Lubriplate 130AA was chosen during the WW2 period for its ability to stay on in the operating rod cam recess in hot wet conditions. The picture I saw was of a man in fisherman's wet weather rain gear under a big shower nozzle. He had a Garand. I assume the water was warm, duplicating tropical rains. The poor bugger had to shoot the Garand under drenching water until the operating rod cam seized. Then another grease was rain tested, probably on another Garand. Sure sounds like a crap job, especially if the outside weather is cold! Lubriplate 130AA was a grease with good adhesion under the hot/wet conditions.
A product specification was written around the properties of lubriplate
130AA and used for procurement of Rifle Grease. I do not have the early, Garand period Rifle Grease Specification, I have a 1976 era spec, which the rifle under test is a M14 I really doubt any of the grease requirements changed from M1 Garand to M14, and I used MIL Spec Rifle Grease on both my M1 Garands and M1a's.
MILITARY SPECIFICATION GREASE, RIFLE
MIL G 46003A 31 Dec 1976
3.0 . REQUIREMENTS
3.1 Qualification. Grease furnished under this specification shall for listing on the applicable Qualified Products- List at the time set for opening of bids (see 4.5.;1 and 6.3). Any change in the formulation of a qualified product will necessitate its re qualification.
3.2 Material The grease shall be a mixture of mineral oil or synthetic oil and jelling agent, with or without other added material , suitably stabilized to ensure that the finished product..will meet the requirements of this specification.
3.3 Work Penetration. The worked penetration of the grease shall be not less than 220 nor more than 270 when determined as specified in 4.6
3.4 Dropping point. The dropping point of the grease shall be not less than 87.8 °C (190 °F) when determined as specified in 4.6
3.5 Mineral oil viscosity The viscosity of the mineral oil contained in the grease shall not be less than 108 CS. Nor more than 172.6 cs at 37.8 °C (100°F) when determined as specified in 4.6
3.6 Water resistance. When tested at 37.8 ± 2.8°C (100± 5°F) as specified in 4.6, not more than four percent by weight of the grease shall be washed from the bearing.
3.7 Rust prevention. When tested as specified in 4.6, the outer cup raceway and each roller shall not exceed a corrosion rating of 2.
3.8 Corrosion resistance. When tested in accordance with 4.6, the copper strip shall show no evidence of green color, pitting, or etching, nor shall any brown or black stain remain on the strip after washing with normal hexane as specified.
3.9 Storage stability. After testing as specified in 4.6.1 , the grease shall meet all the requirements of this specification.
3.10 Performance. When tested as specified in 4.6.2, five rifles, 7.62MMe, automatic, M14 lubricated with grease which has been subjected to the six months storage stability test (see 4.6.1), shall be wet fired using no less than 500 rounds of ammunition for each rifle. Freezing of one rifle bolt, or the occurrence of more than six malfunctions in the five rifles due to operation of the bolt shall be cause for rejection of the grease.
3.11 Workmanship. The grease shall be homogeneous, smooth in texture, free of abrasives, lumps, granular particles, entrapped air, and any odor or rancidity, perfume. or free alcohol
6. NOTES
6.1 Intended use. -the grease covered by this specification is intended for use in the lubrication of rifles and other small arms only when such weapons are used under conditions of sustained rain. The temperature range under which this grease will be used is 2° C (35° F) to 38° C (100° F) . This grease is not intended as a replacement for conventional oils under conditions other than sustained rain.
After studying this specification, and trying to match the viscosity with what I could find on the web, I came to the conclusion that any of those outdoor motor greases in a tube, which are on the shelf at Walmart, would probably pass the rifle grease specification. The primary concern of the specification is grease wash out in hot rain. The actual lubrication of a Garand is not that stressing, particularly if you compare to automotive applications. In cool weather I used
lubriplate 105 In cold weather, maybe LSA, or a wipe with a oil saturated patch. If I fired in snowy weather, and I did, the rifle was wiped dry of all lubrication. One match, loading single shot, the muzzle dipped into the piled snow in front of my position. When shooting prone with a sling, you try to keep the rifle in the shoulder, so the muzzle dips as you reach over to push a round in the magazine. The shot went wild on target. That was weird.
I do think the statement that the
grease is not intended as a replacement for conventional oils under conditions other than sustained rain, is the fall out of some Organizational internal hissy fit over lubrication ideology. I used grease in hot weather and it worked great. Most shooters used a grease in hot weather, the conventional wisdom was
Plastilube in the summer and LSA in the winter. (I thought the Plastilube I used was white) After looking at the spec, and my own experience was, pretty much any light grease will do just fine. I do not believe it is wise to apply a stiff "hard grease". There are wheel bearing greases that are water proof, fairly thin, and work just great in this application. And, I only shot in the rain during leg matches at Camp Perry. Otherwise, I kept myself and my gear dry. Hard core is fun, but drying sopping wet equipment with mud and wet grass over everything loses its fun quickly. I learned to pack a blow dryer to Camp Perry so I had heat to dry the rifle and my gear. Had the shooting jackets and sweat shirts dripping in the hut, along with wet rifle cases, boots, shooting stool. Joy, joy, joy.
I over lubricated and often had grease blobs on my shooting glasses. Don't worry too much about any particular grease technology, just pick the grease blob color you like to look through on your glasses. They are all good. This is what the kids are using now: