Grease or Oil on the Arbor

[BillinOregon]

I fear I have sinned, having put some white lithium on the arbor and some choke-tube anti-seize on the new Slixshots. Using Ballistol for the rest of the cleaning and lubing, but will return to smearing goop over the face of each chamber -- maybe Udderly Smooth lanolin just for the Hades of it.

 

[Bunk]

Just my experience. I was using RIG gun grease but when temps hit upper 90s it was melting and oozing out and making the pistol a greasy mess. So i swithed to Hoppes gun oil which seemed to work fine in high heat. Last week temps dropped to upper 70s so i slathered the gun grease on arbor and shot 80+ rounds without having to break down the revolver at the range. So for now im back to grease. Have a feeling when it gets into the 30s and below i may go back to oil.

what ever works for you. This is like bullet/patch lubes discussion.
Like a belly button every one has one.
"there is no horse so dead that cannot continue to be beaten"
Prof. Marvel

 

[Secesh]

Wagon axle grease. Period correct.

 

[Crow Choker]

I fear I have sinned, having put some white lithium on the arbor and some choke-tube anti-seize on the new Slixshots. Using Ballistol for the rest of the cleaning and lubing, but will return to smearing goop over the face of each chamber -- maybe Udderly Smooth lanolin just for the Hades of it.

Oh I duno'! I haven't smeared grease over balls for probably 35 years. Lubed wads all the time, never any fouling, clean barrel, and I don't have greasy hands or revolvers anymore. After the first shot the majority of grease is gone and just one big mess. Anyway, how'd we get talkin grease over balls when talkin oil vs grease on the arbor.

 

[Bad Karma]

I fear I have sinned, having put some white lithium on the arbor and some choke-tube anti-seize on the new Slixshots. Using Ballistol for the rest of the cleaning and lubing, but will return to smearing goop over the face of each chamber -- maybe Udderly Smooth lanolin just for the Hades of it.

Say twenty “Hail Sam Colts“ and you’ll be absolved my son.

 

[Bad Karma]

One of the main stress points I have noticed that needs a good grease as opposed to oil is the bolt cam on the hammer. I have seen many of these worn out of shape to the point it changes the timing. Very often the bolt finger/leg will have a groove worn in them. Both need to be hard to resist wear but also all the edges need to be broken smooth so as not to gall one another. Proper shape, hardness , edge dressing and then a good grease to lube the interface is needed.

Thin that leg of the bolt so it’s not bearing so heavily on the cam. Also, your action should be well greased with Mobil One anyway. Just as Sam Colt intended.

 

[TFoley]

No doubt a few of us here have a habit of shooting our c&b revolvers more often than others, but my ROA gets a real workout around once every two months when it is a star attraction on a guest day. It's in use virtually non-stop all day - around 120 shots in multiples of six, unless somebody just wants to try a single shot to give them an idea.

I have a habit of wiping the outside clean after each cylinder load, and cleaning the inside face of the hammer where it gets some of the backblast for the cap.

Using Shakespeare spinning real grease on the arbour is only necessary once during the entire session. Been like that since March of 1986.

Guess I've been doing it wrong all along.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Lets see, what was it told young solders for decades.

"If it rotates, Oil it. If it slides grease it"

Yet I use bore butter on what rotates, Always the trouble maker I was.

 

[SPQR70AD]

Just my experience. I was using RIG gun grease but when temps hit upper 90s it was melting and oozing out and making the pistol a greasy mess. So i swithed to Hoppes gun oil which seemed to work fine in high heat. Last week temps dropped to upper 70s so i slathered the gun grease on arbor and shot 80+ rounds without having to break down the revolver at the range. So for now im back to grease. Have a feeling when it gets into the 30s and below i may go back to oil.

RIG is way overrated gun grease and I see it melt in the jar when it is hot. I gave it away. Lucas red sticky grease is good

 

[CaptainVane]

RIG is way overrated gun grease and I see it melt in the jar when it is hot. I gave it away. Lucas red sticky grease is good

I will try that, always looking for something new. RIG is messy, works but pistol becomes a greasy mess when warm out.

 

[45man]

I like STP for all my revolvers.

 

[Gee Dog]

STP: If it’s petroleum based then it’s a loosing proposition.

 

[Bad Karma]

RIG is way overrated gun grease and I see it melt in the jar when it is hot. I gave it away. Lucas red sticky grease is good

Lucas anything is generally very good stuff.

 

[Spartan64]

Yep. My point. That cylinder is never going to be spinning like a car wheel and does not need the lubrication that wheel bearings do.

Wonder what they use on those electric gattling guns?

Mill-Com TW-25B. Amazing stuff buts its expensive. Rated for -90° F to +450° F.

 

[45D]

Mill-Com TW-25B. Amazing stuff buts its expensive. Rated for -90° F to +450° F.

It's less about lubrication of cylinder and more about blocking fouling. Thick is better than thin for that purpose. Oil runs, grease stays put.

Mike

 

[Spartan64]

As many have said grease is the way to go. I personally use MIL-PRF-81322G spec grease on all my revolvers, BP and modern alike. Commonly sold as Mobilgrease 28 or AeroShell 22. It's an aviation grease meant for things like landing gear and helicopter rotors. Have shot revolvers all day in everything from desert heat to sub zero conditions without any performance issues.

I have also played around with Mill-Com TW-25B but I can't justify the price when the cheaper aviation grease works fine and a $20 tube has lasted me over a decade. Have a friend who swears by it for his modern firearms but he's in the Class III game so $10/ounce magic grease is a drop in the bucket...

​

 

[Spartan64]

It's less about lubrication of cylinder and more about blocking fouling. Thick is better than thin for that purpose. Oil runs, grease stays put.

Mike

The Mill-Com grease was designed for things like rotary canons on the A-10 Warthog. It holds up to fouling an order of magnitude greater than anything a Colt arbor receives. It's just hard to justify the price when plenty of cheaper grease products are good enough for BP needs. I got a sample from a friend but looking online its something like $10/ounce or more. The aviation grease I use on my revolvers was about $1.50 an ounce ten years ago and I still have over half a tube left.

 

[Crow Choker]

Have a small tub of Mill-Com grease, wonderous stuff. Have used on arbors a few times, but the white lithium has worked well for alot of years. Use the Mill-Com in alot of gun innards, great stuff. My son gave me a partial tube of some grease that he advised he used in his SAW M249 and M4/16 in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the MidEast. He advised it was great stuff, it was-don't know what it was, but a little dab would do ya!!! He's on his 3rd go round in that meat grinder of the world, be back in Nov.

 

[Relic shooter]

It's less about lubrication of cylinder and more about blocking fouling. Thick is better than thin for that purpose. Oil runs, grease stays put.

Mike

Mobile-1 synthetic grease makes revolvers purr

 

[beardedhorse]

I have both very old sperm whale oil from Dixie and a bear grease-beeswax lube I make. Chemists say that if you esterify jojoba oil it is similar in composition to sperm whale oil. Now how to esterify or form an ester of jojoba oil is a question for a chemist. You can legally still get jojoba oil but sperm whale oil is no longer produced for purchase.