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Posted: 1/28/2015 9:33:04 PM EDT
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Hello All,
I'm an older guy that's new to the AR world and this is my first post, so please don't beat me up too badly.  Anyway, I've been lurking for a month or so and learning a whole lot on this site. It has to be the greatest source of AR info on the web.
I've read a $hitload of threads on CLPs and lubes and know that most are fine if you just keep it lubed. However, I'd be curious to know if any members have given Fireclean a fair trial and then gone back to (or on to), something else they prefer and why they did. I know a lot of folks won't use anything else. Thanks |
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I mix random gun oils into one bottle
use that never got the hype on oils and cleaners I dont shoot much and super clean them when I do so probably wont really see any wonders with all these magic oils for as little as I use everything as long as it dont get sticky or rusty from sitting around im fine |
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I have noticed that these natural plant based CLP's are only good as long as you are putting them in the guns you use weekly.
I took out a couple of safe queens I lubed with FC a couple months ago and it was rancid and very tacky. Same thing happened when I tried FL. They do hold up very well in a few corrosion test I have read and seen here. I'm trying out some Lucas xtreme gun oil to get back into using a non 'Organic" based oil. I have had enough of the FC/FL stuff for now. If I don't like it I am just going back to Break free or M1 and screw all the snake oil's for now. Thats my 2 bits. Take it with a grain of salt if you want. |
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Quoted:
I have noticed that these natural plant based CLP's are only good as long as you are putting them in the guns you use weekly. I took out a couple of safe queens I lubed with FC a couple months ago and it was rancid and very tacky. Same thing happened when I tried FL. They do hold up very well in a few corrosion test I have read and seen here. I'm trying out some Lucas xtreme gun oil to get back into using a non 'Organic" based oil. I have had enough of the FC/FL stuff for now. If I don't like it I am just going back to Break free or M1 and screw all the snake oil's for now. Thats my 2 bits. Take it with a grain of salt if you want. Interesting, I've read accounts of FL doing that but not FC. My AR won't be used in winter months, so that's something to consider. |
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Interesting, I've read accounts of FL doing that but not FC. My AR won't be used in winter months, so that's something to consider. Quoted:
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I have noticed that these natural plant based CLP's are only good as long as you are putting them in the guns you use weekly. I took out a couple of safe queens I lubed with FC a couple months ago and it was rancid and very tacky. Same thing happened when I tried FL. They do hold up very well in a few corrosion test I have read and seen here. I'm trying out some Lucas xtreme gun oil to get back into using a non 'Organic" based oil. I have had enough of the FC/FL stuff for now. If I don't like it I am just going back to Break free or M1 and screw all the snake oil's for now. Thats my 2 bits. Take it with a grain of salt if you want. Interesting, I've read accounts of FL doing that but not FC. My AR won't be used in winter months, so that's something to consider. I think these lubes will still work with long-term storage, but you probably shouldn't leave any trace of it in your firearm and wipe it down thoroughly before putting it away. The frog lube directions say to wipe away the excess anyway. With Frog Lube I would wipe everything down more thoroughly than you would during a regular cleaning and re-lubeing for long-term storage. I am still not going to use them anymore myself. |
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I have noticed that these natural plant based CLP's are only good as long as you are putting them in the guns you use weekly. I took out a couple of safe queens I lubed with FC a couple months ago and it was rancid and very tacky. Thats exactly what happened with Rand CLP when i used it on an 870. |
| I use FC pretty much exclusively outside of using up what Hoppes I had left over. Currently, fireclean is kept on a savage MKII, home built Ar, and an FNX pistol. The range I shoot at is around 60 degrees(indoors, but not heated), no problems whatsoever there, the guns also live in their cases between trips to shoot and I've experienced no gumming up issues yet. |
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Works just fine for me. Then again I don't pretend like it's cosmolene and bathe my guns in it. Just a little bit stays where it needs to. According to FC themselves the more you use it the more it will soak into the metal. So it will eventually be bathed in it unless you use a solvent or action scrubber to clean the excess every time. This is why it gets easier to clean the more and more you use it. I used it for about 6 months shooting every week sometimes twice a week and it worked fine, but if you put the firearm away for a while it will get tacky. I didn't have this problem until it sat for almost a month. Never had this problem with non plant based lubes. For example Break Free, and SLP2000 are still slick after 30 days or so of sitting. |
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Here's my take on Fireclean and other such "Do-it-All" products (such and Breakfree CLP or Rand's CLP)
