I tend to think for most civilians, they aren’t in dusty environments and rarely clean their guns. Thus tending towards overlubrication will better protect the gun without causing malfunctions. I also find wet guns are easier to clean any grime is suspended in the oil and easily wiped away whereas dry guns seem to have the grime more baked in.
Be careful of putting too much into the barrel. There is a potential although minutely small that it will attract enough dirt to cause a barrel blockage. We were warned about it in the Army. After storage always run a patch through the barrel before firing. Especially after long term storage.
@@shawnr771 the only lubrication of the barrel should be while cleaning with a wire end. If you even put a drop on your swatch you are doing it wrong. Treat it like a cast iron skillet man.
@@HelloImKowaBunga at least you keep it clean and in working order. Others are too lazy to clean it and care for it. I ran into some who purchased a pistol drive AR only because they like cleaning the DI rifle that had. But didn't want to buy an AK. They wanted an AK in an AR just be lazy. Slackers.
Agreed. I'm on the other coast but have my AR daily on the farm. Rain or shine (or snow or dust) I try not to keep it dripping wet, but a "dry" surface will become a corroded surface in no time. Wipe everything off every week or two. Mop out the chamber (hay is JUST thick enough to potentially block battery) and air hose the fcg and empty upper. Takes minutes and I'm ready for another round. I periodically pop a steel target just as a function check and so far have had zero problems. My ONLY issues are going from unloaded to loaded while on a motorized conveyance. Probably need to pick up a single feed mag block or something similar to plug that hole. Remember to dot lube on optic mount screws, handguard/attachment screws, etc. AR's are amazingly ingress-resistant systems.
Which is why I would seriously consider a stainless steel firearm for high humidity. Or in the case of an AR, insist on a chrome plated BCG and stainless barrel.
@@MarkiusFox I'm probably going to try chrome or nitride on my next one (pile o misc. parts right now) but I have to admit that because the action is closed, i've never spotted a single speck of rust inside the reciever. I do love stainless barrels though! I don't own a single CL barrel. I really don't mag dump, so even with my LW rifles i'm a believer in accurate deliberate fire, and accurate is easier with better tubes. When I practice I usually stick to drills with lower round counts per rep. A good double tap or two low one high will deal with almost anything. x3 targets is still under 10 rounds. Give it a good cooldown and run it again. I have plenty of fun and never have had a barrel too hot to touch. I'd like to try a nitride barrel. Seems to he a good middleground.
@@abandonbelief true but it corrodes far less easily. Several companies make rifles with stainless and then ceracoat it black or other colors over the stainless. In my experience, those are very rust resistant. Still, oil is your friend of course.
That seems to be a common theme. Guys who 'know a lot about guns' say don't over-lube, guys who run the crap out of their guns drown 'em in the stuff. Who to believe? It's up to you to decide.
@@gregz4249you just wanna lube the carrier rails on the BCG of an AR. Greasing the rest of it doesn't do a thing in regards to lubing the movement of it. Maybe one drop of oil on the firing pin to keep it anticorrosive.
I love all this high tech genius talk. Always believe the guys who “run the crap out of their guns.” I pour on the oil heavy! Never had a problem with over lubing. Just check the temperature ranges of the oil you’re using. 54 years I’ve shot thousands of rounds in all weather conditions. Never seen this mysterious dirt attraction, nor have I ever seen the mysterious gum that people tend to see in their guns. What is this mystery gum? Wrigley’s? Clover???
One thing I’d like to see y’all cover is the types of lubrication available, their uses, and the pros/cons of them. Specifically grease, oil, and clp products. Y’all are super informative as always! Thank you for what y’all do!
I just took apart my BCG on my 15 night b4 last and I remembered Caleb's previous video on this subject so I'm good ta go!!! Thanks Caleb and Steve!!! 👍👍
It’s not necessarily that it will attract dirt/dust. It’s that the lubrication grabs/holds onto whatever dirt and or carbon that comes into contact with it. That said, the additional lubrication will then coat and “neutralize” the dirt and still maintain a low coefficient of friction. So in effect, the abundance of lubrication is able to overcome a certain amount of dirt due to the shear amount of lubrication.
Solid choices with the M&P15. Not the fanciest rifle on the marked but great overall, especially for its price point. We have ran them in our rental fleet for years and they have held up better than most, including some that cost a few hundred dollars more.
I had some minor issues with mine but after tearing it down , Facing off the upper and putting all new goodies on its a great gun :). Most of those are very basic and come with the plastic hand guard and stuff. I found it was a good starting point to build a great AR. You can take your time doing the upgrades and the gun is still all together so you can still shoot it while doing upgrades .
