Motor Oil as Gun Lube

[lanceriley]

so can you give us the "correct" facts?

[Solid]

Seems like motor oil would drip and run out too easily. Grease seems to stay put for longer periods.

[bkb0000]

Seems like motor oil would drip and run out too easily. Grease seems to stay put for longer periods.

motor oil is already a lot thicker than the CLP most of us learned to use. you WANT it to be fluid in the receiver, you want it to "splash" around, so that all parts stay coated. seems to me grease would be more likely to get pushed out of high-contact areas and not recoat as well. also, grease isn't easy to apply on the go. with oil, you can keep a bottle in your pocket and just squirt it into your receiver every couple hundred rounds.

i know some folks use grease, i'm sure it has appropriate applications. oil is the general purpose lube, IMO.

[Solid]

motor oil is already a lot thicker than the CLP most of us learned to use. you WANT it to be fluid in the receiver, you want it to "splash" around, so that all parts stay coated. seems to me grease would be more likely to get pushed out of high-contact areas and not recoat as well. also, grease isn't easy to apply on the go. with oil, you can keep a bottle in your pocket and just squirt it into your receiver every couple hundred rounds.

i know some folks use grease, i'm sure it has appropriate applications. oil is the general purpose lube, IMO.

The problem I have with oils is that they run and seep away after a few days. You constantly need to reapply. Some of the thicker gun lubes or greases stay put.

Get two similar weapons, lube one with grease, lube one with oil, then see which one needs to be lubed again sooner. You may get different results.

[bkb0000]

The problem I have with oils is that they run and seep away after a few days. You constantly need to reapply. Some of the thicker gun lubes or greases stay put.

Get two similar weapons, lube one with grease, lube one with oil, then see which one needs to be lubed again sooner. You may get different results.

have you done this? share with the class, mang

we'd need a viscocity expert to chime in on the lubricating properties of both. i know VERY little about such things. is grease as viscous at thinner thicknesses? seems like it might stay wet once worn thin, but is it really lubricating well at that point? i always think of grease as something to stick in sealed joints or pack bearings with, where it's lubrication benefits come from volume

[Solid]

have you done this? share with the class, mang

we'd need a viscocity expert to chime in on the lubricating properties of both. i know VERY little about such things. is grease as viscous at thinner thicknesses? seems like it might stay wet once worn thin, but is it really lubricating well at that point? i always think of grease as something to stick in sealed joints or pack bearings with, where it's lubrication benefits come from volume

From my experience my carry guns will go dry after about 1-2 weeks with oil. Things like grease will stay put and only start to fade after lot's of shooting. Brian Enos even started marketing something to "solve" this, Slide Glide which is basically a grease.

AR's get damn hot, so the gun oil cooks off extremely quickly plus gets moved out of the action. I think this is one reason why we hear so many reports of M4/AR15s having issues after rapid successions. They simply start going dry.

I'm not an expert on oils or viscosities, but this is what I think and have found for myself. You may get something else out of it.

[steve-oh]

I thought grease was a big no-go on the DI AR system?

[Toten Kopf]

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[bkb0000]

Amen Brother,
These guys are spending thousands (well maybe) on a rifle and they want to use "engine oil".

Engine oil is for engines, not rifles. Yes in an emergency, I have used oil from a vehicle dipstick but that was an emergency, period!

You people have all the time in the world to purchase the best lubricant for weapons and you talk about engine oil.

Weapons lubricant are tested on weapons, that is what they were made for. Try and find out how the product testing goes when engine oil is used for weapons...there isn't any!

It's like using CLP for you car/truck engine. I don't think it would work well. Use what is made for your weapon, not what is used for you car/truck.

Arghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

uhh... this isn't voodoo, dude. lots and lots and lots of people use motor oil, and have for a long time.

we're nit-picking over the specifics and details and totally irrelevent specifics of using motor oil, not whether or not it should be done.

don't rip on people for things you apparently have 30 minutes experience with. you used motor oil in an emercency- i'll take it to mean you're saying neither you nor anybody in your squad happened to have any CLP, you ran dry and had to jack some oil from the humvee to finish the fight. well- are you alive?

[Jim D]

RemOil is "designed and tested" for guns, too.

Put that up against motor oil and see which lube performs better.

I've run 20w synthetic motor oil up against Hoppe's Oil, RemOil, CLP, and a few other "gun oils"...not including Militec, TW25B, Larue MGL, or Slip2000.

Across dozens of guns, for about 6 months...all ran better on heavy motor oil.
Corrosion properties, and hot/cold environments were never looked at....bottom line was everything ran better. (mp5, m4, ump's -which ran fine on anything, sigs, glocks, 1911's...didn't matter, they all performed better than ever).

Motor oil is a lubricant which is designed to lubricate steel under high heat and pressure....what else does "gun lube" need to do, besides that?

Try it yourself before you slam it, I think you'll be quite surprised.