Author Topic: Cleaning and Lubes  (Read 26917 times)

JdePietro

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Cleaning and Lubes
« on: June 05, 2009, 11:17:57 AM »
Mods; I am not 100% sure where this belongs, so move as you see fit.

I am a gun cleaning, and gun lubricating fanatic! I am always in search for better products and I have no problem putting out a couple dollars in “research” to see if they product does what it says it will. The following is my experiences with these products over a period of a year with the exception of Brian Enos’s Slide Glide.

Eezox  http://eezox.com/:

   Eezox claims to be a one stop shop for gun cleaning and lubrication. The website boast claims of superior rust protection as well as reduced cleaning time due to a dry lubricating film that is left after every use. Cumulative use of the product results in better protection and easier cleaning. The product is meant to be used solely and  does not work as proclaimed when mixed with other cleaning solvents and lubes.

   I have been using Eezox for about a year now give or take a month. The first thing I want to put out is that it does not remove copper or plastic fowling. Whereas I have found that it makes a great oil to put in your barrel after you clean, on its own I do not think it does an adequate job for barrel cleaning. Protection is first rate, finger prints, dust, you name it Eezox keeps it off! The first time I used this product I was not impressed at all, the carbon was not melting into a pile of butter at my feet, the marks on my blued and parked barrels did not leave. However I went through the steps and cleaned out all the old cleaner and lube and did the total Eezox make over. The second time around things were mostly the same, nothing dramatic maybe just a little easier since I did not have to clean the old solvent out. It was only the forth or fifth time into it that I finally got to experience the magic of Eezox. The nasty carbon that I used to scrub out with a bronze brush now just wiped off with a gun patch. The areas of my firearms that saw abuse in the field* looked brand new. While out in the field* I watched as the water would bead off and instantly run off  my firearms.

   Another  benefit of the dry film it leaves are its lubing properties. On firearms like Shotguns, Revolvers, and bolt actions I think it is perfect. You don’t have to worry about drippy runny oil getting all over your clothes or gear because Eezox stays where you put it. For harder use application such as the Semi Auto or Full Auto application adding a little oil to the mix really is the ticket. The combined oil and dry film create superior lubrication than just oil alone. You will notice the difference when the moving parts stop wearing off the finish where you put the lube and Eezox.

   In ending, I don’t feel Eezox quite qualifies as a end all to the gun cleaning world. I still use a separate cleaning agent for the barrel and in my SA applications I opt for the added protection of  wet lubes and grease. Still if you don’t like cleaning for hours on end and you want the finish on your gun to be there for your grandkids I highly recommend you give it a try.

 Royal Purple Max film, http://royalpurple.com/protect-parts-o.html:

   Royal Purple or RP, has been a industry  leader in lubricating products for the automotive world for a very long time. RP Max Film is a great all around lubricant with no real specific purpose. I use it as a wet lube for application that call that specific lubricant. It doesn’t heat up and burn off like some of the “gun” lubes on the market today and the stuff is super slick. It does not attract dust or carbon overly much, no unpleasant odor  and I find that it stays where you put it as well as any oil can.

   There really isn’t much to say as I don’t find that it does everything you would expect of in an oil. For a couple dollars I can grab a little bottle of this stuff and it works well for my needs.

Brian Enos’s Slide Glide http://www.brianenos.com/pages/slide-glide.html:

   Brian Enos is your everybody gun guy. Like you or I he is always in search for the best gun care products and in this case he just decided to make his own. After experimenting with different forms of Lithium Grease, he came to the conclusion that grease makes firearms run better. The problem was that after a couple hundred rounds or so the grease would burn off or disappear. Mr. Enos placed a call to a friend who worked in the automotive industry and together they came up with Slide Glide. I don’t usually rave about a product unless I have tested it over a decent amount of time and thoroughly trust the product enough to recommend it to my family (That would be you guys and gals). However I cannot express how happy I am with this product! But before I discuss it in depth I have a little story…

As I had stated in the beginning, I am rarely satisfied with run of the mill cleaning supplies and I had decided it was time to “research” some new stuff. I read about Slide Glide in a few magazines and decided to give it a run. I put in my info a placed my order only to find out the website would not place my order. After a few attempts I sent an email to contact info and waited. The next day I got an email back from Mr. Enos himself and he stated my order was on its way and on HIM! That my friends is what I call service! I thanked Mr. Enos and promised to give him the results of my tests and shamelessly promote.

So what about the stuff? It is just as it is described on the site. I went for the gusto and placed some on my M1A and SW1911PD. First I had three friends and myself run the actions and take a few shots with my old lube. Afterwards I stripped the guns and cleaned every ounce of grease off and applied Slide Glide lite to all the previously lubed parts. Each person and myself worked the actions of the firearms and it was a unanimous conclusion that the slide glide significantly made manipulating the actions easier and quieter, yes noticeably quieter. We put 100 rounds through the 1911 to try and move or burn off the grease. No dice that stuff was still there, and yes because the action was so smooth it did feel like the recoil was different. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it was significantly lighter, but it did feel less harsh and metallic.  The M1A was the big test and without much fanfare I can say that the Slide Glide did its job. I think in the future I am going to upgrade to the Slide Glide Medium for the M1A but I cannot say that the lite did anything but improve the function and smoothness of  the action. If it didn’t burn off or run after 40 rounds rapid fire and 80 slow fire, I don’t think it could or would.

