Mobil One As a Lube But What Weight?

[boltcatch]

You only quoted the bottom of that section. The beginning says this:

This material is not hazardous according to regulatory guidelines (see (M)SDS Section 15).
Other hazard information:
HAZARD NOT OTHERWISE CLASSIFIED (HNOC): None as defined under 29 CFR 1910.1200. PHYSICAL / CHEMICAL HAZARDS
No significant hazards.
HEALTH HAZARDS
High-pressure injection under skin may cause serious damage. or respiratory irritation.
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
No significant hazards.

I’m as worried about cancer as anyone. I even had a low grade tumor removed from my bladder last year. But I’m not sure “high pressure injection” is relevant to our purpose and use. It also has a Heath hazard rating of zero. I would imagine a “ high pressure injection” of Barastol would probably require a emergency room visit and follow up.

Being "not hazardous" to a specific regulatory guideline doesn't mean what you seem to think it means. Note the "respiratory irritation" part.

Motor oil is not intended to be used in an application where it's atomized and blown in your face to breathe in, and while the synthetic base oils are usually pretty much non-toxic (this is why they're used for all sorts of gun-specific oils), you do NOT want to breathe in stuff that is in a lot of auto-specific oil additives. Zinc is the first additive that comes to mind

[thopkins22]

In your expert opinion, what is the risk of Benzene exposure from firing rifles lubricated with synthetic motor oils? How about conventional motor oils? Have any studies on vapor exposure been conducted? Is there any difference in Benzene levels between conventional oils and synthetics?

I’m far from an expert.

Next to zero risk of benzene exposure. Synthetic oil stock is made up of polyalphaolefins, with some percent of some ester base oil to bring the lubricity back up to where cracked mineral oil is.

Benzene offers no lubricity, and it chases gasoline with regards to boiling point(how it cracked out of the crude in the first place.)

Frankly in class III(conventional) oil stock there is next to zero risk of benzene exposure with regards to new oil. Like I said, benzene has a much lower boiling point than the base oils of those stocks.

I can’t speak to other chemicals or their safety without knowing which oil specifically and what it’s made up from. But benzene is not a concern unless you’re using your dipstick to oil your gun at the range(which I have certainly done on occasion.)

You didn’t ask this, but “non-toxic” as it applies to gun specific oils may or may not mean anything. We can’t assume that it means food grade oils, nor can we assume that it is something other than Mobil-1 or some other high end synthetic.

I’d also wager that without knowing the exact composition and knowing what percent of the gun oil actually burns, there’s little any company can actually say as to whether or not it’s products are nontoxic. Burnt cooking oil is pretty awful in terms of carcinogens too. I’d say higher smoke and boiling points are more valuable than whether or not you can drink the clean product....

As to studies? There have been lots of studies showing that benzene is pretty awful both through dermal exposure and inhalation. Irritation all the way to leukemia. And the industry now makes benzene derivatives for use in similar applications that are a good deal safer. Benzene in auto gas is down to less than 1% by volume. No studies that I’m aware of deal with exposure via firearm lube...mostly because it isn’t present in unused motor oil.

So...I dunno. Depends on exactly what esters and other additives are added. It’s unlikely to be any worse than most gun oils though.

[T2C]

Thank you thopkins22. That answers my question about Benzene exposure. Your comment about burnt cooking oil is interesting.

[shadowrider]

I also use a motorcycle specific engine oil for AR lube, Amsoil 20W50 in my case because it still flows to well below 0 degrees and I'm not going to be shooting in that kind of cold anyway. For handguns I use what ever is at hand, the previously mentioned or Ballistol since I mainly use it for cleaning. It's the only "non-toxic" lube product I've found that doesn't try to impersonate J-B Weld on the innards of my guns.

[thopkins22]

Thank you thopkins22. That answers my question about Benzene exposure. Your comment about burnt cooking oil is interesting.

No problem. I’m not sure it’s worth worrying about, the searing that’s delicious on steak creates carcinogens by the boatload too...we can’t avoid them completely.

My main point is that unless one of these manufacturers really says exactly what their formula is, there is no reason to believe that it’s truly free of drawbacks.

I’d love for someone to be like Dillon with their case lube. The formula is free and available, they openly tell you how to make it, and still sell it by the caseload.

Do it right, package it well, do away with the “nanotechnology” marketing bullshit, and just see how the market responds.

I’d say that unless the formula is genuinely repackaged industrial or motor oil, you’d be able to sell a boatload and remove all the snake oil aspects of it that even today we can’t seem to get past.

I’m going to call a good friend who is at Exxon in a position to know a thing or two about all this.

[Waylander]

Hoppe's Elite non-toxic gun oil is mineral oil based with some additives. It seems about right as far as being thin enough but staying in place well.

[shadowrider]

No problem. I’m not sure it’s worth worrying about, the searing that’s delicious on steak creates carcinogens by the boatload too...we can’t avoid them completely.

My main point is that unless one of these manufacturers really says exactly what their formula is, there is no reason to believe that it’s truly free of drawbacks.

I’d love for someone to be like Dillon with their case lube. The formula is free and available, they openly tell you how to make it, and still sell it by the caseload.

Do it right, package it well, do away with the “nanotechnology” marketing bullshit, and just see how the market responds.

I’d say that unless the formula is genuinely repackaged industrial or motor oil, you’d be able to sell a boatload and remove all the snake oil aspects of it that even today we can’t seem to get past.

I’m going to call a good friend who is at Exxon in a position to know a thing or two about all this.

There's also the fact that a claim of "non-toxic" doesn't mean "perfectly safe" as the term implies. The regs let them get away with stating that as long as the levels of the bad stuff remain below a threshold in the normal usage of the product. It doesn't mean it's free of nasties at all.

[RustyIron]

DUDES! You boys are arguing over the number of angels dancing on the head of a pin! Sure, you might breathe in a few micro droplets of oil, but that's NOTHING compared to the cloud of poisonous fumes released with every shot. That cloud of smoke from the gunpowder contains potassium, bismuth, lead, talc, titanium, tin, and other chemicals too numerous to list. The primer compound contains antimony, aluminum, barium, and other nasty toxins. The brass dust is copper and zinc. Lead dust from your projectiles will wreck your brain so bad that people might start thinking you're a liberal.

What was the original topic? Mobil 1? I'm not interested in using it, but that's because I already have something I like. Pick your lube, slop it on your gun, shoot the sh|t out of it, don't worry, be happy.

[OldState]

Being "not hazardous" to a specific regulatory guideline doesn't mean what you seem to think it means. Note the "respiratory irritation" part.

Motor oil is not intended to be used in an application where it's atomized and blown in your face to breathe in, and while the synthetic base oils are usually pretty much non-toxic (this is why they're used for all sorts of gun-specific oils), you do NOT want to breathe in stuff that is in a lot of auto-specific oil additives. Zinc is the first additive that comes to mind

What I’m questioning is exactly where most of the carcinogens are coming from- the synthetic motor oil or the fouling from the firing of the ammo carried in the oil. If the later than theoretically any lube would carry the same crap.

The reason for the question is that most of the data on motor oil toxicity states that clean oil is pretty harmless but dirty oil is pretty bad. I understand we are comparing guns and combustion engines, but the detonation of ammunition potentially creates equal if not worse carcinogens....namely lead and mercury.

Just a hypothesis...

[P2Vaircrewman]

Remember back in simpler times when pretty much everyone used 3 in 1 oil. Scroll down to the 6th review.

https://www.3inone.com/products/multi-purpose/