AR Bolt carrier lube recommendations please
- Thread starter Robbs
- Start date
Don't over think this, any decent lube works fine, Hoppes #9 is cheap and good and available, Break free is GTG also, my kit includes a generic bottle of oil that may or may not be motol oil of a synthetic variety.
Anyone use the Otis stuff? Any good?
AP
AP
Everything mentioned above is great. Like Westicle, I even grease by bolt lugs, just a throwback from my M14 days.
I like using Hoppe's # 9 oil (found everywhere, including Walmart and LeMoron's), Break Free CLP, Militec, and yes, even Cambodian Tire Air Tool Oil that was leftover from my paintballin' days.
Actually, I kinda liked the air tool oils since it's friendly to any other O-rings and seals well. Cheap, too ! A couple of bucks for a liter !! Smells goofy however !
Just lube your bolt carrier like crazy, that's what matters !
Cheers,
Barney
I like using Hoppe's # 9 oil (found everywhere, including Walmart and LeMoron's), Break Free CLP, Militec, and yes, even Cambodian Tire Air Tool Oil that was leftover from my paintballin' days.
Actually, I kinda liked the air tool oils since it's friendly to any other O-rings and seals well. Cheap, too ! A couple of bucks for a liter !! Smells goofy however !
Just lube your bolt carrier like crazy, that's what matters !
Cheers,
Barney
From someone who has been there and done that !!.... Mr Vickers
Weapon Lubrication
Far and away the most common problem I see when instructing is lack of proper lubrication. This goes for civilians, LE, and military. Of the groups I train on a regular basis military Spec Ops definitely understands the importance of lube the most but it is still common to find weapons not lubricated properly. And what I mean by properly is having lube in/on the working parts of the weapon.
Many weapon systems will not tolerate lack of lubrication and continue to function for any length of time. The US military M16/M4 family and M9 pistol are prime examples of two weapons that do not work well or for long without lubricant. Another example is tightly fitted custom or semi custom 1911 pistols. Simply put these weapons and others REQUIRE lubricant to function reliably - no way around it.
There are weapons that do not require alot of lubricant to function reliably. The AK family and Glock pistols come to mind. Also HK does extensive testing for reliable function with little or no lube so by and large HK weapons are very forgiving to lack of lubricant by design. However too many shooters rely on that as standard operating procedure and don't assess the situation correctly; these guns are designed to continue to function without lube in EXTREME (not daily) conditions but every weapon works better with lubricant.
The golden rule in weapons lubricant is you can run a gun dirty and wet, but not dirty and dry. Truer words have never been spoken about weapons lubricant. Guns always work better the cleaner they are but most modern designs are far more forgiving about carbon fouling than they are about lubrication. Remember to keep it lubed always and clean it when you can and you will much better off over the long haul.
The topic of keeping a weapon dry in desert environments comes up quite often. Sand is the ultimate enemy of guns and can wreak havoc with modern small arms. I have been part of extreme weapons testing and can tell you that I have no doubt in my mind that in sandy environments you are much better of with a gun that is wet than one that is dry. Having sand coat your small arm like a sugar cookie with some lubricant still in place is a better situation than a completely dry weapon in a sandy environment. Your weapon may still malfunction but not anything like it would if it was bone dry. It is unbelievable how non functional a dry weapon can become in an extreme sandy environment. It will become manually operated at a bare minimum. Your best bet for a functional weapon in extreme conditions is to keep it lubed and keep it covered. It may take longer to employ the weapon depending on the cover used but it will most likely work when you need it to.
Last thing I will cover is choice of lubricant. First off any lube is better than no lube. Just because you don't have your favorite synthetic gun oil doesn't mean you don't lube your weapon. With that being said in my experience the thin light lubes like WD40 and RemOil are to be avoided. They will provide a rust barrier and that is about it; they are not suitable for moving parts lubricant. There are alot of lubes on the market but I still like TW25B for a grease type lube and Militec for a wet lube. My friend Ken Hackathorn swears by aircraft grade Lubriplate and has used it for years as a grease type lube. The grease type lubricants require more effort to apply but tend to stay put longer. TW25B is superb for crew served weapons like belt feed machine guns and is the best lubricant I have ever seen for sandy or wet environments. In my old unit we affectionately call it 'desert jizz' because once we started using it the reliability of our belt fed weapons increased dramatically in extreme environments such as the desert. Highly recommended.
There are times where applying a grease lubricant is a pain such as high volume range fire sessions. For those applications as well as general purpose use I have used and like Militec wet lube. From my experience it works well even in temperature extremes and is the right balance between being too thin to do the job and so thick it gums up when cold. Keep in mind it is easy to apply so it is easy to come off also. With wet lubes like Militec you have to lubricate your weapon more frequently than with a grease like TW25B.
