Lubricate the slide?

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

cal44mag

Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2016
Messages
278
Location
Northern California
I recently acquired a 3913 9mm auto.

I understand its important to lube the slide?

What do you other 3rd generation Smith and Wesson people use?
 
Stainless slide, aluminum frame- put a goodly amount of grease along the slide rails. I use Mobil 1 synthetic bearing grease, but really, any such grease will work.
 
GunSlick graphite on slide rails. Originally developed when folks were just starting to use stainless steel. They were using the same stainless for frames and slides and galling occurred. Once the figured out that using different stainless steels minimized the problem, things got better. Aluminum always need a bit more lubrications than steel on steel.
 
Like other posters I use Mobile 1. I use it in my truck so it is convenient.
At Ft Benning the Army loved Breakfree We would pull the charging handle back on our M16A1 and the Range cadre would spray massive amounts in the ejection port.
It works great also
 
Any number of miracle potions or witches brews are recommended for guns, based on automotive oils or greases. The reality is that they need something, and the owner's manuals of the day had recommendations.

https://snwcdnprod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/owners-manuals/S&W_Metal_Frame_Autos_10-01-15.pdf

Page 29: "firearm lubricant"

Which should be all we need to know, right?

For us it should be able to stay on and keep working. If it creeps and doesn't drip, great. Secondly, some hunters think it should have absolutely no smell. It doesn't hurt if it's inexpensive instead of costing $32 a quart but sold in 1 oz bottles. Search is your friend, but to sum up a few hundred pages here and there in posts on forums, if it can lubricate steel machinery heavier than a sewing machine somebody is a fan.

Yet a thread like this is destined to go dozens of pages because "firearms lube can't be good enough." Yet, firearms makers sell it - and forum posters universally despise it when labeled by their favorite gun makers. I sell auto parts and some folks won't touch an oil filter unless branded the same as their vehicle, yet that same guy will go for a full five minutes about "Gunmaker X" 10000 Lube is just salad dressing in a can. "Gunmaker X" is sitting in his holster.

I won't even touch the subject of WD 40. I will suggest it leads to the same reasons we should adopt the philosophy of not discussing politics and religion, because you will find someone who is a fan of just about anything. Did you know certain cultures consider monkey brains a delicacy, too?

Gun oil. Not going there. 1911 vs Glock, .45ACP vs 9mm, and Who Shot Kennedy? are tamer subjects. I once heard of a professional instructor who demonstrated that a feminine hygiene product could be used as a gun lube. Me, I tend to keep an eye out for C Rat peanut butter when I can find it dated before 1974. That stuff was legendary.

In it's absence I just use something I find on the shelf at the local gun store/department, it says right on the label in no uncertain terms it's the best ever sold. Just pick one of those.
 
I've used Breakfree as a lube for over 30 years. The only place I use grease is on Garands and guns with similar actions.

I lube the slide on my 469 by putting a few drops in the interior and spread it around with a small brush. Yes lube is spread on areas that are not in contact with anything but I think it makes those parts easier to clean. The crap falls on top of lube instead of metal. I do this on all the interior parts and the dust cover. I then run a fine bead of lube with a needle nose applicator along the slide rails.

This has kept my 469 running fine for over 30 years.
 
I used to use grease on slides, but now all I ever do is put oil on them, and that includes my aluminum framed Commander.
 
If you have this much grease on your S&W - you probably put too much grease on it.

index.php

index.php
 
All I've ever used on any of my guns is Hoppe's oil. It penetrates well and my guns all run fine, with no signs of excessive wear.

I just lube them up after cleaning and I'm pretty good. If it's a gun I haven't shot in awhile, I put a drop or two on the rails, cycle the slide a few times, and I'm good.
 
I have a well used 6906, and an old 645. Looking forward to getting a 1006.

Choose your favorite lube, apply sparingly with toothpicks and Q-tips. I wet the Q-tip,
wipe it on, wipe the excess off with a dry one. One or two drops will do ya.
 
