Factory advice is always good to follow. They made the gun. They know how to keep it running. They presume at least a basic level of maintenance—cleaning, inspection, re-lubrication, and that you use good quality ammo. They also presume average use, which for most people is only a few hundred rounds per year, under average range conditions, which are not too stressful for the pistol.
However, if you shoot a lot, like thousands of rounds through your pistol a year, outdoors under adverse conditions with dust and dirt and temperature extremes, perhaps with crappy ammo that is dirty or underpowered, you may have different needs for lubrication and maintenance than the average gun.
My guidelines are, any lubrication is better than no lubrication.
Too much lubrication is better than no lubrication.
Oil is fine if you clean often and reapply, but it evaporates and wears away rather quickly and can leave you with almost no lubrication. Re-lubricating between cleanings is a good idea if you want to go hundreds of rounds between cleanings and multiple range sessions. Lack of librication accelerates wear, increases friction and induces stoppages.
Lubrication can attract contaminants. This can have a similar effect to lack of lubrication, but nowhere near as fast or serious. Actually, for most modern pistols, I find tolerances are loose enough for dirty lube to allow a gun to run even a thousand rounds or more without cleaning under average conditions.
I generally use grease on parts that slide against each other, fast, and can generate heat. That is what grease is for. It stays in place, does not evaporate or run off. If I’m shooting outdoors in a dirty environment, I clean more often. Generally, I go about 1,000 rounds between cleanings with no additional lubrication. I can feel when my guns need cleaning/lubrication by running the action. I don’t get stoppages related to lack of lubrication or cleaning. I use quality ammo.
This is one of those areas in shooting where there are a lot of different opinions. Almost none of them are wrong. If you don’t shoot much, follow the manual and clean often. If you shoot a lot, you will develop your own maintenance and lube schedules and use products you like.
I especially like to go a little heavy on lube for a new gun until it is broken in (400-500 rounds), and I clean new guns more frequently. However, I also polish mating parts on a new gun to reduce friction and speed up the break in process, so others may have different approaches.
Lube, shoot, clean. Repeat. Have fun with your new gun.
Shield .45.