I have seen new AR shooters at the range having problems, then found out that they were "runnin'' her dry like they do in the 'sandbox'". Well, the US isn't a sandbox. I have fixed their rifles by turning the rifle on its side and dropping in a good squirt of CLP. Voila! It is functioning perfectly! Excess lube will just blow out of the ejection port. But no need to overdo it. Do keep the firing pin and firing pin channel wiped dry with a pipe cleaner.
My Gov't issued M16A1 which was prone to malfunctions in the upper needed graphite to take up the space between parts keeping the parts from slapping around. I would clean everything normally except the upper which required nothing more than a quick slosh in the cleaning solvent barrel and more graphite added after drying. My consistent 40/40 on the popup range was proof to others how to avoid the notorious jams of the A1. Once the A1 was retired and the uppers were made to order instead of using drop in parts the jam issues went away. I know this was a bit off topic but your awesome video brought it to mind. Have a great day!
The over lubrication idea has always made me chuckle. A gun is a simplified machine. Some think guns can be over lubricated yet they pour a minimum of a gallon of oil in their vehicles engine for an oil change. Sewing machines are heavily lubricated, some even have oil sumps like an engine does. The point is machines have to be lubricated. I've shot some M16's and M60's in the Army that ran better (read that as reliably) when lubricant was coming out of them as they were being fired. I also enjoyed Larry Vickers engine oil demonstration as it does drive the point home. As for the carbonization of the lubricant just use a very high flash point lubricant. I personally use G96 on all of my AR's for many reasons including that one.
The US Army in the 70s said, "Wet not white" on the bolt and carrier. Not so much on the buffer and internals. Some Drill Sergeants took it to extremes. Geoff Who has been around awhile.
@@badmoon7549 he's a big boy and knows he's appreciated . and offers really good info . same with Steve . And Brownells is half of number one with Midway USA .
Info about not oiling the rear of the bolt in the bolt carrier group is very important info I've never heard before. I had no clue it was supposed to be dry behind the orings tbh.
It's not true. It doesn't matter. Lube will work its way in there from the bolt stem. The statement about not oiling the gas rings is an old myth. Any lubricant there will be burned off. It will cause literally no issues. The fear is it will cause the gun to cycle faster or something bullshit like that, but time and again it has been proven that the gun doesn't even need gas rings to run reliably, lube isn't going to hurt them.
I thought that was normal procedure (it's a good method for any metal that needs major cleaning, like engine/trans parts and let it soak for a couple days to loosen any rust or grime). I've heard many people did that for storage in 55 gallon oil drums, at least back in the day it was common practice and I've done it with pellet and BB guns that had some surface rust and it helped letting them soak before giving them a good scrubbing and clean up, so it should work the same for real firearms.
Probably worth mentioning that excessive lube in the chamber of bolt face can cause dangerous pressure spikes in a tight chamber. Storing an over lubed firearm, loaded and muzzle down is asking for trouble. Lube in the bore isn't a great idea either, unless you absolutely need it to keep corrosion out.
Not doubting what you say at all, but I always store my guns muzzle down with wet chambers. Haven't had a problem yet. Maybe I've just been lucky for 10+ years. I don't know.
@@bonjovi2757, you won’t have any problems. I always have a light film of oil(Ballistol) in my gun barrel, and I don’t remove it before I shoot. When I shoot hardcast lead out of my revolvers, the wax lube ring on the bullet lubes the bore with every shot. The wax in the bore helps to lessen the lead build up in the bore.
Just use CLP. In the military, ppl would lube the hell out of the weapons. They wanted to go home after shooting as quickly as possible so they hosed it down. The only warning CATM would give is DON’T use CLP on the gas rings. Oh, and ONE DROP for the firing pin, ONE DROP for the extractor on the head of the bolt after assembly, then wipe it. Other than that, the only thing they said upon inspection was, “wipe off the excess, I don’t want oily hands “, if you cleaned it enough.
I over lubricated a Marlin Papoose which was my first gun. Not knowing any better, i would spray lubricant into the action which deteriorated the bolt buffer to the point it cracked. Many years later I still have that Papoose with a new buffer and it is clean and dry now. I keep only the lightest film of oil on the side plate assembly, applied with a q-tip, and leave the buffer dry. I have gotten away from aerosol lubricants applied directly to things. A drop of oil on a q-tip or patch. I use aerosol on a rag and use the rag to wipe the outside of receivers and barrels. Less is more.
I have used oil on every gun I have ever owned and will continue to do so. I have NEVER had a problem in 50 years. I use very little grease but many people would say that I over lubricate my firearms. I don't care what others say, I will continue to oil my firearms. I keep my vehicles, boats, guns, and machinery ( and even my Wife ) well lubricated and clean and they ALL have lasted me a lifetime.
