The myth of "overlubrication"

[amoebicmagician]

Anyone ever heard of Zmax? It is supposed to "soak" into the metal to provide protection. I do NOT use it, in car or gun. I read about it on a forum but there were varying opinions, so figured I would ask the experts here. Didn't know if it offers any benefits?

any sub micron constituent lubricant will get into the pores of the metal, but the idea of 'soaking' into the metal is just hype to sell wonder lube.

That's all conditioning metal is- filling the pores of the metal. That is often why when you buy a wonder lube they tell you to remove with alcohol the previous lube to leave the pores open for penetration.

with use ballistol and mobil 1 will condition the metal, it was literally designed to do just that in your engine.

The only lube I've seen get anywhere near the hype is fireclean, and that just makes it slightly easier to clean afterwards, mainly because it doesn't burn off. If you use mobil 1 and it doesn't somehow leave where you put it it does what it is supposed to do- keep carbon from sticking to metal and keep things moving smoothly under high heat

 

[clandestine]

I had a buddy ream me out over returning his glock to him with lube in it, he actually told me he would have preferred me not clean it than return it to him that way because it
"messed up his lubrication schedule"

He went on to tell me how glocks were supposed to have exactly 3 drops of specific glock approved lube every 500 rounds or something and not before, and that failure to do so would mess up the gun.

Really?

I will say one thing, and maybe Chad can put me straight on this:
Whenever I lube my bores with a good coat of lube for storage after cleaning, the first shot I fire from that weapon always hits LOWER than the rest of the shots fired. Why is this?

Every gun behaves different but I do the same as you regarding oiling the bores. I coat the bores and chambers for storage with a wet patch, but unless its used in an emergency, I run a bore snake through it before shooting. I don't clean my bores till I see accuracy drop off though, unless I'm firing corrosive ammo. Oil in the bore and chamber increase pressure and will change POA/POI. It shouldn't hurt an AR15 made with quality parts, BUT if one has a short throat .223 or Wylde chamber and shoots some 5.56 the extra pressure can pop the primer and jam up the firearm. This can be resolved by having the throat reamed to 5.56 specs but accuracy will likely suffer some.

 

[Bob A]

Every gun behaves different but I do the same as you regarding oiling the bores. I coat the bores and chambers for storage with a wet patch, but unless its used in an emergency, I run a bore snake through it before shooting. I don't clean my bores till I see accuracy drop off though, unless I'm firing corrosive ammo. Oil in the bore and chamber increase pressure and will change POA/POI. It shouldn't hurt an AR15 made with quality parts, BUT if one has a short throat .223 or Wylde chamber and shoots some 5.56 the extra pressure can pop the primer and jam up the firearm. This can be resolved by having the throat reamed to 5.56 specs but accuracy will likely suffer some.

I was surprised that a barrel full of oil wouldn't cause a bulge, when I watched the opening video. Isn't that a possible outcome?

 

[chale127]

I was surprised that a barrel full of oil wouldn't cause a bulge, when I watched the opening video. Isn't that a possible outcome?

yes but if you watch carefully they did make an effort to drain it, as long as there not a "plug" of oil in it you in theory should be GTG

 

[amoebicmagician]

Every gun behaves different but I do the same as you regarding oiling the bores. I coat the bores and chambers for storage with a wet patch, but unless its used in an emergency, I run a bore snake through it before shooting. I don't clean my bores till I see accuracy drop off though, unless I'm firing corrosive ammo. Oil in the bore and chamber increase pressure and will change POA/POI. It shouldn't hurt an AR15 made with quality parts, BUT if one has a short throat .223 or Wylde chamber and shoots some 5.56 the extra pressure can pop the primer and jam up the firearm. This can be resolved by having the throat reamed to 5.56 specs but accuracy will likely suffer some.

that was, as always, an extremely prompt and detailed response.

I think I'm just going to copy you from now on and keep a bore snake in my range bag

 

[Doobie]

I concur....keep the AR wet, and you don't have to clean it at all, contrary to common myth.

I took a Pat Rogers EAG class a few years ago, and actually shot 1,000 rounds thru an M4 he was doing a story on, (I think it was the "filthy 13 or 14", Google it. The gun was so dirty I couldn't believe it. I sprayed the BCG with Slip 2000, closed the upper, and shot all day with no issues. I think at that time it had 15,000 or so rounds thru it without being cleaned. Ever since then I worried less about a "clean gun" and a lot more about simply having her wet.

Filthy 14...I remember reading about that

 

[Sirex]

Every gun behaves different but I do the same as you regarding oiling the bores. I coat the bores and chambers for storage with a wet patch, but unless its used in an emergency, I run a bore snake through it before shooting. I don't clean my bores till I see accuracy drop off though, unless I'm firing corrosive ammo. Oil in the bore and chamber increase pressure and will change POA/POI. It shouldn't hurt an AR15 made with quality parts, BUT if one has a short throat .223 or Wylde chamber and shoots some 5.56 the extra pressure can pop the primer and jam up the firearm. This can be resolved by having the throat reamed to 5.56 specs but accuracy will likely suffer some.

Thats interesting. I would have though some oil in the bores would reduce friction reducing pressure and wear on the lands. I learn something new everyday.

FWIW, I told my wife over lubrication is a myth, but she finds rubber sheets tacky.