So what is the general consensus on lubrication of your bolt rifle actions?

[efm77]

I've bounced around all over the place through the years but have moved back to what I started with originally for the most part. Good synthetic grease on the high friction areas. A very thin film on the bolt body, and then good coverage on the back of the lugs, as well as the cocking cam, and extraction cam. Those are the areas with the most pressure. Most of the time I use Mobil 1 synthetic grease. Much much cheaper than anything made specifically for guns and is rated down to -40F. I also put a little bit on the sear engagement. Everything thing else is usually sprayed down with Hornady One Shot as it's a very good dry lube and rust protector. The reason I've gone to that regiment is because oil tends to migrate and creep in to places it's not supposed to be and doesn't stay where it's needed. Grease and dry lube tend to not run off.

[Chowda]

I use CLP or Rem lube for everything. CLP is all we used in the Army for everything from the M16 to M2 50 cal to MK 19 grenade launcher. I was taught a light coat of oil simply means putting it on and wiping it off. It worked in evironments from Ak where I was stationed to deployments to Iraq.

[geneackley]

I use CLP or Rem lube for everything. CLP is all we used in the Army for everything from the M16 to M2 50 cal to MK 19 grenade launcher. I was taught a light coat of oil simply means putting it on and wiping it off. It worked in evironments from Ak where I was stationed to deployments to Iraq.

I am sure CLP is great. The military must have very sound reasons for using it. I just dont much care for liquid lubricants since they tend to migrate. I also am skeptical of something that does too many things at once like CLEANING, LUBRICATING and PRESERVING...

Obviously I am not a chemist and may very well be full of it. And it wouldn't be the first time someone has thought that of me!! ha ha !!!

But I can clean with Ed's Red, Lube with something that won't migrate (like the Mobile 1 grease EFM77 suggested), and preserve with Lanolin which is a really great rust inhibitor.

I think the military uses LSA in their machine guns now... its a liquid grease... its virtue is that it can be squirted on out of a bottle, but then behaves much like a grease and doesn't tend to migrate. Dont ask me how it works... Remember I am not a chemist!! ha ha !!!

Thanks Chowda!!!

[geneackley]

I've bounced around all over the place through the years but have moved back to what I started with originally for the most part. Good synthetic grease on the high friction areas. A very thin film on the bolt body, and then good coverage on the back of the lugs, as well as the cocking cam, and extraction cam. Those are the areas with the most pressure. Most of the time I use Mobil 1 synthetic grease. Much much cheaper than anything made specifically for guns and is rated down to -40F. I also put a little bit on the sear engagement. Everything thing else is usually sprayed down with Hornady One Shot as it's a very good dry lube and rust protector. The reason I've gone to that regiment is because oil tends to migrate and creep in to places it's not supposed to be and doesn't stay where it's needed. Grease and dry lube tend to not run off.

I like your approach of using automotive grease. Its so much cheaper than fancy "gun lubes" and a tube will probably last you a lifetime and your Walmart Automotive section is probably a lot closer than Midway USA...

In that vein of "automotive items", I use a gun cleaner called "ED's Red". You may have heard of it, but its a mixture in equal parts of a quart of acetone, Dexron III Transmission fluid, Kerosene and mineral spirits. You wind up with a gallon of gun cleaner and its great cause you can pour some into a container and let your parts soak overnight... I then run the leftover liquid through a coffee filter and use it again and again. Its really great... and cheap.

I also make my own case lube. I use an ounce of liquid lanoline (I bought a 16 ounce bottle on Amazon and it will probably last me the rest of my life) diluted into 16 ounces of fuel injector cleaner that is 99.9 % alcohol. You put it in a spray bottle and its just incredible. Youtube has lots of videos of these home made lanoline based case lubricants. Again you just save a lot of money and they work great and they are not so harsh on your hands.

So I have a feeling a tube of Mobil one grease will be following me home next time I go to Wally World. Thanks EFM!!!!

[geneackley]

I've bounced around all over the place through the years but have moved back to what I started with originally for the most part. Good synthetic grease on the high friction areas. A very thin film on the bolt body, and then good coverage on the back of the lugs, as well as the cocking cam, and extraction cam. Those are the areas with the most pressure. Most of the time I use Mobil 1 synthetic grease. Much much cheaper than anything made specifically for guns and is rated down to -40F. I also put a little bit on the sear engagement. Everything thing else is usually sprayed down with Hornady One Shot as it's a very good dry lube and rust protector. The reason I've gone to that regiment is because oil tends to migrate and creep in to places it's not supposed to be and doesn't stay where it's needed. Grease and dry lube tend to not run off.

As I replied earlier, I had decided to check out this grease because it seemed like a very solid answer that wouldn't cost a fortune as compared to "gun specific lubricants" - which are a fortune for a tiny little bottle's worth at the gun store...

So I went to my local walmart and they didnt have it, nor did the local O'Reillys... I could have kept going to other auto parts stores but I decided to go to my trusty EBAY and there they had it. I paid 13 bucks for it delivered to the house... but... I figure that one tube of grease will last me the rest of my life, and because of the quality, it should handle anything that I am likely to need it to.

Remember that OILS MIGRATE: Grease remains.

As I understand it, one of the problems initially with the M-16 in Vietnam was that soldiers would not adequately clean and lube their guns because they initially thought that these new "space age rifles" were "self cleaning"... In fact no cleaning kits were even issued with them at first!!!

And because of the direct impingement gas on the bolt carrier, these guns would get very hot very fast. And when oil was indeed applied, it would boil off quickly. So LSA is a special "liquid grease" that was developed to solve this problem; It flows like a liquid (in order to be able to apply it on the fly from a bottle), but then tends to stick like a grease. I own a couple of quarts of the stuff that I bought surplus somewhere years ago for 5 or 8 bucks a quart; Great stuff. Made in Germany by world class chemist and NATO uses it on their machine guns to this day. So for the price and given its pedigree, that's all I use in my ARs.

But I will let you all know how the Mobile 1 Synthetic grease works out... but I bet great!!!

Again thanks for all the input !!!

[justinp61]

I've started using TSI 321, a synthetic oil on my bolts. I use just a touch of moly grease on the recoil lugs and cocking ramp.