Lubricants - not all the same purpose

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rangur1

rangur1

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Jan 4, 2018
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peoples republic of New York
Ballistol, CLP, silicone grease, silicone oil, Moly, dry Moly, and on and on. Each does have a specific purpose, but what? Isn't lube basically a lubricant that lubricates moving parts and protects surfaces from corrosion from moisture. What could go wrong? Well, here is one from me. In the cocking lever section of my taipan vet I removed the top block where the cheek rest is and saw it needed some TLC to make the cocking action smoother as it was so I decided to apply some Moly in the spring section as well as the front where the pin moves back and forth and along the pin probe. Worked fine for a month, then I found the cocking action becoming real gummy and sticky requiring more effort than it ever did. I opened the cocking section back up and applied some ballistol to clean the mess I created up. worked great- for a time. Today I opened it up again and went in with silicone oil and Q tips and rubbed all traces of moly I could see, applied repeatedly untill all was shiny and slick. Now it's reassembled and working like it should.

I don't know how long the silicone oil will last, it should be longer than ballistol, or would silicone grease be better for this application, or is basic white lithium grease the answer? Your thoughts on what lube is best where?
 
Not all Moly lubricants are the same, some dry out if left exposed to certain environments. Some collect dust like crazy. Some smell just awful. Although I have use some gun lubricants for actions, I don't like the ones i have used, they get running. I tend to use whatever I happen to have around the garage. Wheel bearing grease tends to smell but I found some synthetic stuff that seem to work decent and not smell as bad. I tend to take apart my stuff at least once a year so your mileage may vary.

Allen
 
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Marc- for moving linkages like cocking systems I use Montana gun grease. Comes in a syringe like applicator. I also use that on trigger assembles, but in all the areas I use it I apply it very sparingly with these tiny q-tips, the kind women use on their eyelashes. I can link that to you later if you wish.

I used to be a moly grease fan till I saw traces of moisture collected in the area I used it. So if I do use moly, it’s either in powder form for a light dusting or a bike lube spray that goes on wet and dries leaving the moly film. It came highly recommended by the airgunners across the pond, who we all know work on all their own guns.

As far as thread lockers it’s always either blue locktite on screws(as needed only) size M4 or larger, and anything smaller gets vibratite.

I recently discovered vibratite makes their product in a tape, like a role of Teflon. Awesome stuff!
 
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The highest moly % grease I have found so far is a Honda Service moly grease. I applied it only on cocking and valve spring ends and to a trigger sear (the springs twisting when morphing=compress or expand).
I did ones a mistake and greased the air tank valve screw (thread only) but that one got gummy after several removing, a lot of effort to clean it and never again.
 
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rangur1 said:
Ballistol, CLP, silicone grease, silicone oil, Moly, dry Moly, and on and on. Each does have a specific purpose, but what? Isn't lube basically a lubricant that lubricates moving parts and protects surfaces from corrosion from moisture. What could go wrong? Well, here is one from me. In the cocking lever section of my taipan vet I removed the top block where the cheek rest is and saw it needed some TLC to make the cocking action smoother as it was so I decided to apply some Moly in the spring section as well as the front where the pin moves back and forth and along the pin probe. Worked fine for a month, then I found the cocking action becoming real gummy and sticky requiring more effort than it ever did. I opened the cocking section back up and applied some ballistol to clean the mess I created up. worked great- for a time. Today I opened it up again and went in with silicone oil and Q tips and rubbed all traces of moly I could see, applied repeatedly untill all was shiny and slick. Now it's reassembled and working like it should.

I don't know how long the silicone oil will last, it should be longer than ballistol, or would silicone grease be better for this application, or is basic white lithium grease the answer? Your thoughts on what lube is best where?
Click to expand...
I had the same issue of unsmooth cocking on my Pathfinder XR. I applied some of this product on a saturate Q-tip. Night and day difference, dry lubricant, does not attract dust or dirt. Plus you can use it for a lot of other things around the homestead.

www.homedepot.com

Blaster 9.3 oz. Advanced Dry Lube Spray Lubricant 16-TDL - The Home Depot

Blaster Dry Lube is the best dry lubricant to keep your equipment in great condition with long-lasting protection. Blaster Dry Lube helps reduce friction and wear, protects surfaces and enhances performance.
www.homedepot.com
 
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I lean toward a grease that I use for all of my reloading presses. It's called STOS, which stands for Slicker Than Owl Sh!t.
When looking at the lube that is on the rifle from the factory (new), it is very similar to the STOS product that I use. Never had issue with it, although I suppose that it could collect dust, I have not experienced that, ever.
I also use a hard carnauba wax on the externals of all of my air guns and PB's. Never any collection of dust because it's a hard, dry surface. Just be certain that it is true carnauba wax without any cleaners or additional product. Trewax for Floors (clear) is what I use most. They also have some that has color mixed in that I sometimes use on wooden stocks to very slightly darken them.
Mike
 
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Rudolph Hucker said:
We have something called 'Bum Slide' over here
Click to expand...
Tell me more... got any pictures?
Weknowwhatyouwanttodo.jpg



I have used something just labeled as "gun oil" but now I'm wondering if it might eat o-rings?
 
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Lucas "Gun Oil" on all...metal to metal moving (sliding or rotating) parts. All trigger parts, all release (sear halves) mechanism parts.
A silicone oil on parts with o-rings.
And...no it does NO harm to any plastics...so far.
I actually use their "Fishing" equipment on some parts. It's slightly heavier in viscosity, than the Gun Oil.

Simple. Has worked for me many, many years on my firearms, and yes...so far has worked JUST as well on my air powered guns. And has for the past 3+ years (as long as I've been shooting air powered arms).
No reason to change what works well.

Mike
 
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There continues to be decades old wives tales about o-rings and oils/cleaners even though most have been debunked time and time again, they still persist.

If you focus on 100% synthetic oils and cleaners, you will not bother o'rings. If you want metal on metal lubrication, non-detergent motor oil is your choice. It's sold under hundreds of names and claims but it's nearly identical.

Dissimilar metals need consideration. Galvanic corrosion is common so you need a lubricant to block metal to metal contact and non-detergent motor oil meets that requirement.
 
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