When I was competing every Friday night, and one or two Saturdays per month. Twice a year.
Before each match, a drop of Break Free on the chamber exterior, rack back the slide and lock open,
a drop on the front 1/'2' of the bbl exterior, and flip it over an a drop into each rail groove on the
slide. Drop the slide, rack it a few times to work the lube in and good to go.
It was grungy, but ran 100% that way. Total strip and clean, probably amounted to about every
5000 rds. Today, I clean far more often because the grung sitting around can fossilize and that
is bad. That was a Gold Cup. Did pretty much the same with the Wilson comp gun custom 1911s
and the Kimber Custom Classic. If lubed a bit with good light synthetic, the will run quite dirty just
fine.
For 1911s today, I use red synthetic grease on the rails, and the link, bottom lug area. This stays far
longer, in place, and remains soft longer than anything else I have tried. A drop of oil on the top of the chamber
area and on the exterior of the bbl where the bushing runs is good. Rack the slide a few times to spread this
oil inside the slide, get to the locking lug area, too.
Good synthetic grease, like aircraft grade, will not thicken in cold. MUST be synthetic. Mobil 1 red synthetic is
commonly found at various auto and Walmart locations. Gun oils must be synthetics, too, to avoid oxidation into
hard guck (old soap greases are horrible for this!)
A friend is a microscope repairman, overhauls hundreds per year for schools and businesses. He will cycle
a school's microscopes through every 3-5 years. In the old days, about 10% of them came in with the focus
rail frozen solid, a very precisely fitted dovetail and rack and pinion, all grease lubed. The old grease would
go very hard, took extensive soaking with MEK to get them loose without damage. He switched to red
aircraft synthetic grease in late 80s, and has gotten some back 15 years later, focus is just like he left it.
The 3-5 year ones are still perfect.
A he says, God bless red synthetic grease. Saves him huge amount of time on over hauls. Used to spend
a lot of time, even if not stuck, cleaning out hardened grease and relubing. It took toothbrush scrubbing with
MEK or Acetone to remove it all. Now open, wipe with a rag and a touch of solvent, add new grease,
reassemble. I switched to red synthetic grease in the early to mid 90s for semiauto rails and cam/lug/link
area.
Mobil 1™ Synthetic Grease – just like the Mobil 1™ family of motor oils – protects hardworking parts from temperature extremes, rust and wear.
walmart.mobiloil.com
The latest grade of aircraft synthetic is opaque green-blue. The older stuff I have a 5 lb can of is
slightly translucent red. For gun use, one tube is a lifetime supply.
Bill