Monday, December 03, 2007

Gibbs Brand Lubricant...

...anyone using it?

My routine for cleaning most firearms has been pretty much the same forever. Field strip firearm, clean firearm and bore with Hoppe's #9, wipe down with an oily rag, spot lubricate with Hoppe's lubricating oil, reassemble firearm and wipe with a clean cloth. The only firearm that has a different routine is the AR. For the AR I use CLP instead of Hoppe's.

I have stood in the firearm cleaning isle of many a store, trying to talk myself into trying something different, but just could not get myself to do it. I think Hoppe's puts something addictive into #9.

Well anyway, a couple gun shows ago I got to talking with this old guy who was selling Gibbs Brand sooooooper stuff. To make a long story short, I ended up purchasing a can to try out. I tell you what, on a freshly cleaned firearm this stuff is outstanding. It is a great penetrant, a decent cleaner, and when the firearm is reassembled it operates smoother than ever. The first gun I tried it on was my Ruger MK 1, and I was impressed. The action was as smooth as glass, even days later. The Ruger was still picky about the ammo I fed it, but ran all the ammo it did previously very well. Next I used it on my Martini, again with great results. If you have never fired a single shot Martini, it is hard to explain, but the action was noticeably crisper than it had ever been. I used it on V's Browning Hi Power and all was well. What's next but to use it on the Kimber.

So I changed my routine when cleaning the Kimber. Clean it with the Hoppe's, then again with the Gibbs. Wipe it down, reassemble, wipe down again and go. Incidentally, I changed routines at about the same time as I started having problems with the Kimber. Coincidence? I really do not know. What I do know is that the Kimber is now a dirt magnet. After yesterday's course, there was not a function on the gun that did not feel like metal over sandpaper. Even the magazines, which I had cleaned with a very lightly damped rag felt rough. Prior to yesterday I had noticed more gun powder residue build up after each range trip with the Kimber, but was not too worried about that. The other firearms that I use the Gibbs on do not get the round count that the Kimber does, neither are they as important. With the Kimber, I have switched back to my old cleaning routine.

If you use Gibbs on a semi-auto firearm that you put at least a hundred rounds through on each range trip, let me know what you think about the product. It is great for other applications, I am just not sure it is right for a firearm that is shot a lot, especially outdoors.

4 comments:

Justin Buist said...

I've never touched the Gibbs stuff. Never even heard of it, but I don't shop for gun cleaning supplies all that much. They tend to last a while 'round here.

I switched from Hoppes #9 to Hoppes Elite a couple of years back. I'll still use the old #9 if it's handy, nothing against it, but after I read a bit from George Hill (I think it was him) on the Elite stuff working so much better I tried it out. I swabbed a few bores with #9 until they came out clean. Then I hit them with Elite. The patches came out black.

I'm sold.

I use Breakfree CLP sometimes, never noticed anything really special about it. It works. I've got some Slip 2000, and I forget what I read that got me to buy it, but it doesn't give off any fumes, so I like that about it.

Actually I just ran across a blog post from a liberal Democrat woman (Just an Earth Bound Misfit) thanking me for letting her know about Slip 2000. She hates the fumes given off by Hoppes and said she wouldn't have gone shooting that day if I hadn't told her about Slip 2k because she used to dread cleaning them so much.

As far as lube on a 1911 goes I can't offer much advice. I only one own 1911 and don't shoot it a whole lot. However, there's a poster on thehighroad.org that goes by the online name 'sm' that's pretty well respected and he likes using automatic transmission fluid as a lubricant. Or motor oil.

Anonymous said...

I use Kroil to clean my guns. It works great for removing lead fouling and powder fouling. If there's heavy copper fouling, I hit the bores with Wipeout bore foam after my regular cleaning. For lube, I use a product called Penetro-90, that I get online for about $8 a can. Makes actions alot slicker than most oils on the market. For rust prevention, the best thing I've found is Eezox. Wonderful at keeping metal objects rust-free.

azasadny said...

I have used Gibbs Lubricant for several years on my old cars, lawn mower, pool gear, tools, etc... and I've also been using it on my firearms. I have not had anything but 100% positive response with the product and recently used it to clean and lube several 60+ year old guns and it worked very well. I haven't had any problems with lint or dust buildup on the guns and I like the fact that i don't have to swab a bunch of grease on the guns, just a very light coat of Gibbs, wipe off and I'm "good to go". No rust, stains, etc... I'm not a salesman or rep for Gibbs, just a very satisfied customer.

Anonymous said...

Greatest stuff on the planet. Use it on my shotguns and every else around the house. Had some stubborn bolts on a fence repair job. Little Gibbs. Smooth as butter.
I get mine from this guy.
http://www.gibbslubtx.com/
Real nice, trusted, and ships fast.

Hope that helps