Thursday, February 25, 2016

Praxis: Army Touts Improved Lube for Rifles, Machine Guns

The U.S. Army is touting a new and improved lubricant for small arms ranging from the standard M4 carbine to the M240 machine gun, officials said. Unlike the conventional “wet lubricant” known as CLP (for cleaner, lubricant and preservative), the new product uses a dry surface treatment known as durable solid lubricant, or DSL, according to a press release on Tuesday from officials at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. The push to develop the new technology dates to 2003, when engineers realized soldiers were experiencing problems with weapon stoppages in sand and dust environments, including in war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, if cleaning procedures weren’t followed, the release states. The new durable solid lubricant developed by engineers at the U.S. Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, or Ardec, uses a dry surface treatment that’s applied during the manufacturing process and has the potential to improve performance on any number of small arms while decreasing maintenance, according to the release.

6 comments:

Robert H. said...

I was told by a veteran that they used Mobil 5w-30 synthetic in sand, hot and cold with no issues.

Anonymous said...

Another zombie weapons program from the '80s kept alive by 40 trillion dollars in spending and military secrecy. I bet that stuff has been in "development" for so long that the price tag is 8000 USD a pint.---Ray

Unknownsailor said...

Or, you know, they DoD could adopt the long available Slip 2000, or Slip EWL, both of which have been available on the open market for near on a decade, or longer.
CLP has always been a piss poor product, neither lubricating, cleaning, or preserving worth a darn. Nobody I know uses it. EWL in particular has become standard issue in the circles I run in.

Ed said...

http://www.archoil.com/ar2400-nano-ws2-dry-film-lubricant/
http://www.archoilfirearmsoil.com/products.html

Crusader said...

I use Remington Dry Lube. My Son-in-law used it in Iraq and Dumphuckistan and had no issues or clinging sand. Works in very hot climates, but I would need to verify sub zero climates.

Otto Didact said...

Unknown @ 6:09 PM and Ed,
But if the armed forces went with such off-the-shelf products then some officer(s) in the procurement chain wouldn't get their cut/cushy job in retirement.