Lube in carry gun barrel

[xs11jack]

Everyone that talks about gun cleaning says to leave a light coat of gun oil in the barrel for storage and run a patch through the barrel before shooting the gun again. OK, so what do you do about your carry gun, are you going to run a patch through it each morning and a oil patch each nite? I just don't oil it at all, what is your opinion?
Ole Jack

[Wolfer]

For most if not all of my pistols the first shot from a clean barrel will be off slightly. Certainly not enough to matter on a carry pistol in a situation you would carry a pistol for.

You can shoot it under all conditions, clean dry, clean oily, fouled and see what it does.

[Beagle333]

I leave a good coat of RemOil in it. 'First dude gets a greasy boolit. :holysheep

[Ickisrulz]

I use Eezox. It evaporates and leaves a dry film. I've never had rust on my carry gun which is on me all day every day. This includes lots of outside work in hot weather. I wipe the gun down with Eezox 1-2 times each week. I blow off the dust daily. I shoot it without running a patch through the bore prior (usually at pocket gophers digging up my yard).

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I use an ultrasonic cleaner to clean and lube. I use the Lyman gun lube and it leaves a thin film of oil everywhere, including in the barrel. It is such a thin layer I don't run a patch through it.

[tazman]

For most if not all of my pistols the first shot from a clean barrel will be off slightly. Certainly not enough to matter on a carry pistol in a situation you would carry a pistol for.

You can shoot it under all conditions, clean dry, clean oily, fouled and see what it does.

I agree for the most part. For me, the first shot in my 9mm with a cast boolit in a clean barrel is slightly off but the first shot with a jacketed hp is dead on. Apparently my cast boolits like to play dirty.

My revolver simply doesn't care. It puts them all in the same spot clean or dirty.

[TXGunNut]

I don't think a fouling shot will impact enough differently to make a difference in a self-defense situation. OTOH it seems I don't carry a clean gun very long before it gets a fouling shot so my carry guns usually have a bit of fouling as a general rule. Used to drive the folks at the PD nuts, told them I like to test fire my carry guns after I clean them. ;-)

[Scharfschuetze]

Climate and firearm dependent for me.

In the tropics with a non-chrome lined barrel (1911A1), a light coat of oil or preservative. With a chrome lined barrel (Late issue barrel for the 1911A1 or M9) no lube or oil. In the desert, no oil and a dry lube on the rest of the pistol. My duty revolver on the PD was kept dry, but it enjoyed weekly shooting and cleaning.

My daily CCW revolver in civilian life is stainless steel so it is only lubed in the action. The barrel and chambers are dry to preclude lint build up between cleaning or shooting or any possibility (rare as that may be) of a penetrating oil getting into a cartridge.

[waksupi]

I oil the bore, and let it gather all the dirt and grime it will. I wear it in the shop, and when I leave the property. When I think about it, I blow it out good with the air hose in the shop. It doesn't get cleaned often, it is a daily tool. Even though it isn't cleaned regularly, it has never failed to operate when needed. If you need a defensive firearm, it is going to be up close and personal, at social distances. I could care less if the barrel has **** in it, or is coated with rust, as long as it will go bang to save my *** when I need it. Maybe the **** in the barrel will give them a nasty infection, if they don't have the good manners to go ahead and die right away. Praise be to John Browning and the 1911.

[Catshooter]

Dry. I carry a Glock which have proven themselves to me to be extremely disinclined to rust. Like never have.


Cat

[MtGun44]

Never worry about it. Often my CCW pistol has been fired recently and not cleaned,
other times it has been cleaned and a light coating of Hoppes remains in the barrel.
Irrelevant for pistol work in a self defense situation, IMO.

Bill

[Bonz]

Treat all my guns the same. Clean them and a final step of running a patch with CDP on it thru the barrel and revolvers get the patch also run thru the cylinder bores.

[Groo]

Groo here
For revolvers, a cleaning when they become slugish ,a bore snake when shooting , a whipedown when stored.
otherwise leave them alone.
Autos, Bore snake and oil when shooting, whipedown when storing, Grease when carrying [ dirt can't get in if grease is there]
After talking with and reading many gunsmith's and gun makers, unless shooting BP or corrosive primers, we clean Too much.

