I had the unpleasant experience to find out that Tetra Lube grease removes the baked on dry lube coating applied inside Bushmaster upper receivers. I noticed it after cleaning a Bushmaster upper that was missing the coating where ever the tetralube grease contacted, and no it wasn't from wear from the bolt carrier, at the points where grease was applied it left irregular shaped places where the coating was eaten.  Have another upper with thousands of rounds through it that has no coating missing at all, but it also never had tetra lube applied. If you look inside a Bushmaster upper receiver you will notice it is grey rather than black inside because of this coating.  I know Colt receivers also are treated with a baked on dry lube as well but don't know about it and tetra lube. I found out earlier that tetra lube removes Alumahyde finish as well. Anybody who has a Bushmaster or a baked on finish on their gun, I would recomend against using it.  

Ive never heard that before.But I have seen it damage some polymers like is used in some of the aftermarket magazines and stocks.
Thanks for the warning.
Raymond

Sorry to hear about your finish.

I use Tetra Gun Spray, Oil and Grease on my Bushmaster and AR-10s.  They look like the day I bought them.

Dave S  

What does Bushmaster have to say about it?

DaveS, it is in the inside of the upper where a drylube coating is applied that you will notice any damage, if you see black wear marks and not a uniform gray color, that's where the coating has dissolved, my original upper which I have more rounds through and no tetra lube use, shows no wear at all.  

Hepcat85, I contacted them and they said they would check it out and if they have the same findings they will post a warning.  I never knew Bushmasters even had the coating until I talked to the about identifying a Bushmaster upper from others.  Supposedly only Colt and Bushmaster do this, too bad Bushmasters doesn't hold up to the tetra lube grease, but I know that stuff melts lots of finishes, my tube of grease is at the dump now.

Um.....hmmmmm.

Last Sat., after I saw this, I applied a small dab of Tetra Grease to an obviously non-friction spot inside one of my V Match uppers, onto the gray finished area I knew to be bake-on lube.

I wiped the grease out Sunday night....and found no discoloration at all.

So I re-daubed that spot immediately, and have just checked.

No change whatever.

How old is that upper?!? How long did the breakdown take? My grease is circa '98 or so, and this rifle was purchased this past winter.

HMMM.

Wonder what the diff was?!?

Sorry you lost your lube. I guess keeping a thin coat of CLP on it if it's cold out, or Tetra grease if it's hot, is important to the lifespan of that upper, now.

Thanks for the AlumaHyde warning, though.

Regards,

FastVFR800

fastvfr800, bought the upper a little over a year ago, the tetra lube is about 4 years old and would come out of the tube slightly yellow in color at first even after kneading the tube, don't know if properties of it change with time or not.  Where I had blobs of it on bolt, it left a black mark showing through in the shape of the blob, was in there for a few months if that matters.  I know on alumahyde it seems to penetrate the paint and get under it and it bubbles off. Perhaps coating wasn't properly applied, I do know after the fact, the tetra lube grease says it may remove certain finishes as a disclaimer.  Not worth taking chances anymore, have used GI LSA for over 15 years and never had problems and will continue with that.  

I have been using the Tetra grease/FP-10 in both of my Bushmasters for about two years. After reading this post I tore them both down, neither show any discoloration that you have described.  One has well over 1000 rounds down the tube.  Ed  

Hmmmmm, starting to make me wonder if the dry film lube was improperly applied then since a couple of you have experienced no harm to your finish.  

No probs here...

I tried some tetra grease lube a couple of years ago on the bolt, carrier, and inside of upper receiver where the carrier rides. I thought that by using the grease I woulden't have to worry about the rust preventative evaporating like clp does.

I lubed the before mentioned parts and put them in the safe. Two months later I did a quick check right before going to range.  The tetra grease I put on the rifle parts turned into some sort of an adhesive kind of shit that was almost impossible to remove.  Nothing really seemed to cut it so it took alot of elbow grease and time to remove it.  It didn't seem to damage the finish but on the inside of the upper near the barrel ext. some of it is still there.  It didn't stick on the bolt or carrier as it was still fluid.

After that I removed it from other guns I had put it on and have never used it or the tetra oil again.

Wespe, it may be the tetra lube and not your  upper receiver that is the problem.

Wasn't there a post a month or two back about the inside of a Bushy upper losing the dry film *and* the anodizing? Said he could see bare aluminum.

Not sure why peoply use all the latest wizbang goop on there rifles???Keep it out!!Use only a full synthetic,oil or grease if you have to goop it up to be happy.I use mobil one oil and have since it came out years ago.nothing wears ever and it wont burn!!!I put it where i want it and wipe most off before i assemble weapon.Its cheap and 1 quart will last a lifetime.  Try it!!!!!             Goodluck
                                   Brad

It does seem that when its all over with your back to using what you started with.

Mobil 1?

I was told Castrol Syntec for much the same reason.

I did that with my all-steel Colt 1911 and got decent, not spectacular, results.

But yeah, I've found that automotive synthetic oil seems to work reasonably well as a lubricant if you don't go overboard.

Panz
[bounce]

Tetra is an all synthetic product.