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I recently started using vaseline on my bolt action weapons and it seems to work really well. It acts just as gun grease does. Anyone else do this and how do you guys think it would work in a AR.

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Oh jeez, what's next? Peanut butter?

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Anal eze.

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Vaseline is not a metal lubricant and offers poor rust protection.
You're begging for trouble with your guns.

After six days (12 immersions), only four products- Brownell's LTS-1, Pachmayr Rust Preventative, RIG Universal, and plain old Vaseline Petroleum Jelly provided sufficient protection so that no rust appeared on the steel strips. Two more, those protected with Outers Metal Seal and Boeshield T-9®, showed only very slight traces of rust. Most of the others were badly rusted. After four days, the freshwater test demonstrated clear differences in the effectiveness of the various rust-blockers under non-salt water conditions. The strips treated with Brownell's LTS-1, Outers Metal Seal, Pachmayr Rust Preventative. and Vaseline showed no signs of rust; those with ACF- 50, Boeshield T-9®, Hoppe's Gun Grease, and RIG Universal had only very slight traces. The rest exhibited a range of rusting from slight to considerable.

The salt-air exposure test didn't produce the dramatic differences we obtained with the other two tests, but the top six products in the previous test also scored well in this one. While some products that performed poorly in the other tests did well in this less severe exposure, the results we obtained generally confirmed our findings in the other two tests.

Recommendations/Conclusions
It's clear to us that the six products that stood up best in both the intermittent-saltwater-immersion and the freshwater "rain" tests will provide the best rust protection. Rust protection, though, isn't everything. RIG Universal and Vaseline are both greases, which limits their usefulness somewhat. Both leave a greasy film, even after wiping, that can act like a magnet for dirt. Of the greases, Vaseline was rated excellent, and RIG Universal was very good. Vaseline cost us about 12 cents an ounce, while an ounce of RIG Universal cost a buck a pretty clear factor in favor of Vaseline (or other generic petroleum jelly). Brownell's LTS-1 is a fairly thick liquid that is normally brushed onto a surface, although it can also be thinned and sprayed. It dries to a tough, brown colored film. Its performance as a rust preventive was rated excellent. We believe, however, that Brownell's LTS-1, as well as RIG Universal and Vaseline, are best suited for steel items that are being stored, rather than those in actual use.

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dfaris:

Upon what do you base the highlighted portion of your post? I get very frustrated when I read these threads on lubrication and rust prevention. Lots of opinions, but very little in the way of first hand experience or reference to facts. I have successfully used Vaseline/petroleum jelly to protect guns and edged weapons from rust for more than 40 years. I have never had a problem. By the way, I can say the same about WD-40 as well, another excellent rust preventative. Never a single spot of rust, even when the items being protected were stored in high temperature, high humidity areas. Likewise, I never had a blued, parkerized or painted finish harmed or affected by the Vaseline. Vaseline/petroleum jelly is little more than a thicker form of mineral oil. There's nothing in it that is harmful to steel. As long as the barrier it forms over the substrate remains intact, and prevents the exposure of that base to oxygen, rust (i.e., oxidation) simply cannot occur.

Please note the following test of Vaseline/petroleum jelly as a rust preventative: