Accuracy International Picture Thread

So. @Nik H was somewhat right about lube I guess. I used grease lightly on the bolt guide. Seemed to help a lot. But worried this general purpose grease will gum up again when it gets cold wet frozen etc.

Looks like bolt guide is bare steel? Seems it should have been coated with Teflon or something. ?

What lube are you using and works well from 10*-100*?

Dry pics :

View attachment 8063815View attachment 8063816View attachment 8063817View attachment 8063818
Swannys lube. Seems to work well in all temps from 10-100°. Before that I would use hoppes #9 in the cold and Lucas extreme if it was warm. The lucas would gum up In the cold.


Swannys oil
 
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So. @Nik H was somewhat right about lube I guess. I used grease lightly on the bolt guide. Seemed to help a lot. But worried this general purpose grease will gum up again when it gets cold wet frozen etc.

Looks like bolt guide is bare steel? Seems it should have been coated with Teflon or something. ?

What lube are you using and works well from 10*-100*?

Dry pics :

View attachment 8063815View attachment 8063816View attachment 8063817View attachment 8063818
Living in Minnesota and being from North Dakota, this subject is of interest to me.

I don’t pretend to be an expert, as I’ve only really started looking into it last year. Here is a link about cold weather stuff and here is my post on a cold weather lube thread.

Basically, from what I’ve researched indicates that you first should strip all lube from the chamber and bolt with something like acetone. Get all the lube off.

I’m testing:
  • Mobil One 0w-20 (-40°F)
  • 880 Crown & Chassis Extreme Grease (-40°F)
  • NECO Moly-Slide (-30°C to 350°C? Manuf. emailed estimate)
  • CherryBalmz Winter Balm (-55 to -65°F)

Motor oil temp ranges:
2E4E8156-4050-46B0-A075-01F2B78468FD.jpeg

(source)

I’ve used the first three so far in a bastard BRN-180 that had lots of other problems so I haven’t gotten any good data yet. Plus it’s been unseasonable warm this winter. Don’t think it’s broke -5°F.

I don’t slop it on, that’s for sure.
 
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Living in Minnesota and being from North Dakota, this subject is of interest to me.

I don’t pretend to be an expert, as I’ve only really started looking into it last year. Here is a link about cold weather stuff and here is my post on a cold weather lube thread.

Basically, from what I’ve researched indicates that you first should strip all lube from the chamber and bolt with something like acetone. Get all the lube off.

I’m testing:
  • Mobil One 0w-20 (-40°F)
  • 880 Crown & Chassis Extreme Grease (-40°F)
  • NECO Moly-Slide (-30°F? Manuf. emailed estimate)
  • CherryBalmz Winter Balm (-55 to -65°F)

Motor oil temp ranges:
View attachment 8063864
(source)

I’ve used the first three so far in a bastard BRN-180 that had lots of other problems so I haven’t gotten any good data yet. Plus it’s been unseasonable warm this winter. Don’t think it’s broke -5°F.

I don’t slop it on, that’s for sure.

Lol, not a concern for me.. Hits the 20's and I'm out. 🤣
 
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So. @Nik H was somewhat right about lube I guess. I used grease lightly on the bolt guide. Seemed to help a lot. But worried this general purpose grease will gum up again when it gets cold wet frozen etc.

Looks like bolt guide is bare steel? Seems it should have been coated with Teflon or something. ?

What lube are you using and works well from 10*-100*?
Shooters choice all weather high tech grease

Very thin layer on the body, a few dots will do and smear it. Doesn't make the action feel thick and has held up to use in my ARs and bolt guns. Ran my bolt guns to 0 in upstate NY when I lived there and now down in NC where temps are 90-95+ with zero issues.
 
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Also @BurtG, don’t trust just the number on the side of the motor oil bottle. I watched a -40°F pour test on a number of motor oils and the cheap Walmart oil was worse than molasses, and even higher end oils were significantly worse than mobile one.



Screenshot below:
CE61BBA7-21E3-4888-B64B-72AE6D688D5C.png


@LRRPF52 has some experience in cold weather military stuff.

Finally, this thread has some good info as well (whoops, already linked to it above, oh well):
 
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So. @Nik H was somewhat right about lube I guess. I used grease lightly on the bolt guide. Seemed to help a lot. But worried this general purpose grease will gum up again when it gets cold wet frozen etc.

Looks like bolt guide is bare steel? Seems it should have been coated with Teflon or something. ?

What lube are you using and works well from 10*-100*?

