Stainless Steel Oil?

[dale2242]

I was just reading an article from the 70s about the Auto Mag.
They said they sent oil with the gun that was made for Stainless steel.
My question is: Does stainless need special lubricating oil different from regular steel?
This may only apply to semi-autos where you have faster/more severe friction?....dale

[bhn22]

To my knowledge there has never been a special lubricant for stainless. The early issues with stainless guns was caused by use of the same alloys for the frame and slides. Use of slightly dissimilar SS alloys cured this issue, and prevents galling. For a while there, some manucacturers were recommending the use of anti-seize on slide rails and bolts. I used the same oil on everything.

[44man]

When stainless was first used it galled because all parts were the same alloy. Ruger solved it with a different alloy for each part. Yes there was a special lube that helped.

[Outpost75]

With stainless it is best to avoid cleaners and lubricants containing chlorinated paraffins which can migrate into crevices and contribute to stress corrosion cracking. Plain USDA, H1 rated, food grade USP mineral oil with no additives is recommended. For a heavier lubricant use a USDA H1 rated food grade machinery grease with USP mineral oil base and calcium hydroxy stearate thickener. Grant Cunningham has a good article on this subject on his blog.

[country gent]

Stainless has several issues that can cause gaulding. one is the lack of carbon, second is it structure didnt always allow the fine finishes but had feathers on machined surcaces. Oils and greases helped with this issue as did new grades of stainless and dissimalar grades used. Some makers recomended literally swiming in oil until several hundred rounds had been fired. In the food industry lubricants not only have to be able to lubricate but not contaminate the product if a little lube gets in. Hydrolics normally run on vegtable oil or water for this reason slides are lubed with vegtable based lubes same with bearings. Moly based lubes work with stainless but can be messy. Any good oil will also do well

[DougGuy]

Anti seize works on stainless where alloys are likely to gall. Ruger got it right with the mixture of different alloys. Stainless on carbon is usually not such a good idea, same with stainless screws in carbon. Prime candidate for galling.

[Outpost75]

Historical FYI, the colorless, odorless, tasteless, nontoxic food grade lubricants have been used widely in the covert and special ops community since WW2, when good lubricity and corrosion protection were needed in hot, wet, saltwater and jungle environments, when it was important that cleaners and lubricants had no tell tale odor to give way operators or troops position when in concealed hot breath proximity to an enemy and when potable water was scarce and troops in the field were not able to bathe or wash frequently. Goes back to CIB and SOE experience.

[country gent]

Alot of the vegtable based oils were also known as steam cylinder oil since they were originally used to lube steam engines and tractors cylinders pre dating ww2 even. Canola oils, olive oils, and vegtable oils held up to the water rich enviroment of these engines

[MBTcustom]

Differential alloys and hardness has cured most of the galling issues. I have an IAI Hardballer that was touted to be one of the first SS 1911s that was made correctly.

As far as lube goes, use STP oil treatment. This stuff is awesome and I use it regularly at certain key points on all of my firearms.

[Petrol & Powder]

Here's a link to the Grant Cunningham article that Outpost75 referred to : http://www.grantcunningham.com/lubricants101.html
That article is a must read for any firearms enthusiast and debunks many of the myths that are so common on the internet.


Everyone has their own pet firearms lubricant and some of that is based on rumors and dogma.

The prior comments relating to stainless on stainless are right on point. Stainless steel is susceptible to galling or the tendency for stainless to "grab" other stainless surfaces when they slide against each other. (think two blocks of modeling clay rubbed against each other). Dissimilar stainless alloys is a good solution to the problem of galling. A very good boundary layer lubricant also helps but if that is the only line of defense you risk galling if the lubrication is not maintained.
I recall seeing several special "stainless steel lubricants" but I've always been suspicious of their actual value compared to conventional lubricants.
I also recall that stainless slides on aluminum alloy frames actually had better wear characteristics than early stainless on stainless construction when identical alloys were used. That seems counter-intuitive at first until you understand that the aluminum is softer but it is not as susceptible to galling.

Read the Grant Cunningham article, it is valid information.

[bhn22]

I now use synthetic ATF with a touch of Lucas Oil Conditioner. Before that it was synthetic engine oil, also with Lucas.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I use Vaseline.

Randy

[bbqncigars]

FWIW, the original AMP shipped with FP10 oil. That's the same stuff recommended by Coonan for their stainless pistol.

[44man]

Original transmission fluid was whale oil or fish oil, but has been replaced with seed based oils.
Lube Gard valve and assembly lube from NAPA is seed based and should work wonders. It makes a great additive to boolit lubes too.
I use STP on revolvers. It will cushion cylinder slam.
Ruger had a lot of trouble at the start and even different hardening of parts helped.

[GabbyM]

I've a 2 ounce jar of RIG brand +P Stainless Steel Lube. Been in my box a few decades.
Never had a gun gall when using it and I've used it on a couple 9mm autos that had already shown galling.
As far as I can tell it's just ordinary petroleum based grease. Added to my shooting box is a jar of Ed's Red and ATF mixed 50/50 with K1 kerosene and that's my lube routine.

STP's magic ingredient is zinc in the form of ZDDP. This is excellent high pressure barrier and probably accounts for how STP can quiet clattery valve lifters in old engines. Its not, however, usable in most new cars with certain after filters in there exhaust and some of the sensors. For guns. Some cocktail with STP and ATF blended together may work.

I'd love to know what kind of grease GEISSELE AUTOMATICS sends with there triggers. They send a tiny capsule good for about two applications. I used what I had left over on an old rifle and the trigger was noticeably smoothed up.

[Shiloh]

My take was galling. Aluminum does it to.

Shiloh

[bruce381]

Stainless is not really prone to cracking where titainium is.
Chloro parriffin additzed oils work well to prevent galling or more correctly scuffing wear on stainless steel.
So do moly and even teflon to some degree.
Plain H1 lubes can have some anti scuff addtives in them otherwise they are no better than any other "mineral" oil just odorless and clear.
ATF back when they made dirt had Sperm whale oil been gone for over 30 years.
Newer vegtable based esters work well on stainless.