Darn all these years and I've been doing it wrong. Oh wait, I haven't had any corrosion issues.
Click to expand...
I'm glad you haven't had problems. If the gun is staying dry enough then it may never be an issue.

Not sure what the attitude is about. It's not like I made up that article just to upset you or to try to make you look bad, and it wasn't posted for your exclusive benefit. Other people read these threads and it's information that others may find to be relevant.
 
Speedo66 said:
Glocks come from the factory with anti-seize compound on the slide, that's what I use.
Click to expand...

So here's my opinion on the copper anti-seize.

One thing that it does better than almost any other grease its that it doesn't separate, dry out or become tacky.

So we all know that there are people who, when they buy a gun, they don't clean it, they don't lube it, they go straight to the range and start blasting away.

I think Glock puts the copper anti-seize in their Glocks to mitigate against the situation where a Glock sits for a long while - either in transport or at distributors and then in a gun shop etc... and then an owner doesn't clean or lube but just fires it. The anti-seize will provide some lubrication and protection of the metal.

IMO the copper anti-seize is for a particular application: shipping it and trying to prepare for some knucklehead who is going to basically fire it right out of the box.

I have not been able to find NLGI ratings for most of the copper anti-seize compounds, but at least the Versachem I purchased seemed to be thicker than the Walmart Super Tech Extreme Pressure Multi-Duty Complex Hi-Temp grease - which is NLGI #2. I think the Glocks will work just using anti-seize - but mine have worked when I've fired them dry, I didn't use degreaser on them, but they were wiped clean of oil and grease - so that's pretty close to being dry, and I've fired my Glocks wet with oil and gooped up on gop - as shown in the images, and they never failed to function. They're pretty robust and reliable pistols IMO, so I think they do work with anti-seize but I still think there are beter lubes out there for them.
 
I have always used just oil (several flavors, but my favorite at the moment is "Weapon Shield").

I have been reading about the use of grease for the slide (and other areas) recently, so I tried some Weapon Shield grease that I had. It made an ugly mess, probably because I used way too much (similar to the picture that @C0untZer0 posted!!!). I did not notice any difference in function however, but if it is supposed to help wear issues, I might give it a try again... this time with a lot less grease!
 
cal44mag said:
I understand its important to lube the slide?
Click to expand...
Yes, it is. Any time there's metal moving up against metal, lubrication is a good idea. As you can see, there are many different opinions on what's best. I currently use WeaponShield, but there seem to be many products that work just fine.
 
Just a data point, I'm not trying to convince anybody what their doing is wrong...

I recall a comment from the late Todd Green on the grease vs oil debate, with the way he used guns, lots of shooting, and not a lot of cleaning, he preferred oil. If his gun needed lube, he could just add oil. However, with grease, he believed it required removing the old grease - because it trapped all the crud and kept it in place - before adding more grease. He felt oil worked just as well, and was more convenient for him.

Todd Green worked for both Beretta and SIG, two companies known for producing guns with steel slides on aluminum frames. He was also known as a high volume shooter.

For what it's worth.
 
As one of those guys who actually did take a handgun new out of the box, loaded it, and shot it at a range, then carried it off and on for a year and have yet to clean it, I have to ask - Why?

I choose firearms which are made of materials that resist rust, not promote it, and if necessary, the maker has treated the surface with anti rust and anti friction applications which add to it. Americans went thru the big changeover in knife blades during the sixties for exactly the same reason and it's now why all the modern designs use - ahem - stainless ie high corrosion resistant steel.

But no, our guns are apparently cheap carbon throwaways which need constant maintenance, albeit they aren't carried in the pouring rain, fired from a desert dustbowl fighting position, and usually in a humidity free way as far from skin at possible. But read lube threads and the bugaboo of guns rusting into fragments while living a pampered life of air conditioned holster carry seems to be the worry.

