Run your 3rd gen with grease or oil?

[18DAI]

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.

 

[Stu454]

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.

 

[Crh518]

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

 

[Fastbolt]

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.

 

[novalty]

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.

 

[ldp4570]

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

 

[XAVMECH]

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

 

[jimmyj]

Sheath Oil by Birchwood

 

[bkp3gen]

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

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

 

[Chuck Jones]

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

/c

 

[davek610]

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

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.

 

[Nframe357]

Tetra on the rails.

 

[BruceB]

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.

 

[anothermiller]

"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.

 

[ab4ka]

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.

 

[oldman45]

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.

 

[chessail 77]

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

 

[Palmetto Sharpshooter]

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

 

[davek610]

For you Militec-1 fans:

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

 

[Win75]

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

 

[SMSgt]

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

 

[steamloco76]

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.

 

[boingboing]

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

 

[vista461]

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.

 

[Swabby]

+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.

 

[John Fritz]

"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.

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.

 

[J. W.]

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.

 

[Poohgyrr]

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.

 

[sw44spl]

I use graphite grease on the rails.

 

[Engine 21]

Lub

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