Just wondering because I have been around weapons all my life and have been lucky enough to get some professional training along the way thanks to a previous govt. job (non-military) that allowed me to fire thousands and thousands of rounds through handguns, shotguns, SMG, and carbine. Along the way I also shot IPSC and IDPA. I have used everything under the sun looking for the "perfect" product. I never found it.
One thing I did find out is that every single lube I ever used worked. When I first started shooting I used wd-40 as a CLP type product on every gun I had. This was before wd-40 became "bad" for firearms. I never had a primer go bad and to tell the truth I still use wd-40 today when nothing else is around. I have also used motor oil, STP, tranny fluid, grease of all sorts, and every gun specific product I can think of as a gun lube. For cleaning I sometimes used nothing more than a paper towel to wipe off the fouling. I have cleaned guns with kerosene, wd-40, ZEP, ATF, and so on.
These all seem to work. Never one time can I remember a failure of any sort related to the product I was using.
As a matter of fact on my everyday duty weapons I used NO lube at all. I knew my duty pistol would go about 300 rounds without a drop of lube as long as it was clean and I never had that much pistol ammo anyway so I carried it dry to avoid the oil/grease collecting lint and dirt.
On the flipside I once shot around 6K rounds through a 1911 without a single cleaning. Just added a drop of lube to slide rails every weekend before the match. The gun worked flawlessly. The only reason I ended up cleaning the gun was the fact I was worried about the blued finish.
I just can't figure out why gun enthusiasts have so many opinions on gun cleaners and lubes when in my experience they all seem to do about the same.
FWIW, I use Breakfree CLP 99% of the time these days becuase I got a ton of free samples from a dealer friend and peobably have enough to last another 6 or 7 years. The one product that has saved me more time and has been worth it's weight in gold plated diamonds is the bore snake. You could get a pistol barrel clean with canola oil using one of these.
The only problem I have ever run into is that no product seems to work well on heavy lead fouling. If you shoot a lot of hand loads with cast bullets try the lewis lead remover for the best results.
Just wanted to post a few thoughts.
I hope I didn't stir the pot too much because gun guys sure do take thier chosen products seriously.
God Bless America and our shrinking 2nd amendment rights.
One thing I did find out is that every single lube I ever used worked. When I first started shooting I used wd-40 as a CLP type product on every gun I had. This was before wd-40 became "bad" for firearms. I never had a primer go bad and to tell the truth I still use wd-40 today when nothing else is around. I have also used motor oil, STP, tranny fluid, grease of all sorts, and every gun specific product I can think of as a gun lube. For cleaning I sometimes used nothing more than a paper towel to wipe off the fouling. I have cleaned guns with kerosene, wd-40, ZEP, ATF, and so on.
These all seem to work. Never one time can I remember a failure of any sort related to the product I was using.
As a matter of fact on my everyday duty weapons I used NO lube at all. I knew my duty pistol would go about 300 rounds without a drop of lube as long as it was clean and I never had that much pistol ammo anyway so I carried it dry to avoid the oil/grease collecting lint and dirt.
On the flipside I once shot around 6K rounds through a 1911 without a single cleaning. Just added a drop of lube to slide rails every weekend before the match. The gun worked flawlessly. The only reason I ended up cleaning the gun was the fact I was worried about the blued finish.
I just can't figure out why gun enthusiasts have so many opinions on gun cleaners and lubes when in my experience they all seem to do about the same.
FWIW, I use Breakfree CLP 99% of the time these days becuase I got a ton of free samples from a dealer friend and peobably have enough to last another 6 or 7 years. The one product that has saved me more time and has been worth it's weight in gold plated diamonds is the bore snake. You could get a pistol barrel clean with canola oil using one of these.
The only problem I have ever run into is that no product seems to work well on heavy lead fouling. If you shoot a lot of hand loads with cast bullets try the lewis lead remover for the best results.
Just wanted to post a few thoughts.
I hope I didn't stir the pot too much because gun guys sure do take thier chosen products seriously.
God Bless America and our shrinking 2nd amendment rights.
