A favorite gun cleaning point of debate: use gun grease or gun oil for best results?

Gun greases and gun oils both work decently as lubricants for firearms, and many gun owners swear by one or the other, with rare agreement on both. In either case, the terms grease and oil are too general. Not only is it important to know what your gun grease or oil is actually made of, it’s important to consider what actual brands are representing themselves to be selling.

 

man wiping and old gun clean

Most other PTFE lubes only have trace amounts of particles in their product and are often manufactured with inferior-grade PTFE. Beyond that, a mix of other chemical ingredients make up the final product. So don’t assume that all PTFE lubricants are the same thing. And avoid petroleum-based gun oils or gun greases in favor of all-synthetic gun care products.

When you consider gun grease vs. gun oil for your firearms cleaning you are choosing between a lubricant that leaves an oil finish versus one that leaves a drier, grease-coat finish. But even this distinction blurs, depending on the grease or oil products you are using.

For example, TW25B synthetic gun grease is chemically different than other gun greases because of its synthetic base materials and because it is such a light (Grade-1 grease) formulation with the consistency of cold cream. It’s meant to be polished into the metal not globbed on, and the effect is a drier finish than oil, which attracts less firing debris. And the most effective gun grease or gun oil lubricants don’t just sit on top of the metal — you want a lube product that actually penetrates and treats the metal’s microscopic imperfections.

So grease vs. oil? Think of them as complementary products, different tools for different application needs. What’s your preference? How come?

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