oil vs grease

[The Alaskan]

So I read somewhere in the past 6 months or so (I might have read it here) this idea of "if it slides, it gets grease, if it rotates it gets oil" or words to that effect.

How accurate is this idea?

It seems to me that rease would attract and hold dirt more readily than oil.

I know for my M1, I am supposed to use Lubriplate on the sliding parts, but in general,I have always used Hoppe's gun oil on everything (including the M1)

I'm wondering if I should be using lubriplate (or some other grease) on all my guns' sliding parts in leu of gun oil.

For example: Marlin Model 60 square bolt slides back n forth. I've always used oil there. All of my lever guns: locking tabs slide up and down (how would I even get access to them to put grease on them?)

Do people who semi auto pistols use grease on their slides? (I NEVER saw that with the M9 in the military.)

 

[mac tm]

With cold winters, I don't use grease, especially on semi autos. I might consider it on something like a lever, pump or bolt. I want to be able to grab anything out of the safe on any day of the week and it will run regardless of temperature.

 

[AzShooter1]

The best grease I've found is from Brian Enos.com It's called Slide Glide and works fantastic. I use it on my autos and my revolver.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Winter = Oil
Summer = Grease IF the gun needs it.

 

[Jeepergeo]

CLP on moving parts for lubrication, and very light coat on any part that could corrode. The only grease used on my modern arms is on shotgun choke tubes.

It's a whole different story on my limited pre-modern replicas, who seem to require grease in the most unusual places.

 

[mbopp]

I used to use grease on my 1911 slide.
Until I went to a match after it cold-soaked all day last winter and wouldn't cycle until it warmed up. Now I use Mobil-1 10W-30.

 

[The Alaskan]

Interesting. So not only is it not a question of which parts to use grease on, but rather, a question of not using grease at all.

Perhaps this explains the stories I've heard my dad and uncle and about urinating on their Garands during the Korean winter to keep them from freezing up. I often wondered how, with no water on the guns, they froze up in the first place.

 

[Drail]

There was water in their actions from many days of living and sleeping in the snow. There was ice on and in everything they had. Most of the oils in use at that time would practically freeze into a semi solid glue at the temperatures encountered in a Korean winter. Very few small arms "need" grease. On the majority oil is all that is necessary. Pay attention to the freeze pour point on any oil you plan to use in freezing temperatures. Most of the firearm lubes sold today will stay liquid down to well below freezing temperatures. A sidearm can be kept under your coat to keep it warm. A long arm is just out there in the breeze with the freeze. If I were forced to operate in extremely cold temperatures with a long arm I would strip all the oil out and either run it dry or with some graphite powder. I believe that grease is only required on a part that slides (or rotates) with a heavy load placed on it and in a place where you can't get oil into (like a sealed bearing on your car). There aren't very many scenarios in most firearms that fit that. Parts may be sliding or rotating but with very little load applied to them.

 

[oneounceload]

With shotguns, it seems to be the opposite - things that rotate like choke tubes and bearing surfaces on the hinge pins get grease and parts that slide like ejectors or bolts on semis get oil.

 

[HexHead]

I like Ballistol. The Germans used it in the trenches in WWI. I can't think of a more hostile environment.

 

[cdk8]

Personally, I dont think it is accurate if the User's goal is wear reduction.

Years ago, it might apply because many older greases gave great wear protection but with a very narrow operational temp. In cold weather, these dated products are notorious for causing functional issues. At extremely high temps, some of these dated products fail to provide acceptable wear resistance. They also rapidly expedite fouling.

Not we have several new types of greases, such as PFPAE/PTFE/Teflon grease. It will provide outstanding wear protection with a usable temp range that puts older products to shame (like -100 F to 500+ F wide). Some of those greases are also "dry grease" and so they do not encourage fouling like many of the older greases do. This newer generation of grease provides superior wear protection and, unlike most wet lubes, it does not have migration problems, nor does it rapidly burn off once exposed to high heat.

 

[The Alaskan]

Personally, I dont think it is accurate if the User's goal is wear reduction.

Years ago, it might apply because many older greases gave great wear protection but with a very narrow operational temp. In cold weather, these dated products are notorious for causing functional issues. At extremely high temps, some of these dated products fail to provide acceptable wear resistance. They also rapidly expedite fouling.

Not we have several new types of greases, such as PFPAE/PTFE/Teflon grease. It will provide outstanding wear protection with a usable temp range that puts older products to shame (like -100 F to 500+ F wide). Some of those greases are also "dry grease" and so they do not encourage fouling like many of the older greases do. This newer generation of grease provides superior wear protection and, unlike most wet lubes, it does not have migration problems, nor does it rapidly burn off once exposed to high heat.

Thanks. You've pretty much hit on what I was thinking, yet I didn't try to make that clear in my original post.

I'm mostly concerned about the Garand (and a few other guns). I wonder if I could use some sort of synthetic grease.