Dry pics :

View attachment 8063815View attachment 8063816View attachment 8063817View attachment 8063818
Try XF-7...it's not oily and won't gum up. I have had it out in temps as low as 20 degrees and it is still liquid
 
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In one of my winter courses, a guy sheared off his TRG 22 bolt handle.
I let him use a Surgeon 18” loaner.

It’s weird, because I’ve shot a lot of TRG 42 in .338 LM in Finland in the cold, and never saw a TRG fail like that.

Here’s the rifle that had the bolt knob shear off:

IMG_6832_zpsuwiiaap3.jpg


Day 2 brought us some nicer conditions:

IMG_7602_zpshanmmp3n.jpg
What temp was it when the Sako knob sheared off?
 
It was below freezing. The nearest town, Price temps were in the 25˚-27˚ F for lows, but the range complex is much higher elevation (6300-6600ft).

It wasn’t bad compared to many other places I’ve been, but it was cold.

IMG_67871_zps0jubwk46.jpg


IMG_71051_zpsga7emc1t.jpg
IMG_71521_zps9wsc2wop.jpg


The guy who sheared the bolt off his TRG 22 was an 11B who had served with 10th Mountain. I actually saw him and his brother first as a team at Sniper Adventure Challenge down in New Mexico in 2013, where his brother went down pretty hard, needed IV therapy. That was in opposite weather conditions.

11Bs can be hard on gear, right there with Marines. He really seemed to enjoy low-crawling in the snow.
 
It was below freezing. The nearest town, Price temps were in the 25˚-27˚ F for lows, but the range complex is much higher elevation.
Not -27°F, just a range between 25°F & 27°F, right? So could be maybe 0° to 15°F where you were?

As you allude too, surprising that the bolt knob decided to let go…maybe just metal fatigue? Someone on SH broke an AI bolt handle somehow and posted a pic.
 
It was below freezing. The nearest town, Price temps were in the 25˚-27˚ F for lows, but the range complex is much higher elevation (6300-6600ft).

It wasn’t bad compared to many other places I’ve been, but it was cold.

IMG_67871_zps0jubwk46.jpg


IMG_71051_zpsga7emc1t.jpg
IMG_71521_zps9wsc2wop.jpg


The guy who sheared the bolt off his TRG 22 was an 11B who had served with 10th Mountain. I actually saw him and his brother first as a team at Sniper Adventure Challenge down in New Mexico in 2013, where his brother went down pretty hard, needed IV therapy. That was in opposite weather conditions.

11Bs can be hard on gear, right there with Marines. He really seemed to enjoy low-crawling in the snow.
Is this in Utah? I recognize your username. You helped me build a Mk12 Mod 0 upper and accuracy test it in like 2015.
 
Not -27°F, just a range between 25°F & 27°F, right? So could be maybe 0° to 15°F where you were?

As you allude too, surprising that the bolt knob decided to let go…maybe just metal fatigue? Someone on SH broke an AI bolt handle somehow and posted a pic.
Yes. +25˚ to 27˚ F down in Price. I don’t recall what it was exactly up in the mountains, but it was pretty chilly.

Nothing like Russia though.
 
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Also @BurtG, don’t trust just the number on the side of the motor oil bottle. I watched a -40°F pour test on a number of motor oils and the cheap Walmart oil was worse than molasses, and even higher end oils were significantly worse than mobile one.



Screenshot below:
View attachment 8064023

@LRRPF52 has some experience in cold weather military stuff.

Finally, this thread has some good info as well (whoops, already linked to it above, oh well):

Mobil 1 is the best all around gun lube you can buy
 
@BurtG I just run 520 or 020 as suggested above that I have in the garage.... Light coat on it all wipe most of it off but I def keep some in the channel the bolt stop rides in and a tad on the lugs where there is wear.
 
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So in a pinch I can just pull the dipstick out of my engine and wipe some off on my finger and smear it on my bolt?
What you do on your own time is your own business, bub.

Lol ok sorry for the dumb joke. It was just too easy!

And I agree with the poster above me…cleaner oil = better. Obv.

How I came to use Mobil One:
After a lot of fucking reading it became apparent that lots of people that seemed to know what they were talking about mostly all agreed that most gun lubes were repackaged industrial lube, one of which is motor oil. Which has a ton of research behind it.

And it’s cheap. Mobil One was mentioned a lot, and it seemed to do well in pour tests. (Which may not have anything to do with anything, but hey)

I cannot say they are right or wrong. But I like the story, and the story makes my capitalistic ironic spider-sense tingle.

Motor oil operates in a seemingly way harsher environment then most firearms do. I believe that it is formulated to remove/resist/clean? carbon.

So there you have it. Gun oil and grease are primarily made of backstory.
 
