Synthetic oil for CLP?

[wpod]

I have use motor oil, ATF , or Gear lube syn or conventional and different oils in a spray cans and Slip 30. Oil is oil and I am not nice to my range guns. I my self and my kids shoot about 10,000 rounds through my guns per year. As a cleaner I used to use the solvent tank at work before retiring 20 years ago and Wipe out exclusively now and brake cleaner to flush out the crud. . My carry guns and nice guns get cleaned after use my range guns which are highly worn duplicates of my nice guns get cleaned when they get my clothes dirty or start to fail to function. I have found with lube the pistols usually go 3000 rounds without problems, my Dan Wesson 1911 and Ruger P95 can run with out problems to 4,000 rounds with just lube firing my reloads. The XD 40 needs the lead and carbon scraped out of the chamber at about 3500 rounds , then will go the 4,000 rounds.

 

[Revving2Redline]

Only the best!!
Opinions vary, results don't!!

 

[bruce381]

Take your CV-2 grease and cut it 25% with your favorite Redline PCMO now your talking.

 

[tyman]

I've used leftover clean oil for years now. The only time I've ever used CLP was in the Army.

 

[stchman]

I know this is an older thread, and yes motor oil works great as a lubricant. IMO CLPs like Breakfree and Ballistol are a compromise. They are neither good at cleaning, but are better as a lube.

I CLEAN my guns with Hoppe's #9 and LUBRICATE my guns with Rem-OIl(spray) and motor oil(barrel and rails). I've been doing this for years and it has worked very well.

I bought a bunch of Rem-Oil 10oz spray cans at Rural King a few years back for about $6 a can. I get my motor oil from the last couple of ounces in 5qt jugs when I change oil. I think I have collected enough in a quart jug to last me for life.

You don't need anything else for proper firearm cleaning and lubrication, and you especially don't need those specialty gun oils than are $5 an ounce.

 

[CharlesInCharge]

Man I tried this. Used Mobil1 Vtwin 20w-50 for gun oil but found it doesn't have the solvent properties of a CLP type product and didn't make a dent on carbon.

Engines are carbon producing machines, running at 200 degrees for hours or days at a time, under immense pressure with thousands of timed firey explosions per minute. LOL.

What do you suppose the additive packs in premium synthetic oils are for? Look at oil tests: the Boron, Calcium, Magnesium, and/or Barium are all detergents to keep engines clean of - you guessed it - carbon and sludge and other contaminants.

Motor oil companies spend billions on R&D to formulate the best oil humans can make. Gun lube companies are often 3 college grads mixing lubricants in their garage and selling for 10x the cost of motor oil. I wouldn't be surprised if they're just buying motor oil and repackaging it.

Let's take this random VOA: Looks like a very healthy dose of cleaning agents to me!
Calcium: 2390 ppm
Magnesium: 32 ppm
Boron: 77 ppm

 

[samven]

Except that those detergents are there to keep the oil clean not the engine.

 

[CharlesInCharge]

Except that those detergents are there to keep the oil clean not the engine.

How is it then that engines properly maintained look pristine after tens or hundreds of thousands of miles? I'm confident they endure more heat and pressure than maybe even the most hard run firearms.

 

[samven]

The detergents in motor oil are there to disperse water and hold contaminant in suspension so the filter can remove them and to prevent sludge from forming. Not exactly problems encountered by most gun owners. The anitwear additives are usually heat activated under extreme pressure situations, also not common in firearms. Only the oil itself is doing anything for your gun and then only as long as it manages to stay in place.

 

[Astro14]

How is it then that engines properly maintained look pristine after tens or hundreds of thousands of miles? I'm confident they endure more heat and pressure than maybe even the most hard run firearms.

A large supply of oil, cleaned by a filter, delivered under pressure to critical parts is a whole lot different environment than a couple drops on some sliding pieces of metal.

Engine oil is used in a very different environment than a firearm creates.

What works well on one has very little to do with what works well on the other.

 

[CharlesInCharge]

The detergents in motor oil are there to disperse water and hold contaminant in suspension so the filter can remove them and to prevent sludge from forming. Not exactly problems encountered by most gun owners. The anitwear additives are usually heat activated under extreme pressure situations, also not common in firearms. Only the oil itself is doing anything for your gun and then only as long as it manages to stay in place.

"No exactly problems encountered by most gun owners."
Huh?
Water, rain, snow, contaminants like dirt, mud, sand, grime, carbon, fouling, etc. are common issues.

Be specific. Why would premium motor oil, on the surfaces of a firearm prone to lubrication and dirt, not likewise "disperse water and hold contamination in suspension..." so it can be removed later through cleaning, offering a layer of protection on the metals from the elements and dirt and carbon?

Pistons and their chambers are subjected to arguably more intense carbon fouling, heat, pressure, etc. than anything other than maybe a machine gun chamber doing belt fed ammunition dumps. A film of oil will protect from wear, carbon, etc. in both instances.

 

[samven]

A film of oil will protect from wear, not carbon, not copper fouling, not dirt attraction and the additives in motor oil will do nothing but take up space that could have been more oil.

 

[CharlesInCharge]

A film of oil will protect from wear, not carbon, not copper fouling, not dirt attraction and the additives in motor oil will do nothing but take up space that could have been more oil.

What specifically is the magical additive in "gun cleaning oil" that justifies a 10x to 100x cost per oz. for which auto oil makers have overlooked, that cleans carbon and other fouling (that oddly both guns and car engines are subjected to [e.g. heat, carbon, combustion, pressure, etc.]).

Seems to me car oil makers might want to know what this ingredient is.

 

[samven]

There is no magical ingredient in any CLP. They dont clean as well as dedicated cleaners, they dont lube as well as dedicated lubes and they dont protect as well as dedicated rust preventative. There are some oils like Nano Kroil that seep under carbon to help loosen it so you can scrub it out but nothing other than PEA that I know of dissolves it and I would not use it on a gun. Mercury can dissolve lead but few use it anymore and ammonia can remove copper but you cant leave it on your gun for very long without damage. None of these would be good for your car. You seem to think that the same fluid that is used to flush and cool the engine retains the same properties when just a static film is applied. These are 2 very different environments.
Will auto oil work to lube your firearm, yes. But its not the best. There is no best. I use just plain light machine oil in the lock works of my revolvers and moly grease on the slides of my 1911's, gun grease and Super Lube in the AR's and M1's. Every situation has a lube that is better than motor oil if you have a choice, if you dont then use what you have but personally I am not putting motor oil on a $3k Wilson Target 1911 or a Colt Python to save $3.

 

[Ws6]

Any thoughts on Fireclean and the whole debacle about it supposedly just being Crisco shortening?

It's not just Crisco. It's a proprietary blend. I think it works amazingly well for a frequent-use firearm. However, if you choose to use it in storage or don't completely clean the weapon, OR the lube gets into places where it is not constantly replaced (firing pin channels, recoil tubes, etc.) it turns into a hard glue, given time. Functionally, this is why I stopped using it.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

*Basically only good as a lube for slides , connectors , parts that rub , etc. then you have to clean with something else . The Mobil 1 V-Twin doesn't protect either ... I realized I use so little of the stuff it's not worth it to make a quart of gun oil that really is only good as a lube as it doesn't clean nor protect from rust . The above said , FP10 , Weapon Shield , MPro 7 , SLIP 2000 , G96 , etc. would all last me quite while .

That's why I use CLP and Mobil 1 0W-20 mixed 1 to 1 I still have some I mixed up years ago and 4/5's of the bottle of Mobil 1.