(I just did gun cleanings today and stuck with my old "gun oil" method, although I did put CLP in the slide and bolt tracks on the M1.

 

[taliv]

in temperate to hot climates, for most gun stuff, a good oil like mobil1 or slip2k EWL is unquestionably the best practice regardless of whether it slides or rotates or whatever. that goes double if it's dusty/sandy.

if you do something like a google search "site:thehighroad.org extreme cold oil grease" or something like that, my guess is that you would find overwhelming support for grease. I wouldn't know, as I don't much care for being outdoors when it gets under 0* F.
I'm assuming you're in alaska, not just from alaska. If temp isn't relevant, just stick with oil.

 

[9mmepiphany]

My experience has mostly been with handguns, but I would think the properties would remain constant.

Grease in an action has the advantage over oil of staying in place when heated. It also has less of a tendency to dry out.

Grease on things like rails/boltways has a property beyond lubrication (which is what most folks think of when debating grease vs. oil)...and that is hydraulics. It cushions the impact of the parts wearing against each other.

At least that is what I have been told by a number of 1911 pistolsmiths and the foremost SIG pistolsmith in the country

 

[The Alaskan]

...I don't much care for being outdoors when it gets under 0* F...

T-shirt weather LOL

We took a moose at -25˚F once, but I don't target shooting at the outdoor range below about +20˚F.

 

[cdk8]

Thanks. You've pretty much hit on what I was thinking, yet I didn't try to make that clear in my original post.

I'm mostly concerned about the Garand (and a few other guns). I wonder if I could use some sort of synthetic grease.

(I just did gun cleanings today and stuck with my old "gun oil" method, although I did put CLP in the slide and bolt tracks on the M1.

From a wear reduction perspective, this newer type of grease takes the cake. One very gun-specific grease that is widely available and priced cheap is Tetra Grease. ST DuPont makes a grease that IMO is the absolute best stuff on the market. This DuPont product also tends to perform like a dry lubricant, and so it really, really slows the rate of fouling.

I am guessing part of your inquiry is because you are concerned about how many gun lube products suffer from oil migration and/or thermal breakdown (which obviously increases the speed of wear.) But with these new greases, they virtually do not migrate at all, regardless of the application, and high temperatures will not cause a drastic loss in wear reduction. Further, they often improve function in cold-cold (which is contrary to many older greases that would cause malfunctions in cold weather.)

It is also worth noting that many of these greases are NOT strong protectants. So should you need corrosion resistance, you will want to have a specific product on hand made exclusively for that purposes, IMO.

It going this far necessary? In my opinion, yes. By using this sort of grease along with a wet lube & protectant, I can get the best of both worlds instead of settling on only a single all-in-one product that is not going to provide anywhere near the wear reduction that the grease does. So, if I can use a product that does a better job at reducing wear, I feel it may very well increase the service life of some firearms.

 

[Delmar]

The question of oil vs grease is all about the clearances involved. If the parts are close fitting, use a good oil. If the clearances are generous, use grease. In either case, use a good synthetic product. The temperature range is much superior to conventional lubricants.

 

[Jim Watson]

I use grease (Lubriplate, Gunslick, industrial "moly") on the rails of my autos.
Oil elsewhere.

 

[Sunray]

"...How accurate is this idea?..." It's mostly not. Grease if it moves against/across something else. Oil for the rest. Nothing except dry graphite or one of the extreme cold greases/oils in extreme cold.
-25˚F isn't cold. -40 is cold. The two scales meet at -40. Tomatoes are rocks at -40. Naphtha evaporates. Guys trip over bits of buttocks that have frozen and fallen off at -40. snicker.

 

[Shootshellz]

Birchwood Casey Synthetic Gun Oil is rated to -55F. Shooters Choice makes a synthetic gun grease rated to -65F. Both are excellent products, IMHO.

 

[DeepSouth]

Winter = Oil
Summer = Grease IF the gun needs it.

That's exactly what I do, especially with my carry guns, and the ones that stay in my truck some time.

But honestly, I don't think it matters. If you use any lubricant on the average quality firearm it will almost certainly out last you. I've seen guns that had old dry grease packed in and shooting fine. I've also seen guns that look like they've never had a drop of oil going strong.

Case in point, years ago when AK's were cheap I bought a bottom of the barrel WASR just to treat like crap and see if it would live up the hype. The day I bought it I cleaned and oiled it, and I've never done either one again. Now it probably has close to 10k rounds shot through it, never once a hick up. Well it did have a slam fire once so I sprayed some carb cleaner in the firing pin hole and kept shooting, but still no lube of any kind.


I used to duck hunt with a guy that had a cheap semi auto shotgun and every time we got home after a hunt he'd literally stick a water hose in the barrel and turn it on then Work the bolt a time or two, let it dry and put it in his truck until the next trip, to my amazement he had very few problems.