[beezapilot]

I use silicone on my bores for carry- protects from rust and won't attract lint.

[bedbugbilly]

I usually carry a Smith Model 36 snub. When I clean it, I give the bore a light coat of RemOil. My carry holster is an open toe design so when I'm in AZ for the winter, where it can get "dusty", I just make sure to run a lightly oiled patch through the bore about once a week. I've never noticed any "grit" accumulated on the bore because of the light oiling though.

[ratboy]

i wipe it off on their shirt.
:kidding:

mine is stainless so i just check it from time to time. figure the outside will look nasty from sweat before the inside. so far so good.

[bob208]

the main reason for putting a patch through a barrel that has been in storage is to make sure there is nothing in the barrel.

[johniv]

I have carried SS and Blued steel revolvers and semi autos , and never had a problem with rust, inside or out. The guns get shot often and cleaned after shooting, Ed's red or birchwood casey's barricade in the bore. I don't worry about accuracy at the distances common in self defense shooting, but I always dry the chamber/chambers before loading.
FWIW

[shooting on a shoestring]

I use Dexron to follow up after Ed's Red, both inside and out. The chambers get a dry cotton ball through them before reloading. The outside wiped lightly with paper towel before carrying so as not to get transmission fluid on my clothes while carrying. The Dexron will give rust protection after it appears to be gone from the surface.

Also, the Dexron is a very light and thin film compared to gun oil or motor oil. Leaving it in the barrel (especially in a carry gun) does not bother me a bit.

[prs]

My next last patch when cleaning is saturated with Johnson's Paste Wax. Let it dry a few minutes and final clean patch to puff it in.

All of my guns shoot to the same "spot" whether clean/dry, fouled, or lubed. Then again, my spot is of considerable size. ;-)


prs

[tazman]

All of my guns shoot to the same "spot" whether clean/dry, fouled, or lubed. Then again, my spot is of considerable size. ;-)
prs


LOL---I understand that for sure.

[DougGuy]

I learned a good lesson about oiling an edc. I used to clean my Kahr CW45 after range sessions and put ONE drop of Frog Lube in the moving parts of the firing pin, firing pin spring, and firing pin block areas of the slide.

Some months later I decided to function test what I had been carrying, and to my surprise, got a big fat FTF! Frog Lube is amazing stuff, but DO NOT let it anywhere near loaded ammo, ESPECIALLY your edc's barrel, firing pin, anywhere it can creep into the primer pocket, because it creeps and penetrates SO WELL, it will inert the primer!

As a rule I don't disassemble or remove the magazine of my edc after it's last function test, I leave the fouling in the bore and I may take the mag out and top it off but once it's proven itself to fire, I don't mess with it, just carry it. From now on, I don't put ANY lube on the Kahr CW45 at all. It's polymer and stainless, it's not going to rust, it's not going to be subjected to enough firing or cycling of the slide to harm anything from not having lube.

And yes it did pass it's first function test some months after the initial FTF. I use 9pm July 4th and 12:01am January 1st as my test fire dates, an edc needs to be drawn and fired -exactly- as it would be if needed for defense, so on these noisy times of the year I simply step into my back yard, draw and fire 2-3 rounds into the ground in front of me. 6 months should be the maximum time allowed between function test firings for an edc.

[Geraldo]

I've found that most guns will run fine if filthy, but not if they are dry. On the rare occasions I clean a gun, everything gets wiped with an oily rag and then wiped with a dry one. Slide rails get a bit of grease. If I shoot it later or it's been a while I check the slide rails and grease as necessary. Inside the barrel? Meh. I don't want a lot of oil in there if a round is chambered for a long time.

