Good, cheap gun lubricant

[Ozark mike]

I used to be a mechanic i guess being drenched in the stuff all those years i just dont notice it atf is hard to beat its just 10w hydraulic oil with anti foaming additives

[quasi]

synthetic 2 stroke engine oil, preferably Lucas snow sled oil.

[fcvan]

I can't believe that everyone missed the obvious, even my cheap guns get lubricated, that has to be good!

In all seriousness, I have used many of the products listed in previous posts. Paste wax under the for end stocks, light oil for the important stuff, particularly stuff designed for wet or freezing environments. When I was on 'SWAT' we still did our training in the wet Pacific Northwest. All weapons got thoroughly cleaned and lubed before the end of training day. My agency bought Rem Oil which worked well to do it's job. My go to was Hoppes #9 for decades but I became partial to synthetic 2 stroke oil. It can take the heat and held up to 2" an hour downpours. We did tend to 'warm up the guns' before we ended training, made the water dissipate somewhat before breaking down the GLocks, Shotguns, and AR 15s. Besides, it was fun

[Wolverine19D]

I haven't read all of the posts on this thread but will give my input and experiences since I have tried many types over the years.

My take is all regular gun oils, and synthetic engine oil works well. Some better then others, but all of it works. I tried the different Mobil1 synthetic oils for awhile but never really liked them as well as others. They work just as well or better then most gun oils but I just didn't care for the texture and smell. Same for military CLP I hate the smell but it's a decent lube. For standard oil I use the red Lucas stuff. It's fairly cheap and has no smell and is a better oil then most I have tried.

That said, I don't use oil on most stuff I use a light grease. Not the grease from the hardware store but actual gun grease from CherryBalmz. It is about the same consistency as LSA, maybe a tad thicker but has a lot of updates over the old LSA and lasts longer and is a better lube. For those that didn't know, LSA is actually a grease.

The reason oils are so popular is because the military has been using them exclusively since Vietnam when they wanted a do it all lube that cleaned as well as lubed which meant it didn't do anything the best but did everything decently. And most greases people think of are really thick since you don't find light runny grease at wally world or your local hardware store. A grease that is similar to CherryBalmz is the TW-25b which is actually used by the military on chain guns. I never tried it since I tried the CherryBalmz first but believe it is about the same thing. There may be others out there too.

I know a lot of people will have trouble paying that much for the CherryBalmz grease when they can just get some Mobil1 synthetic and I don't blame them since it all works well. And I am a fairly budget minded person and usually go for the best bang for your buck but after trying the light greases I wouldn't want to go back to oils. They stay in place and don't run, and don't burn off like oils in a few hundred rounds. And if you go with light greases made for firearms they are good in freezing temps. The standard Black Rifle Balm is good to like -10 or -20F but they make a winter version good to like -50F and I use it on my carry pistols. It is slightly thinner then the black rifle balm and almost as good.

If you are someone who insists on cleaning your firearms after every outing and getting rid of all the old oil and relubing it then the light grease may not be for you since it costs a bit more per volume. But if you don't clean your guns after every outing you can go a few thousand rounds in most semi-autos without re applying lube. With oil every 500-1000 rounds you have to add more oil because it's burnt away. And if you have your guns in storage and don't shoot them every few months the oil will evaporate in 3-6 months when the grease will be there for years.

If you don't want to pay the price for CherryBalmz or TW25b my recommendation is LSA. It is a great lube for the money, and for budget minded people it is probably the way to go if you don't like synthetic motor oils. I never researched how well it does in freezing temps but don't believe it would work that well in sub 0F weather. One other thing I will say is I noticed a improvement in my firearms action slickness when going from regular oil to LSA, and then again from LSA to CherryBalmz. Some guns you won't notice much, but others it is very noticeable. It will also make many unreliable guns run great since many reliability issues are from friction.

[Burnt Fingers]

LSA is getting hard to find. Thankfully I picked up a couple of quarts a few years back. My shooting buddy has two gallons. One of these days I'm going to abscond with one.

[Wolverine19D]

LSA is getting hard to find. Thankfully I picked up a couple of quarts a few years back. My shooting buddy has two gallons. One of these days I'm going to abscond with one.

Good to know, I haven't been keeping track of it but thanks for the heads up. I don't use it much since I started using the CherryBalmz but have been meaning to pick up a big tub of it to keep on hand for cheap lube in the future if need be. I will start keeping an eye out for some and when I find a deal pick up some.

The LSA I have is actually the thicker stuff I got from when I was in the military. There was a few old bottles I got they were tossing out with some other stuff. I believe there is 3 thicknesses and most of what you found for sale was the medium one. I'm not sure I ever found the heavier stuff like I have for sale on the auction sites.

[dangitgriff]

Gun lube corrosion test, Part 1:

https://youtu.be/8e6VsG7ZU9o

[dangitgriff]

Part 2:

https://youtu.be/kSj0QwrmhuQ

[dangitgriff]

Part 3, final results:

https://youtu.be/uOB5eCReAQY

[Wolverine19D]

I don't have the data to watch those youtube videos at the moment but if they are the same ones I believe I've watched before it was just a test of corrosion resistance on plates of metal over time?

I know this may sound silly but I don't much care how much corrosion resistance my lube has as long as it works. I'd rather have something that lubes better then something that prevents corrosion. But on the outside of the gun a coating of whatever works best for corrosion resistance would be good especially on blued/browned firearms.

So instead of an all in one lube I'd prefer to have the best lube inside the gun, the best corrosion inhibitor on the outside of the gun, and then a good cleaner for when I decide to clean it. The all in one choices like CLP are perfectly capable of all 3 but not the best at any one thing.

[Conditor22]

Lubriplate FMO-350_AW Gun Oil 4OZ 8.50 E-BAY

[W.R.Buchanan]

I became partial to synthetic 2 stroke oil. It can take the heat and held up to 2" an hour downpours.

This stuff also works well on Sprue Plates on moulds and is usually what comes in the little bottle of lube supplied with higher end moulds like Mihec's. One pint will last you for a lifetime, unless you have a snowmobile or dirt bike.

Randy

[444ttd]

i use MIL-C-11796C, Class 3 in all my guns. i use a 55 gallon gallon drum and i'll heat the MIL-C-11796C, Class 3 up to 115deg and dip my guns into it. the MIL-C-11796C, Class 3 does dry, but it takes a long long while.