Too much oil

[wally]

Your video hits all the spots, but he appears to be using more than necessary and forgot to lube the take down cross pin OTOH he is peddling some "special lube" so more is clearly better for his bottom line. Half as much (or less!) Break-Free CLP on all those spots shown along with a drop on the take down cross pin has done me well for 30+ years. I've four different 1911s that are each over 20,000 rounds and still going strong. I rarely shoot less than 200 rounds per gun in an outing.

Too much lube can really only be a problem if you get a face full of it when shooting (you might not have your eye pro on in a defensive situation, being blinded by a jet of oil to the eyes would not be a good thing) or it makes a mud from dirt & fouling that inhibits function.

I guess I never really have heard of the "less lube is better club" or is it mostly a Glock thing? But IMHO, using excessive amounts of expensive "magic gun lube" is just throwing money away. I don't really care how much or what lube anyone else uses, but I've never seen the need for anything more expensive than Break-Free, never found it lacking in any way, and have heard many espouse the virtues of cheaper alternatives like Mobile-1, but don't see the savings as being worthwhile. YMMV.

As to your grayguns link, Houston is an environment where grease should have definite advantages over oil, and general lubrication 101 is "if it slides grease it, if it rotates oil it" is a very good starting point, but I tried a tub of "Slide Glide" that Brian Enos sent me for free to make amends for a minor mistake with my Dillon XL650 order. It worked fine but I returned to Break-Free when it ran out (the tub lasted a long time!).

I would love to see Larry and Dave repeat their over the top lube job test with shaking the dripping gun in a box of Iraqi sand and then test firing it! Hopefully shooting a combat appropriate load instead of just 10 rounds.

 

[Danoobie]

My issue with too much lube is that may work fine, if you just range shoot,
and don't mind an oily box or case, but it rarely works out well with a carry
or SD/HD gun. Not only are you getting oil all over holsters and clothing,
but that extra lube picks up loose dirt and lint.

 

[herrwalther]

I had a friend who believed that all you needed to do to clean a firearm was coat everything in Vaseline. No wiping it off or scrubbing. Just wipe it on with a finger, put whatever it is back together, and store it. This practice managed to cause his Chinese AK to misfire every other round like clock work. Not all gun owners are smart or follow good advise when presented.

 

[whatever]

Too much lube + prolonged exposure to near-freezing temperatures caused one of my old glocks to choke.

Some exceess lube had gotten into the striker channel and, when combined with the cold temps made everything super gummy.

 

[Ironicaintit]

when I was a kid, I didn't lube or clean anything and they were fine. As a young man I got OCD about cleaning and liberally lubing and they were fine (unless it got much below freezing) Now I'm edging into old farthood, and I don't clean as much, but I keep the lube around and use it. Synthetic grease on slides, and good ol' CLP on turning/camming parts. It only takes a thin film of lube to do what it's supposed to do.

Looking back, I'm appalled at how many rounds I put through my Ruger Standard without any lube at all.
It never failed to successfully cycle, so long as the ammo did its part.

 

[JohnKSa]

It's quite likely that there are some gun designs that can't be over-oiled. That doesn't guarantee that every gun on the market will react the same way to being drenched in lube.

I've seen at least one jamming problem that couldn't be explained by anything other than overlubrication. I've also seen at least one jamming problem that was clearly due to underlubrication.

And, to make it even more fun, both examples were with the same brand of firearm...

 

[wally]

Some exceess lube had gotten into the striker channel and, when combined with the cold temps made everything super gummy.

Nice point, I'd forgotten about this, once my Kahr CW9 had gotten oil in the striker channel and started having misfires, I'd kind of forgotten about it during this discussion, despite being extra careful with lube in that area ever since.

Maybe that is why Larry and Dave used the M9 pistol tnstead of a Glock or M&P in their drenching in oil demo video!

 

[Cannibul]

Your video hits all the spots, but he appears to be using more than necessary and forgot to lube the take down cross pin OTOH he is peddling some "special lube" so more is clearly better for his bottom line. Half as much (or less!) Break-Free CLP on all those spots shown along with a drop on the take down cross pin has done me well for 30+ years. I've four different 1911s that are each over 20,000 rounds and still going strong. I rarely shoot less than 200 rounds per gun in an outing.

Too much lube can really only be a problem if you get a face full of it when shooting (you might not have your eye pro on in a defensive situation, being blinded by a jet of oil to the eyes would not be a good thing) or it makes a mud from dirt & fouling that inhibits function.