My rules for firearm lubrication are simple. 1) keep lube out of the chamber, bore and also off the ammo and magazines. Getting lube on any of those can cause too high pressures. 2) on AR direct impingement rifles, keep the entire bolt carrier group wet and use one of the modern synthetic CLP lubes that do not burn off during heat...SLIP2000EWL or full synthetic motor oil are good for the bolt carrier group. 3) For the exterior of the rifle use a light oil that does not attract dirt, leaves and grit if I have to get down on the ground...BF CLP. 4) I don't go by what soldiers and Marines claimed worked good as a firearms lube over in the middle east because that's a totally different kind of climate and terrain than where I live in the southeast USA. The middle east is super low humidity and lots of sand and in some areas, fine talcum powder like dust. Where I'm at my climate and terrain are high humidity, rain, hot and humid in the summer and cold and wet in the winter. And there is no sand or fine dust where I live. So individualize your weapons lube for your particular geography and climate.
If its not leaking from the pins it needs more. The gun will get rid of what it doesn't need. Gun will run full of sand, won't run dry. The comment on not getting it on the gas rings is wrong. One of the main points that needs lots of lubrication in the bolt is the cam pin path and cam pin itself, lubricant put in this cutout will work its way onto the gas rings. This doesn't hurt anything, it's a myth just like the "if you take out the gas rings your gun will blow up" crap. Just not true, lube will get in there and very quickly burn off. I suggest referring to SOTARs video on lubrication for the BCG. As for attracting dirt, ANY lubrication attracts dirt. What many people have found out running guns in the sandbox, is that if you use enough lube the grit and dirt becomes neutralized by the lubricant. If you don't use enough it binds things up. If you wanna experiment, put a drop of soap on your hand after grabbing a handful of dry sand, rub your hands together. Note how it grinds in your hand and causes friction. Now pour a little more and repeat until the sand is floating around in the soap and your hands glide across each other smoothly. As for firing pins, firing pins should be dry. At the most it should be lubricated by whatever seeps in around the bolt, and should be taken out periodically and wiped clean. Never lubricate the bolt face ALWAYS lubricate the locking lugs Lightly oil the extractor at the rear near the pin Never lubricate the extractor claw. Front gas ring on the bolt stem should be lubed. Rear gas rings don't matter either way, they will get lubed whether you intend it or not. Bolt tail behind the gas rings should be lubed unless you like scraping carbon all the time. Bolt stem should be lubed fairly heavily. Cam pin and the path it rides in is the most violent and overworked part of the entire gun, and should be near packed with lubricant, push the bolt head forward, fill the chamber the pin sits in, push it back, fill the front side of the chamber. Bolt rails are the only thing external on the carrier that needs to be lubed, but general rule is just put a little on your hand and get it all over the front of the carrier from the edge where the bolt protrudes, to the rear where the rails end. Do not lubricate the bolt carrier tail, not because it will hurt something, but because it is a waste of lubricant, that part does not touch anything and does not produce friction worth noting, lube there is just wasted. A drop on the hammer face, a drop into the disconnector and sear, and a drop onto the safety, as well as one drop occasionally into the takedown pins. Remove buffer and spring and essentially dry your hands with it. Whatever lube is left over from the BCG just run it down the spring and buffer. Failing that, just one or two drops to the palm of a gloved hand, massage it in. Not totally necessary but it cuts down on noise and doesn't effect reliability adversely. Following these steps I've gotten guns to run for months on one lubrication, with more than ten thousand rounds in between cleaning of mixed supressor and non suppressed fire on some guns.
You guys may have just solved a mystery I had a few months back. I dialed in the gas settings on my lr308 for a hand load and put the rifle away. Came back about a year later and couldn’t get it to cycle that same load without changing the gas setting. I’m betting I had it running while everything was wet and the lube dried out / ran out overtime causing more friction.
My LR-308 bolt will not run dry has to be wet at all times to work. I put a 243win barrel on it even worst the bolt doesn't feeding rounds in or out. Getting better. DPMS keep it wet.👍🏽 I really like my rifle in 234w or 308w
I use Lucas Gun Oil for springs and hammer and trigger pivot points, Shooters Choice grease for slide rails, and bolt lugs, and Chip McCormick Trigger Job grease for hammers sears for a long time. Lucas Gun Oil is great on reciprocating parts such AR BCG, because it’s just thick enough to not shed off when the bolt is cycling, and will keep carbon fouling from building up. Shooters Choice grease is good on slide rails again because it won’t shed when a slide is cycling, and bolt lugs for the same reason. Chip McCormick Trigger Job grease on a hammer/sear notch will help smooth and reduce trigger pull. In one of my pistols, it reduces the pull weight by 10 ounces and eliminates the sear creep. But still these lubricants needs to be cleaned off periodically along with any carbon build up and re-lubricated. A well and properly lubricated firearm is a happy firearm.
