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Non-firearm specific cleaners/lubes/products that you use

deepdiver

deepdiver

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So what sorts of non-firearm specific made items do you use or have you heard of being used effectively on firearms? For instance, in a recent thread, Liko81 suggested using Chapstick to lube mags. I would like to know more about that - I assume it is for inside the mag to lube the follower. Never heard of that idea before. And yes that suggestion was the impetus for this thread.

Most of us have heard of the Springfield Arms suggestion of Simple Green to clean the XDs. My Grandfather oiled his guns with 4 in 1 oil and I have read recently that it actually does on ok job on certain parts. I have read of numerous people using brake cleaner although it seems a frowned upon practice due to potential problems if not rinsed completely. I know some people use motor oil on certain parts.

So what non-firearm type products do you use on your guns, holsters, etc?

(I'm not offering any suggestions because I am ignorant enough about alternative products to pretty much stick with commercial firearm products to avoid doing something stupid to my guns. I'm hoping to find out some new ideas here though.)
 
L

Liko81

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As to the chapstick, yes, it's a lube for the follower. Since it has a very thick wax base, it tends to stay where it's put, so you need less of it, don't need to apply as often and don't need to clean out fouling as often. I would not recommend it for other gun uses; its viscosity changes drastically with heat so it wouldn't make a very good slide grease.

For most internal parts as well as the slide/barrel, motor oil is a great lubricating oil. Think about it for a second; most of us clean and re-lube our guns every 3-500 cycles. A car's cylinder makes twice that many cycles, every second, even at idle, and at ranges of temperatures, cold and hot, that you would never expose your gun to if you could help it. Lubing a gun is probably the easiest job a motor oil would ever be asked to do. Its only shortcoming is that it is too thin to wick into small crevices like hinges the way Hoppes or Breakfree would; you'd have to disassemble and coat the parts, or just use some Hoppes for thesear/trigger hingepins and use the motor oil wherever else you need lube. It is possible to use a lighter motor oil like 5w30 as a barrel preservative, just make sure it's a thin coat to allow for accurate shoot-through of the first few rounds. I personally would just use Breakfree to clean and when a wetpatch came through clean just leave it be.
 
deepdiver

deepdiver

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Southeast, Missouri, USA
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Liko81 wrote:
As to the chapstick, yes, it's a lube for the follower. Since it has a very thick wax base, it tends to stay where it's put, so you need less of it, don't need to apply as often and don't need to clean out fouling as often. I would not recommend it for other gun uses; its viscosity changes drastically with heat so it wouldn't make a very good slide grease.

For most internal parts as well as the slide/barrel, motor oil is a great lubricating oil. Think about it for a second; most of us clean and re-lube our guns every 3-500 cycles. A car's cylinder makes twice that many cycles, every second, even at idle, and at ranges of temperatures, cold and hot, that you would never expose your gun to if you could help it. Lubing a gun is probably the easiest job a motor oil would ever be asked to do. Its only shortcoming is that it is too thin to wick into small crevices like hinges the way Hoppes or Breakfree would; you'd have to disassemble and coat the parts, or just use some Hoppes for thesear/trigger hingepins and use the motor oil wherever else you need lube. It is possible to use a lighter motor oil like 5w30 as a barrel preservative, just make sure it's a thin coat to allow for accurate shoot-through of the first few rounds. I personally would just use Breakfree to clean and when a wetpatch came through clean just leave it be.
Click to expand...
So you just use chapstick on the sides of the follower?


The same SA rep I read recommending Simple Green for cleaning XDs also recommended a high quality synthetic motor oil such as Mobile One to lube it. Given the lubricating properties of Mobile One (which I happened to have researched extensively as I use it in my car) a firearm even in extreme temperatures found in all of the continental US and HI, in 0w30 it would not have any issues with giving up protection or freezing up on you and would even work in all but the very most extreme AK temps as in a sustained -50° F or colder.
 
M

MontanaCZ

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Milford Colony, Montana, USA
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Cleaner: Mixture of Kerosene, ATF, and bit of Marvel Mystery Oil
Cleaner, Spray: Non Chlorinated Brake Cleaner
Lubricant, Oil: Mobil 1 0w.. or Amsoil 0w-30
Lubricant, Grease: Amsoil Synthetic GP and Lithium Complex grease

For getting the copper out, I use Barnes CR-10 now, but I have made a mixture of Ammonia to do the same thing.

I did not know about Chapstick.
 
Fallschirjmäger

Fallschirjmäger

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Aug 4, 2007
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Cumming, Georgia, USA
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Darn.... I can't add much besides what others have already mentioned:

Mobil1 Synthetic oil
Simple Green
Brake Cleaner

The only Real firearms related stuff I use is Eezox, nothing else I've seen comes close to it's corrosion resistant properties.
 
L

Legba

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Well, in my frustration to find rubber grips for one or more old Spanish pistols, I was considering cutting up an old car tire to make my own improvised combat grips. Will apprise on how well that works if/when I get this done.

I also use a thin film of 3-in-1 household oil for corrosion protection on old pieces with damaged blueing. Seems to work fine.

-ljp
 
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imperialism2024

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Jun 7, 2007
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Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, USA
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For what it's worth... I use brake cleaner to clean, and WD-40 as a lube. Yes, I know that WD-40 is not supposed to work well, but I have yet to have issues with it. After reading this thread and the other about cleaning, I'm probably going to change to something else, though.
 
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