Weapon maintenance and lubrication

Josh Beauchamp · Nov 27, 2012

I have heard about people who use synthetic motor oil as a lubricant for their firearms even cleaning (soaking to loosen and remove tough baked on carbon deposits) and from what I can remember for the military it was actually a recommend lubricant for heavy and crew served weapons. Now I have heard from some people that this ranks right up there with the 7 deadly sins. What I would like is honest opinions on the subject without the negative responses and challenges I saw on a competing forum today (yeah big mistake going elsewhere, what was I thinking). So has anybody on here done this, have experience, etc? Again try and keep it positive.

racnsoonr · Nov 27, 2012

I had issues with my Remington 1100 running low recoil slugs until an experienced shooter recommended using Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil...worked liked a charm and have been using it ever since. It has worked for me...i use the nra synthetic gun grease on all other areas and for my rifle and pistol

Adam Striegel · Nov 27, 2012

My brother uses it all the time to clean surface rust off old guns he buys. As far as I know he's never had problems with it. The only think I could think of is the possibility of it being more combustable than gun oil and burning? I have nothing to support that and no idea if it could happen, just popped in my head. I would think if it could handle engine heat it could hand guns.

Matt1911 · Nov 27, 2012

Lots of people use Mobil 1 with great success and have for thousands of rounds.
Other forums = bickering and drama. Stay away from there.

kaiserb · Nov 27, 2012

Josh Beauchamp said:
I have heard about people who use synthetic motor oil as a lubricant for their firearms even cleaning (soaking to loosen and remove tough baked on carbon deposits) and from what I can remember for the military it was actually a recommend lubricant for heavy and crew served weapons. Now I have heard from some people that this ranks right up there with the 7 deadly sins. What I would like is honest opinions on the subject without the negative responses and challenges I saw on a competing forum today (yeah big mistake going elsewhere, what was I thinking). So has anybody on here done this, have experience, etc? Again try and keep it positive.

I dont know if Fireclean is a synthetic or not (did not get that far in my research yet). But I do know if you put Fireclean in a suppressor that is allegedly clean, and let it sit all night a bunch of carbon and oil blobs will come out of it. The same is true for soaking a dirty AR bolt in Fireclean, so you may be onto something with soaking the parts in synthetic oil to remove carbon buildup. From a scientific perspective since oil is a hydrocarbon of sorts--the main component in crude oil is carbon (carbon bonds other elements in hydrocarbons)--it would make sense that oil would loosen carbon deposits on a molecular level

Crude Oil Composition by weight:
Carbon 83 to 87%
Hydrogen 10 to 14%
Nitrogen 0.1 to 2%
Oxygen 0.05 to 1.5%
Sulfur 0.05 to 6.0%
Metals< 0.1%

poopgiggle · Nov 27, 2012

Grant Cunningham did a good overview on gun lubrication: http://www.grantcunningham.com/lubricants101.htm Also there are at least 2 threads here on Mobil-1 as a gun lubricant.

Whenever I get over my insane need to buy exotic gun cleaning products I will probably just use ATF for everything.

Adam Striegel · Nov 27, 2012

poopgiggle said:
Whenever I get over my insane need to buy exotic gun cleaning products I will probably just use ATF for everything.

You use alcohol, tabacco, and firearms to clean guns? That is exotic. (sorry, I couldn't resist...)

WillR · Nov 27, 2012

http://www.grantcunningham.com/lubricants101.html

Don't know if this helps. I use Mobil 1 on most everything and a lithium based grease (baring grease) when that is needed (on parts that slide under pressure).

dpd0710 · Nov 27, 2012

The last AR-15 Armorer class I went to recommended a 2 to 1 mix of Mobil 1 Full Synthetic and Mobil 1 Full Synthetic ATF.
I have been using a product from Reel Schematic with Tungsten Disulfide (Google it), called Badfish Ferocious Shark Oil. It is slicker than snot. They have a new product coming out this week or next, which is aimed at the firearms industry.
I used the Shark Oil last summer at a week long rifle instructor school here in Texas without any hiccups, or running dry. I also use a dab of the company's Barracuda grease on my bolt too.
Try it, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

http://www.reelschematic.com/badfish_lubricants.html