{"id":66051,"date":"2021-03-22T06:25:21","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T12:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=66051"},"modified":"2021-03-22T06:31:56","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T12:31:56","slug":"66051","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=66051","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of the ‘high speed-low drag’ shooters I knew used Mobil 1\u2122, as mentioned in the article.
\nWhen I was stationed at Ft Knox, the Marine occifer tanker students from Quantico,\u00a0 hooked us up with HilCo lube wipes and lube from Hill Manufacturing Company<\/a> , which is primarily a manufacturer of industrial cleaning products, but whatever.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0Gun Lore Explored \u2013 Can You Use Motor Oil As Gun Lubricant?<\/a><\/p>\n

By Sam Hoober, \u00a0Alien Gear Holsters<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
And now for something completely different.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Something you might have heard from time to time is that motor oil can be used as a gun lubricant. Some say it\u2019s better than most gun oils, some say it\u2019s roughly equivalent, and some insist it\u2019s all they use.<\/p>\n

How true is it?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s try to come up with an answer.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On its face, there\u2019s no reason why it shouldn\u2019t. Motor oil provides lubricity in engines until the molecular structure begins to break down due to repeated trauma from heat and all those moving parts.<\/p>\n

It would also probably be best to use synthetic. Synthetic motor oil is now the preferred oil for new cars and has been preferred in luxury cars as well as high-end sports cars for quite some time.<\/p>\n

\n
Back in the 90s, Mobil bought a new BMW 325i off the lot, drove it around a bit to get it started, and then stuck it on a rolling road (a hamster wheel for cars) and left the throttle on at 85 miles per hour for the better part of four years<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

They stuck to BMW\u2019s service schedule, performing all maintenance at the recommended intervals. (Hint, hint.) Naturally, they used Mobil1 synthetic, but still. When the car hit 1,000,000 miles on the clock, they tore down the block and started measuring everything.<\/p>\n

The clearances were still at factory spec.<\/p>\n

So modern motor oil \u2013 and Mobil1 is not really exotic anymore \u2013 is no joke. Granted, I\u2019ve had better results with Castrol GTX in my cars, but never mind; this is about gun stuff.<\/p>\n

How, therefore, can a person tell how suitable motor oil might be for use as gun lubricant? By understanding the relative ability to withstand the stresses of the two fluids.<\/p>\n

Now, what stresses are those going to be?<\/p>\n

To a degree, there\u2019s the sheer forces in the gun itself, but that doesn\u2019t apply as much as you\u2019d think. Force is actually acting on other things; in a semi-auto pistol, force acts on the slide, the barrel lugs, and to a lesser extent the frame rails, not the lubricant that coats them.<\/p>\n

In a semi-auto shotgun or rifle, the force acts on the bolt and carrier and the recoil system more so than merely the oil that\u2019s on it. So force itself is not a good measurement.<\/p>\n

Neither is pressure. In engines, pressure is minimal compared to firearms. The most pressure that will be contained in any given engine rarely exceeds 1,000 psi; most engines have 200 psi or less when the piston is at top dead center.<\/p>\n

Typical oil pressure is less than 60 psi for most cars.<\/p>\n

Also, pressure in guns can be misleading. There is a lot of pressure at the chamber (20,000 psi to 60,000 psi+, depending) but remember that most of that pressure actually goes down the bore. That\u2019s how guns make a bullet go fast!<\/p>\n

Some cycles the action in a semi-auto, to be sure, but it\u2019s drastically less than chamber pressure. So the ability of a lubricant to withstand pressure is likewise not relevant.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s left, then?<\/p>\n

The most relevant measurement, really, is the ability to withstand heat. Since we can take it as granted that motor oil lubricates and withstands pressures and stresses just as gun lubricant, can motor oil put up with the heat?<\/p>\n

Okay, so the measurements that used for lubricants are the flash point \u2013 the minimum temperature at which the substance can ignite at all \u2013 boiling point (obvious) and the ignition point, when it combusts.<\/p>\n

Why is this relevant?<\/p>\n

Part of the carbon buildup inside your gun is the ignition of the lubricant. It burns and vaporizes, leaving deposits inside the gun and reducing the amount of lubricant in the weapon. In other words, the more heat a lubricant can withstand, the longer it lasts when shooting.<\/p>\n

Now, the hottest most guns get is somewhere between 250 degrees F to 400 degrees F, for the most part, if shooting semi-auto. Full-auto is another matter, of course!<\/p>\n

So, how do some motor oils and gun oils compare?<\/p>\n

The flash point for the liquid form of Ballistol, a very common gun lubricant, per their\u00a0Safety Data Sheet<\/a>, is 51.7 degrees C (125.06 degrees F) and the auto ignition point is 260 degrees C or 500 degrees F. However, the ignition point of\u00a0aerosol Ballistol\u00a0<\/a>is 200 degrees C, or 392 degrees F.<\/p>\n