Good point you made about lubricating inside the bolt. I'm in Alberta Canada and a couple of days before a cold hunt I spray Remington Action Cleaner in the bolt to clean it out. Brake cleaner would work also. Last thing I want hunting during a cold day is for the parts inside the bolt to freeze and seize. Click and no bang means good meat runs away.
There was almost always that one person in the Army that was working range detail and demanded everyone entering the range get a couple squirts of CLP from a spray bottle. Only because someone before them had done it without understanding the consequences. Monkey see, monkey do. Those were always the worst days on the range for malfunctions.
Not a big fan of the Rand or the newer CLP. They both work great if you use the firearm frequently. But if you let them sit for a long period.....the rand tuns to a super thick and sticky mess. The newer CLP gets crusty after setting. Old school Rem oil hasnt failed me yet.
Nothing quite like a foursome of well lubed Browning M2 HB with 10,000 rounds to use up before the range closes. Loved my time teaching Cav Scouts as a reservist.
Hey Guys! Thank you for the video! I lucricate my AR rather on the "wet" side. Any too much lube is going to be shaken off after the first few shots anyway. But as you said: The DI system relays on good lubrication. In this subject i have a mith for you: It is i comon fact that you should store your rifle with a small layer of oil in the barral to prevent corrosion. I have heard, that if you are hunter, and the first shot you take counts, you need to de-lube the barrel before shooting, because the oil in the barrel will interact with your accuracy in a bad way. Please cover that :) BR from Austria from the beautiful Alps :) (PS: English is not my first language, but i hope you got the point)
I jumped in at the deep end when I built my first rifle (milled the receiver, installed barrel, etc {didn't just put an upper on}) and to top that off, it was a .308 build. For the first ~300 rounds through it, I had to lube the snot out of it to the point there would be an oil puddle on the bench after shooting a few rounds just get the rifle to cycle reliably. There was never any signs of burrs or abnormal wear and I had an adjustable gas block to ensure I wasn't over/under gassing it. Anyways, after that ~300 or so rounds and what seems liked buckets of lube, the rifle now runs flawlessly with what most would consider a typical amount of lube.
I am a solid opponent of heavy lubing. Grease has no use in firearms, only light oil such as plain old mineral oil is needed and if you can see drops or running oil trailing, then it is too much. Just put a drop in friction areas and wipe it off. If oil finds its way into the chamber it can defeat the process of brass forming to seal with the chamber, can wreck your gun, and can even hurt you. I have seen people at the range spraying a fine mist out of their AR-15s. That's ridiculous and quite honestly it's dangerous.. I lube my firearms like this, cycle thousands of rounds, and have no issues with wear on my guns whatsoever. And I like it I guess with the silicone flannel rag to protect the exterior.
Remember at the range when in the Army, sprayed a tad or too much of CLP on bolt group right before qualifications. First shot got sprayed in dominant eye with high pressurize CLP. Blurred vision for remainder of shooting qualification. Didn't do my best shooting that day, just saying. Still wish I could see much less hit a target at 300 yards with iron sights. Y'all have a good day now.
Have 100% had an AR malfunction because of excessive oil that leaked into the firing pin. Gun was clean (pristine) so the issue wasn’t fouling, the oil caused the firing pin to not strike the primer hard enough. Took racking and light striking 4 rounds before it fired normally.
Dirty and dry or dirty and wet? I hear it both ways. Lightly oil or heavily oiled doesn't seem to matter until it gets cold, then it is which lube more than quantity. I lightly oil those areas that contact each other. If you lightly oil you may want to add a little oil after you run 200 rounds through. But after cleaning no matter what I lightly oil for storage reasons.
I was taught "AR-15s like to run wet." It was stated that if it's not spitting a little oil at first, it's not wet enough. I've seen few problems with actual lubrication though. The malfunctions I've seen with these rifles have usually been either a bad round or some other mechanical defect. At any rate, it never hurts to bring an extra rifle or spare parts. Doing classes, there's usually going to be at least one person whose rifle goes down during the day.
TW 25 B I have been using for decades and all it takes is a very small amount. Used to mix TW25B with alcohol and spray it on feed pawls of belt fed weapons or weapons that might see time underwater. A wonderful product but like any lube never over lube.
