Grease Or Oil

Jessie said:
Watching " Smiling Larry" of Midway, he wets his fingers with oil and rubs the internals and springs with those fingers.
I think that's a good program.
A little of good lube goes a long ways
Click to expand...

hkcavalier said:
When I hear his voice on a video, I immediately think, "My gun is going to work after today!"
Click to expand...

Larry Potterfield is a blessing for those of us who work on our guns. Love that guy and his videos.

==============

As for revolver lube, I stick with some sort of light oil.If I goof up and use too much, a little compressed/canned air gets out the surplus.
 
I saw the "Smiling Larry" bit on tv last night. I was a bit surprised that
he didn't use grease on anything. Not even the yoke. Oil only simplifies
things so that's what I will do from now on.
 
Oil. Applied with either a small hypo type syringe/bottle or a toothpick.
If grease then I use Rig but a small can of that has lasted me 40 years.
The grease is mostly used on a rag to wipe down the exterior of blued guns and the bore if going into storage.
My grease rag now has most every lube ever made on it but Rem oil and Rig grease are the 2 biggies.

As an aside, when I took delivery of my 444 Marlin double rifle, it was packed with white lithium grease.
All over and in everything including the forearm (and poking out of the firing pin holes)!
It took me several weeks of carefully cleaning with Q-tips, patches, and toothpicks to get it all out.
I sparingly used some solvents but kept them away from the wood which I had removed and cleaned separately
before sealing the unfinished insides with some Dembart London stock finish.
I did use bore solvent on the copper that was filling up the rifling.
I think that gun was last "serviced" at an automobile garage before I got it.
Now it's a gem, fitting me perfectly as if I had "tried" at the factory and well regulated to boot.

That whole experience made me even less likely to use lithium grease on any gun for any reason.
There are better solutions.
 
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Grease is a lubricant oil is a rust preventative. What are you trying to do with these? I sat in on a "Fafnir" siminar early in life and was told the reason most bearing sufaces fail in over lubrication!
Steve
 
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After serving as a police armorer for several years, (30+) I'll give an opinion based on that experience. Those of you who carry firearms for a living, or for personal protection should carefully consider the environment you are going to be working in, (or outside in) and choose your favorite cleaners and lubricants based on this information.

Grease is never a good idea. Ever. Lots of oil, even light gun oil, only serves to attract dirt and dust, and render the firearm unusable or unreliable should it get really cold. Today's firearms, and particularly S&W produced revolvers need very little lubrication anywhere to function properly.

I would suggest looking under the sideplate of an "out of the box" gun (S&W) you have purchased recently for a suggestion on what and how much lubricant is needed in there. You won't find any.....zero. For those of you who carry and expose your carry gun to extreme cold, that is exactly what I would use under the sideplate. Nothing.
Be careful when doing your maintenance and cleaning too. The wrong liquids can get down inside the gun and cause all kinds of issues. I have some horror stories, believe me.

Exterior surfaces and parts of the gun exposed to rain, snow or sweat should be wiped down frequently with a lightly oiled cloth, or even better, with a cloth exposed to a good rust preventative like CorrosionX, Hornady One Shot HD-Extreme, or Frog Lube CLP Paste.

The bottom line is it's your gun, your choice. Choose wisely, and please, do regular practice, maintenance, and function checks.
 
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Decades ago I got introduced to a lubricant labeled Dri-Slide. It's a moly based dry lube in an evaporating carrier liquid. Goes on wet, dries to a film of lubricant that doesn't attract dust, dirt, unburned powder and stays put. I use it sparingly on the internals. Probably as much for corrosion resistance as lubrication.

You may have to find it in industrial supply stores. I bought a case about ten years ago and gave it as gifts to family members and still have a lifetime supply.
 
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For the internals of a S&W revolver, there are probably several acceptable lubricants, but either THE best or one of the best is RIG +P Stainless Steel Lube. This lube should be used sparingly. If you don't recognize that word, look it up in the dictionary. If you use it on a 1911, re-test all of the safeties in accordance with the appropriate military publication. I am not just trying to be funny - do it.

BTW, don't be put off by the cute +P designation. This lube is safe for guns made prior to 1957.
 
WR Moore said:
Decades ago I got introduced to a lubricant labeled Dri-Slide. It's a moly based dry lube in an evaporating carrier liquid. Goes on wet, dries to a film of lubricant that doesn't attract dust, dirt, unburned powder and stays put. I use it sparingly on the internals. Probably as much for corrosion resistance as lubrication.

You may have to find it in industrial supply stores. I bought a case about ten years ago and gave it as gifts to family members and still have a lifetime supply.
Click to expand...
Is a like worth a free sample?
 