[Petrol & Powder]

I'm with Scharfschuetze, depends on the barrel material, climate, etc. I don't think a thin coating of a light oil in the bore will make any difference in a self defense situation, what we're really talking about is rust prevention. In humid/wet conditions, bare carbon steel will start rusting very quickly. Stainless steel and hard chrome lined barrels are fairly rust resistant without oil.
I carried a Italian made Berretta 92SB for several years and later I carried a U.S. made Beretta 92F. The 92SB was blued and had a carbon steel barrel. It was a great gun but it would rust in a Nano-second if you didn't keep it clean and oiled. The 92F had a chrome lined barrel and "Bruniton" finish. it was much more tolerant of moisture. They were both exposed to very bad conditions and they were both good pistols, one just required a little more attention.
Two key points 1. keep the breach face clean and dry. That is one place where oil can cause problems. 2. A little oil is far better than a lot of oil. Use a little commonsense.

[yellowfin]

I switched to FrogLube a couple years ago and the need for constant babying totally went away. It sticks on like chapstick and doesn't run off or evaporate. For heavy range sessions or competitions I just run a lubed up patch through the barrel a couple times then a clean one and wipe the chamber and slide with it then a clean one and it's done. Day to day I don't need to add anything at all. I generally shoot at least every other week or so if for no other reason than proficiency and fun, so it gets a fresh coating from cleaning when it needs it. It doesn't spill, doesn't stain, and it smells WAY better than a lot of oils and cleaners, like mint toothpaste. Get you some of it or Seal 1 which is about the same thing (some say slightly better) and smells like bubblegum.

As for primer issues, some Markron or nail polish to seal the primer pocket against moisture etc. is a pretty good idea for ammo you bet your life on.

[Rick Hodges]

I clean and oil...am also a believer in Eezox...great stuff. Any lint and dust that may accumulate will blow out with the first shot.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

when i first got my carry license and carry gun , i cleaned it about every week

now i carry it , it lacks most of it's finish on the slide , i clean it and oil it occasionally with CLP i use that because it is supposed to be safe around the plastic and i had it that one little bottle has lasted years

when i go to the range i pull it out of my pocket and fire through the magazine it never fails to work I may load and fire it several more magazines or I may load it back up and reholster

the way their are engineered they just work , I pull it apart and clean it maybe every other month now

[M-Tecs]

I don't use wet oils for corrosion protection. Too many great products like Frog Lube and Eesox that provide outstanding corrosion protection and lubrication without the lint and grit holding wetness of oils. I clean and inspect once a month.

Eesox and Frog Lube are currently fighting at my house for the top spot. Both are outstanding products. Eesox normally gives me less than 1 MOA point of impact differences on the first shot out to 1,000 yards. I have not tested Frog Lube for POI yet.

Interesting info here:

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/141077-Results-of-gun-care-product-evaluation

http://www.6mmbr.com/corrosiontest.html

http://www.thegunzone.com/rust.html

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?103924-Corrosion-Testing-(New-Pics-5-08-12)

http://www.chuckhawks.com/gun_lubes.htm

http://www.frfrogspad.com/cleaners.htm

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2013/12/chris-dumm/video-froglube-m-pro-7-rand-clp-corrosion-test-patriot36/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KCHARdTCjE

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?239032-Got-fed-up-with-the-Froglube-pushers

[Petrol & Powder]

Most revolvers/pistols of even moderate quality will function long enough to get you through any potential emergency, even with little or no lubrication. What we're really taking about is potential wear and rust prevention.
As for wear: during practice I'd like to minimize wear by using an appropriate lubricant in order to increase the life of the gun.
In a self defense situation, it only needs to last long enough to save my life. The only consideration is whether or not it will reliably function if it is not lubricated. Some guns will function just fine when dry and some will not.


Rust: The second reason to use a lubricant is to prevent rust. A lot of modern guns are very rust resistant. I'm a bit old school and like to do everything possible to prevent rust because I HATE rust. Something like a Glock pistol or a stainless S&W model 65 is about as rust resistant as you can get. An old blued model 1911 or S&W Model 10 will need a little more daily attention.
As for the interior of the barrel; modern powders & primers may not be corrosive these days but fouling will hold moisture against that bare steel. I think the bore of a carbon steel barrel should be clean and lightly oiled to prevent rust. A stainless or chrome lined barrel is a lot more forgiving of neglect. (I still clean mine !!!)

I like to take care of my guns but let's not lose sight of what's important. It needs to work EVERY time but it doesn't need to work for very long.