Break-Free CLP, which is nominally the standard issue all-in-one lubricant\/cleaner for the armed forces, has a flash point of 94 degrees C (201.2 degrees F) and an ignition point of 260 degrees C\/500 degrees F, per\u00a0Safariland\u2019s SDS<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lucas Extreme Duty Gun Oil has\u00a0a flash point<\/a>\u00a0of 212.77 degrees C (415 degrees F) and a boiling\/ignition point of 260 degrees C\/500 degrees F. Pretty stern stuff!<\/p>\n

Good old Hoppe\u2019s Lubricant has a flash point of 192 degrees C\/375 degrees F, and a boiling\/cook off point of 315 degrees C\/599 degrees F, per\u00a0their SDS<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another of Grandpa\u2019s gun oils, Rem Oil, has a flash point AND auto ignition point of around 150 degrees C (302 degrees F) in\u00a0liquid form<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0aerosol form<\/a>\u00a0has a flash point of 136 degrees F and boiling\/cookoff point of 262 degrees C\/500 degrees F.<\/p>\n

So, top tip: liquid gun oils are better than aerosols.<\/p>\n

That said, how do motor oils compare?<\/p>\n

Castrol Edge 5W-30<\/a>\u00a0has a flash point of 220 degrees C\/428 degrees F.<\/p>\n

Just to be aware, flash points tend to get a bit higher with lower-weight motor oils, for the sake of consistency, we\u2019re going to stick to 5W-30 for the rest of this article.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Lucas Oil, their\u00a05W-30 Synthetic<\/a>\u00a0has a flash point of 460 degrees F\/238 degrees C. By comparison, their\u00a05W-30 petroleum oil<\/a>\u00a0has the same.<\/p>\n

Mobil1 Synthetic, since they were mentioned,\u00a0has a flash point<\/a>\u00a0of 230 degrees C or 446 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the takeaway?<\/p>\n

The takeaway here is that there\u2019s DEFINITELY something to it! As you can see from the flash points\/ignition points of these different lubricants, motor oil is if anything a little heavier-duty than\u00a0most<\/em>\u00a0gun oils, though not necessarily\u00a0all<\/em>\u00a0of them.<\/p>\n

In other words, motor oil is actually\u00a0more<\/em>\u00a0heat resistant than typical gun lubricant.<\/p>\n

Ah, but what about\u00a0cold<\/em>?<\/p>\n

The measurement for that is the \u201cpour point,\u201d the lowest temperature at which the fluid flows easily.<\/p>\n

Motor oil would appear to have the edge here too.<\/p>\n

Gun oil manufacturers don\u2019t always disclose it. Of the above, Lucas Gun Oil Extreme Duty has a pour point of \u2013 39 degrees F and Rem Oil (liquid) has a pour point of\u00a0 \u2013 30 degrees C\/-22 degrees F. They were the only manufacturers who mentioned it.<\/p>\n

As to motor oil, Mobil 1 has a pour point of \u2013 45 degrees C (-49 degrees F), Castrol Edge at -39 degrees C (-38 degrees F) and Lucas Oil Petroleum is rated for\u00a0 \u2013 36 degrees C\/-33 degrees F.<\/p>\n

So the lesson there is that motor oil is actually more resistant to cold as well for the most part.<\/p>\n

In short, a lot of motor oil is a better oil than most gun oil, until it\u2019s not, and there are some really good gun oils out there. Apparently Lucas Oil really knows what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s where things start to get more interesting.<\/p>\n

The typical bottle of Hoppe\u2019s costs about $3 for a 2.25-oz bottle. A 6-oz bottle of Ballistol is about $9 to $10.<\/p>\n

An entire quart of synthetic motor oil? About $8 in most stores. So that\u2019s something to think about.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s also worth noting that motor oil is NOT a very good surface protectant, so that has to be taken into account. And traditional gun oils such as Rem Oil, Ballistol and now CLP do work fairly well for that, so it\u2019s still worth it to have them around.<\/p>\n

So, if you were curious about whether your gun will run well if you had to use motor oil? It will! If it\u2019s good enough for Mercedes, it\u2019s probably good enough for a Glock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of the ‘high speed-low drag’ shooters I knew used Mobil 1\u2122, as mentioned in the article. When I was stationed at Ft Knox, the Marine occifer tanker students from Quantico,\u00a0 hooked us up with HilCo lube wipes and lube from Hill Manufacturing Company , which is primarily a manufacturer of industrial cleaning products, but … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gun-schtuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66051"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66056,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66051\/revisions\/66056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}