Thread: Grease not oil on bolt actions?

Who uses oil or grease on the bolts of their rifles?

I smear a small amount of marine grease on the rifle bolt cocking cam, lugs and the slide rails the bolt moves on.

I never use oil on the action (only wiped off grease).
Am I doing this right?....is this the common method of rifle bolt lubrication or not?

I use a dab of lithium grease on the lugs.

Originally Posted by outdoorlad

I use a dab of lithium grease on the lugs.

Just the lugs? You don't oil or grease the bolt?

Oil or grease all over the bolt just collects dust.As Outdoorlad said,dab on lugs.

Originally Posted by Trout

Oil or grease all over the bolt just collects dust.As Outdoorlad said,dab on lugs.

Ok I'll just put a very small amount on the lugs from now on and nowhere else on the action. Hope you two are correct

i just use a tiny bit of atf

Originally Posted by northdude

i just use a tiny bit of atf

Yeah ATF works well... just that it's toxic which turned me off it.

For my CFs which includes my Barnards -
I use GA50 – Moly based assembly & anti-seize compound containing 50% Molybdenum Disulphide on my bolt locking lugs and cams.
It's 50% moly as the name implies. It's also black as and a tiny bit on the end of a small screwdriver goes a long way. You don't need to over do it no matter which grease you use.

After each session I wipe the locking lugs down and wipe any excess from the cam area.
I'm also diligent with cleaning the locking lugs area inside the action. For that I use a tool purchased from WIL.
Alot of shite can uld up in this area if not cleaned.

The bolt is fundamentally dry or close to it when in use and oiled when not in use, wiped down b4 use.

https://www.itwpf.co.nz/molybond-lubricants/ga50/

I use a light oil (about 10W) and wipe off as much as possible.
Then a dab of lithium grease on the cocking slope at the back so it turns when you open the bolt and finger smears on the sides of the lugs and the guide rails so they run smoothly. I wipe off as much grease as I can because it does attract dust. Specially keep it out of the chamber and off the ammunition.

Nathan Foster has proposed using a lot of grease, specially for storage. That's a bit radical and I don't think many people would leave visible grease on a rifle when they are using it.

Originally Posted by Hermitage

Yeah ATF works well... just that it's toxic which turned me off it.

iv never drank it

Neither oil or grease ever go near my bolts, they get an exterior wipe with the "dryest" cleaning patch I have and thats it. If you hunt in cold conditions eventually oil and grease will find you out and your rifle won't go bang when you want it too. Seen it several times. Spoils your day.

Hmmm I thought this would be an easy question to answer....you know....oil or grease?

Now we have everything to only grease the lugs, to only use oil, to don't use anything just wipe the bolt down with a dry cloth (driest oiled cloth...I suspect).

It amazes me that such an undemanding lubrication environment such as gun bolt lubrication can polarise so many different opinions

It amazes me that you are amazed. You should know by now that when you have two shooters, for any given topic, there will be at least three opinions!

Depends on the conditions. Light CLP: metal on metal in most cases.


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Originally Posted by Tentman

Neither oil or grease ever go near my bolts, they get an exterior wipe with the "dryest" cleaning patch I have and thats it. If you hunt in cold conditions eventually oil and grease will find you out and your rifle won't go bang when you want it too. Seen it several times. Spoils your day.

What temperatures/powder/primer?

I thought that only happened in well below zero temps (-20) etc




I spray everything with Inox. a few pull throughs so the barrel doesn't bulge and I use the end of the pull through on the bolt face so it's dry. Dust is easy to get rid of. Rust not so much