Microlon Gun Juice

By Horde Captain Mark

Microlon Gun Juice is a surface-treatment for metals.  They make it for various types of engines, but right now we’re talking about guns. 

When properly applied, it forms a low-friction coating on the surface.  According to the paperwork, it fills in and smooths over the surface imperfections, reducing both friction and wear.  The coating is permanent, and can be removed only by either machining it off, or by heating the piece to over 775 degrees F.

It’s a clear, blue-colored liquid with a strong odor.  I first heard of it in an article in the  March 2000 issue of the American Gunsmith Association magazine.  In their test, it was used on a .22 rifle bore.  Clean the bore to clear old oil or grease out.  Shake the bottle- shake it well before each use- and get a patch damp, not drippy, and run it down the bore.  Load and fire one round from a solid rest.  Run a second damp patch through, fire, and repeat until treatment complete. 

You can tell it’s complete by watching bullet impact; it should rise after each pass, when it stops you’re done.  I don't have a chronograph to check on my own, but the AGA tester used one, and did show an increase in velocity.  My use so far has been on .22 long rifle handguns and rifles for treating the bore, and on the slide and frame rails on my Kimber .45.  On the rifles, it only took five treatments.  On the handguns I used five; even with a rest I’m not steady enough to use the change in impact to tell.

What made me try it was a SiG Trailside.  If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a semi-auto pistol made for SiG by Hammerli.  I’ve had two; the first had to go back to the factory, my current one is the replacement(a story all it's own).  It’s a very accurate little piece, with one problem.  By the time you fired 75-100 rounds, the bore fouled so badly accuracy went to hell.  I wrote to SiG about it, and got no response, and thorough cleaning made no difference.  That was when I saw the article in AGA, and decided to give it a try.  I ordered a 1oz. bottle, cleaned the oil out of the bore with alcohol, and headed to the range.  Note: after the last trip, I had given up on solvent & brush to get the lead out, and used my Outers Foul-Out.  I heartily recommend it, it stripped the bore to bare metal without wearing out my hands, and gave me an absolutely clean surface.

Following procedure, I wiped a patch through, loaded and fired one round.  I repeated this five times total, then proceded to fire 100 rounds of the same ammo I’d had the barrel foul with before.  Looking through the bore periodically showed no visible lead fouling, and accuracy did not deteriorate.  When done, I ran a single dry patch through the bore, and it was clean; no lead fouling showed, and the powder fouling had just wiped out.  I’ve put many, many rounds through it since, and all I’ve ever had to do was put a patch with a touch of CLP through to clean the bore.  From what I’ve seen the CLP is probably not needed, but habit can be hard to break.  I have since used it in the barrels of all .22’s I own, rifle and handgun, with equal results for ease of cleaning. 

It can be used on any metal parts.  Procedure there is to clean off old lube, shake it up, get a patch or piece of chamois damp and wipe the parts, then let dry.  They say you can use a hair dryer to speed it up; I put the parts on a cookie sheet in the oven on warm.  Repeat four more times, and that’s it.  It’s good on triggers, sears and hammer notches to ease trigger pull.  Slide rails on autos to reduce friction.  It’s supposed to be good as a surface treatment to prevent corrosion, but I haven’t tested that.  Yet.

One other place I have tried it is in loading dies.  Disassemble the sizing die, clean out any oil or case lube, and give it the five-times treatment, including the neck expander ball.  It noticeably reduces the effort needed to cycle a case through (yes, I still use case lube; I’m paranoid about getting a case stuck in the die).

Summing up, in .22 bores, it works.  On trigger parts, it works.  In loading dies, it works.  On slide and frame rails, yes.  So far the only downside I’ve found is the smell, especially when you open the oven door.  I haven’t tried it in high-power rifles as yet, small problem with having spilled the last bottle, and I just got another.  That’s on the list to try.

Remember one thing, this is NOT a cleaner; you have to use in on a clean, degreased surface.  And so far, it performs to it's claims, and I'm still using it.

UPDATE: Feedback from Microlon:

“Apparently Microlon is reading you.  They read my review, and Mike sent me a message with the following comments:

Point one.  Rather than drawing a moistened patch 5 times through a bore, try 8 or 10 (10 is probably a good target number).  This will ensure that the dry film lube is fully in place for best results.

Point two.  You mention that heating the piece to over 775 degrees F will remove the film.  Actually, that should be 725 degrees F. Not that 50 degrees is that much of a change at those temperatures, but the stuff liquefies at 725F and changes to a gas at 775F.

Point three.  You mention that Gun Juice isn't a cleaner.  It is a cleaner, and is in fact an excellent metal cleaner.  If you have the time, I would ask you to try it as such on any gun or other metal item you have that seems to be "uncleanable" or at least is filthy, corroded and ugly.  If you clean a gun with it, use a bore brush and some elbow grease along with the Gun Juice.  It has always worked for me, but I'm interested in other opinions and experiences.

Pont four.  The smell.  Well, Gun Juice contains mineral spirits and naphtha.  Naphtha is a form of benzene.  I think that explains the aromatic nature of the product.

And offered to send me a 4oz bottle!  Wow!  I replied to his points, basically as follows: 1, if 5 times took care of my fouling problem, 10 must really slick it up!; 2, may have misread the temps in their info, no big deal; 3, had not heard it mentioned as a cleaner, might give it a try; and 4, most of the good cleaners, gun or household, smell(usually bad), so no big deal. These people seem to follow up on reports of their stuff, that is a good sign for a company.  Mark”