkages is more than enough.
If, for example, you put your 1911 on full auto (let's say that's possible for experiments sake) and run 1000 rounds through it in long bursts, then yes, the metal will wear faster without oil. But galling and friction-wear will NOT occur during a pistols normal operation and even less on wheelguns.
I see people bathe their guns in oil all the time. That is asking for trouble (unless it's for the purpose of long term storage).
 
I put a drop of oil on each slide rail and spread it down the rails. A few drops on barrel and spread it around. I put a tiny bit of grease in the channel of the slide that the rails ride in and when I put the gun back together I rack the slide multiple times to spread everything around. My AR’s are always well lubed.

Some would say I over oil. I don’t care. Been doing it this way for nearly 30 years and never an issue. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve had more than a dozen malfunctions on any semi auto firearm I have ever owned, and I’m talking about easily 50 different semi autos.
 
blackpowder said:
I didn't say not to lube. I said to lube very sparingly. One single drop on sliding surfaces, bearing points and linkages is more than enough.
If, for example, you put your 1911 on full auto (let's say that's possible for experiments sake) and run 1000 rounds through it in long bursts, then yes, the metal will wear faster without oil. But galling and friction-wear will NOT occur during a pistols normal operation and even less on wheelguns.
I see people bathe their guns in oil all the time. That is asking for trouble (unless it's for the purpose of long term storage).
Click to expand...

Galling was a pretty well known problem amount automatic pistol manufacturers at one time. I know AMT and others experienced issues in their stainless guns in particular.

My primary disagreement with your comment was that gun metal against gun metal doesn’t cause wear because there’s not enough heat and oil doesn’t help. Wind and water can both wear metal and that’s not just a heat issue. Heat certainly speeds things up, but anytime two objects rub, there will be wear to some point from friction. Lubrication will certainly help.
 
From my non-technical perspective, I think the subject needs to be discussed in context with the usage of the firearm. For those who relish continuous, RAPID fire of hundreds of rounds, I would think oil is a good thing...And, for those who might be shooting in below freezing temperatures, I would think that oil is not a good thing. My personal situation has always been moderation in the amount of rounds I shoot and the speed I shoot them so my guns are cleaned after shooting and minimal oil is rubbed into metal surfaces and wiped dry (yes, I do take the revolvers apart at least twice a year to clean and lube the innards). In younger days, hunting in freezing climates, my bolt guns were treated to a wipe down inside the bolt to remove any excess oil and quick wipe and, air blast on any other parts. Keeping in mind that two shots a season, was the most action the gun saw. I have no idea how to advise those who shoot fast and hard.
IMHO as always,
J.
 
"To oil or not to oil? That is the question—Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the misfeeds and jams of outrageous fortune, Or to take oil against a sea of troubles."
 
I lube every metal to metal contact part with a moly paste or anti seeze. The run the action 50 to 100 times to burnish it into the metal pores. Wipe off the excess. Just a little of moly will do. Moly eliminates wear, reduces friction, prevents galling, doesn’t attract dirt. Now you can add one drop of oil on the rails if you want too.
 
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