Chemistry

[martywinston]

The context: 9mm - lubricate (separate from) grease (separate from) protect.

On the dock: Militec-1 and Eevox and Slide Glide

On the bench: A dozen brands you've heard of and some you may not have encountered.

LUBRICANT: I've tried a lot of excellent gun oils even including some os the specialties like Rem and Ballistol. Militec-1 seems to be the most exotic. From the label: "Dry Impregnated Lubrication... Contains synthetic hydrocarbon derivatives" You apply, heat the weapon to 150F (65C) or so for two hours, repeat, and reapply next time after 1-2000 rounds. It seems (from their explanations) to accomplish a more thorough bond with the metal thereby remaining effective longer without flow/creep. Do any of you have any direct experience with this, pro or con?

GREASE: Enos Slide Glide is unlike any of the white greases I've seen - a red jelly with a stringy (like cheese on a hot pizza) disposition that seems to love filling the grooves on the frame and slide. They say it's an "extreme pressure compound" that softens recoil feel. For those who have used it, any comments?

PROTECTANT: Eezox came to my attention from a third-party report that buried steel squares with various alternative protectants and the one with Eezox came out closest to pristine with almost no rusting or corrosion. Same question: if you've used this what can you say about it?

 

[snowman]

I have some Militec-1 which I applied to parts subject to friction on one of my 686s. It seemed to work as advertised; after the part has cooled you wipe off any excess and the part has a slick surface which is supposed to last for an extended time. As I recall, though, the instructions on my bottle said to heat to 200 degrees for 10-15 minutes, and that is what I did(had no way of measuring the temperature actually). I don't know if I'll use it again due to the hassle of heating the parts, avoiding springs, etc.

[I don't have experience with the other two, but I'll take the liberty to mention that I've been using Corrosion X for rust prevention exclusively, and I'm extremely impressed with it. I've had no rust on any of my revolvers, blue or ss, and they're all stored in the blue plastic boxes with the foam inserts.]

Andy

 

[martywinston]

Thanks, Andy. As it happens, I just requested a sample opf CorrosionX this weekend.

The Militec-1 docs I saw said to heat to 150F; I sent info requests to both Crimson Trace and S&W to confirm that those temperatures (150-200F) would have no bad effects on their hardware.

I am exploring several ways to provide that heat. Our kitchen oven can do 175F but I wouldn't want to eat anything that came out of a lube kiln. I'm looking at heating pads, a DIY box made with those little mug warmers and some other approaches. I'm also looking to see if I can make a gas-tight envelope that has no problem with those temperatures, at which point the kitchen oven can come back into play.

 

[TSQUARED]

Under extreme military duty conditions perhaps one could see the difference between different lubes. In my opinion any good weight lube will work on a 1911 - my 1991's like to run wet. Miltec is a good choice as are many others.
For the polymer framed pistols a very very small dab of teflon based grease is all that is required on the frame rails.
It might be more fruitful to determine whether gentlemen prefer blondes, brunettes or redheads - that would be real chemistry. The similarity to bullet lube prefernce is obvious.

 

[ogilvyspecial]

I use Eezox on my guns, but generally only on the exterior as a dry protective finish.

When working on guns I do apply Eezox to the internal parts but, as the directions state, wipe off the excess so by the time I use my regular lube the parts are dry to the touch.

I also use it to treat my tools, grip screws, anything I want to keep from rusting and the fact that it acts as a dry lube is all the better.

 

[ikor]

I use SLIP2000EWL liquid or TW25 grease on everything, and never have issues. Not a big grease fan but the TW25 works well and is fairly light if a grease is called for.

 

[martywinston]

Thanks everybody for responding.

It's a small sampling but it does suggest a few things - that not many owners have tried these - and that among those who have, no one was disappointed.

That's useful - so again - thanks.

 

[Pisgah]

You left out a choice: "I have come to the conclusion that, despite the ad hype, one gun cleaner/lube/protectant works about as well as any other, and that most discussions of same amount to the equivalent of '.308 vs .30-06 150 gr. loads, which is better?'."

 

[martywinston]

You left out a choice: "I have come to the conclusion that, despite the ad hype, one gun cleaner/lube/protectant works about as well as any other, and that most discussions of same amount to the equivalent of '.308 vs .30-06 150 gr. loads, which is better?'."

I didn't leave it out - I considered it - found evidence it isn't true - and discarded it.

 

[Maximumbob54]

I used to agree with what Pisgah stated until I tried Eezox. I had trouble with small rust spots popping up from time to time. I had tried several different oils, greases, and several different gimicks for the safe like a Golden Rod.

Eezox = NO rust at all

However, the woman pitches a fit about the smell when I use it. I don't think it's that bad at all and remind her that the smell of the cat box is easy for her to ignore. But an unhappy woman means an unhappy me. So now I am thinking of trying Frog Lube since I hear it has something of a minty smell to it. It's another one that you season the steel kind of like a cast iron pan. And it has the added benefit of being non toxic.