lubercating the AR-15

[John Wist]

I just got my Stag Arms AR-15 left handed rifle and wanted to know what you would recomend for it. It seems there are a 101 different products out there all claming to be the best.
Thanks

[Failure2Stop]

The responses will likely be the same as every time this topic comes up. There are few unbiased individuals with enough experience to give you any information beyond the obligatory "I use XXXX and it's the best ever." response.

Here is what I have used
Break-Free CLP- the base-line do-all. It's ok, but that's about it.
Slip 2000- pretty good, longer performance than Break-Free.
Slip EWL- a little better than the 2000.
Vagasil- Not much worse than Break-Free.
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter- about the same a Vagasil, smells like movie popcorn.
SPF 20 Sunscreen- Slighty worse than Vagasil, smells like a burning coconut.
TW-25B- Lasts for a while, attracts a lot of sand (if that is a concern). Smells like coconut as well. Hmmm.
MC2500- Decent, but was not side to side comparison. Does not attract debris like a grease. The applicator (syringe-like) is cool, will definately keep it and refill with other lube.

From my personal use I prefer the Slip, HOWEVER. . .

There are very good reports about Weapon Shield. I haven't used it, but those that have seem to really like it. I am sure someone will drop in extolling it's virtues. This will be the next lube I will try.
Lots of people like plain old motor oil. Mobil 1 seems to have quite a following. You definately can't fault the price. Royal Purple is also used.
Machine Gunner's Lube from LaRue Tactical has a following.
MD Labs XF-7 has a small following as well.
There is also some Nano-Sphere, nano-diamond, micro sphere. . .something. Two guys dropped in here to tell us what a$$holes each other were. Gave out some free samples. Haven't heard much since then.

The thing is that all of these lubricants give pretty similar performance (except the Nano-Lube, which apparently cures ED and will promote world-peace). Just pick one up and use it generously on your gun. When you run out, try something else out if you are so inclined. Much of the lube argument is semantic and capitalizes on miniscule performance advantages, which are usually exaggerated in the "cost" area.

I would say just grab some Weapon Shield and be done with it.

But that's just my opinion.

[Dedpoet]

The best answer I've heard on this topic is, "Whichever lube you have on your shelf is the perfect one."

[rifleshooter]

I have started using Corrosion X it's a high Temp. high pressure Lub. and works wonders on the outside of the ARs finishs.

http://www.corrosionx.com/

Also nothing wrong in also using the Breakfree products they have a big following and I like the Teflon in the CLP.

[Robb Jensen]

Any oil made for guns will work, even some oil made for automobile engines works well.

I've used Militec-1 since about 1987 and used it the most.
Other lubes that I like which work as well or better than Militec-1 are Machinegunners/10-8 lube, Weaponshield, Slip2000 and FP10.
Since I have a large amount of it I've been using Weaponshield and have noticed that it burns off the least in suppressed ARs.

CLP is sort of a jack-of-all-trades master of none.

I use Rem-Oil or Slip2000 cleaner to clean (whichever is handy) and dedicated lubes to lube.

[warpigM-4]

good old CLP will do the job,put into a spray bottle and give it what it needs(like a girl in a wet t-shirt contest LOL )But as F2S said "Much of the lube argument is semantic and capitalizes on miniscule performance advantages, which are usually exaggerated in the "cost" area." Well said!!!!!!so play with a few and flip a coin you will get a fav lube before you know it

[Iraqgunz]

Well I guess that this would be a good time to chime in about the Nanolube sample(s) I received. I used it on some AK's that had very stiff latches. I applied a few drops to the problem areas and it worked damn good. As a matter of fact I first tried CLP which didn't seem to help.

Next test was out on the range with an M249 SAW. Lube was applied to to the rails and main contact points. Ambient temperature was about 99 degrees and was dusty outside. There were no malfunctions of any kind after approx. 1000 rds being expended.

One of our guys was running through an extended shoot course with his issue Bushamster. I had him wipe down all other excess lube and then lube the inside with Nanolube. It was applied to the bolt and carrier and along the upper where the charging handle rides. A few hundred rounds were fired during this course and no malfunctions were observed. There was one malfunction that was attributed to the ammo only.

Final test I took an old (pre-1959) milled receiver AK47 that was a little rough. I cleaned it up and lubed it with Nanolube. The gun ran excellent. As a matter of fact it almost seemed to be cycling faster than normal (though I don't believe this is the case) and experienced no problems. I am probably going to buy a larger size bottle and use it more before I give a 100% endorsement.

[scottryan]

CLP is probably best for a gun that is stored for awhile and used not so much.

It has better rust protection than most other lubricants.

[rifleshooter]

Just install a new bolt cam pin in your bolt use the Lub. you think is good on it. Then shoot around 1000 rounds and then check the wear pattern on the cam pin that contacts the bolt.
This will give you a good idea if your choice of Lub. is good or not so good.

[Iraqgunz]

Which will tell you absolutely nothing about whether the weapon will function or not when carbon starts building up. The weapons is going to require a little more lubrication than that.

Just install a new bolt cam pin in your bolt use the Lub. you think is good on it. Then shoot around 1000 rounds and then check the wear pattern on the cam pin that contacts the bolt.
This will give you a good idea if your choice of Lub. is good or not so good.