Henry Rifle Forums

While I never had the real need to lube a frog, I picked up a small jar of this stuff a while back. I stripped and lubed all my weapons and used it for a while. It does have a nice minty smell, but I didn't really notice any difference on any of my weapons.

Fast forward to last week. I had a couple of extraction failures with my new 1911, one got stuck and I decided to let the on site gunsmith handle it, rather than risk damaging my new gun. He got it out easily, and we decided the issue was not enough oomph in my reloads. He also suggested I use Frog Lube. He said it noticeably slicked up the slide on his 1911.

Well going two steps up the ladder in powder charge seems to have solved the extraction issue. I also decided to try doing the Frog Lube again, since I already had some on hand. Did the whole solvent strip, heat and apply. Darned if the slide wasn't a bunch slicker than before. It had a tad of a gritty feel before, even given a good clean and lube with Rem oil prior to this. I wasn't concerned as this was a brand new, tightly machined weapon. I almost expected some of this prior to break in.

I suppose the reason I didn't notice a difference in my other weapons is that all of them were broken in, and probably looser tolerance weapons. I still like Rem oil for the trigger groups on my exposed semi auto. The Frog Lube is tough to get into the works. This made me a believer for the slides, and I will likely go back to it for barrels and such. I may look at their liquid products for trigger groups.

I'm really surprised a gunsmith recommended it. I know quite a few folks who have tried it and then stopped. It has a real bad rep in cold weather for bogging down actions. I've personally witnessed a few guns lubed with it that wouldn't function when it got cold.

On my Henry's I use just a dab of light lithium grease in a few places just like the factory does and gun oil for the rest. Feels real slick and always functions.

I use frog lube on my AR but that's all. It really slicks up after a few rounds heat the bolt and bore.

Squatch wrote:I'm really surprised a gunsmith recommended it. I know quite a few folks who have tried it and then stopped. It has a real bad rep in cold weather for bogging down actions. I've personally witnessed a few guns lubed with it that wouldn't function when it got cold.

On my Henry's I use just a dab of light lithium grease in a few places just like the factory does and gun oil for the rest. Feels real slick and always functions.

I've seen a number of discussions on it on other forums. Lots of fans. Hadn't heard about cold weather problems. Since it rarely gets even into the teens here, and I doubt I've got much to worry about on that front. Good to know, though.

Frog Lube most likely works (for reasons I will discuss in a moment) but to me it represents one of the best sales and marketing achievements in recent memory. Do a Google search and you can read for hours accounts by guys drinking the koolaid for the stuff. Anyone getting ready to market a new variety of snake oil would be well advised to hire whomever was the brains behind selling Frog Lube.

Does it work? Of course it does, but that's no accomplishment. The fact of the matter is with guns that virtually anything, or even sometimes nothing, also works on guns. Hoppe's gun oil, 3-In-1 Oil, WD-40, Crisco, bacon grease, snot from your nose... they all work, because everything does. A firearm is not reciprocating machinery. The moving parts are almost always steel moving against other steel, and they don't harm one another in the operation of a firearm.

Can a forearm operate "better" with the use of a certain lubricant vs. another lubricant, or no lubricant at all? Certainly that's possible, particularly with guns that are new and not yet broken in.

Bottom line? If you use Frog Lube, and are happy with it, keep using it. It works. If you are not using it? Don't lose any sleep over it, as there is really no reason to switch, other than curiosity or boredom.

Frog Lube turns to a wax when it gets cold and I've found even the smallest amount will make parts glued to each other in single digit temperatures. RemOil at -15 degrees has the viscosity of 20W oil at room temperature. My friend in the Army in Alaska is in small arms repair and he issues a special artic temperature oil for everyone to use.

I've never seen single digits here in the area, upper teens happens maybe once or twice a year and only lasts a few hours. If we were to get single digits, I don't think I would be outside shooting.

I am a little surprised this is the first I've heard about low temp problems with FL. I have seen a number of threads about it on other forums over the years, and it has a whole bunch of fans. I was a pretty much on the fence about it from my own experience. This is the only time I have seen a noticeable improvement in action using it. I am curious if perhaps a slide grease might make a similar difference.

It's amazing isn't it the amount of solvents, oils, and various concoctions found on the shelves of sporting good stores and walmart. Most of them I've never even heard of.

Like probably all of us, I am still learning. Right now I use a combination of Ballistol and RemOil, and WD-40, Pelgun Oil and RWS chamber oil for the airguns. I also occasionally use the Hops solvent for dirty rifle barrels.

BTW, I try to keep the Ballistol and Rem-Oil completely separate cause I don't know what happens if they mix.

I use Frog Lube on my 1911 with no issues. I'm in Illinois and had shot in single digit conditions without issue. I do know that Frog Lube will go bad on a weapons that is just left in storage. I won't use it on my rifles that don't get fired very often, but if a gun sees regular use I have no issues with it. YMMV.

I'm a fan of Rem Dry Lube. Leaves behind a Teflon residue after the spray evaporates.