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Vaseline as a gun lubricant?

DONDALINGER
Anybody use vaseline as a gun grease? I have been using it lately on the slide rails of my semi autos. Any negative impact of doing this? Should I stick with a specific "gun grease"?

Don
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Comments

9 comments

Date Votes
  • mark christian
    It is just Petroleum jelly so I am thinking that there is no reason that it cannot be used as a firearms lube but it is too thick when cold and too runny when it heats up. I am also not clear on how it reacts with plastics.

    Any of our chemical guys out there know about Petroleum jelly?
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  • Hawk Carse
    Petroleum jelly/Vaseline/petrolatum is just another set of petroleum hydrocarbons. It won't hurt plastic.

    There was one late 19th - early 20th century gun that specifically recommended Vaseline for lubrication and protection. We can do better now.
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  • 1KYDSTR
    Hell, they used to use Whale Oil, so all bets are off as to what you couldn't use along those lines in a pinch. Agree with everything said thus far, and would add that a big glob of really cold vaseline in your pistol barrel might make things more interesting than one might appreciate.[;)]
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  • David Nunn
    I don't know about the safety of using petroleum jelly with plastics. It isn't recommended as a lubricant for latex condoms, since it will attack the latex, so I don't think I would use it on any gun that had plastic parts.

    Besides, with all the excellent lubricants that are made specifically for and marketed for use on firearms, why use a cheap drug store substitute?
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  • XXCross
    1KYDSTR
    Heaven help you if you ever use vegetable oil (wesson oil) as a gun lubricant!
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  • beantownshootah
    *Could* you use it? Yes. It is petroleum based, so it will provide some lubrication and rust prevention. Its probably better than nothing, and potentially better than other oils/greases that also aren't meant for gun use.

    *Should* you use it? Well, unless you're in the middle of nowhere and that's literally all you have, I can't really see a good reason to choose it over other things.

    The stuff is too viscous to flow into cracks/pores of metal or spread evenly, tends to attract/stick dirt, and much more important, its not temperature resistant, a key property in a good gun lube.

    Ordinary vaseline melts at about 165F. I'd imagine the stuff would literally drip right out of a hot gun. Plus I think it gets stiff with cold, which is another potentially serious negative.

    Of course, excellent purpose-designed gun lubricants are not hard to obtain, and not terribly expensive. $5 at any sporting goods store will buy you a tube of CLP or Rem oil that will provide lube for a LONG time and outperform any vaseline.

    If your goal is to save money, or just to live "off the grid" ordinary motor oil (particularly high viscosity synthetic) is still dirt cheap and will do a far better job than vaseline will. Even old crankcase oil will probably still be available in the middle of nowhere.

    If you want a true GREASE (eg for internal parts), lithium grease is more inert and temp resistant, plus pretty cheap, so I'd start there.

    On plastics, pretty much ANY oil/petroleum based solvent or product will destroy latex rubber.

    But since gun designers know that guns are likely to be DELIBERATELY exposed to petroleum based solvents as cleaners, pretty much no modern gun is built with parts (including grips) that are petroleum soluble. So I wouldn't worry about vaseline being a problem THAT way.
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  • He Dog
    Polymer scientists spend millions developing purpose designed lubricants. You think you can improve on that with a jar of Vasoline? surely you cannot be that cheap, these days I use dry lubes, also petrolium based by not greasy, sticky or affected by heat or cold.
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  • Odawgp
    quote:Originally posted by nunn
    I don't know about the safety of using petroleum jelly with plastics. It isn't recommended as a lubricant for latex condoms, since it will attack the latex, so I don't think I would use it on any gun that had plastic parts.

    Besides, with all the excellent lubricants that are made specifically for and marketed for use on firearms, why use a cheap drug store substitute?


    I'm thinking becuase it is the same lubricant specifically "marketed" by the gun rags at a fraction of the price
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  • Odawgp
    quote:Originally posted by He Dog
    Polymer scientists spend millions developing purpose designed lubricants. You think you can improve on that with a jar of Vasoline? surely you cannot be that cheap, these days I use dry lubes, also petrolium based by not greasy, sticky or affected by heat or cold.


    Millions wasted in most cases, there are however exceptions but for the average joe I doubt he could tell the difference other than cost
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