Gunnerlove
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vancouver Island
Lubing a rifle should be easier than painting one.
Super extensive lube test
- Thread starter bcsteve
- Start date
Gunnerlove
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vancouver Island
Wow 500 rounds, it must be good stuff.
Using FL "properly" is far from plain and simple.
I like to put #### on and rock on, not babystep it with a heat gun paint brushes and a microscope everytime I want to lube my gun only to end up with an underlubricated gun, in the real world that's just retarded.
Gunnerlove
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vancouver Island
Funny how people who get paid to shoot have zero time for anything that promises equal returns for extra effort.
And do most people who are getting 'paid to shoot' baby their firearms and obsess over them the way many enthusiasts do?
If it's not mine, it just has to be kept in working order. If it is mine, I'll take a little extra care of it.
I really like Frog Lube for my stainless revolvers. Carbon gets everywhere and things get to be extra dirty when shooting cast lead bullets. So being able to just wipe the surfaces down with a rag and have nearly all of the buildup come off after the first pass or two is great. I also like using it on my surplus guns, because I don't have to be paranoid about getting it on any of the wood and ruining the finish the way other solvent-based products can. It isn't the end-all-be-all but it's nice for certain applications, when used properly. If I could get some bulk Swiss Grease like what comes in the K31 kits I'd use that instead, but until I can find a tub or two of that I'll run through the little bit of FL I bought.
If it's not mine, it just has to be kept in working order. If it is mine, I'll take a little extra care of it.
I really like Frog Lube for my stainless revolvers. Carbon gets everywhere and things get to be extra dirty when shooting cast lead bullets. So being able to just wipe the surfaces down with a rag and have nearly all of the buildup come off after the first pass or two is great. I also like using it on my surplus guns, because I don't have to be paranoid about getting it on any of the wood and ruining the finish the way other solvent-based products can. It isn't the end-all-be-all but it's nice for certain applications, when used properly. If I could get some bulk Swiss Grease like what comes in the K31 kits I'd use that instead, but until I can find a tub or two of that I'll run through the little bit of FL I bought.
This test - and I feel bad for pounding on the guy who did it, because he went to a bunch of trouble, and he did probably test adequately for his uses in his environment - just doesn't test many of the necessary properties for lubing guns that get used a lot, and as such it shouldn't really apply to black gun types. Criticism of the test is therefore not really fair - for a bolt gun in Alaska this information is probably perfectly applicable. Of course for bolt guns, anything will work.
For my purposes the questions are very different.
What are the necessary properties of a lube for use in a gun with a significant firing schedule?
1) it must function as a conductive medium to move debris off bearing surfaces
2) it must act as a solvent to prevent carbon adherence
3) it must have a high enough molecular weight to not evaporate
4) it must have a high enough heat resistance to not burn and add more contaminants
5) it should ideally provide some level of corrosion resistance
FL does two of these really well. It's just Olefin wax with toothpaste flavour in it, so it has a pretty high molecular weight and it does do corrosion resistance. It does not do contaminant conduction, not by a long shot. That's why frog-lubed guns have to be left with a tiny coating to prevent them from turning to gummy, minterfresh bricks in cold or dusty or heavy use conditions.
I don't like leaving any gun that will be shot a lot with a minimal coating of lube. Sure, it works great when clean. Dry guns work if they're clean enough. That's not really the question.
I'd pay froglube prices for 5w30 before I paid 5w30 prices for froglube. Olefin wax is not a good gun lube. Motor oil isn't ideal - the sulfates and various additives used to pull water out of the mix in an engine are a bit corrosive, and unnecessary in a gun. But it's much better than olefin. At least it has most of the qualities you want in a lube, and it's dirt cheap. The synthetic stuff seems to create fewer corrosive compounds than the dino when it gets hot, so a liter of synthetic and you're probably good for, oh, say, maybe a decade of shooting.
For my purposes the questions are very different.