I guess I never really have heard of the "less lube is better club" or is it mostly a Glock thing? But IMHO, using excessive amounts of expensive "magic gun lube" is just throwing money away. I don't really care how much or what lube anyone else uses, but I've never seen the need for anything more expensive than Break-Free, never found it lacking in any way, and have heard many espouse the virtues of cheaper alternatives like Mobile-1, but don't see the savings as being worthwhile. YMMV.

As to your grayguns link, Houston is an environment where grease should have definite advantages over oil, and general lubrication 101 is "if it slides grease it, if it rotates oil it" is a very good starting point, but I tried a tub of "Slide Glide" that Brian Enos sent me for free to make amends for a minor mistake with my Dillon XL650 order. It worked fine but I returned to Break-Free when it ran out (the tub lasted a long time!).

I would love to see Larry and Dave repeat their over the top lube job test with shaking the dripping gun in a box of Iraqi sand and then test firing it! Hopefully shooting a combat appropriate load instead of just 10 rounds.

What is the "take down cross pin" in a 1911? I've never heard that term and I own more than a dozen 1911 pistols.

I use Ed's Red to clean and Ed's Red Lube to oil. I've never been a fan of all-in-one products. How can a product designed to clean actually lube? Poorly in most cases, either it's a poor cleaner or a poor lube.

 

[wally]

What is the "take down cross pin" in a 1911? I've never heard that term and I own more than a dozen 1911 pistols.

Its the cylindrical part perpendicular to the slide lock lever that is what the link pulls/pushes against to cam the barrel up and down during the firing cycle and holds the whole thing together. If you lube the bottom of the barrel lugs and inside of the link you don't specifically need to lube it, but I find it easer to put a drop here. In the video he lubed the lugs and let it run into the link pin, but didn't put any in the link hole so I pointed out not the lubing the take down pin, most to just be a smart-A I've never seen an authorative name for the part other than slide lock lever, but I wanted to emphasize it the "pin" part of it that needs a bit of lube as its a three point bearing surface.

Believe or don't, but Break-Free is very good at all three functions -- most any oil is a good solvent for non-ionic compounds like in smokeless powder residues. But IMHO its too expensive for cleaning, so I use good old Hoppe's #9 and cheap auto store brake parts cleaner for the tough spots. Lots of much more expensive "rust protectoratents" don't do any better than it does in salt water spray tests, which surprises most of the testers.

 

[entropy]

In other words, it's a part of the slide lock lever; I put a bit of CLP inside the link's hole before reassembly to lube it.

 

[Walkalong]

Some exceess lube had gotten into the striker channel

That will make an XD fail as well. Ask me how I know.

 

[FL-NC]

He probably kept adding oil to it instead of disassembling it and cleaning it, along with all the gunk from firing it added, resulted in a mess. He probably didn't know how to take it apart and do it the right way- which isn't easy, even if you know how. Ruger re-designed their pistols to make the process easier. My MK1 had been apart once- for this reason.

 

[RPZ]

He probably kept adding oil to it instead of disassembling it and cleaning it, along with all the gunk from firing it added, resulted in a mess. He probably didn't know how to take it apart and do it the right way- which isn't easy, even if you know how. Ruger re-designed their pistols to make the process easier. My MK1 had been apart once- for this reason.

You can just about bring one up close to clean enough by the liberal use of a good evaporating solvent sprayed into the receiver with the slide bolt held back into every key area. Cycle rapidly, spray, repeat etc. Drain in the sun or use a hair dryer to dry it. Spray, drip oil into it, work slide bolt, allow to drain with some paper towel in the bolt to barrel area and mag well to wick away excess. Swab excess out of bore and chamber. Wipe down the outside. I do this with internals on revolvers.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Here are my Glocks all gooped up on gop.

View attachment 759837

Yes they did fire

No -there were no malfunctions.

Nice!
If it revolves, I use oil. If it reciprocates, I use grease.
Unless its a Garand- then I use LOTS of grease.......

 

[Cannibul]

In other words, it's a part of the slide lock lever; I put a bit of CLP inside the link's hole before reassembly to lube it.

Thanks. As it's all ONE part it should be called the slide lock.

 

[Cannibul]

You can just about bring one up close to clean enough by the liberal use of a good evaporating solvent sprayed into the receiver with the slide bolt held back into every key area. Cycle rapidly, spray, repeat etc. Drain in the sun or use a hair dryer to dry it. Spray, drip oil into it, work slide bolt, allow to drain with some paper towel in the bolt to barrel area and mag well to wick away excess. Swab excess out of bore and chamber. Wipe down the outside. I do this with internals on revolvers.

I've cleaned a couple of MK II pistols with a can of non-chlorinated brake cleaner and a air hose.