This segment wasn’t as “cut and dry” as I expected. Lots of good points. But for those of us that have been shooting for years but are new to ARs, one piece of advice we hear is to “run it wet”. I haven’t had a chance to shoot my new AR yet, and I’m certain I don’t have mine *too* wet but I was thinking maybe it could be wetter. I definitely don’t pack grease in the firing pin/bolt head, but where is the fine line? Normally I’d just go out and shoot to figure it out but with ammo costing as much as it does I’d rather not use all my ammo trouble shooting my new tool. Any pointers, anyone?
I used to wipe M16s with an lightly oiled rag. Just enough to see a sheen. They run just fine. If the rifle has too much hot oil coming out of the ejection port can hit you in the face. Then you will know you got too much.
Ordered two pistol mags and went to the outdoor range. It was windy and dirty and dust were getting everywhere. I had a couple of miss feeds and thought my gun was malfunctioning. When I went home and cleaned everything I saw that the two new mags had a lot of lube and seized up with all the dirt.
There isn’t one video where i don’t learn at least one two things I didn’t expect to learn from the video. There is always so much extra, and vital info that is shared here. This is one of my favorite RU-vid gun channels over time. Great content as always.
Remarkable restraint in not reminding any Elmer Fudds out there to not pack lube down your guns bore . Or allow dawn wabbits to shove carrots down them either .
Made the mistake one time of using paper shredder lubricant in the bolt of a 20 guage shotgun. It hummed up the bolt so bad the firing pin stuck. Had to completely stripe the pump completely and clean with carburetor cleaner. Never use sherrder machine oil in your fire arm.
I learned my lesson about 25 years ago when my firing pin was gumed up do to over lubrication and I had a delayed shot while shooting at a deer with my Remington model 700.
@@ViktoriousDead I pulled the trigger, nothing happened. Raised my head off the stock and the rifle went off. Took it to a gunsmith and he told me my firing pin had gummed up do to having to much oil. That was in 1995 . He cleaned it and I've never had a problem since.
i was running a 22lr conversion bolt in my ar. after about maybe (300 prior range trip no cleaning) then 100-150 rounds it started short stroking and stove piping every 5-10 rounds. squirted some lube into the bolt, wiped off excess ran great for another 100 before we left the range. moral of the story. lube your bolt even if its dirty ammo (maybe even ESPECIALLY if its dirty ammo)
M16A1 was so loaded with CLP it would blast a mist cloud of lub with the first shot. 9-1/2 years and never a single failure. Nothing like a triangle handguard rifle.
I used to clean my M16 in the sink at basic training and then lube the shit out of it and it was the only one that never malfunctioned but that was a different situation with an old worn out rifle
It’s not necessarily that it will attract dirt/dust. It’s that the lubrication grabs/holds onto whatever dirt and or carbon that comes into contact with it. That said, the additional lubrication will then coat and “neutralize” the dirt and still maintain a low coefficient of friction. So in effect, the abundance of lubrication is able to overcome a certain amount of dirt due to the shear amount of lubrication.
Overlubrication can cause hydraulic overpressure and excessive carbon residue especially in striker fired handguns (in the striker channel of Glock pistols for example). Overlubrication CAN lead to issues.
My philosophy over lube by a little when gun is new, check for wear spots after shooting, then lube lightly for the rest of the life of the gun, or new parts. My AR rifles run fine a little on the dry side, although, I don't shoot tons of rounds. I do the same thing with most other guns. New, lube up, shoot, inspect, then clean, and lube lightly. Kind of a breaking in process.
The problem with RU-vid is that too many people have done videos on lubricating your AR-15, and the amount ranges from dripping wet, to borderline dry. In the Corps, we used CLP to clean it and LSA to lube it, and looking at it when finished, they looked wet, but far from dripping lube. I have tried many lubes on mine, and find that minimal lube works just fine. Maybe do a video on the proper lubrication of the AR-15 platform.
Running guns dry serms to be a "thing" now. Like lubrication somehow causes guns to "lock up" and guys brag about not using a drop of oil to make their guns more reliable. This seems to be especially true among owners of Soviet designed weapons like SKS rifles.
It sounds like the potential problems that they describe are not related to over lubrication so much as lubricating areas of the gun which should not be lubricated, such as the chamber and the firing pin channel.
Over lubricating your firearm becomes a problem when excess lube migrates to parts that make contact with the case. So bolt face, under the extractor, feed ramp, and the chamber. These parts should not be lubricated, and you will see premature wear and malfunctions. Those parts should also should be what you make sure are cleaned every time you shoot. Edit: You can use lube/CPL to clean those parts, but make sure you wipe it all off when they’re clean.
