Yes, I do know there is a thread on AR-15 lubrication…

I’ve read that thread and I do know of the points oil is recommended. My question is this: Is there any friction points on ARs or Rattlers that you use grease and not oil? I use grease on my slide to frame friction points on pistols and believe it really extends the life of them.

I use cherrybalmz grease on the outside of the bcg/inside of the upper receiver. I also use it on the cam key. Everything else gets lightly oiled.

Charging handle.

I grease the carrier where it rides in the receiver,  lightly on the bottom ramp that resets the hammer,  cam pin slot,   lightly on the back of the bolt lugs. All springs and detents get a light coat before assembly.

any of the spots showing friction/wear should get greased.

BCG rails, cam pin, even the bolt where it inserts into the carrier.

Don’t over think it.  Just oil it and clean it when it’s dirty.  I’m not a fan of grease on any of my firearms.  I clean them after I shoot them and then oil them per manufacturers instructions.  Grease is messy and more trouble than it’s worth in my opinion.

Double tap

I lube the points suggested in the TM with CLP and call it good. The BCG gets heavily oiled and light oil on the rest. I've thought about grease on parts of the BCG but I think it will just attract debris and cause more damage.

All very good advice. Thanks.

From a "mechanical" perspective, the only place/thing that would possibly "need" grease is the cam pin.

^^^^^^

From an archived thread titled:
"How NOT to lube an AR"...

A customer dropped off on upper today for some work, and I couldn't help but notice the stuff oozing out from the receiver.

Folks, grease has NO PLACE on an AR. ARs, by design blow crap into the action. An action filled with grease + blowback = mud.  Its a good thing this upper isnt set up for a suppressor, it probably wouldnt make it through 1 full mag before choking.

I would consider this an unsafe/unreliable weapon before even firing the first shot.

The bolt has so much grease on it that its oozing out the vent holes.  I wouldn't want to be next to that when it goes off.

I'm not sure why anyone would feel the need to lube the bottom of the carrier.

Barrel extensions and bolt lugs don't really need grease either. I can promise there WILL BE pressure issues when you fire a rifle with a chamber that has a layer of grease in it.


Please Don't.


Since I'm already on my soap box, here's how I lube ALL my ARs. I have a remoil bottle I keep refilling with mobil-1 synthetic 30w motor oil.

One drop on the top of the charging handle

One drop on the gas rings

One drop on the body of the bolt

One drop on the cam pin

One drop on the firing pin

Two drops on the bottom rail of the carrier.

Two drops on the top of the carrier

That's it.

That's all I ever use, whether I'm plinking at the range for a few minutes, or an all day carbine class.  99% of my shooting any more is suppressed, and that is still all the lube I have ever needed.  I don't lube in the receiver, I don't lube my buffer/spring.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/-/118-297701/?page=1

I always used some kind of grease. For years, I have used Breakfree CLP to clean, and then would use either tetra, tw25b, mobil1, cherry balmz, and slip2000 grease. Of those, my two favorites are slip2000 grease and cherry balmz. Mobil1 worked great too but I felt it had additives in it that are toxic outside of a car.

Currently, I'm using froglube to clean and lubricate. I leave a thin, grease like line on all the wear points with their paste. I shoot 100s of rounds without failure. The inside of the upper is wet and greasy and it's super easy to clean.

Wadda coincidence! This is pretty much exactly how I do mine

This. Basically all day every day for all of these reasons. TM 9-1005-319-10 gives fine instructions on lubricating this platform. The recommended lubricants are CLP for general use, CLP or LSA down to -10F, and LAW below -10F. There are a lot of commercially available equivalents to CLP and your weapon is yours so you can treat it as you wish but, I would consider this:

Grease up that bolt and run 1k rounds. Then wipe that grease off onto a painted surface. Press your finger down and swirl it around for a minute and then wipe it clean and look at the results. That grease plus contaminants is nothing less than lapping compound. As your weapon cycles, you're causing wear.

CLP contains detergents that dissolve residue so it doesn't do this. I get that people say "it's not great at any one thing" and that may or may not be true. What is true is that it's kept combat rifles in the fight under the most grueling conditions for over 40 years. What IS true is that in Iraq in 1991 and 2004 we were wiping the grease off of everything we could on our vehicles because it would trap every spec of sand,, dust, dirt, or anything else and grind that component into failure.

YMMV. I get that people like to solve the problem they don't have sometimes. This is my .02. It's based on my observations and experiences.

I put a light coat of grease in the buffer tube on my match rifles to eliminate the buffer spring noise.

Me too. Makes the gun feel instantly more "high end" lol.