For cleaning, there are better products and solvents out there. Hell, Hoppe's No.9 actually does a real good job on carbon build up. And, there are several bore cleaners out there that do an excellent job of copper and carbon fouling removal (such as Butch's Bore Shine). There are many lubricants on the market today that will lubricate much better and are designed solely for high heat lubrication (TW-25, Lucas Extreme, SLIP 2000, etc, etc,) None of the "Do-it-All" products do any of the above near as well as specific designed products. I love all the marketing hype about "use it exclusively and it will soak in to the metal". They said the same thing 30 years ago about Breakfree, We used Breakfree on everything from our M16A1s (I'm that old) to our MP5s all the way up to our M2 .50 Cal MGs. For heavy use (2,000 - 4,000 rounds a week sometimes) we started using some types of light grease and we started getting longer runs without malfunctions. That being said, in my days in the military, I'd carry breakfree and today, if I were in the same role, I might carry fireclean, mainly because I wouldn't have the luxury of having the space to carry all the products I mentioned (although I would probably carry a small bottle of Lucas Extreme). I doubt many of you are in the field conducting long-term operations these days, so why choose one product for all things when there are better options available? Most of us on here are casual shooters, and if you're shooting less than 1,000 rounds or so per month, those CLP type products will be fine (as would any other decent lubricant). Flame suit is on, so flame away. |
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Here's my take on Fireclean and other such "Do-it-All" products (such and Breakfree CLP or Rand's CLP) I doubt many of you are in the field conducting long-term operations these days, so why choose one product for all things when there are better options available? Definitely agree.I think if I were in a real pinch for time I might give some of these Do-It-All products more than a passing glance simply for the sake of field expediency. However, in spare moments of my leisure time, I can take an extra moment to make my life a bit easier and use a more ideal tool for each of my purposes. I want to clean the weapon, I want to lube the weapon, and I want to preserve the weapon. Three basic steps for which there are outstanding products that serve each individual purpose with significant improvement over products that claim to do it all. Also, most of the wonder-products are plant based as opposed to mineral based. I've not yet seen a plant based "CLP" that didn't get nasty gummy over time. For example, Gunzilla. Serves the cleaning purpose well, Leave it in slathered in your weapon, walk away, and come back a month later and it's developed the physical tactile properties of drying tree sap. But used in conjunction with a good lube and a good preservative, it's a good cleaner for the three step process. Clean. (I use PD680 or mineral spirits) Lube. (I use 60% synthetic engine oil, 30% synthetic ATF, 10% acetone) Preserve. (I use Eezox) Also: Old enough to have been issued an M16A1
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Been using FireClean on ARs and HK pistols for competition for over a year now. They run and run. However, I stopped using FireClean on my Benelli M2. It gummed up the action enough in cold weather that it was sluggish and was causing stoppages. So I stripped all the FireClean out of it, put a very, very light coat of FireClean back in and the gun ran......but after 200 shells and sitting for a week until the next outing, the FC gummed up again. This time, I stripped out the FC and used a mixture of Mobil1 5w-30 and Mobil1 ATF. The gun's action is so much smoother, lighter, and it has run great ever since. So, no more FC in the M2. Others have noted similar experiences with pistols and 1911/2011 pistols in colder weather.........FC has stated that you need VERY little in colder weather, as I think they know it gets tacky. I put some on a foam plate, along with SLIP and the Mobil1 mixture in 20degF weather overnight........all would run when the plate was tipped, but the FC had thickened up. What I noticed with the FC in colder weather was that if I racked the gun repeatedly, it would loosen up the tackiness and basically "warm" up to be slick again. My belief is that in warmer weather, I *probably* would not have seen issues with the M2. So, for the ARs and regular pistols, I'll use the FC until it is used up, but am undecided if I'll keep using FireClean on them. I'm torn because the stuff cleans up VERY easily. For the M2 and a 2011 build, I'm sticking with the Mobil1 mixture. |
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I like Fireclean and use it on all my guns. Prior Breakfree CLP user.. if it was good enough in the Marines, it's good enough now. And it still is, I just like Fireclean better.
I think it works great and don't plan on switching. I think it does hold up pretty well. I took one of my AR's to the range this week and put 60 rounds through it, first time I shot it 6 months. Just for giggles I broke it down when I got home and it was still pretty wet and slick. Cleaned easily. So my experience is different than some other people, I think it does last. I've never really run any of my rifles that hard, maybe 200 rounds in a shooting session, max. Personally, I think lube is lube - it's a bunch of moving metal that gets hot, so Mobil 1 is perfectly fine as well if you ask me. Where I get suspicious is when you have to heat things up, apply and do some crazy cycle of lubing like Froglube. That just seems like overkill. Fireclean is expensive though - many times I have thought of switching to Mobil 1 but I'm not there yet. |
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