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Lubrication for an AR 15


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You can't over lube an AR. I use 30 weight motor oil. and lube the hell out of the bolt and the bolt carrier. The excess lube gets blown out of the gun in the first few shots. Motor oil can handle high heat better than most gun oils and the oil keeps the carbon fouling suspended and pliable.  Just make sure there is lube all over the bolt and bolt carrier and you will be fine.

 

 

Edited by Alaskapopo
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2 hours ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

Is it necessary to lube  any place else  on the rifle, besides the BCG ?

I lube the buffer tube spring.  I also put never seize grease on the sear engagement surfaces of the trigger.  It smoothes it up.

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3 hours ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

Is it necessary to lube  any place else  on the rifle, besides the BCG ?

Necessary? No

 

Some apply grease inside the buffer tube to help reduce/eliminate the sproing sound that is common among ARs. Other than that, nope. Just lube the BCG until it's dripping wet and run her like a dime store hooker. Hell, with enough lube you won't need to clean it for 1,000s of rounds. Not that I'd recommend that practice, but it is possible. Just makes clean up that much worse. ;)

Edited by v1911
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I bought a bottle of Lucas Gun Lube and it seems to work fine, less smoke than non-synthetic oils like the old LSA from VN (I have almost a quart and it makes a LOT of smoke when firing the first few rounds something I never noticed until I started using better stuff). I also use Amsoil, its free by using the dregs from bottles after an oil change.

I am going to try Amsoil's gun oil too the next time I order oil.

I use some synthetic gun grease on the BCG cams/pin and a good dose of oil on the BCG interior before and after assembly . A couple of drops of Amsoil on the firing pin during reassembly. A couple of drops right on the gas rings. A couple of drops down the gas tube on the BCG to be sure. A couple of drops on the charging handle, and a couple on all the surfaces that run on the upper and one on the end of the firing pin. The AR needs to be pretty wet. Lubed like this it will run all the ammo one can easily carry with no issues. Very light oil on the locking lugs. Recoil spring just a little few drops on the spring, it gets oiled somewhat by the oil in the BCG when the shooting starts. I use synthetic grease on the sear and disconnect. Jut a touch is enough.  Brake cleaner from the auto parts store to degrease the BCG before detail cleaning. Makes it less messy.
 

Edited by Icorps1970
typo
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  • 2 weeks later...

I use Lucas Red 'n Tacky Extreme Pressure grease on my trigger where the sear engages, and where the disconnecter catches as well.

 

 

Synthetic Motor oil works great on a bolt carrier group.  I picked up a bottle of the Lucas gun oil and I actually really like it.  Probably enough to actually buy gun oil which I had stopped doing because of the cost compared to motor oil being just as good if not better.

 

 

Lube your bolt carrier generously, but if oil is running out of your gun, you are overdoing it.

 

 

On rifles that I shoot suppressed, I use the Lucas EP grease on the bolt and carrier as well as in the trigger group.  Oil cooks off fast when shooting suppressed and grease seems to stick around longer.  I use grease and then oil on top of that if I know I am going to be shooting a bunch suppressed.

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I use 0-20 Synthetic on the bolt and carrier and wet it down.

Works for me.

But - on the 300BLK I've noticed it carbons up around the tail of the bolt much more quickly than on the 223 or Grendel.

Oil, or just the nature of the 300 BLK?

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19 hours ago, ty45955 said:

I use 0-20 Synthetic on the bolt and carrier and wet it down.

Works for me.

But - on the 300BLK I've noticed it carbons up around the tail of the bolt much more quickly than on the 223 or Grendel.

Oil, or just the nature of the 300 BLK?

May be from using pistol length gas system on 300 blk?  100% of my 300 blk is suppressed, which makes a mess, so I couldn't compare apples to apples.

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5w-30 and ATF, 50/50 mix. Most AR's will run fairly dry but wet is better, as it keeps fouling in suspension. Just wipe off and reapply. More important for suppressed weapons. 

 

As for the other parts - no, no lube is necessary. A small dab of high temp grease on the FCG contact points or in the buffer tube does not hurt if you are OCD like that

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22 hours ago, mic2377 said:

5w-30 and ATF, 50/50 mix. Most AR's will run fairly dry but wet is better, as it keeps fouling in suspension. Just wipe off and reapply. More important for suppressed weapons. 

 

As for the other parts - no, no lube is necessary. A small dab of high temp grease on the FCG contact points or in the buffer tube does not hurt if you are OCD like that

 

Why the ATF? Have a lot of it sitting as I only need for for steering pumps. Hate the smell though. 

 

To add to the list of automotive lubes for AR15 use, I have started using a lot of mobil 1 axle grease on the carrier rails and charging handle. Slows wear down to almost nothing. For .308s, SBRs, and full-time suppressed rifles, I also use it inside the carrier and on the bolt lugs. 

 

Best for long term I've used are motor oils...had a rifle I ran up to 10,000 rounds only cleaning it twice. Just kept dumping more motor oil in it. 

 

TW-25B is great if you can get it free. Slightly thicker than most oils but thinner than most grease. It's appearance creates a lot of jokes and slang names for it, but it suspends fouling very well and works great in dusty environments and stays put. 

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In theory, ATF has considerably high detergent/surfactant content than motor oil. Apparently this helps cut down on carbon buildup and keep it in suspension.

 

In practice, I think motor oil is a touch on the thick side and ATF helps thin it down a bit. Also it doesn't seem to gum up or get thick EVER with this mix.  And I put some grease on the cam pin area too.

 

Of course most of this is voodoo anyways so take it for what it is worth.

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On 7/25/2017 at 9:49 AM, jbran267 said:

May be from using pistol length gas system on 300 blk?  100% of my 300 blk is suppressed, which makes a mess, so I couldn't compare apples to apples.

I think a combination of lower bullet and gas velocity clearing the action is the crud culprit.

Certainly nothing that is a big problem, and I wouldn't change my lube practice over a bit more crud. I do expect it to worsen when I get my can out of jail and on the gun.

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