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Wasn't there some company that was basically selling Crisco as a gun lube and they got busted on that?

Either way, I don't buy into all the gun industry doing any kind of research on their own lubes. You have the major oil companies spending millions and millions of dollars on R&D on lubricants that stand up to way more abuse than a gun cycling. I personally use ATF in a small needle bottle applied to the high friction areas and it's a very very little amount. I have had the same 2 oz bottle for 10 years and there is still over half full of ATF in it. If you took the bolt out of my rifles they would almost feel dry. I hate it when I pick up a gun and there is just oil everywhere.
 
Yes, outside of Price at probably the best range facility in the US.

Is that the upper that shot really well, but didn’t like M193 due to having a shorter chamber meant for secant ogive bullets?
Indeed it was. It was a Douglas barrel chambered by compass lake and it shot the big ones (77 or 69) really well but was awful with 55. Good memory.

I should have kept that upper. It was awesome. But someone make me a ridiculous offer for it a few years later.

I’ve moved on to bigger and better things. Like AI
 
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Wasn't there some company that was basically selling Crisco as a gun lube and they got busted on that?

Either way, I don't buy into all the gun industry doing any kind of research on their own lubes. You have the major oil companies spending millions and millions of dollars on R&D on lubricants that stand up to way more abuse than a gun cycling. I personally use ATF in a small needle bottle applied to the high friction areas and it's a very very little amount. I have had the same 2 oz bottle for 10 years and there is still over half full of ATF in it. If you took the bolt out of my rifles they would almost feel dry. I hate it when I pick up a gun and there is just oil everywhere.

That was FireClean.

Froglube sucks in the cold though.
 
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That was FireClean.

Froglube sucks in the cold though.
Frog lube is coconut oil.

 
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Been using this one for years now on all my firearms. And only apply once, very little of it. Runs your bolt or pistol slide like butter. But for some reason, I don’t know why they sell it in little tubes now. Last time I went on this site, was 6 years ago. And they use to sell them in 2 oz containers. Oh well, don’t need too much when applying.
 
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If you think your engine takes a beating, imagine a part that doesn’t get its oil changed for 100,000 miles. Lots of moving metal parts in that tranny.

ATF for the win
Transmissions don't see any carbon build up though, is the consensus that it's superior to Mobil-1 in that regard or just generally superior?

PS - I've had really good luck with Fire Clean in all my rifles, especially the suppressed, DI M4/AR15 platforms. You guys saying I'll have better luck with either Mobil-1 or ATF accross the board? Because I have gallons of both lying around the garage. I maintain all my vehicles at home so it's always in abundant supply.
 
Transmissions don't see any carbon build up though, is the consensus that it's superior to Mobil-1 in that regard or just generally superior?

PS - I've had really good luck with Fire Clean in all my rifles, especially the suppressed, DI M4/AR15 platforms. You guys saying I'll have better luck with either Mobil-1 or ATF accross the board? Because I have gallons of both lying around the garage. I maintain all my vehicles at home so it's always in abundant supply.
Lubricating on the bottom of engine where the oil runs don’t see much carbon. The top end does, pistons chambers etc. Transmissions have metal holding together and spinning at hefty rates. Heat in a tranny is close to 200*.

Motor oil I think holds up better to being washed with fuel, from cylinder leakage. But motor oil is changed often, 3000. Tranny oil is WAY longer, and most trannies that I’ve rebuilt the oil wasn’t the issue. It was clutch slippage (horsepower related).

In my opinion ATF does well in cold or hot and doesn’t attract as much dirt as motor.
 
Lubricating on the bottom of engine where the oil runs don’t see much carbon. The top end does, pistons chambers etc. Transmissions have metal holding together and spinning at hefty rates. Heat in a tranny is close to 200*.

Motor oil I think holds up better to being washed with fuel, from cylinder leakage. But motor oil is changed often, 3000. Tranny oil is WAY longer, and most trannies that I’ve rebuilt the oil wasn’t the issue. It was clutch slippage (horsepower related).

In my opinion ATF does well in cold or hot and doesn’t attract as much dirt as motor.
Thanks. Appreciate the insight.

I’ve always used gun-oil products but there’s no question the automotive industry has done way more development on their lubricants than the gun industry ever will.

I use fuel injector cleaner (Sea Foam) for cleaning barrels/bolts etc… might as well try automotive lubricants as well LOL. Gun care products are not magic and likely just relabeled automotive chemicals anyway. And they’re a huge rip-off when you look at cost/unit volume. Auto stuff is way cheaper and does exactly the same thing.
 
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