Is Motor Oil a Good Substitute for Gun Oil?
BY Herschel Smith
4 years ago
Then there is this from Mountain Guerrilla.
“Since it evokes commentary in every class I do……I lubricate my rifles with copious amounts of whatever motor oil happens to be on sale at the gas station when I’m enroute to the class, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t cleaned any of our primary rifles in at least five months…..somewhere in the vicinity of 7000-8000 rounds per weapon….and they still run flawlessly……motor oil is designed to do what? Protect and lubricate high-velocity, reciprocating pistons in a machine (your car)….what is your bolt carrier group? A high-velocity, reciprocating piston …”
On December 15, 2020 at 11:13 pm, BRVTVS said:
The exception is black powder. Petroleum based oils make the fouling into a hard to clean tar.
On December 15, 2020 at 11:42 pm, Bill Deason said:
ditto……any oil is better than no oil..
On December 16, 2020 at 12:16 am, blake said:
I use accepted gun cleaning fluids and lubricants.
However, I also understand that motor oil will work just fine, as an alternative, should it become necessary.
And, if things go sideways, “harvesting” motor oil from stranded cars may become a cottage industry.
On December 16, 2020 at 2:02 am, Nosmo said:
Well, the obvious question is: How to add good rust inhibitors to high quality synthetic motor oil.
On December 16, 2020 at 3:25 am, John said:
A historical reference: During WWII the Soviets used motor oil cut with gasoline
as their winter weapons libricant. The Germans used their issue army lubes.
The German arms froze into uselessness. The Soviet’s ran just fine.
On December 16, 2020 at 4:17 am, George said:
Unless you live near the equator, anyone who puts 30 weight on a firearm is a class a retard.
On December 16, 2020 at 4:59 am, Old Bill said:
Well, George, one exception: M2 50 cal machine guns run just fine on 30 weight. …I wouldn’t go throwing that “retard” around; there’s always someone who knows more than you, and when you jump ugly with your opinions they’re usually standing behind you listening.
On December 16, 2020 at 8:01 am, Fred said:
@blake, I would think that harvesting the lead tire balance weights would be a more likely cottage industry, but hey, why not both.
My gut says to use only natural and not synthetic. I should look into this.
On December 16, 2020 at 8:08 am, George said:
that is another George not me. I have used Mobil 1 Synthetic and it works great. So do many of the competitive shooters out there.
On December 16, 2020 at 8:09 am, George said:
How can we scrub that other George from comments with that name. I have been here a long time.
On December 16, 2020 at 8:37 am, Fred said:
One morning a couple years ago when I came here somebody named fred had thrown up ugly all over every post in TCJ. It happens.
On December 16, 2020 at 8:54 am, blake said:
@fred, yeah, you’re probably right.
On December 16, 2020 at 9:09 am, Fred said:
@John, do you know the percent cut of gas to oil, and do you have a document about this?
On December 16, 2020 at 9:13 am, James said:
I and many friends having been using different home made brews of the Ed’s Red variety,works just fine.
That said,have never used in a BP gun and will at least refrain while researching to due to above comment warning,will assume it was made with decent knowledge.
On December 16, 2020 at 9:34 am, RedinOleVirginny said:
Anything including bacon grease on AK’s. Although I’d rather throw some corn meal in the bacon grease and make sloosh.
For AR’s synthetic motor oil will do – but there’s no reason not to have stockpiled parts, accessories, lube etc.
Stuff runs out – then you make do.
I enjoy the blog.
Best Regards
Red in OleVirginny
On December 16, 2020 at 9:42 am, George 1 said:
I used to use CLP exclusively. I find that Mobil 1 synthetic grease works better for my usage. I would not use it in an area with blowing sand but it works well where I live. I use the grease on the bolt and carrier and gun oil or CLP for a few other lube points. Never encountered any problems.
Now I see in some of the gun blogs that many use the Mobil 1 type 28 synthetic aviation grease. Not sure how that is better than regular high temp grease for guns but some advocate for it.
On December 16, 2020 at 10:05 am, Thomas Madere said:
Mobile One 0- W20 on my Colt AR.
On December 16, 2020 at 11:31 am, Herschel Smith said:
First George, change your nom de guerre for future posts.
On December 16, 2020 at 1:21 pm, John said:
@ Fred. I tried to remember and I believe the show the following blogger quotes was
my source of the info:
“On what ever that show was comparing German to Soviet equipment and weapons…( Old History Channel ) It was some kind of petro based oil ,but thinned w/ kerosene/diesel. They also did a cold chamber test of uniforms,weapons, etc.”
He remembers about the same amount that I do except he remembered the source.
I’ m almost certain the oil they cut was regular motor oil. As to percent, no clue.
On December 16, 2020 at 1:32 pm, John said:
I just found a Very Interesting Armalite Study on this at a site called
Bobistheoilguy.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/gun-oil-article.313398/
On December 16, 2020 at 1:37 pm, Fritz said:
I use synthetic motor oil and it works great. My dad laughed at me using super duper ($$$) gun oil and told me clean motor oil works great. Think about it. What does motor oil get exposed to in an engine? Heat, pressure, carbon, and how many times a minute for 3,000 miles between oil changes? Both guns and motor vehicle engines are internal combustion engines.
