That is a very good observation, but with all due respect, based on the old school of Boundary Film Regimes which relied on oil viscosity alone to protect against the surface roughness and wear syndrome. Those "specialty" gun fluids or lubes can, and usually are, MORE effective that the ol' "goo" oil, even when they appear to be nearly dry. This is based on surface attaching compounds and halogenation techniques that are entirely corrosion controlled. In part, it is similar to giving the metal surfaces a "body armor" film that will withstand hertzian forces and loads without galling, wearing, or troughing the metal at all.
Todays boundary film techniques employ more than just high viscosity fluids and viscosity improvers. They utilize extreme pressure agents, chemically reactive surface adherents, anti-scuff and anti-wear additives as well as pour point agents and stabilizers.
Lubricating a piece of equipment that is constantly subjected to the forces of ignition combined with gas operation and recoil is a specialized task that can be done more or less efficiently depending on the fluid you choose and the abilities it has.
In the short term, many of them seem to do the job, but it is the long term stresses and wear that will dictate the service life and wear characteristics of the weapon itself.
Synthetic motor oils may seem fine to some, and in a comparative sense, are better than the older type lubricants, seeing their wide range of temperature operating conditions, all evolving from the alpha-olefin synthetic hydrocarbon, but without extensive additive packages to protect against extreme pressure and high wear, are not the best suited. (ergo the aspect of using a "gun oil" in your engine" and vice versa)
There is a difference in the construction of the fluids and their intended purposes, which make up the fluids ability to perform under those designated conditions.
Likewise, gun care is "rocket science" when it comes to the engineering end. That's our job, to make a product or products that take the science out of it by the time it gets to the shooter, allowing him/her to spend more time on shooting, and less time on the "science of the matter". But without those daring and venturesome souls out there, pusing the limits on their own guns and making note of all the pros and cons, improvements in anything would not happen. Can you imagine if there were no mavericks or wildcats in the reloading end of things?...we'd all be shooting the same old standard cartridges and loads that our grandfathers were, and ballistics as a science would have stopped dead in it's tracks.
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