White lithium on firearms

[Trigger Time]

My wife was visiting My father in law shortly after we bought our car afew years ago. He got the bright idea that the door hinges and latches weren't good enoug the way they were made at the factory and that he could make them better by shooting white lithium grease in them. When I opened the door the next da and saw this **** inside our car doors I was like wtf!? And pissed. At him and my wife for letting him **** with our car.
so to get to the point, every single winter since when it's gotten really cold the door latch freezes open and the drivers door will not latch! If done everything to try and clean all of that nasty **** out but it's still in there and sticks. I have to spray break free in the latch to make it work to close the door. It doesn't do it every day, but trust me, driving down the interstate in a blizzard holding your door closed just one time will make you hate lithium greese! I'd never put that **** in a firearms

 

[1775usmarine]

My wife was visiting My father in law shortly after we bought our car afew years ago. He got the bright idea that the door hinges and latches weren't good enoug the way they were made at the factory and that he could make them better by shooting white lithium grease in them. When I opened the door the next da and saw this **** inside our car doors I was like wtf!? And pissed. At him and my wife for letting him **** with our car.
so to get to the point, every single winter since when it's gotten really cold the door latch freezes open and the drivers door will not latch! If done everything to try and clean all of that nasty **** out but it's still in there and sticks. I have to spray break free in the latch to make it work to close the door. It doesn't do it every day, but trust me, driving down the interstate in a blizzard holding your door closed just one time will make you hate lithium greese! I'd never put that **** in a firearms

You would figure after a few years of spraying break free you would have removed all the grease. To the OP I use Mil Surp CLP on my firearms to clean and lube. I bought (2) 1 gal jugs last year and only had to refill my spray bottle once so far. I typically clean my firearms after every range trip.

 

[Drail]

Read up on what most greases are made from. The main ingredient for most greases is - soap. Would you lube your gun with that? After all of the petroleum solvents have evaporated away you have a very poor lube. I have used nothing but Mil-spec CLP or Dexron for lubing and long term storage of firearms for 35 years and never had any cases of actions sticking because of dried out old lube. I could maybe see it used on a crew served machine gun in the military by troops who ARE going to be constantly stripping, cleaning and lubing it. In that situation nothing is allowed to stay in the weapon long enough to evaporate and solidify and gum up the action. I think grease is fine for use in a sealed bearing with a heavy load on it where you cannot get inside and apply oil occasionally. The gears in your differential and transmission are lubed with oil, not grease. The loads on those components far exceed anything found in a firearm. Why would manufacturers use oil if grease is a better lube? Or go to a pro motorcycle race where everyone is still using a chain for the final drive. Guess what they have found protects and gives the longest life? Gear oil. That's what the chain manufacturers recommend and require for warranting their chains. That's what I always used on my chain and all of my friends who used spray on grease or wax based lubes (cause they're "convenient") replaced their chains much more frequently than I did.

 

[engineerpower]

Works but i don't really like breathing burning motor oil every range trip.

Must not drive a Ford, then...

 

[red_zr24x4]

. The gears in your differential and transmission are lubed with oil, not grease. The loads on those components far exceed anything found in a firearm. Why would manufacturers use oil if grease is a better lube?

Gears rotate, which throws off the lubricant, that's why they are in an oil bath. Plus they are in a sealed container, which would make putting grease on them rather difficult.

Or go to a pro motorcycle race where everyone is still using a chain for the final drive. Guess what they have found protects and gives the longest life? Gear oil. That's what the chain manufacturers recommend and require for warranting their chains..

Again the chain rotates, which would throw off all the grease.

 

[Drail]

And your point is? Do you believe that a drive chain somehow doesn't throw off the oil? I can assure you that it does. And it must be reapplied.

 

[Cerberus]

A few years ago, I cleaned my Colt 1911 and before I got to the lubrication part of the process, the wife decided we needed to go to run some errand, so I reassembled everything (kitchen table served as my ad hoc work bench back then) and put it away. Well, it slipped my mind that it was dry and a few weeks later the BIL and I went shooting. After about 75 rounds the cycling slowed enough that I could watch it go back into battery, it was comically slow. I made it safe to inspect it to see what was wrong, and that is when I noticed it was dry, and then I remembered the last time I had cleaned it. Moral of the story, always keep you weapon lubed if you have lube, and there is no good excuse for not having lube.

I use both Lubriplate and CLP, and many others sometimes. Haven't found one that wouldn't keep my guns running yet.

 

[Bennettjh]

My wife was visiting My father in law shortly after we bought our car afew years ago. He got the bright idea that the door hinges and latches weren't good enoug the way they were made at the factory and that he could make them better by shooting white lithium grease in them. When I opened the door the next da and saw this **** inside our car doors I was like wtf!? And pissed. At him and my wife for letting him **** with our car.
so to get to the point, every single winter since when it's gotten really cold the door latch freezes open and the drivers door will not latch! If done everything to try and clean all of that nasty **** out but it's still in there and sticks. I have to spray break free in the latch to make it work to close the door. It doesn't do it every day, but trust me, driving down the interstate in a blizzard holding your door closed just one time will make you hate lithium greese! I'd never put that **** in a firearms

That would make me mad as well.

I wouldn't use white lithium on any of my firearms. I use Lucas gun oil. Lucas makes good stuff IMHO. To each his own so if grease works for you, good.

 

[Psode27]

Interesting read. Recent jumper onto the Slip2k bandwagon here, and I have to say I like both. While the slip "ewg" grease isn't really sticky, I will agree it could hold more crap than an oil would. That being said, if you are using grease, and just using a thin film, how much more crap would it hold than oil?
I say use both, but a little dab will do ya.
I don't run anything dry ever... while I know there's risk with lubes, I KNOW in more cases than not, lube is a good thing. Interesting read!

 

[Drail]

Any grease when combined with grit and powder fouling becomes - lapping compound. I will never understand why anyone would choose to put something that will hold abrasives on the rails of their firearm. A machine will run much longer when used with fresh clean oil.

 

[jcj54]

M1 and M14 rifles were designed to be lubed with grease. These are the only arms I know that wear least when greased properly?

 

[Drail]

That's because that type of action has rotating parts that DO have a heavy bearing load on them. That rotating bolt is completely different mechanism from a pistol slide that simply moves back and forth on its rails with almost no load. I have spoken with a number of Korean Vets who told me that those M1 Garand actions would not function at low temperatures until all of the grease was stripped off. Many soldiers ran their rifles bone dry just to keep them operating. Of course, those WERE extreme conditions. I have been in Korea in the winter time and it gets brutally cold there. Truck batteries would freeze and burst.