WABC: Weapons Lube Issued by Army May be Costing Lives in Iraq

[RamboLiberal]

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/investigators/wabc_investigators_111803gunlube.html

In a four-month investigation that reaches from the sands of Iraq to the halls of the Pentagon, we found that weapons given to tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers may not work in the desert. All because of a defective product.

<snip>

But our investigation has found that a lubricant supplied by the military may be actually causing guns to jam. What's worse, soldiers say they were blocked from getting a better lubricant at a time when they needed it the most.

<snip>
(The better lubricant - Miltec)
And now many are questioning why just as the war began, the military cancelled all troop orders for Militec.

Brad Giordani, Militec: "They were unable to get the product after the orders were cancelled."

The commercial lubricant's inventor says he knows why. Because the military invested millions of dollars developing CLP, Brad Giordani says Army bureaucrats feared their product would be outshined.

[arcane1]

1. that explains Pvt Lynch's comments

that pretty much every single gun in her group jammed on them at the same time

way to support the troops! It's all about the dollars first :grr:

[demsrule4life]

2. Militec would not work any better in sandy conditions

since it is a wet lubricant and would collect and retain sand just as much as any other wet lubicant. What is needed is a dry lubicant like graphite.

[DK666]

3. Right On

Thats what spec war uses. Graphite with teflon buffers.

[OldSoldier]

4. In a widely decried Army Equipment Lesson...

I said pretty much the same thing this story's saying.

'Course, some of y'all went on a rampage about it, thinking I was placing all the blame for the M-16s in the desert being pieces of crap.

Listen close: If you lubricate a rifle with Break-Free CLP it is an accident waiting to happen. If you lubricate it with damn near anything else, it's fine. My favorite lube was always Dri-Slide (the carrier in Dri-Slide evaporates, leaving a dry film of molybdenum disulphide on the weapon), but this new Militec seems to be real good too.

I don't know how the military got tangled up in this CLP. It is very expensive and it doesn't work worth a damn. It is a Cleaner, Lubricant and Protectant that doesn't do any of them very well.

You'll love this: in the Army's "PS Magazine" (which is printed for the benefit of mechanics) they recommend not lubricating the .50-caliber machinegun if it's to be used in the desert and CLP is all you have.

[45th Med]

5. Don't over-lube!

Your rifle and pistol should be lubed and wiped off dry with only a drop where the bolt carrier contacts metal.

It's not the lube itself, but the level of training our boys are getting in field maintenence. Forget everything you were taught in Basic, listen to your NCOs.

[DK666]

6. Roger that....

N/T

[jmowreader]

7. No, it's the lube

Keerans Range in Berlin had a sand substrate. If you lubed with CLP, the lube would attract sand no matter how little you used--whether it was one drop on the bolt carrier, an ultra-light coat (applied with a patch that had a tiny drop of oil on it), or enough that it dripped off, which was how we stored 'em (our arms room was in the basement and its humidity was 75 percent no matter how many dehumidifiers we used), the lube drew sand. And the sand caused jams.

One range I attended in Berlin was sponsored by one of the infantry battalions. When we got there, the infantry first sergeant who was range NCOIC told us "go into building 3 and clean your weapons, right now. We have a little secret we want to share with you." They had a gallon jug of some lube that their armorer invented--his dad worked for DuPont and gave him a whole drum of Teflon powder as an Advanced Individual Training graduation present. He carried this drum of Teflon in his household goods everywhere he went. They mixed it with this weird-smelling German denatured alcohol for use; the alcohol evaporated, leaving a film of Teflon on the weapon. Now, that was one serious lube! Of course, they wouldn't give us any of it past what we used that day at the range, and it's not suitable for general issue (it evaporates, and it took this guy six months to formulate the perfect carrier for it) but it was beautiful stuff while it lasted. "What do you do when the inspection team comes? Don't you worry about getting caught?" "Naah, the inspection team in town knows all about it; we gave them some and they're happy as hell."