Corrosion X

stansdds said:
On revolvers, I use oil, Corrosion X is my current favorite, which is good since I have 3 bottles of the stuff and that is likely to be a lifetime supply. Oil is applied sparingly, you need just enough to lubricate and protect, nothing more.
Click to expand...

C-X makes oil specifically for guns, and it works well. The company HQ is just a few blocks from our shop, so I get it direct. As you say, very light coats.
 
Geissele triggers makes a #1 grease that is some really nice stuff. Very thin grease and super slick. Wont freeze or gum or anything.
Everyone should check it out, it really blows away everything else when it comes to lubricating firearms
 
Doc1500 said:
OK, where is are the Mobil 1 synthetic oil guys?
Click to expand...


You mean these guys?


Mobil_1_Stewart-Haas_Racing.jpg
 
A very sparing application of a very light gun oil (I like Remoil myself but others are fine) as indicated in the manual. It might be hard to believe but gun manufacturers usually know what they are doing, know what works and want your revolver to function properly for you. This has worked for me for over 50 years.
 
Doc1500 said:
OK, where is are the Mobil 1 synthetic oil guys?
Click to expand...

I'll admit to using Mobil1. Not all the time, but often enough. Especially when the lube/preservative has to be inoffensive smelling.

Heck, my milsurp rifles lived on synthetic Mobil1 ATF and motor oil.
 
I witnessed one of the most renowned English gunsmiths mix Vaseline and 3 in 1 oil together and apply it to the locks of a shotgun of mine he was working on. That being said I use oil on my revolvers for lubrication.
 
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Do I have to put another bag of popcorn in the microwave and melt some more butter?
 
I lube all the metal to metal contact parts with a moly paste or anti seeze. Oil is for the bores and finish to prevent rust. Moly on the sear feels like a trigger job was done on it. Don't forget the swing out cylinder studs and lug plus the revolving star and hand. Lube it all then wipe off the excess lube then run the action 50 to 75 times to burnish in the moly.

On pistols moly up the frame rails, springs and guides, barrel lugs and bushing. The sear too.

I purchased a pop corn machine and use the jolly time pop corn bags.
 
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What size zero fitting did you put in the hole?
They have zeros we pound in? They have 1/8" npt? They have 1/16"? Or 1/4" npt? Do you have a part number for the zerk? Does the holster strap still fit over the zerk fitting?

My sons dirtbike tranny out board needle bearing was wearing out, I contacted Kawasaki engineering and they said they never heard of it, my son installed a zerk fitting when it blew again and before each ride he shot it with grease. He's hard on a bike.
 
armorer951 said:
After serving as a police armorer for several years, (30+) I'll give an opinion based on that experience. Those of you who carry firearms for a living, or for personal protection should carefully consider the environment you are going to be working in, (or outside in) and choose your favorite cleaners and lubricants based on this information.

Grease is never a good idea. Ever. Lots of oil, even light gun oil, only serves to attract dirt and dust, and render the firearm unusable or unreliable should it get really cold. Today's firearms, and particularly S&W produced revolvers need very little lubrication anywhere to function properly.

I would suggest looking under the sideplate of an "out of the box" gun (S&W) you have purchased recently for a suggestion on what and how much lubricant is needed in there. You won't find any.....zero. For those of you who carry and expose your carry gun to extreme cold, that is exactly what I would use under the sideplate. Nothing.
Be careful when doing your maintenance and cleaning too. The wrong liquids can get down inside the gun and cause all kinds of issues. I have some horror stories, believe me.

Exterior surfaces and parts of the gun exposed to rain, snow or sweat should be wiped down frequently with a lightly oiled cloth, or even better, with a cloth exposed to a good rust preventative like CorrosionX or Hornady One Shot HD-Extreme.

The bottom line is it's your gun, your choice. Choose wisely, and please, do regular practice, maintenance, and function checks.
Click to expand...

Every single cop armorer from the revolver days I've heard from has said the exact same thing.

The "trigger job" I did on the model 10 I just bought consisted of pulling the side plate and removing the 20 year old dried grease from all the action parts. Knocked a few pounds off the DA pull

Seems like the world is full of people smearing grease and loctite on things that were never meant to need either.
 
just gun oil. on revolvers and semi-autos I own. haven't seen any owners manual or manufacturers literature that says anything about using grease. maybe for some arms, but not for any of the firearms I own. putting grease on them would make as much sense to me as putting gobs of grease in your crankcase thinking it will work better than the oil the auto manufacturer recommends.
 
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