Most gun oils are just regular machine/motor oils with off-the-shelf additive packs (just like those oils), packaged in tiny quantities with the word "gun" on the bottle and a 500% markup. After trying a bunch of specialty gun oils for years (mostly Rem Oil and Hoppes Elite), I've found something that lubricates better, fights corrosion just as well, doesn't evaporate as easily, and is way cheaper.
Turns out that Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil (full synthetic, not dinosaur derived) actually has superior properties compared to most gun oils--less volatility, better lubrication and wear resistance, higher shear strength, and better temperature stability.
All the info below (in gray) is from the user
Gun Slinger from the High Road, and is posted here with his permission. He recommends M1 synthetic 20W50 for most uses, but AR's might be happier with 10W30 due to the tight clearances and relatively low-energy bolt carrier. But even 10W30 is way superior to most gun oils. I don't have any 20W50 yet, but I had some extra Mobil 1 10W30 that I had bought for my car, and recently started using it on my civvie AK and my S&W Ladysmith 9mm, using a Q-tip as an applicator to the bearing surfaces. Results have been excellent; the guns work more smoothly, and the oil doesn't dry up/evaporate as quickly as the oils marketed as gun oils.
Note that this info probably applies to most synthetic (polyalphaolefin based) motor oils, but is NOT necessarily applicable to non-synthetic oils (i.e., regular motor oil).
Comparison to a traditional gun oil:
RemOil usually hovers around the 25 cSt (give or take) level at 100 F and really thins quickly as it is subjected to heating. The (Mobil 1 synthetic) 10W30 starts at 62.0 cSt at 100 F and thins to 10.0 cSt at 212 F and if memory serves it also has a higher VI than RemOil and that is why it seems to stick around longer than the RemOil.
So Mobil 1 appears to kick Rem Oil's butt. It also appears to kick Militec-1's butt, though by a smaller margin (the stats for Militec-1 are the last entry in the table). And that is a very highly regarded gun oil.
The only caveat would be, if you take the gun in a very corrosive environment (salt spray, or two weeks of camping/hiking in a humid area, or whatever), a corrosion protectant/lubricant like CLP might be slightly better at preventing rust (M1 has oxidation inhibitors, but it is optimized as a lubricant). Still, in those conditions, a dedicated corrosion protectant like Boeshield T-9 or Corrosion-X sprayed everywhere on the gun, with Mobil 1 just on the bearing surfaces, might be even better than CLP all around (corrosion protection
and lubrication wise). Something to think about, anyway.
Since Mobil 1 is subjected to such extreme conditions (in terms of thermal stress, oxidation and pressure) inside of an internal combustion engine, it appears that it should possess both adequate film and barrier strength to serve as a small arms lubricant.
The criteria that these lubricants were evaluated by are:
1. Pour Point (P/P): The lowest temperature (in degrees F) at which the lubricant will flow within a specified timeframe.
Minimum requirement: -50 F
2. Flash Point (F/P): The lowest temperature (in degrees F) at which the lubricant will produce vapors that, if subjected to an ignition source, will ignite and combust.
Minimum requirement: +450 F
3. Viscosity at 100 F (V/100): The viscosity (in centistokes) of the lubricant at 100 F.
Minimum requirement: 40.00 cSt
4. Viscosity at 212 F (V/212): The viscosity of the lubricant (in centistokes) at 212 F.
Minimum requirement: 8.00 cSt
As a point of reference, the kinematic viscosity of pure water at:
68 F (room temperature) is 1.004 cSt
100 F is 0.658 cSt
212 F is 0.294 cSt
5. Transient Operating Range (TOR): The sum of the absolute values of the Pour Point (P/P) and the Flash Point (F/P).
Minimum requirement: 500 F
6. Viscosity Index (VI): An arbitrary numerical value assigned to a lubricant indicating its ability to retain its viscosity across a specified temperature range.
