10W30 motor oil as gun lube?

vagrantviking said:
What is the thinking behind that? My feeling is that suspension of the carbon etc would make it easier to clean and reduce it baking into place.
The need for it is probably less than in an engine but I don't see why it would be a bad thing.

I'm sure most gun oils are pretty normal oils with different additives such as dents and maybe rust inhibitors.
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The guys in the metalworking forums (some anyways) opined that the detergent additives could potentially absorb and hold moisture, as they are supposed to do inside your engine, so the story goes.
Do I believe? Not like religion, or anything like that.
Motor oil, mineral oil, baby oil (is that stuff rendered, or do they squeeze it?), whatever ya got that's oil is better than no oil, unless it gums things up. Turbine oil is usually just really clean mineral oil with different additives, and a far higher price tag due to "aircraft" being involved. But guys used a lot of it to spray under their cars...

My go-to is my many times refilled 3-in-1 can, which is straight 20wt.
 
Unless you like the smell of dirty burnt oil don't use it ! Just got a used gun off the EE took it out of the box and it hadn't been cleaned and it had been lubed with motor oil so it stunk like burnt used old oil and almost made me gag from the smell. Took a day of cleaning and soaking to clean it up I was not impressed. If it was end of the world with zombies running around a person could still find something better to use than motor oil.

Personally I use slip 2000 oils and grease it works better then anything else I have ever tried and does not smell and makes the next cleaning even easier
 
trevj said:
The guys in the metalworking forums (some anyways) opined that the detergent additives could potentially absorb and hold moisture, as they are supposed to do inside your engine, so the story goes.
Do I believe? Not like religion, or anything like that.
Motor oil, mineral oil, baby oil (is that stuff rendered, or do they squeeze it?), whatever ya got that's oil is better than no oil, unless it gums things up. Turbine oil is usually just really clean mineral oil with different additives, and a far higher price tag due to "aircraft" being involved. But guys used a lot of it to spray under their cars...

My go-to is my many times refilled 3-in-1 can, which is straight 20wt.
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Way back in time on this site, at a couple of different times, posters did experiments showing what would happen to steel left immersed in oil, over a two week period.

The only oils that inhibited rust completely were non detergent types.
 
Jmcc said:
are you in a pinch? like Stalingrad and surrounded by Germans with all your supplies cut off for the winter ...

or are you just looking to save a few $$


If i was stuck and needed something right now, i few drops of 5W30 would keep invaders at bay but id never walk past real gun oil just to save $3.
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Ha ha had to laugh at that...A Russian winter in a life& death situation is the last place I would use motor oil. Realistically, in that instance i would want dry dry dry.
 
Have used 5w30, 0w40, hydraulic fluid (non detergent w30), gear oil, bearing grease, white lithium, and the usual off the shelf gun oils.

Below a certain temperature around -20 you start to have problems with the oils slowing the firing pin and so on. Light strikes start. I use a silicone blend Stag gun oil when it’s nearby only for that reason.
 
bearhunter said:
Way back in time on this site, at a couple of different times, posters did experiments showing what would happen to steel left immersed in oil, over a two week period.

The only oils that inhibited rust completely were non detergent types.
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Yeah, the theory made enough sense to me that I don't go out and buy detergent oils for stuff like that.

But I don't lose any sleep if i need a drop of oil and what I have handy is the dregs from a empty oil jug.

On the other side, I don't really feel the need to run out and load up on custom formulations for every different usage, because, you know, gawd'll getcha, if you were to use sewing machine oil on yer bicycle!

I like Fluid Film, used a LOT of it when I was moving my machine tools. It's great, until you have to wash the goo off! LOL! Better than scrubbing rust!
 
I've used oil 5-20 or 5-30 etc many times, and think it works perfectly fine. Is it the best? I doubt it, but it's hard to say how much better premium gun oil truly is. I suppose the msds safety sheets might give a guy a clue. I know I mentioned using varsol or diesel to soak a rifle bolt to clean out the oil on a different forum, and a few guys were utterly shocked that I would do something so stupid. I said google Hoppes and see what's in it that deer magically can't smell...
 
trevj said:
Yeah, the theory made enough sense to me that I don't go out and buy detergent oils for stuff like that.

But I don't lose any sleep if i need a drop of oil and what I have handy is the dregs from a empty oil jug.

On the other side, I don't really feel the need to run out and load up on custom formulations for every different usage, because, you know, gawd'll getcha, if you were to use sewing machine oil on yer bicycle!

I like Fluid Film, used a LOT of it when I was moving my machine tools. It's great, until you have to wash the goo off! LOL! Better than scrubbing rust!
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That's exactly why I use compressor air line oil.

I always have it on hand for my air lines and it's a well proven, very light lubricant for the equipment the air is actuating. It's also non staining, unless applied to raw wood that has no finish applied.

It's not set in stone for me either, but if I can avoid engine oil I do. I have used auto transmission oil in a pinch, from the level dipstick, but cleaned it off as soon as possible. That stuff is a grit magnet.
 
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