 

[WVsig]

To the OP my bet would be that the original owner never broke down and cleaned the factory packing oil off the gun. The oil that they ship guns in is a finish and metal preservative not a gun lube for firing. I have seen a few guns in my day that were fired before they were cleaned and that preservative oil gums right up.

Lots of of people do not clean their MKs enough or at all because they are a pain to break down.

 

[Ironicaintit]

I've cleaned a couple of MK II pistols with a can of non-chlorinated brake cleaner and a air hose.

After completely tearing down and reassembling my Standard (mk I), that's the way I'll be doing it in the future.
I think I even invented a few four letter words on that one.

I think for most firearms, that method is plenty sufficient.
However, I think it's a good idea to, at least once, do a complete teardown on whatever you own, so that if need be, you know how to do it

 

[MichaelS.]

You most assuredly CAN over oil a gun. Any Glock armorer will tell you that Glocks do not like much lubrication. It will in fact SLOW DOWN the action enough to cause stove piping, failure to extract/ failure to eject issues etc. I've experimented with it myself, and found it to be true.

 

[fastbolt]

FWIW, as a LE firearms instructor and armorer for some different makes/models of guns commonly seen in LE, I can offer that I've seen significantly more "problems" caused by an excessive amount of oil (liquid lubes, solvents and CLP's) than guns which were not sufficiently lubricated.

The problems can be different, and certainly a "dry" gun (depending on the design) may suffer accelerated wear and even irreparable damage, but I've witnessed at least my fair share of duty & off-duty weapons which experienced functioning problems due to the presence (and accumulation) of excessive amounts of lubricants and other liquids.

The striker-type pistols which have generous openings under the slide (for the striker-type firing pins to have the necessary engagement with the frame's components) are probably the easiest to have problems occur due to excessive application & presence of oils ( lubes, solvents, etc) being able to enter the slide's striker/firing pin channels.

 

[Slamfire]

FWIW, as a LE firearms instructor and armorer for some different makes/models of guns commonly seen in LE, I can offer that I've seen significantly more "problems" caused by an excessive amount of oil (liquid lubes, solvents and CLP's) than guns which were not sufficiently lubricated.

The problems can be different, and certainly a "dry" gun (depending on the design) may suffer accelerated wear and even irreparable damage, but I've witnessed at least my fair share of duty & off-duty weapons which experienced functioning problems due to the presence (and accumulation) of excessive amounts of lubricants and other liquids.

The striker-type pistols which have generous openings under the slide (for the striker-type firing pins to have the necessary engagement with the frame's components) are probably the easiest to have problems occur due to excessive application & presence of oils ( lubes, solvents, etc) being able to enter the slide's striker/firing pin channels.

Are the function issues because of old congealed oil? How is function with fresh lube?

 

[hemiram]

I bought a nearly 40 year old Dan Wesson 15-2 with the lube that the factory put in the end of the barrel turned into a hard substance almost like plastic. I had a hard time getting the nut off, but once the crud "cracked", it basically fell off in small chunks. I had an older Star 28 that was full, really full, of some sort of brown oil that was so thick it caused slow slide cycling. A friend of mine had bought several new Star 28's and 30's and he said he had never seen anything like that in his guns, so I guess the previous owner did it. I eventually put the 28 into a friend's ultrasonic cleaner to get all that stuff out of it. It was noticeably lighter when it came out of the cleaner. It's one of the more, "Why did I sell it?" guns I've owned.

 

[GRIZ22]

I had a friend who believed that all you needed to do to clean a firearm was coat everything in Vaseline. No wiping it off or scrubbing. Just wipe it on with a finger, put whatever it is back together, and store it. This practice managed to cause his Chinese AK to misfire every other round like clock work. Not all gun owners are smart or follow good advise when presented.

OMG! According to the AK fans nothing can stop an AK from running.

 

[Danoobie]

On a practical note, I notice that I no longer over lube a gun by using
Q-tips and toothpicks to help apply and spread new lube sparingly.

 

[fastbolt]

Are the function issues because of old congealed oil? How is function with fresh lube?

When it was the metal, hammer-fired guns involved it was generally congealed sludge that had formed from excessive liquids being present which had attracted fouling, grit, metal shavings, etc. It mostly collected inside the firing pin channel, including inside the firing pin spring. This resulted in "light-strikes" at some point. I've also come across one fairly new gun (4566TSW) in which it had interfered with the freedom of movement of the sear in its normal function, resulting in the hammer not being held in single action during shooting, following the slide forward.

In the striker-fired guns, it was more the "fresh" liquids that entered the striker-type firing pin channel and interfered with the force of the pin being able to move forward, before the oil/CLP had been present long enough to collect fouling and debris.