It has always been a mystery to me (OK, not really) the lengths people will go to in order to save a couple pennies over the course of a lifetime OR that for reasons unknown are more knowledgeable about lubrication demands imposed by firearms than chemists or petroleum engineers. I mean, if someone can't afford a lubricant designed specifically for firearms and marketed as such, how can they afford a gun?
But then it's your gun and you are perfectly welcome to smear anything on it that rings your bell.
have another day
Dr. WtS
Marketers love people that swallow anything they say, or sell, whole.
Why wouldn’t they? If it actually works worth a fook, is secondary, right after getting the marks money.
Use anything you like, save, Vaseline on your guns.
Best,
Ted
While instinctively I agree with you on Vaseline, I went back over the Purdey website Because old Purdey manuals actually recommended Vaseline on the locks. I suspect at one time Vaseline was defaulted to as it was easily available and much of the better things we have today did not exist. I went back to the1929 Purdey instructions state “slightly greased-we prefer Vaseline for this purpose.” I found buried within a current video on Purdey’s website a Purdey employee still recommending a 3-in-1 oil Vaseline mix for action parts.
Why would “slightly greased” with Vaseline be bad?
What specific lubricant would you suggest on a SLE’s locks and why?
A synthetic lubricant. Vaseline becomes a liquid at a fairly low temperature, and, as I noted has no EP qualities. Oil or grease might not make much difference, as long as you use one or the other, and the synthetics are stable over an unbelievable temperature spread.
In another segment of my existence, I ride English bicycles, that are equipped with a 3 speed English hub developed late in the century before last. 3 in one oil, in the red and white can has been around almost since then, and users of the Sturmey Archer hubs for the past 100 plus years have been discovering all along it is an inadequate lubricant for those hubs. When Sturmey Archer was an English company, they noted this in the lubrication instructions. Three in one, in the red can, is a blend of petroleum oil and citronella, which breaks down in short order.
I am told three in one oil, in the blue and white can, is an actual 10 weight oil, and will work well in the hubs. But, I blend my own oil for my hubs, a 50/50 mix of synthetic 5W20 motor oil, and ATF. Most of my hubs are the 5 speed version, and utilize hybrid lube of synthetic grease on bearings and oil on the internals.
What do 3 speed hubs and guns have in common? Just this. A requirement for top quality lubrication, replenished as needed, and cleaned out, and relubed, regularly, as needed.
Best,
Ted
