The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

So you use no lube whatsoever on your rifles locking lugs?

No, last place I would put lube. I want them to grip not slip.

Also it makes gummy mess with the fouling and holding it in place in the receiver making an unnecessary need for cleaning and potentially increasing wear.

dromia wrote:If you have the misfortune to have to shoot condom bullets then they copper barrels like hell and eventually accuracy deteriorate, hence the "time enough to clean the gun when it stops working".

As I rarely if ever use condom bullets my guns do not suffer from this, I have too much respect for my firearms to use condom bullets in them.

Like these, perhaps?

Airbrush wrote:You must be bored to clean the barrel of a .22.

I clean all my rifles irrespective of calibre when they have been shot.

dromia wrote:No, last place I would put lube. I want them to grip not slip.

Also it makes gummy mess with the fouling and holding it in place in the receiver making an unnecessary need for cleaning and potentially increasing wear.

Surely a very light film of lube on the rear of the locking lugs prevents galling in an area of high pressure metal to metal contact?.

Is there really the need? Especially in the bolt actions that we use?

Galling as I understand it is caused by friction 'tween moving surfaces the bolt lugs and receiver should not be moving when under pressure, that is the whole point of the lock up. They should only be moving after the round is fired 'pon extraction and the chambering of the next round none of which is done under pressure.

I haven't lubed bolts and actions for over 40 years now and am still shooting some of those guns in my collection with no drop in accuracy.

In my competitive days my Enfields and Swedish Mausers used to get some hammer round wise and they shoot and function as good today as they did then after thousands of full stoke rounds put through them.

There is the theory and then there is the practice.

dromia wrote:Is there really the need? Especially in the bolt actions that we use?

Galling as I understand it is caused by friction 'tween moving surfaces the bolt lugs and receiver should not be moving when under pressure, that is the whole point of the lock up. They should only be moving after the round is fired 'pon extraction and the chambering of the next round none of which is done under pressure.

I haven't lubed bolts and actions for over 40 years now and am still shooting some of those guns in my collection with no drop in accuracy.

In my competitive days my Enfields and Swedish Mausers used to get some hammer round wise and they shoot and function as good today as they did then after thousands of full stoke rounds put through them.

There is the theory and then there is the practice.

I respect your decision not to lube as it's your choice but quick search for "bolt locking lug galling" on the 'net shows it is a common problem when no lube is applied so I'll continue to use a very thin wisp of grease on my lugs for peace of mind, it also makes my bolts noticeable smoother to cycle.

The locking lug recesses are very easy to clean on the AKM and SVD as they are very easy to get to, it is admittedly a bit trickier on the Mosins but it doesn't add that much time to the cleaning routine.I will say they get a much more through clean if I've been shooting Berdan primed milsurp than they do if I've been shooting handloads or commercial ammunition.

Ah the internet a place of much opinion and very little fact.

Also as lot of our firearms lore comes from the US where they can still own and shoot automatic/semi automatic firearms where the functioning is different from our single round bolt actions then there may be a case for lug receiver lubing on such firearms.

But as I say I never lube the lugs and I still have rifles that I have put thousands of rounds through and some of them have been rebarreled as well and all them shoot as well now as then with the headspace still well within spec.

Beware the internet!

dromia wrote:Ah the internet a place of much opinion and very little fact.

Also as lot of our firearms lore comes from the US where they can still own and shoot automatic/semi automatic firearms where the functioning is different from our single round bolt actions then there may be a case for lug receiver lubing on such firearms.

But as I say I never lube the lugs and I still have rifles that I have put thousands of rounds through and some of them have been rebarreled as well and all them shoot as well now as then with the headspace still well within spec.

Beware the internet!

Beware the Internet indeed, but a lot of the instances of bolt lug galling I looked at was on bolt action rifles like the Remington 700 etc etc......the same bolt action rifles we have so I'd say there is relevance in those posts/articles.

Each to their own as we all have our way of doing things but for me if a manufacturer/maker recommends lube in a particular area that's good enough for me

Interestingly I have seen more galling on newer rifles than older ones. By that I mean rifles produced post war vs pre war. I am probably yet to see scuffed lugs on a pre-45 actioned rifle.