AR lube

[flyfisher117]

Just my $.02.

I have not, and probably wont run my guns in some of the environments or intensity that a lot of the other posters have/do But I really like CLP. I use it on my 10/22, AR, and Browning HP.

Makes cleaning a breeze, after a while it soaks into the steel and clean up is nothing more than a wipe down and re-lube.

The 10/22 runs great with CLP, If i lube it with anything but CLP I have to clean it about every 300-400 rounds. With CLP I can get about 600-700 rounds before it starts having issues.

The Hi Power I clean and lube it all with CLP but on the slide rails I put a small bit of grease. Not sure what type but it comes in a little syringe.

The Ar's bolt and carrier all get whiped down with a cloth that has some CLP on it, just a light coat. The gas rings get a drop or two. Then any area that shows wear (rails) gets a little grease.

Maybe its more work that needed but it works for me. Might have to try some motor oil, just afraid Ill get the wrong one or just make a mess of the gun.

 

[elephantrider]

I'm wrapping my first AR build and am curious to know what type of lube is recommended. I have lithium grease on the forward assist spring and my buffer spring. Is gun oil ok to use in the rest of the gun?

First off, grease does not belong in the two places that you mentioned (Buffer spring and FA spring). The buffer spring gets a very light film of oil, if anything. Here is a good pictoral guide of AR lubrication points. AR15 LUBE POINTS

If it is a good quality AR, it might need a little extra lubrication when it is breaking in, but not much. As you can see people use everything from Mobile1 to Froglube. If I was going to buy a new bottle of oil or grease I would go with Froglube or something from Slip2000. If you are goingto use grease I would limit it to the cam pin and the carrier rails.

 

[EricCartmann]

Liberal amounts of Mobil-1.

There is no reason to run any gun dry or even a little lube, run it as wet as possible. Even AK's, the wetter the better.

The biggest enemy of guns is heat! If you run your guns dry, it just means more metal to metal contact, and more metal to metal contact means more heat. More heat = faster fail, and parts break when they over heat. How long do you think a Car's Engine can run dry? Not LONG.

In addition, you can't have Carbon Build up ever in the Engine Block of Cars. Mobil-1 fights carbon build up. Mobile-1 is also very hard to break down so it stays slippery a long time. Mobil-1 is not only lubes, and not only fights carbon build up, it also keeps your engine clean! Drain your car's Mobil-1 after 5000 miles and you will see the Mobil-1 is still fairly new.

Same thing with a gun, Mobil-1 will keep it carbon free, clean, and most of all lubed! Do not worry about sand build up, because the Mobil-1 will turn the sand into lube. Gun is getting dry? No problem, just add more Mobil-1 (even without a deep cleaning).

I run my DI AR's with dirt in the action on purpose. Just to show people how awesome Mobil-1 is. I am sure all those gun lubes are just Mobil-1 re-bottled. You can pay $10 an oz for that special Cool Kids Gun lube, or you can pay $6 per quart of Mobil-1.

 

[Danco411]

Another Slip EWL fan here. Does what you need and more.

 

[KevinB-KAC]

In the last few months I have been rethinking lubes.

I've tried about everything under the sun. For the last two years my prefered lube has been Mobil1 Synthetic 10W30. I use MPRO7 to clean.

At SHOT the gentleman at FIRECLean dropped off a sample of their lube. I generally take most claims that folks make with a grain of salt.

One of our guys at KAC had started using it on his personal guns, and was impressed.

Ed and Dave (from FIREClean) phoned me in early March - and we discovered we were collocated in Virginia. I ended up having lunch with them locally - and we discussed shooting and a variety of other things. They are definitely shooting fans not chemists or snake oils salesmen.

I had a government demo the next day and they offered to lube the gun for me with FIREClean. Now normally I would have declined but Jack Leuba who works for KAC had been using it since SHOT, and he's pretty squared away so I took them on their offer.

Demo went well, and I was astounded as too how the weapon looked after, it was a 11.5" SR-16, and after over 900rds in an hour and a half, the lube was still wet, AND the lube on the flash hider was still wet.

It cleaned up in no time, as the carbon did not adhere to any of the steel or aluminum parts.

I was in an Allied country earlier this month, and the users where conducting an evaluation of our 11.5 and 14.5" SR-16's, the first stage was an indoor practice,

Over 750 rds of ICC Frangible where fired thru each weapon. It is pretty dirty ammo, but the fouling wiped right off.

Last weekend I took the REDBACK ONE Advanced Combat Carbine course, and took some pictures afterwards.

Aprox 500 rds fired thru the 11.5" - it was also demo'ed at night after TD1 had 'finished" as part of a flash test.

2 min wipe (and why I am a FIREClean convert)

yes I have used Slip2000 products before, as well as FrogLube and many others.

SLIP2000 EWL is good, not as good as Mobil1 Synthetic in my experience.
Froglube (TW-25B and other grease type lubes) are also good, until you get it sandy/dusty.