In ending I want to say that although my evaluation time with Slide Glide has been the shortest it was the most impressive. It is rare to find a product out there that actually does what the owner claims but Slide Glide is one of those. Mr. Enos is a great guy and obviously knows how to run a business. Slide Glide now has a permanent home in my cleaning supplies and I really hope you add it to yours.

*Field, refers to my various training, hunting, and competitions.
How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.
-Henry David Thoreau

shooter32

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Re: Cleaning and Lubes
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2009, 11:35:30 AM »
Good stuff JDP.

Thanks for the info!!

A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have. ~ Gerald Ford - August 12, 1974

tombogan03884

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Re: Cleaning and Lubes
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2009, 02:02:10 PM »
Thanks for the Info

mmszbi

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Re: Cleaning and Lubes
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2009, 11:23:20 PM »
+1 on the Slide Glide, great stuff!
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billt

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Re: Cleaning and Lubes
« Reply #4 on: June 05, 2009, 11:52:48 PM »
All I have ever used to lubricate my firearms is Mobil 1 Motor Oil, ATF, (Automatic Transmission Fluid), and for very high pressure friction points like bolt lugs on bolt action rifles and hinge pins on O/U shotguns I use a small amount of STP. I have never had a a gun rust or fail because of a lubrication issue in over 35 years. Gun oils and greases are overpriced "snake oils" in fancy packaging, nothing more. Know what your getting when you spend $8.00 for a bottle of "Castrol / Hoppes Synthetic Gun Oil"? Castrol Syntec Motor Oil. You can buy it all day for around $4.50 @ quart, or pay $8.00 for 4 ounces of it in a fancy brushed Aluminum pump bottle.

Same with a lot of these "Gun Greases". Go into any auto parts store and you can buy a large tube of Moly Grease that will last the average shooter a lifetime for a couple of bucks. It's as good, or better than these miracle gun greases they sell for over $10.00 for a 1/4 ounce! If you like the fancy hypo type applicator, you can get one at Walgreens, or most any other drug store for around .25 to .50 cents, and it's refillable too boot.

Mobil 1 can be tailored to your climate just as you would if you used it in your car. If you shoot or hunt in very frigid climate it comes in a 0W-20 grade that won't stiffen up in cold weather. Here in Arizona we don't get much cold weather, but in the Summer it can get blistering hot so I use the 20W-50 grade. It has a nice viscosity that won't run off metal and dry up in a few days like some of these water thin gun oils like "Rem-Oil" will.

ATF is a very clean non gumming lubricant that works well for lubricating semi autos and fast moving parts like slides and even trigger mechanisms. All 3 of these products can be purchased at any auto parts store for around $10.00, and will last the average shooter for years. I won't overpay for these gun lubes that do nothing better except make you poorer. Bill T.

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Re: Cleaning and Lubes
« Reply #5 on: Today at 12:34:36 AM »

MAUSERMAN

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Re: Cleaning and Lubes
« Reply #5 on: June 06, 2009, 02:06:47 AM »
Motor oil lube for AR'' and AK's?
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billt

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Re: Cleaning and Lubes
« Reply #6 on: June 06, 2009, 06:00:05 AM »
An automobile engine, or any engine for that matter, is a lot harder to keep properly lubricated than a firearm.  Bill T.

Timothy

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Re: Cleaning and Lubes
« Reply #7 on: June 06, 2009, 06:59:28 AM »
An automobile engine, or any engine for that matter, is a lot harder to keep properly lubricated than a firearm.  Bill T.

Well put Bill, quite a bit dirtier too...engine oils, specifically the synthetic types can last for MILLIONS of cylinder firings, crankshaft and cam rotations and huge heat ranges.  Your handgun will never see that type of abuse in it's entire lifetime if you were to shoot it every day for 100 years.  The detergents required in motor oil strip the metal of contaminants to keep it clean and reduce friction and wear, exactly what your trying to accomplish with the "High Tech" gun oils.

Hazcat

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Re: Cleaning and Lubes
« Reply #8 on: June 06, 2009, 08:52:54 AM »
I remember reading an article by a guy that was a metallurgist and a shooter who recommended ATF.  Said it was the best stuff out there.  Only time he suggested using something else (can't remember what) was for extreme cold.
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tombogan03884

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Re: Cleaning and Lubes
« Reply #9 on: June 06, 2009, 09:49:54 AM »
I remember reading an article by a guy that was a metallurgist and a shooter who recommended ATF.  Said it was the best stuff out there.  Only time he suggested using something else (can't remember what) was for extreme cold.

We read that here, there was a link to a web site that had the science. I don't have time today to search the Archive though.
It may have been the thread DDMack put up about the spilled heating oil

 

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