I don’t necessarily mean to start a “best gun oil” debate but I was wondering if those who use synthetic motor oil could share their experiences.
Currently I use break free CLP for field use and their “LP” after a dedicated cleaning. This is working very well for me and I like the thicker LP a lot. I need to stock up some in my reserves but don’t want to pay Gucci prices.
for those that use synthetic motor oil
1. How does it function as a CLP? Does it require a dedicated cleaner still?
2. How does it do as a corrosion inhibitor? While this might not be critical with certain material finishes used on ARs it still matters a lot on traditional finishes.
3. What weight do you like? I have heard everything from 0w20 to 10w30 and, well pretty much the entire range of PCMO and HDEO. I would think a straight weight might be best but maybe it just doesn’t matter...
Sure, here we go
By the numbers.
I have cleaned/blued/refinished professionally for decades as well as lubrication engineering so this is a broad based answer based on my experience trying almost every scenario imaginable with just about every concoction around.
Foundation- almost all weapons are boundary lubricated and even then the primary tribological agent is the finish ( asperity control) and material properties ( hardness mostly) with virtually no film required during cycling ( and depending on rounds fired, even if you start with a film, you may not end up with one). Point is that there is very little actual chemical lubrication required for proper operation of most weapons.
Next, as a general rule, "cleaners" generally don't lubricate- lubricants don't clean well and "preservative" is a made up marketing term that's meaningless. Those that do it all together work but how well is in the eye of the beholder.
Cleaning- Cleaning is determined by what needs to be cleaned and with a weapon its usually baked on carbon. You benefit from a good solvent best. I use my parts cleaner (saftkleen) but before that was mineral spirits ( used to be 1:1:1 and varsol but oh well, that's a different world) or brake cleaner. I have used dunking carburetor cleaner before. Ideally you want to flush/rinse and cans of brake clean do get expensive. I have used Dawn and boiled some with good results.
So, "oil" (dino or synthetic) probably isn't the best selection to really give a good GI clean to a weapon but like spit, you rub long and hard enough it will eventually get there but a dedicated solvent is superior.
Corrosion- Be careful here. Few weapons are truly "corroded" (in the normal sense of the term) and surface rust is not difficult to prevent. The thing is that "bluing" is passivated corrosion. Anything that can attack corrosion can attack many finishes. ( this is whys sometimes they get "lighter" with age- that's not "wearing off" usually). When I cure from bluing- its straight 30 (no nothing). Same for lubricating.
Never tried a synthetic straight but I cannot see a difference.
"Weight" isn't going to matter because if you do the proper "thin film" - there is no "weight" to consider. You don't want residue running out into the furniture, holster etc.- it makes a mess so that "coating" is the corrosion layer as well as the boundary film.
I consume average a quart a year on the oil and maybe a vapor /splash loss of about a gallon of cleaner ( when I use mineral spirits)- and that's with a lot of weapons