I probably only have around 5,000 rds thru FIREClean guns, but it does work better than anything else at this point.
I have over a million rounds thru the M16FOW platform, so I have a decent experience base to offer on this.

 

[Raptorx]

G-96 is my favorite CLP type cleaner-lube, and a bottle of Amsoil 0-30 for bolts and anything that will get carbon on it.

 

[elephantrider]

Liberal amounts of Mobil-1.

Even AK's, the wetter the better.

The biggest enemy of guns is heat! If you run your guns dry, it just means more metal to metal contact, and more metal to metal contact means more heat. More heat = faster fail, and parts break when they over heat. How long do you think a Car's Engine can run dry? Not LONG.

Where are you putting all that lubrication on an AK? There are only a couple lubrication points on an AK anyway.

The biggest source of heat on an AR is not the friction from the moving parts, its the combustion of the firing round(s) and resutling gases. I'd say it's more important to get a quality lube to stick to the right spots than it is to get the whole thing sopping wet so that there is oil leaking and spraying out of it on every shot. It isn't an auto engine.

 

[EricCartmann]

Where are you putting all that lubrication on an AK? There are only a couple lubrication points on an AK anyway.

The biggest source of heat on an AR is not the friction from the moving parts, its the combustion of the firing round(s) and resutling gases. I'd say it's more important to get a quality lube to stick to the right spots than it is to get the whole thing sopping wet so that there is oil leaking and spraying out of it on every shot. It isn't an auto engine.

On the AK I just open the action and pour her in. The Mobil-1 will work it's way in all the crevices itself. Same with the AR.

Hot gases does make the AR hotter, but having extra friction to the moving parts when things are hot is not going to help cool it down. The Mobil-1 leaves a film between the moving parts. Your gun will NOT be AC cool with Mobil-1, but it will stay cooler than if it were dry. Best of all it keeps things slick, and prevents carbon build up.

I am sure FireMargic works great, but Mobil-1 is practically free. How much is FireMagic????

 

[Joe Dirt]

Militec. I use it in my Truck, lawn mower, weed wacker etc.

 

[elephantrider]

On the AK I just open the action and pour her in. The Mobil-1 will work it's way in all the crevices itself. Same with the AR.

Hot gases does make the AR hotter, but having extra friction to the moving parts when things are hot is not going to help cool it down. The Mobil-1 leaves a film between the moving parts. Your gun will NOT be AC cool with Mobil-1, but it will stay cooler than if it were dry. Best of all it keeps things slick, and prevents carbon build up.

I am sure FireMargic works great, but Mobil-1 is practically free. How much is FireMagic????

Competant AK armorers would disagree with you. That is absolutly unnecessary. You just need some grease on the camming areas of the bolt. Mobil1 all over everything just sounds like a mess for no reason.

The heat generated from parts friction in an AR is nothing compared to the heat from the gasses. The lube is there to cut down the friction of the moving parts, and keep fouling from caking on and gumming up the action, but not to dissapate heat from moving parts. The heat is just a fact a life and the lube needs to not break down or displace because of it. Your Mobil1 should accomplish that, with a good cost vs. performance ratio, so I don't disagree with you there. I just don't think pouring it in is helping much

I never mentioned FIREClean and have never used it either, so I can't comment on it. I will probably give it a try, since after looking at it alot of SMEs are giving it high marks.

 

[EricCartmann]

Competant AK armorers would disagree with you. That is absolutly unnecessary. You just need some grease on the camming areas of the bolt. Mobil1 all over everything just sounds like a mess for no reason.

The heat generated from parts friction in an AR is nothing compared to the heat from the gasses. The lube is there to cut down the friction of the moving parts, and keep fouling from caking on and gumming up the action, but not to dissapate heat from moving parts. The heat is just a fact a life and the lube needs to not break down or displace because of it. Your Mobil1 should accomplish that, with a good cost vs. performance ratio, so I don't disagree with you there. I just don't think pouring it in is helping much

I never mentioned FIREClean and have never used it either, so I can't comment on it. I will probably give it a try, since after looking at it alot of SMEs are giving it high marks.

Am I suppose to stay clean when I go shooting? Not allowed to get oil on my gear?

"Competent Armorer's" also told us that our M16 only needed a light coat of CLP. Then we go to the Gulf, set up a firing range, and about 25% of the rifles experience a malfunction in one form or another.

You do not think lube cuts down on heat build up? Even light lube such as baby oil helps slow moving pistons, and prevents things from over heating. It provides a thin film that prevents friction. Any metal to metal contact is bad.

In a Sand storm, the weapon is going to collect sand no matter "how dry" you plan to keep it. A really wet weapons just helps the sand to be pushed out easier. There will be no cake up when weapon is really wet. If the dirt is caking up, that is probably you are using Aquafina for a lube. I do not recommend Aquafina for a lube. Though it does have some cooling benefits such as when I want to cool my silencer faster, but I would not recommend it for a lube.

