Keep it Clean, Keep it Dry?

[NixieTube]

Yesterday I was having some fun on YouTube watching videos by hickok45, and he certainly has a lot of fun with his guns and teaches everyone a thing or two about what "handgun accuracy" really means. What I thought was most interesting (after seeing his ability to hit a 200+ yard target with a Glock 27) was the way he advised to clean the gun. It's in two parts and the second part with the slide disassembly is here.

He's, like really, super frugal with lubricating oil, almost to the point that watching the video you get kind of allergic to the stuff.

I'm not talking about his choice of bore cleaner; even he says in the video that people should choose whatever solvent works best for them. What I'm referring to is his method of keeping oil out of the slide and the rest of the parts of the gun, ostensibly to keep it from attracting more dirt, carbon and gunk. He's so careful and frugal with oil that I don't think he gets as much as a whole drop anywhere on that Glock. In particular while he's cleaning out the striker channel he fixates on not using any oil at all on the toothbrushes he's using. It's fascinating to watch.

He scrubs everything clean but *dry* and uses just a tiny amount of oil on his pistol. His philosophy basically boils down to: "A tiny bit of oil in exactly the right places is OK, anything more than that is asking for trouble."

In the video, he talks about making a big mistake, thinking: "If a little oil is good, more oil must be better" and then finding all kinds of nasty deposits inside his Glock.

Personally I agree with him but not to that extreme. I use a little more oil than he does in that video when I clean my SR9. What do you all think? I get the feeling that if you're firing a lot of rounds particularly for practice and target shooting, on a pistol like the Glocks and SR9s he's probably right: just keep the dirt out of there but don't gum up the works with oil.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

I think different guns require different levels of lube.

I know a Glock armorer who says not to use any oil at all on your Glock, except a drop on the trigger disconnector once a year or so. I don't take it quite that far.

I run my Sigs with a fair amount of lube on the rails, to protect the anodizing, which protects the aluminum underneath.

My DW CBOB is still so tight it requires a fair amount of lube to function well.

I've taken to minimal oil and lube where I can get away with it. It definitely does attract dirt. I also use Gunzilla CLP which dries to a, well, dry lube.

-- Sam

 

[Cheesewhiz]

I tend to agree with Sam on this, it really depends on the gun. The type of pistol is one thing but I have found some new guns need a bit more than a well broken in one. I try to be frugal with oil but some guns don't wick oil very well on their rails and for those I will over lube and wipe it off with a clean towel.

 

[rex3live]

So how about our SR9C?? does it require a lot of lube or dry?

 

[pisgah]

Most handguns I encounter, semiauto or revolver, are either woefully under-lubed or ridiculously over-lubed. I think if you check out the owners manual of just about any de3fensive handgun sold today you will see that the manufacturers' recommendations are generally for skimpy lube, in the right places.

Granted, there are guns that need to be floating in oil to work well. I have a 22/45 that had to be kept that way for over 2k rounds before it would cycle reliably without splashing oil all over my specs -- but that's OK for a fun gun. I think a slef defense gun should be lubed often, so it never goes dry, but lubed sparingly.. Extra oil WILL attract and hold extra gunk, dirt, pocket lint, dust, fouling, etc.

 

[photofree]

My carry weapons were always carried with nothing but carefully applied Remington Dri-Lube. Back then we were more worried about fouling ammo than dripping oil into the holster. My 30 year old S&W 4506 looks almost new inside.

 

[rugerfan100]

"A tiny bit of oil in exactly the right places is OK, anything more than that is asking for trouble."

This is exactly how I have been oiling my weapons for 20+ years and they look and function as well as they did when I got them.

 

[NixieTube]

For my SR9 his advice is something I'm going to follow; the internals are just so similar to a Glock in almost every way. This afternoon I stripped down my SR9 and cleaned up any oil residues I could find and did a nice thorough clean with an oil-free toothbrush. It's still running great at about 1,500 rounds and I expect it to last a long time.