Would that people take care of their motor vehicles as well. We have those who clean a gun every time its fired, and who change the oil every 3,000 miles regardless. Fine for the 1960's, but things have actually improved, as have the lubricants. The average oil change interval of a modern car with an oil change light is over 8,000, BMW specifies 15,000. The average gun these days has a stainless slide and polymer frame, clean it once in a while. If you blasted 250 rounds with it at the range you likely just need to lube and wipe down - the official recommended method of the US Army for the M16/4 in combat, and only once daily, mostly to get the environmental crud off it to prevent jams. Not because it was "too dirty" or something.

Funny how the automotive oils are considered superior but the ones chosen are largely run of the mill and have been on the marketplace for decades. A gun doesn't suffer the continuous cycling of a four stroke motor, idling at 800 rpms for one minute is more than you would shoot at the range in one setting. Cars don't run on coal dust anymore, I'll accept some powders aren't much better ( aka steel cased import) but the point is, we don't tear down engines until they break down from wear. Yet we will tear down and minutely clean a gun with dental picks until absolutely better than new and some will claim it is a clear and present danger to you if you won't.

Nah, not so much. Lube and wipe down.

I'm going to suggest that the high end cleaner/greaser/oiler kinda guy is quite possibly the same as that guy with 100 firearms in a safe who won't trust his kids with the key. We are a group of firearms enthusiasts but on forums it concentrates the sampling and I'm pointing out there are some who go quite a bit further. Maybe even to excess. The kind of guy who would spend more for gun lube than a box of cereal for his kids.

Take it all with a grain of salt, "firearms lubricant" has exploded as a market since the internet exposed users to the silly game of upgrading things just to brag about it on the net.
 
I use 5w-30 and grease. I use the grease for sliding components, like slide and frame rails and locking lugs. I use the oil for the rest. I like that the grease doesn't spray/splash or run onto gripping surfaces the way that oil can if it is subjected to lots of motion (i.e., the slide and frame rails).

I have a low-maint approach towards most of my guns, and generally shake my head at folks who feel the need to make their guns spotless every time they shoot them. I am a moderately high volume shooter. I have gone through lots of wear items - mostly springs. I haven't yet worn out a part where lubrication (or lack thereof) could be a likely significant factor. I feel as though what I am doing works pretty well for me and my environments.
 
I've seen some things that vary wildly. Everywhere from a basically dry gun with just 1 drop of light oil on each slide rail and nothing else anywhere, to Sig recommendations that put a bead of grease down each rail, both inside and out. I'm sure that the correct amount is probably somewhere in between. I've read a lot of things that say a small amount of oil, even after being wiped off, was plenty, if you didn't degrease it.

Back when I owned just one gun (steel Chinese Tokarev in 9mm), it was a drop or so of Rem Oil on each slide rail, a drop on the barrel lug, a drop on the barrel link. The conventional wisdom then was not to overlube it.

Grease comes into play with aluminum frames, and stainless on stainless- the stainless could gall, and the aluminum could get beat up. Until I checked the Sig forums, I've never seen anyone use so much grease that it oozed from everywhere, but I've seen experts over there recommend so much grease it looks applied with a butter knife.

Given that we're talking about a S&W 3rd Gen gun with an aluminum frame, I'd say spray everything down with a light coat of oil, then wipe it off with a clean rag so there's still a light residue. Then a dab of grease on the slide rails, worked so that it runs the entire length of the rail. Probably overkill, but it's an old, out-of-production gun, probably already worn in, and doing that should keep it at it's current conditon indefinitely.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

O
  • Locked
Automotive anti-friction lube on pistol slides.
Replies
14
Views
2K
wally
wally
J
  • Locked
3rd Generation Smith & Wesson question.
Replies
2
Views
363
jmcc11
J
P
  • Locked
Differences between S&W 439,539,639?
Replies
6
Views
2K
jsbethel
J
C
  • Locked
Oil or grease to lubricate the slide?
2 3 4
Replies
86
Views
9K
Stevie-Ray
Stevie-Ray
P
  • Poll
Should S&W bring back 3rd gen pistols?
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
147
Views
4K
mgmorden
mgmorden
Back
Top