car oil for gun lube.

[SgtWKPII]

Given the fact that over in Iraq and Afghanistan Marine Corps issued CLP wasn't performing properly and our armorer gave us Mobile 1 and we used that on all 3 deployments without problems I would say that it is fine.

[ssilicon]

Originally Posted by Tempest

Seal swell agents are nothing compared to the hard solvents used in gun cleaning compounds.

Are you a chemical engineer? Seal swell agents are specifically formulated to interact with petrolium based polymers and chemically alter them. Gun cleaning solvents are designed to clean powder, sometimes copper etc. too. Such solvents are usually petrolium based (as is the lubricating oil) and is very compatible with the gun and its parts. Think of gun solvent as a very thin oil. You would never put other solvents on a gun, like acetone or even alcohol.

And seal swell agents are just the tip of addative iceberg with automotive oils. Notice there is CHLORINE in Mobil1? I wouldn't want to use any chlorine to even clean my gun, less alone have it more or less permanently being applied within my lubricating product. Not to mention sulfer etc. etc.

Even if all that weren't enough for me, remember, the viscosity of motor oil is way off. 30 weight oil is too thick to be an optimized gun lubricant. Will it lubricate a gun? Yes, as some of you have even attested to. Will it lubricate batter than say Weaponshield or another premium purpose formulated gun lubricant? No. Does thicker oil capture and attract more dirt than thinner oil? You bet it does. Do people who didn't lubricate often enough with thinner gun oil sing the praises of motor oil because being thicker, it stays on the gun longer and lets them get by without oiling for longer? It would appear so. But I will stick to gun oil for my guns, and Mobil1 for my rides. To each there own.

[Kaboom]

Zero evidence the gun oils are different than motor oils and that's my main point.
Who uses 30weight??? 10w30 starts as thin 10W then thickens with higher temps to 30W via the VMs. The only part of the gun to realistically reach those temps would be the barrel and on a pistol the increased thickening due to heat would be a good thing in the barrel bushing and locking lugs area. I use grease in those areas but you may have convinced me to start using motor oil lol. Most of us are using tiny amounts of motor oil for trigger and sear areas and then as a light coat for protection. I think people using gun oils are fooling themselves either for smugness or peace of mind, that's ok for them, I buy stuff for peace of mind too, just not gun oil.
I don't know about anyone else but I don't use ANY oil for cleaning, oil won't remove copper from the barrel.
I suppose I should soak one of my XDs in Mobil-1 to see what the VMI and seal swell do to it, but they would most likely just compensate for the polymer outgassing, and there appears to be NO reason to not use motor oil on all metal pistols.

CLP forms a film when dry, I would expect that to catch and hold more of the remarkably fine grit available in the air over Iraq and Afdirtistan, the thinner Mobil-1 would likely flush it out and build up somewhat less.

[ssilicon]

Originally Posted by Kaboom

Zero evidence the gun oils are different than motor oils and that's my main point.
Who uses 30weight??? 10w30 starts as thin 10W then thickens with higher temps to 30W via the VMs. The only part of the gun to realistically reach those temps would be the barrel and on a pistol the increased thickening due to heat would be a good thing in the barrel bushing and locking lugs area. I use grease in those areas but you may have convinced me to start using motor oil lol. Most of us are using tiny amounts of motor oil for trigger and sear areas and then as a light coat for protection. I think people using gun oils are fooling themselves either for smugness or peace of mind, that's ok for them, I buy stuff for peace of mind too, just not gun oil.
I don't know about anyone else but I don't use ANY oil for cleaning, oil won't remove copper from the barrel.
I suppose I should soak one of my XDs in Mobil-1 to see what the VMI and seal swell do to it, but they would most likely just compensate for the polymer outgassing, and there appears to be NO reason to not use motor oil on all metal pistols.

CLP forms a film when dry, I would expect that to catch and hold more of the remarkably fine grit available in the air over Iraq and Afdirtistan, the thinner Mobil-1 would likely flush it out and build up somewhat less.

All I can say is WOW. You are demonstrating a complete lack of knowlege here. Ok here goes, your MAIN POINT. No evidence that motor oils are different than gun oils? No evidence??????? I posted a big list of common addatives to automotive oils which that ALONE would make them different than gun oils. Then I pointed out viscosity. Are you seriously that misguided that you do not know that gun oil is far lighter than automotive oil? You also clearly demonstrate that you know nothing about the xWy weights of motor oil. 10W30 weight motor oil is not 10 weight oil that turns into 30 weaight oil under heat. It is 30 weight oil, that POURS at a cold reference point (I think 0 deg F) like a 10 weight oil would, yet otherwise behaves like a 30 weight oil. Also, your bit about oil thickening as it heats is flat out wrong. Oil tends to thin, or become less viscous as it heats not thicken as you say. It's like you start out with the conclusion you want, and then try to support it. I'm so glad that you can save yourself a few bucks and put motor oil on your guns if that's your thing. Just don't say it is the same as gun lube, because it is not.

[Kaboom]

It's early here lol
The point of viscosity improvers are to stabilize the viscosity to make it behave more evenly at various temps. To act as a thinner oil when cool and a thicker oil when hot.
Back to the main point. You have posted alleged evidence of what is in Motor oil and zero evidence of what is in "gun oil".
Post the chemistry of Mobil-1 and lets say Remoil, till then your point is moot at best and unsupported at worst. YOU are the one reaching for hopeful conclusions for demonstrable differences where they appear to be absent.
BTW Ed's Red is great .

[Se2002]

I wonder what terrible things Mobile 1 does to the containers it comes in...