I think its good advice on all these pistols built on similar concepts: don't gum it up! If it's not built correctly from the factory, all the lube in the world isn't going to make it function better, and will probably make it worse.

I also really like his style in this video: he's obviously very experienced but he's not "pedantic" - he gives you something to think about, instead of just showing the answer.

The main reason I posted this is because the SR9 and the S&W 4040 were the first guns I've purchased and of course my tendency or my impulse was to lavish them with all kinds of attention and probably too much oil. His videos showed me that it's fine to pay attention to them but make sure you think about what you're really doing. Experience obviously matters.

Thanks to everyone who responded. Now I'm going to get some CLP.

 

[RUGERFAN357]

Since we are talking about lubercation, I would like to ask a question if I can.I use to use oil on the rails of a semi auto. Then I read about using grease on the rails. But more and more I read of people using oil. So is using grease a no no? is it nessacery? Or just oil it? AND, people say a drop or two for example. But drops can vary a great deal in size. How big a drop should be used?

Thanks,

Bill

SR9c
High Standard Crusader Compact
Taurus 850 CIA

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Since we are talking about lubercation, I would like to ask a question if I can.I use to use oil on the rails of a semi auto. Then I read about using grease on the rails. But more and more I read of people using oil. So is using grease a no no? is it nessacery? Or just oil it? AND, people say a drop or two for example. But drops can vary a great deal in size. How big a drop should be used?

Thanks,

Bill

SR9c
High Standard Crusader Compact
Taurus 850 CIA

I tend to think it's more personal than one way being particularly right; As long as you have enough of whatever lube you choose, of course.

Some people really seem to hate grease. They claim it's sticky and attracts dirt worse than oil, then turns into a grinding compound that does more harm than good.

Others subscribe to the old adage that if it slides it gets grease, and if it rotates it gets oil. I use a small amount of light grease (Tetra) on the rails of semis, myself. I clean my guns after I shoot them and apply fresh grease each time, so it's not turning into an abrasive slurry. I also don't use enough grease for that to happen; Apply it lightly, then wipe the visible part off.

That goes for oil and "drop size", too. Just apply it, then wipe off the excess. You don't want enough on there that it pools up or drips.

-- Sam

 

[john16443]

The Ruger videos for cleaning the SR9 indicate that a small amount of oil is all that's needed. That's what I plan on using until they say otherwise, and will not bother with grease.

 

[Sonnytoo]

I am conservative. Yes, I use a little oil in my guns...not much at all, but more than just a drop.
I use RIG stainless grease on the rails of my guns.
I really don't believe in running them dry, although they might run just fine that way also.
Sonnytoo

 

[tkarter]

I use gunslick on the rails of my P series. I use a cloth with hoppe's oil to coat the outside of the slide to prevent holster taking the bluing off as much as possible.

One of these days I shall read the manual. But it will be after one of mine fails. LOL.

tk

 

[JohnKSa]

One reason he has a dry set of toothbrushes and tries to keep certain parts of the gun dry is to aid cleaning.

If the gun is dry and the brush is dry, the fouling residue will brush off like loose dust. If there's oil on the brush it will smear the fouling and make it stick instead of dusting it off. If there was oil on the surface while the gun was being fired the fouling will cake onto it and it will be hard to remove.

Too much oil makes a mess. Too little causes unnecessary wear and can compromise reliability in the extreme case.

It's all about finding a balance.

For the most part, your gun will tell you where it needs to be oiled and you'll be able to figure out how much to oil with some experience.

Look for wear marks and lubricate those points.

If the gun gets a gritty, dry feeling when you operate it or if you see wear progressing rapidly then you can increase the amount of lubrication a little.

If cleanup is problematic and you have fouling caking onto surfaces then try reducing the lubrication amount or try using a dry lubrication for some of the areas where caked fouling is causing problems.