On December 16, 2020 at 5:50 pm, Jay said:
I’ve had issues with “super” gun oils gumming up a loose 1911 slide enough that it wouldn’t return to battery. The first time I left it in the truck overnight in the 20’s F and the gun oil got too viscous (I forget which one a white squeeze bottle with red letters). The second time I cleaned & lubed it with another, lighter gun oil and put it away for a couple years and when I took it out again the oil had thickened into a jelly. Also had old oils gumming up ARs, they still ran but needed cleaning.
I’ve since started using only motor oil or axle grease for lubricants in all my guns and have not had any issues since at any temperature or age. Grease on AR bolts as the guy above said, and wife’s 0W-20 on everything else. I don’t wipe down blued steel with it, marine rust preventative Lanocote works much better for that anyway.
On December 16, 2020 at 7:22 pm, DelMarVaDave said:
I didn’t read all the F’ing comments, however, I would use ATF over 30 weight.
On December 16, 2020 at 9:08 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
@ Fritz
” use synthetic motor oil and it works great. My dad laughed at me using super duper ($$$) gun oil and told me clean motor oil works great. Think about it. What does motor oil get exposed to in an engine? Heat, pressure, carbon, and how many times a minute for 3,000 miles between oil changes? Both guns and motor vehicle engines are internal combustion engines.”
Big thumbs up to your entire comment! What are you, some sort of petroleum or chemical engineer? Mobil One rocks….
Internal combustion engines undergo rigors during normal operation that few firearms see. That goes especially for high-compression engines, diesels and like, as well as boosted motors (supercharged, turbocharged or both). And if you really want durable heavy-duty lubricants, constant velocity joints and transaxles are the place to look. If a given oil, grease or lube can survive one of those applications, it will probably find your favorite gat a walk in the park.
Someone higher up in the scientific/technical food-chain than me will have to comment on aerospace applications; that’s above my pay grade.
Many an Afghan tribesman has been seen cleaning and lubricating his trusty AK47/AKM with nothing more than a knotted shoelace and some motor oil. Of course, those weapons are rather different than ARs, but the basic principle applies – necessity is the mother of invention.
On December 16, 2020 at 10:09 pm, Baddog said:
ATF, auto trans fluid, not the morons that shoot dogs, will exceed the performance of motor oil, and provide the capillary performance to outperform CLP.
On December 16, 2020 at 10:30 pm, Tom762 said:
I once had an Oil Company Exec tell me, quote, ” oil is oil, make sure its full and you will have no problems” and change it regularly. Granted, this was auto advice, but I think it holds true across all boards.
As far as anti corrosion inhibitors, well, think about that. A rust flower on your rifle does suck, but that same flower on a cam lobe will kill you engine. Calling BS on that.
One last thing, most important!! WD40 is NOT oil!!! It is SOLVENT, that turns crappy as a bonus!! When I see a can of WD40 in someones tool box, I look long and hard. And if I catch them using it for anything other that cleaning parts, of maybe spraying out a wet distributor, They are FIRED !!!!!!!!
On December 17, 2020 at 2:10 am, StillSworn said:
Two cents from truck fleet maintenance experience. Two applications, engine oils and gear oils. Gear oils were like a miracle. We went from changing oil every spring (the oil drained out was like mud) and changing oil seals and bearings far too regularly to putting the synthetic oil in and forget it. No more oil changes, seals or bearings. Checking the oil regularly showed no signs of rust from bearings, gears or axles. (rust inhibitor?) Engine oil was a different story. Nation wide testing included straight synthetic, straight mineral oil and 50/50 blends of various applicable viscosity. Our region tested straight synthetic at (if memory serve) 10-30 weight. Too little friction or resistance. Engines blown up in various ways. After all the trials we settled on a 50/50 blend at 15-40 weight. My personal truck had gear oils dropped right away when new, replaced by synthetic. Have always used 15/40 blend engine oil and 373,000 miles later all is well. Two issues to consider, rust inhibitors seems to be taken care of and cycling speed which can be abusive to a machine and may be more than a magazine can keep up with. Return springs can be used to adjust cycling speed.
On December 17, 2020 at 4:04 am, Papa said:
NAPA full synthetic 5w20 and 5w30 left over from oil changes.
Drain the empty new bottles into a container during oil changes, use for firearms.
Great oil. Old NAPA synthetic oil still slick after being run hard and drained. Been using NAPA brand for years in multiple vehicles.
On December 17, 2020 at 4:50 am, Elmo said:
Fred-
If you’re referring to harvesting wheel weights off of dead cars to recycle them into projectiles, don’t. They haven’t used lead in wheel weights for years. And some of the weights that might look like lead contain a percentage of Zinc, which can screw up your alloy pretty quickly.
I quit buying wheel weights on eBay after I figured out that between sorting through every weight before melting them and running the numbers as to what a batch of weights yield after melting the steel clips off they’re just not worth the hassle.
Regarding gun oil substitutes, I’d prefer hydraulic oil over motor oil. But then I have access to hydraulic oil and other folks may not.
On December 17, 2020 at 11:42 am, Ron P said:
I have been using FLUIDFILM for all sorts of things including firearms. Amazing stuff though it smells like a wet sheep. Kills rust and aluminum oxidation off my marine hardware right now. Will not freeze, i use it on the motors in my freezers.
On December 18, 2020 at 12:52 am, Brad said:
ATF is the shit. If you haven’t tried it, you should. The best I’ve seen for BCG’s and 1911 slides.