Silicone or gun oil or both?

[Blacky]

Do you use silicone on your guns, if so how? Silicone spray, silicone cloth, external/internal lubrication, what gun finish is silicone best for (blue, chrome, stainless, etc.), what silicone brand do you use? Pros/Cons?

[Nodda Duma]

blech silicone. Eventually the world will be covered in the stuff.

Silicone's problem is that it creeps. As in, it won't stay where you put it.

-Jason

[trinydex]

the world kind of is already covered in it...

[miles2912]

Isn't CLP silicon? or at least silicon based?

[Capt. Speirs]

the world kind of is already covered in it...

I am sure you ment silicon. Silicone is a polymer that includes silicon (a metalloid) amoung other things.

[trinydex]

i actually meant silicates :P

[odysseus]

Isn't CLP silicon? or at least silicon based?

Traditionally to my knowledge no, it is an oil solvent and lubricant, with a teflon additive.

.

[Splinter]

If your using it for storage, a good oil is best. If you use your firearm a lot, silicone cloth for a quick wipe down is good, and doesnt cause harm to you like most oils do. If you dont care about absorbing the chemicals, just use a good oil.

[Salty]

I use oil (most recently Break Free CLP in the squeeze bottle) on the inside and silicone (in the form of a cloth) on the outside. The CLP just seems to work better on moving parts than other oils I've tried, and it has very little smell. I use the silicone cloth on the outside though because it tends to sit in a thinner layer and won't goop up your hands nearly as much as oil when handling. If the gun is going to sit for a long time, then I put a layer of oil on the outside only because it sits thicker and I see it as providing more protection.

I also use CLP for most of my cleaning unless something is really gunky, and then I'll use Butches Bore Shine. CLP provides enough wetting to clean up most of the grit about 2/3 of the time though.

That's just what I've been doing based on my own findings and others suggestions. I haven't actually tested that many products myself though. I know my Grandpa would use "3-in-1" oil for everything, seemed to work alright. But in a class I took we were told that WD-40 and some other general use lubricants can kill powder & primer, so I've just been using gun specific oils since.