Minimum requirement: 110 (Very High)
Low VI: 35 or lower
Medium VI: 35-80
High VI: 80-110
Very High VI: 110 or higher
Data for Mobil 1 Synthetic Lubricants:
0W20
P/P: -70.6 F
F/P: +449.6 F
V/100: 43.0 cSt
V/212: 8.4 cSt
TOR: 520.2 F
VI: 176
0W30
P/P: -65.2 F
F/P: +456.8 F
V/100: 63.1 cSt
V/212: 11.0 cSt
TOR: 522.0 F
VI: 169
0W40
P/P: -65.2 F
F/P: +456.8 F
V/100: 80.0 cSt
V/212: 14.3 cSt
TOR: 522.0 F
VI:188
5W20
P/P: -52.6 F
F/P: +442.4 F
V/100: 48.3 cSt
V/212: 8.8 cSt
TOR: 495.0 F
VI: 164
5W30
P/P: -65.2 F
F/P: +446.0 F
V/100: 64.8 cSt
V/212: 11.3 cSt
TOR: 511.2 F
VI: 171
5W40
P/P: -49.0 F
F/P: +438.8 F
V/100: 102.0 cSt
V/212: 14.8 cSt
TOR: 487.8 F
VI: 152
5W50
P/P: -65.2 F
F/P: +456.8 F
V/100: 104.9 cSt
V/212: 17.5 cSt
TOR: 522.0 F
VI: 184
10W30
P/P: -49.0 F
F/P: +453.2 F
V/100: 62.0 cSt
V/212: 10.0 cSt
TOR: 484.2 F
VI: 148
10W40 (MX4T)
P/P: -65.2 F
F/P: +487.4 F
V/100: 86.0 cSt
V/212: 13.8 cSt
TOR: 552.6 F
VI: 166
15W50
P/P: -49.0 F
F/P: +446.0 F
V/100: 125.0 cSt
V/212: 17.4 cSt
TOR: 495.0 F
VI: 153
20W50 (VTWIN)
P/P: -59.8 F
F/P: +518.0 F
V/100: 130.0 cSt
V/212: 17.7 cSt
TOR: 577.8 F
VI: 151
75W90
P/P: -50.8 F
F/P: +347.0 F
V/100: 106.0 cSt
V/212: 15.2 cSt
TOR: 397.8 F
VI: 151
75W140
P/P: -59.8 F
F/P: +429.8 F
V/100: 179.0 cSt
V/212: 25.3 cSt
TOR: 489.6 F
VI: 175
SYNTHETIC ATF
P/P: -65.2 F
F/P: +456.8 F
V/100: 34.0 cSt
V/212: 7.6 cSt
TOR: 522.0 F
VI: 203
JET OIL II
P/P: -74.2 F
F/P: +518.0 F
V/100: 27.6 cSt
V/212: 5.1 cSt
TOR: 592.2 F
VI: 113
JET OIL 254
P/P: -79.6 F
F/P: +489.0 F
V/100: 26.4 cSt
V/212: 5.3 cSt
TOR: 568.6 F
VI: 137
JET OIL 284
P/P: -70.6 F
F/P: +442.4 F
V/100: 17.6 cSt
V/212: 4.0 cSt
TOR: 513.0 F
VI: 128
MILITEC-1 (for comparison purposes only)
P/P: -45.0 F
F/P: +455.0 F
V/100: 43.41 cSt
V/212: 5.63 cSt
TOR: 500.0 F
VI: 63
Top 5 Criteria Compliant Grades:
1. 20W50 (VTWIN)
2. 10W40 (MX4T)
3. 5W50
4. 0W40
5. 0w30
Mobil 1 and Redline are both composed of synthesized PAO's and the nomenclature that the two companies use are just different ways of refering to PAO's (polyalphaolefins
and polyol esters) both of which are esters formed from alkenes (also called alpha-olefins) which are compounds (possessing a double bonded carbon to carbon and no other functional group within the molecule) that are polymerized in order to form PAO's. The alkenes that are polymerized for use as lubricant basestocks are most commonly low molecular weight alkenes such as ethene and hexene.
Esters are simply a general class of chemical compounds and functional groups and are not indicative of lubricants only in that they also exist as flavor/scents, types of cleaning agents, plastics and plasticizers, personal care products like hand moisturizers etc, etc, etc.
The PAO's (PE, PAO, poly-ol esters, polyalpha olefins, what have you) that compose Mobil1 and Redline and Amsoil and any other brand names that I have missed are all the same thing as they all possess the same naturally high affinity for metal surfaces and tend to exhibit multigrade viscosity characteristics and do not require the addition of modifying agents to obtain these properties which is why they are so widely used in the lubricant industry.Everything you ever wanted to know about the chemistry and properties of lubricating oils and greases:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com
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