Please don't get your panties in a bunch since I did not mention your pet lubricant. I am sure there are dozens of excellent lubricants on the market I am not aware of that do a great job; I am simply stating what has worked for me with very good results for many years. In parting I would remind you to remember two key points about weapons lube; any lube is better than no lube and you can run a gun dirty and wet (or lubed) but you cannot run one dirty and dry. Abide by these two rules and they will do you right
Weapon Lubrication
Far and away the most common problem I see when instructing is lack of proper lubrication. This goes for civilians, LE, and military. Of the groups I train on a regular basis military Spec Ops definitely understands the importance of lube the most but it is still common to find weapons not lubricated properly. And what I mean by properly is having lube in/on the working parts of the weapon.
Many weapon systems will not tolerate lack of lubrication and continue to function for any length of time. The US military M16/M4 family and M9 pistol are prime examples of two weapons that do not work well or for long without lubricant. Another example is tightly fitted custom or semi custom 1911 pistols. Simply put these weapons and others REQUIRE lubricant to function reliably - no way around it.
There are weapons that do not require alot of lubricant to function reliably. The AK family and Glock pistols come to mind. Also HK does extensive testing for reliable function with little or no lube so by and large HK weapons are very forgiving to lack of lubricant by design. However too many shooters rely on that as standard operating procedure and don't assess the situation correctly; these guns are designed to continue to function without lube in EXTREME (not daily) conditions but every weapon works better with lubricant.
The golden rule in weapons lubricant is you can run a gun dirty and wet, but not dirty and dry. Truer words have never been spoken about weapons lubricant. Guns always work better the cleaner they are but most modern designs are far more forgiving about carbon fouling than they are about lubrication. Remember to keep it lubed always and clean it when you can and you will much better off over the long haul.
The topic of keeping a weapon dry in desert environments comes up quite often. Sand is the ultimate enemy of guns and can wreak havoc with modern small arms. I have been part of extreme weapons testing and can tell you that I have no doubt in my mind that in sandy environments you are much better of with a gun that is wet than one that is dry. Having sand coat your small arm like a sugar cookie with some lubricant still in place is a better situation than a completely dry weapon in a sandy environment. Your weapon may still malfunction but not anything like it would if it was bone dry. It is unbelievable how non functional a dry weapon can become in an extreme sandy environment. It will become manually operated at a bare minimum. Your best bet for a functional weapon in extreme conditions is to keep it lubed and keep it covered. It may take longer to employ the weapon depending on the cover used but it will most likely work when you need it to.
Last thing I will cover is choice of lubricant. First off any lube is better than no lube. Just because you don't have your favorite synthetic gun oil doesn't mean you don't lube your weapon. With that being said in my experience the thin light lubes like WD40 and RemOil are to be avoided. They will provide a rust barrier and that is about it; they are not suitable for moving parts lubricant. There are alot of lubes on the market but I still like TW25B for a grease type lube and Militec for a wet lube. My friend Ken Hackathorn swears by aircraft grade Lubriplate and has used it for years as a grease type lube. The grease type lubricants require more effort to apply but tend to stay put longer. TW25B is superb for crew served weapons like belt feed machine guns and is the best lubricant I have ever seen for sandy or wet environments. In my old unit we affectionately call it 'desert jizz' because once we started using it the reliability of our belt fed weapons increased dramatically in extreme environments such as the desert. Highly recommended.
There are times where applying a grease lubricant is a pain such as high volume range fire sessions. For those applications as well as general purpose use I have used and like Militec wet lube. From my experience it works well even in temperature extremes and is the right balance between being too thin to do the job and so thick it gums up when cold. Keep in mind it is easy to apply so it is easy to come off also. With wet lubes like Militec you have to lubricate your weapon more frequently than with a grease like TW25B.
Please don't get your panties in a bunch since I did not mention your pet lubricant. I am sure there are dozens of excellent lubricants on the market I am not aware of that do a great job; I am simply stating what has worked for me with very good results for many years. In parting I would remind you to remember two key points about weapons lube; any lube is better than no lube and you can run a gun dirty and wet (or lubed) but you cannot run one dirty and dry. Abide by these two rules and they will do you right
Thanks for all the responses. When I was in the service I cannot remember anything told about keeping the C7 lubed, just rust free and clean. I put as little lube as possible as to avoid getting the rifle excessively dirty. On the other hand I would liberally squirt oil on the mechanism of the C6 whenever we changed a belt as part of the "cleaning while firing" procedure to keep the gun firing. I recently purchased my own AR and Armalites manual mentions lubing the bolt carrier group hence my question.
+1 on the TW25B in high wear areas, or on all stainless guns.
(Funny how Sig includes a sample with their stainless 226 models!)
Otherwise, Militec or FP-10 are the cat's ass!
CLP/Breakfree and other all in one cleaner/lubes are a good compromise, but,
like the jack of all trades and master of none, certainly don't provide the lubricity of the dedicated products.
(Funny how Sig includes a sample with their stainless 226 models!)
Otherwise, Militec or FP-10 are the cat's ass!
CLP/Breakfree and other all in one cleaner/lubes are a good compromise, but,
like the jack of all trades and master of none, certainly don't provide the lubricity of the dedicated products.
gunasauras
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Yuppers. CLP works fine.....that being said, any old oil will do for a range warrior as Wes puts it...