What are the necessary properties of a lube for use in a gun with a significant firing schedule?
1) it must function as a conductive medium to move debris off bearing surfaces
2) it must act as a solvent to prevent carbon adherence
3) it must have a high enough molecular weight to not evaporate
4) it must have a high enough heat resistance to not burn and add more contaminants
5) it should ideally provide some level of corrosion resistance
FL does two of these really well. It's just Olefin wax with toothpaste flavour in it, so it has a pretty high molecular weight and it does do corrosion resistance. It does not do contaminant conduction, not by a long shot. That's why frog-lubed guns have to be left with a tiny coating to prevent them from turning to gummy, minterfresh bricks in cold or dusty or heavy use conditions.
I don't like leaving any gun that will be shot a lot with a minimal coating of lube. Sure, it works great when clean. Dry guns work if they're clean enough. That's not really the question.
I'd pay froglube prices for 5w30 before I paid 5w30 prices for froglube. Olefin wax is not a good gun lube. Motor oil isn't ideal - the sulfates and various additives used to pull water out of the mix in an engine are a bit corrosive, and unnecessary in a gun. But it's much better than olefin. At least it has most of the qualities you want in a lube, and it's dirt cheap. The synthetic stuff seems to create fewer corrosive compounds than the dino when it gets hot, so a liter of synthetic and you're probably good for, oh, say, maybe a decade of shooting.
- Location
- big sky country
I've never had an issue with any lube in any of my AR-15's in any temperature. I used to hunt with my Colt in the 80's (when it was legal). Back then I knew next to nothing about lube and just ran cheap lube. No jams or issues in -30.
I really think people overthink this aspect of our sport.
I normally use frog lube, clp or whatever I have at the time. I don't spend any more time worrying about it.
I really think people overthink this aspect of our sport.
I normally use frog lube, clp or whatever I have at the time. I don't spend any more time worrying about it.
No, it's just that your situation is far from demanding for any lube.
That's a completely different subject altogether and lubes have no place in it.
I don't think it would be any better than regular Mobil1 or any other dino oil. The main benefit of synthetic oil is that is has a higher breakdown temp than dino oils. In the use of protecting against rust in firearms I don't see any real benefit that regular oil would provide..
This really highlights the different requirements you can place on chemicals you put in a gun.
What you needed was a corrosion inhibitor.
But a great corrosion inhibitor might be terrible at floating contaminants out of a suppressed AR, say.
Does a great lubricant have to also function as a corrosion inhibitor? It depends on your requirements.
Froglube is a decent corrosion inhibitor. It's a lousy lubricant. If you primarily need a corrosion inhibitor, with some lubricative properties, it's probably adequate.
If you need a lubricant for heavy duty cycle guns, with some corrosion resistance...buy something else.
The G96 they used for the test was the CLP replacement not the spray metal conditioning stuff many of us use. The spray stuff is certified for use by the RCMP after their testing. This test also doesn't cover extreme temperatures. Some of the choses listed are known to solidify in colder temperatures. Gunzilla is one that does this. I had to strip down a work 870 and G96 it during cold weather because someone used that stuff. Fortunately I found out before taking the shotgun out.
It's an interesting test the person did. Cool post. That being said spray on G96 with some 0w40 pure synthetic diesel oil in key points and the firearm doesn't rust, works perfect in extreme temperatures and is practically self cleaning.
It's an interesting test the person did. Cool post. That being said spray on G96 with some 0w40 pure synthetic diesel oil in key points and the firearm doesn't rust, works perfect in extreme temperatures and is practically self cleaning.
Or just put FireClean and be done with it.
Interesting that one of the lowest scoring lubricants is the one I've been very happy with for the past few years. Be it high temps, low temps, filthy high round counts it works damn well through it all. I agree this is respectable for its thoroughness but not completely valid when it comes to choosing a firearm lubricant. There's too many unique variables that are very difficult to simulate in a lab, that all show up on the firing line.
