Firearm lubricant and cleaner

[Seven High]

Is there any lubricant/cleaner available that does not degrade and gum up actions?

[HiBC]

There are products called "CLP" which stands for "cleaner ,lube ,and preservative.

There are multiple brands. I don't know which is best. "Tri-Flo" comes to mind.

Look in your gun shop's snake oil shelf.

[natman]

I've had good results with Tri-flow. Very slick and I've had guns that I lubed 20 years ago still work just fine.

[gwpercle]

I have found old school Rem-Oil to not go gummy on me in long term storage .
It is a light oil with Micro-Teflon particles suspended in it . The mineral oil base will evapotate in time but not go gummy and leave behind the Micro-Teflon particles as a dry lube film . Just don't use too much ( flooding is too much )

Another non-gummy lube is any of the Dry Lubes , formulated to leave a Teflon coating for slickness and have the carrier base evaporate . The Dry Teflon Lubes work well in dusty inviroments and leave behind nothing to go gummy .
Liquid Wrench Dry Lube L512 is a good one .

I have had Break Free CLP go Gummy-Gummy on me when used generously in a long term storage application ... The firearms gummed so badly they had to be stripped and completely de-gummed of Break Free .
Gary

[mehavey]

Hornady 1-Shot (BLACK can)
Dissolves/cleans off old lube.
Evaporates to dry film

[RandyC]

Check out the search function. You'll get tons of information on this subject. No criticism intended. The subject comes up often and folks love to contribute.

[Mongo_Bongo]

FWIW, I've never had an issue with Breakfree CLP.

[Dfariswheel]

The old original 1970's CLP Breakfree could dry out and get gummy, but the version made in the last 20 years won't.

[Shadow9mm]

For me, so far, frog lube paste.

[jcj54]

Never gums, works in wide range of temperature.
Marketed by Shooters Choice. I have relied on it since 1991.

[rickyrick]

Could make this easier, which one(s) does/do gum up actions?

[snoeproe]

I’ve tried most of them over the years. I’ve settled on Balistol oil now for all my cleaning and lube of my firearms. It’s made in Germany. I still use a separate barrel cleaner for internal barrel cleaning. The kids got me a new spray can of Balistol for Xmas.

[FrankenMauser]

Firepower FP10
Never gums, works in wide range of temperature.
Marketed by Shooters Choice. I have relied on it since 1991.

My favorite gun oil.
Unfortunately, they discontinued it.
Cherish what you have, for all that remains is CLP.

[jcj54]

Not sure where you got the idea FP 10 is discontinued, FrankenMauser, but FP10 is listed on the distributor Shooters Choice website and on the manufacturer, Muscle Products website.

[101combatvet]

Originally Posted by Seven High

Is there any lubricant/cleaner available that does not degrade and gum up actions?

Use Hoppes 9 to clean. Use Hoppes gun oil to lubricate, and wipe all excess oil with a clean rag. Use gun grease on moving parts with metal-to-metal contact. Hoppes makes gun grease, but I can't always find it. I am currently using Pro Gold Lubricant.

[mehavey]

Again I suggest Hornady 1-Shot [Black can] Cleaner-Lube.
Cleans/dissolves all the old off, then evaporates to leave dry film.

One of the "better" reviews

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those of you who understand chemistry: This product is NOT a silicone based dry lube (a bit of a misnomer). It is a proprietary blend of 11 herbs and spices which are all nontoxic. The ingredients create what is called a series of boundary layers (3) which are designed to carry loads (lubrication), protect against corrosion and tarnish, protect against chemical contamination.

The ingredients are carried in n-Hexane and propelled by naptha/butane/propane. This means the product dries extremely quickly with the caveat of being extremely flammable while wet. DO NOT spray this on a hot gun. The carrier products are rather offensive to people who are sensitive to chemical smells but once the carrier products have 'flashed off' the remaining residue (boundary layers) are odorless.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[FrankenMauser]

Not sure where you got the idea FP 10 is discontinued, FrankenMauser, but FP10 is listed on the distributor Shooters Choice website and on the manufacturer, Muscle Products website

Look closer.
The oil, alone, is no longer offered by Shooter's Choice. At least as far as I can tell, and as far as inventory for every retailer shows.
It is all CLP, bore cleaner, rust preventer, and grease.

Same for Muscle Products. The product that they offer now (Muscle Products Firepower FP-10) is CLP, not straight FP-10 lubricant.
FP-10 lubricant has always had additives. But there are so many now that it is a different product, and marketed as a different product, because it is now a CLP.

[jcj54]

I have a Muscle Products bottle of FP-10 from the 1990's, and the label indicates it is a lubricant, cleaner, and preservative, no different than my current metal can from Shooters Choice which is a month old. Looks, smells, acts, and works the same as always. They just started calling it CLP on the label. Both labels state it will not remove copper fouling. No grease in it.
Looks like the only change is marketing.

[rc]

While I have seen a few sticky rimfire firing pins from very old lube a good cleaning always got things back to working order.

I personally have no problem using 3:1 as a gun lubricant and preservative in place of outers or Hoppe's gun oil. Given that I don't use my guns in below freezing temperatures there are several commonly available oils that will work fine for 95% of gun owners including Remoil. While people are free to spend as much as they want on a few onces of firearms specific oil, even transmission fluid can be an effective cleaner, lubricant and preservative for firearms if that's all you have in the garage. I suspect repackaged transmission fluid is sold as Crossman Airgun oil at a huge profit since both are red and designed for high pressure applications. 10-40 or 20-50 Motor oil on a cotton rag can in fact be good thick exterior preservative for guns that won't be used for several years. For internal applications lighter weight 3:1 or sewing machine oil would be a much better choice but modern synthetic 0-20 would probably work too. I think the only time gun oil choice becomes critical is in sub zero environments and extreme dust environments where most common lubricants are more of a detriment to reliability than running a gun dry.

[bamaranger]

I clean with one product, and lube with another. Story I heard was the military was looking for a dual purpose product for the troops and we ended up with CLP.

I clean with a Cleaner /Degreaser from an outfit called Mirachem. Bought a bulk pack of the stufff a few years back, down to my last bottle., I've settled on TRW25B and/or Ballistol as a lube.

[Jim Watson]

I have some old stock FP10 but have read that Weaponshield is a later and improved formulation.

[Shadow9mm]

Originally Posted by Jim Watson

I have some old stock FP10 but have read that Weaponshield is a later and improved formulation.

I used weapon shield CLP for quite a while. probably still have over 1/2 of the last Qt bottle I bought. Smell is mild and non offensive. Lubricates well. Cleans well. Does seem to treat the metal over time when used as a stand alone clp. I have had it dry out on me on guns that were stored for longer periods of time. rust prevention is just ok.

I am currently using a separate cleaner and lubricant, I am using Lucas extreme duty oil. It seems super slick, its a bit thicker than most oils, and it stays in place really nice.

[Jim Watson]

My sample of Lucas seems one of the better products.

[Rhodester]

I use Hoppes 9 for the barrel, Ballistol to clean everything else and Wilson gun oil for lubricant as needed.

[rickyrick]

I do have a bottle of Lucas gun oil, I like the small needle applicator and the rubber stopper that goes on it. I picked it up on a road trip because my Beretta was looking a little dry at the time.