I’m critically low on my Gun Maintenance Products. I have 3 products that I use and really prefer over everything else. I need to order some of each.
First is LUBRICATION. There is nothing better on the planet – NOTHING – that can touch the lubrication of SLIPSTREAM STYX from Crusader Weaponry. This stuff is beyond slick. I use it in any mechanism that needs some lubricant. This is also what I use when I am reassembling things… such as firearm internals, revolvers to rifles, and any other mechanical device. It doesn’t gum up, doesn’t dry out, and it protects those internals better than anything else I’ve ever found. It was designed for this purpose… for marine conditions. Salt Water conditions. So it can handle humidity, keeps your weapon operating in the worst conditions. This stuff works on any mechanism and I used it all the time on my motorcycles, inside cables and levers for super slick controls.
Second is MPRO-7 Cleaner. This is a full synthetic cleaner unlike most others. It’s more of an astringent than a solvent. So you spray it on, and wipe it off, done. Work great on the inside of your bore, exterior wipe downs, and deep detailed cleaning. I also like that it doesn’t strip the metal completely bare… it leaves a thin film on the parts that is neither oily or sticky… just… smooth and clean. I don’t know how to describe it better than that. Let’s just say – you should use this stuff too. Get it in the pump-spray bottle, and you will love it. It also works well on cleaning motorcycles.
The Third product that I’ve come to really like, and need more of now, is FIREClean. Abe and Dave of DNA Guns turned me on to this stuff last year. It’s a CLP. It cleans and it lubes very well for a CLP. I usually don’t like CLP’s. But I like this stuff… You see, I’ve found that living in the Coastal Carolina area, the humidity here combined with the ocean’s salt spray that gets caught in the air and gives the air that nice coastal smell that I love – is actually quite harmful to firearms. And considering I really don’t care for stainless steel too much – I’m always wiping my guns down to make sure they remain protected. When I first came here, every month I was wiping off a thin layer of orange dust… the beginnings of rust. FIREclean stopped that. It leaves the guns with a nice protective coating… a nice oiled finish that doesn’t feel oily but protects the guns.
Some time ago I stripped the black coatings off my Becker Combat Bowie and my Becker Companion knives. This leaves a bare high carbon steel blade… that will corrode if you even look at it sideways. You see, I use my Tactical Knives when I cook and that Becker BK9 Combat Bowie is my main cooking knife now. I didn’t like it before because that black coating didn’t let it slice very well. It added a lot of drag. Stripping the coating has let it slice meats very cleanly. It’s fantastic. It’s also bare high carbon steel, so it needs protection. FIREclean is perfect for this. I’ll use the knife and as soon as I’m done, I’ll wash it off with hot soap and water, and then I’ll rub a drop of FIREclean on each side of the blade and spine to protect it until my next cook. So until Becker/KA-BAR makes a more stainless version of the BK9 – I’ll continue to use Fireclean on it and on all my guns.
Agree 100% on the Slipstream. The AR and HK love running in it, nice and slick and mess free. A little bit pricey but it goes a long way, well worth the money.
I’ve not tried Styx yet but will get a bottle or 2 the next time I order. The best preservative that I’ve ever used is Breakfree Collector. It’s pretty thick but doesn’t run off even when a firearm is stored vertically. I’ve not seen it for sale since I bought a big bottle of it close to 10 years ago but luckily I still have quite a bit of it left.
Thanks for the info will have to try Fireclean. But… I’m confused, the FireClean is a CLP but you’re using the STYX too? Thought all other oils had to be removed with alcohol to use a CLP like FireClean? Then once applied, don’t add other oils because they will mix and CLP will not run as designed?
I will have to try these. I’m a little confused on the FireClean CLP. Thought CLP was cleaner and lubes. I was under the impression a CLP couldn’t mix with another lubricant oil, like STYX.
Slipstream can… In fact, you can let it settle, and pull the fluid out and mix in whatever lube you want. Slipstream is all about the nano particles. The oil is just the carrier.
For Styx, the oil is a corrosion inhibitor/lubricant.
Cool thanks. I’ll be buying both FireClean and Slipstream STYX. FrogLube has gotten to be a hassle to apply.
I honestly don’t know how Froglube is so popular.
I’ve had pretty good experience using it on the outside of my firearms as a rust resistant coating. Okay as a cleaner, but despise using it for a lubricant.
George, what do you think of Bore Snake and similar bore cleaners? They sure are quick and convenient.
LOVE them.
They don’t replace a good Rod and Brush completely… but I do use them frequently.
Even though it has been surpassed by MANY products on today’s market and must be used with care or not at all on some finishes, notably nickel, due to its ammonia content, I still fondly remember and appreciate the distinctive aroma of Hoppes #9. That is the “cologne” of gun ownership for most of us old dudes. Just its distinctive smell makes me want to go shooting or hunting, despite its now largely inferior properties.
Nothing like Hoppes #9, I remember cleaning my guns as a boy with Hoppes all over my fingers and just smelling them…ah that smell.
The problem with #9 is that its a Solvent… and nothing else. It can eat some synthetic materials, leave a varnish, and can lead to corrosion.
I don’t use it anymore on anything but inside a barrel.