With all the work of doing chores and keeping everything working and in tip top shape today, it can be overwhelming. After all who likes work when you can be out having fun. Seems to me we have come a long way from using mineral oil, 3 in 1, and or Singer sewing machine oil around the farm back in the day. Many do not realize how effective mineral oil can be for lubricating guns. Anyway, enter the competitive space age marketing of your favorite snake oil and you will find there is a lot to choose from these days. This review is about my all time favorite Break Free CLP. https://safariland.com/pages/break-free. Ray Chapman turned me on to this stuff as I saw a gallon jug (military label) in his office one time. Please note that I am not paid to write reviews and accept no free product just to write one. Unlike gun mag reviews, often written by the vendor for cookie cutter journalism, you will not find a advertisement in my reviews.
Getting the spec sheet out of the way, this stuff is not terrible on the ecology list but there are more eco friendly lubricants on the market today. I have tried most everything including the Frog stuff. And while I am for eco friendly stuff, I am not ready to trade off performance yet. Lucas oil's CLP (Cleaner, Lubricant, Preservative) is good and works well but is not as thick of product for me. Ballistol https://ballistol.com/ is a good product but I live and support Americans first.
Usually when there is a product that includes multiple ingredients I am not a fan. Take for instance Spaghetti sauce at the market. I like mine plain so that I can doctor it up with my own fine tuning over let's say Spaghetti sauce with garlic already in it. I would rather have the control of adding my own garlic thank you. So imagine my paradigm when here we have CLP with everything already in it. What to do?
I use it. I have been using it for over 40 years. I use it around the house, in and on my guns, tractors, outdoor equipment etc. The penetrating properties work fine for me, however, do NOT use on your reloading presses. For that I use Motorcraft 30W motor oil. Now with Break Free normal handgun and rifle maintenance is easy. However, for heavy copper deposits, you will still need a better cleaning product than CLP. For that, I use Butchs Bore Shine. https://www.lymanproducts.com/butch-s-bore-shine
I am not a chemist and already admit that there may be better products out there. One thing I am not sure of by all the snake oil companies, is shelf life. I get mixed signals of how long this stuff lasts if kept in original containers. What I do know is, that it seems to work as I have some that has been in my shop for 20 years or so. Perhaps some one on INGO has a better insight on how or just what can go bad in gun oil products?
Brak Free CLP comes in about any kind of packaging that you could want. I use the pin applicator for putting the stuff right where I need it. The pump pray works for deep cleaning and lubrication of all gun parts before they go in or as they come out of the sonic cleaner. For long-term storage I use Breakfree Collector but have to admit, that I do not have any guns that go longer than a month without shooting them except for my 1 of 25 Ed Brown Classic Custom 45. If I end up in the hospital or knock on heavens door, my son knows the drill in proper care and storage should he have to use Collector on my pieces.
I still keep Mineral oil around as it is very good to coat the innards of my Smith and Wesson revolvers. When I do a detail strip of a revolver, after cleaning, I will apply mineral oil with a small brush on the frames inside and the sideplate before re assembly. I do wipe the gun down overall with breakfree before putting it in the safe. Also mineral oil works well massaged into my stag or ivory grips once a year or so. But for everything else, Break Free is my go to lubricant, cleaner and preservative.
In running salt water tests heat and cold controlled I have found nothing on the market that warrants replacing this American Made CLP. In a world of too many shortcuts accepted by the masses as ok, this is one that I can stand behind. Some find cleaning guns is work. Just like Handloading, gunsmithing, maintenance and care, I find the Work of cleaning is PART of the fun.
See you on the range.
Trapper
Getting the spec sheet out of the way, this stuff is not terrible on the ecology list but there are more eco friendly lubricants on the market today. I have tried most everything including the Frog stuff. And while I am for eco friendly stuff, I am not ready to trade off performance yet. Lucas oil's CLP (Cleaner, Lubricant, Preservative) is good and works well but is not as thick of product for me. Ballistol https://ballistol.com/ is a good product but I live and support Americans first.
Usually when there is a product that includes multiple ingredients I am not a fan. Take for instance Spaghetti sauce at the market. I like mine plain so that I can doctor it up with my own fine tuning over let's say Spaghetti sauce with garlic already in it. I would rather have the control of adding my own garlic thank you. So imagine my paradigm when here we have CLP with everything already in it. What to do?
I use it. I have been using it for over 40 years. I use it around the house, in and on my guns, tractors, outdoor equipment etc. The penetrating properties work fine for me, however, do NOT use on your reloading presses. For that I use Motorcraft 30W motor oil. Now with Break Free normal handgun and rifle maintenance is easy. However, for heavy copper deposits, you will still need a better cleaning product than CLP. For that, I use Butchs Bore Shine. https://www.lymanproducts.com/butch-s-bore-shine
I am not a chemist and already admit that there may be better products out there. One thing I am not sure of by all the snake oil companies, is shelf life. I get mixed signals of how long this stuff lasts if kept in original containers. What I do know is, that it seems to work as I have some that has been in my shop for 20 years or so. Perhaps some one on INGO has a better insight on how or just what can go bad in gun oil products?
Brak Free CLP comes in about any kind of packaging that you could want. I use the pin applicator for putting the stuff right where I need it. The pump pray works for deep cleaning and lubrication of all gun parts before they go in or as they come out of the sonic cleaner. For long-term storage I use Breakfree Collector but have to admit, that I do not have any guns that go longer than a month without shooting them except for my 1 of 25 Ed Brown Classic Custom 45. If I end up in the hospital or knock on heavens door, my son knows the drill in proper care and storage should he have to use Collector on my pieces.
I still keep Mineral oil around as it is very good to coat the innards of my Smith and Wesson revolvers. When I do a detail strip of a revolver, after cleaning, I will apply mineral oil with a small brush on the frames inside and the sideplate before re assembly. I do wipe the gun down overall with breakfree before putting it in the safe. Also mineral oil works well massaged into my stag or ivory grips once a year or so. But for everything else, Break Free is my go to lubricant, cleaner and preservative.
In running salt water tests heat and cold controlled I have found nothing on the market that warrants replacing this American Made CLP. In a world of too many shortcuts accepted by the masses as ok, this is one that I can stand behind. Some find cleaning guns is work. Just like Handloading, gunsmithing, maintenance and care, I find the Work of cleaning is PART of the fun.
See you on the range.
Trapper