Best of all or running a really wet weapon with Mobil-1 has NO CARBON build up! When you are done, the weapon just wipes clean.

However, I am not here to convince you of anything. You need to do whatever it is so you can sleep well at night, a good night's sleep is what is most important.

As for FireMagic, I am sure it works but only if I can get it as cheap as Mobil-1. Actually, I consider Mobil-1 free since I always have some around.

 

[elephantrider]

Am I suppose to stay clean when I go shooting? Not allowed to get oil on my gear?

"Competent Armorer's" also told us that our M16 only needed a light coat of CLP. Then we go to the Gulf, set up a firing range, and about 25% of the rifles experience a malfunction in one form or another.

You do not think lube cuts down on heat build up? Even light lube such as baby oil helps slow moving pistons, and prevents things from over heating. It provides a thin film that prevents friction. Any metal to metal contact is bad.

In a Sand storm, the weapon is going to collect sand no matter "how dry" you plan to keep it. A really wet weapons just helps the sand to be pushed out easier. There will be no cake up when weapon is really wet. If the dirt is caking up, that is probably you are using Aquafina for a lube. I do not recommend Aquafina for a lube. Though it does have some cooling benefits such as when I want to cool my silencer faster, but I would not recommend it for a lube.

Best of all or running a really wet weapon with Mobil-1 has NO CARBON build up! When you are done, the weapon just wipes clean.

However, I am not here to convince you of anything. You need to do whatever it is so you can sleep well at night, a good night's sleep is what is most important.

As for FireMagic, I am sure it works but only if I can get it as cheap as Mobil-1. Actually, I consider Mobil-1 free since I always have some around.

I stand corrected. Clearly, lots and lots of Mobil1 makes everything better. I'll keep all this in mind during my next sandstorm.

 

[EricCartmann]

I stand corrected. Clearly, lots and lots of Mobil1 makes everything better. I'll keep all this in mind during my next sandstorm.

no such thing as too much Mobil-1 when it comes to guns.

 

[elephantrider]

no such thing as too much Mobil-1 when it comes to guns.

Here is an AK lubrication tutorial from a guy who knows what he is talking about. Didn't hear him mention Mobil1 or "pouring it in," however.

AK Lubrication - YouTube

 

[EricCartmann]

Here is an AK lubrication tutorial from a guy who knows what he is talking about. Didn't hear him mention Mobil1 or "pouring it in," however.

AK Lubrication - YouTube

Let me guess he had to take the gun apart? He probably just put grease on the receiver where the bolt rides? I am sure that works too, thats what eveyone was taught. if you feel more comfortable doing thos, then by all means. My way is just easier to apply and easier to clean.

 

[elephantrider]

Let me guess he had to take the gun apart?

Yes he did. I never knew that field stripping for basic maintenance was just too much trouble.

He probably just put grease on the receiver where the bolt rides?

No he didn't, so I am guessing you couldn't be bothered to actually watch it and learn something.

I am sure that works too, thats what eveyone was taught. if you feel more comfortable doing thos, then by all means. My way is just easier to apply and easier to clean.

Everyone was taught this? When and by whom? I must have sleep through that in school. Apparently you weren't taught what was in the video because you don't know the method shown in the video.

BTW: The man in the video is considered one of the premier AK builders in the country. He lives in Las Vegas, so I am sure his AKs see plenty of dust.

I'm sure none of this matters to you, because you are smarter than everyone else.

 

[Eznutz]

Slip EWL. The end.

+1

Incredible stuff.

 

[EricCartmann]

Yes he did. I never knew that field stripping for basic maintenance was just too much trouble.



No he didn't, so I am guessing you couldn't be bothered to actually watch it and learn something.



Everyone was taught this? When and by whom? I must have sleep through that in school. Apparently you weren't taught what was in the video because you don't know the method shown in the video.

BTW: The man in the video is considered one of the premier AK builders in the country. He lives in Las Vegas, so I am sure his AKs see plenty of dust.

I'm sure none of this matters to you, because you are smarter than everyone else.

Is it Jim Fuller? LOL. Hahahhahahhaha... Ask him about Cartmann. Boy I did not know building AK's, and lubing them was such rocket science.

"everyone is taught this" I was talking about grease on contact points. This just does not go for AK's, it also goes for M14's, Sigs and other guns too. I run ALL my guns wet, it works for me. No one says you have to. If running guns wet causes you to lose sleep at night, I would not do it. A good night's sleep is what is most important.

Another thing I forgot about Mobil-1, is that it smooths parts out, like a custom sanding stoned job. Check out this thread where I got a TSG-22 .22LR conversion kit to perform thanks to Mobil-1! http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...-guns-conversion-kits-rimfire-fun-desert.html

 

[Retooferab]

I use BP2380 turbine oil it don't take much and will not break down. The inside of a turbine engine runs continuous at around 600*C so I'm sure it'll keep my ar lubricated.

 

[thrusty]

+1 - I use Frog Lube...also have plenty of Mobile 1 5w-30 sitting around too.