Kahr Handgun Forum banner

grease or oil the slide rails?

13980 Views 16 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  jocko
I have only had my Kahr for a few weeks now and only about 100 rounds through her and it just seems as if my slide is scraping up the plastic rails. Actually making grooves in the plastic and tearing up the rail making pieces of plastic hang off the rails. Is that normal and just part of the breaking in process. I put quiet a bit of break free clp oil on the rails and I just took it apart to check it out after sitting for a week and it looks like I didnt even put oil on it, should I be using some sort of grease or is there a better oil? I tried to take a pic but I cant get it to turn out
1 - 17 of 17 Posts
scott240 said:
I have only had my Kahr for a few weeks now and only about 100 rounds through her and it just seems as if my slide is scraping up the plastic rails. Actually making grooves in the plastic and tearing up the rail making pieces of plastic hang off the rails. Is that normal and just part of the breaking in process. I put quiet a bit of break free clp oil on the rails and I just took it apart to check it out after sitting for a week and it looks like I didnt even put oil on it, should I be using some sort of grease or is there a better oil? I tried to take a pic but I cant get it to turn out
the slide does not run on the polymer rails, so if there is wear there, then it is the slide evening things out. Your OK, leave it alone, or get some fine 600+ grit paper and sand the ruff spots off the polymer rails. I use grease in my slid,e as it doesn't run like oil and will stay where u put it look up

Mil-comm.com and buy that TW25 syringe grease, It is the best IMO and u can run a small line of grease right inside the slide rails with that syringe..
ok thanks for the input I will get some grease for the slide
Grease on the slide will attract grit and pocket fuzz, causing excessive wear, and can slow down the action to the point of causing feed and ejection problems. Grease is never a good idea on any small pistol.

Personally I've used this stuff for 20 years. It's a dry lube, qualified by the FBI for use on their machine-guns, attracts no gunk, and works in all temperatures (unlike grease). It is also one of the best gun cleaners available. Read the testimonials.
http://www.prolixlubricant.com/
G
EldRick said:
Grease on the slide will attract grit and pocket fuzz, causing excessive wear, and can slow down the action to the point of causing feed and ejection problems. Grease is never a good idea on any small pistol.

Personally I've used this stuff for 20 years. It's a dry lube, qualified by the FBI for use on their machine-guns, attracts no gunk, and works in all temperatures (unlike grease). It is also one of the best gun cleaners available. Read the testimonials.
http://www.prolixlubricant.com/
I have used Prolix before and found it no better, no worse than half a dozen other "wonder gun lubricants" on the market. I have a closet full of the stuff still waiting to be used gifted as part of a promotion from somewhere I don't remember.

As for grease not being a good idea on a small pistol, I believe that to be an inaccurate statement as many of use rely on gun grease because it doesn't burn off, stays put, aids in pocket gun break-in, and if applied sensibly goes a long way to reducing parts wear. Slide Glide Lite in particular is a low viscosity grease recommended for new pistol break-in, has all-season applicability (doesn't gum up in the winter), and I use it exclusively on both my Kahr P380 and Ruger LCP as well as larger caliber semi autos. I carry these weapons regularly - none attract grit and pocket fuzz to the extent that they would cause functioning issues (you apply sparingly).

With all due respect and I think we have to be careful about making blanket statements like yours and when I read, I feel compelled to reply. As for testimonials, you can find for virtually ever product out there.
See less See more
No problem - it's a big world. All of our lives are a series of engineering trade-offs.
EldRick said:
Grease on the slide will attract grit and pocket fuzz, causing excessive wear, and can slow down the action to the point of causing feed and ejection problems. Grease is never a good idea on any small pistol.

Personally I've used this stuff for 20 years. It's a dry lube, qualified by the FBI for use on their machine-guns, attracts no gunk, and works in all temperatures (unlike grease). It is also one of the best gun cleaners available. Read the testimonials.
http://www.prolixlubricant.com/
HUMM, very interesting. I have used TW25 grease on my kahrs and all other semi's and I pocket carry my PM9 in a desantis and have for over 3+ years and no lint or buildi up ever noticed. Let alone to cause a malfunction. One thing about a gun grease,,,,it tends to stay put and it won't run like oil can and cause pocket stains or what ever. Any lub is better than no lube but I really would not knock a person who oils his guns or a person who uses grease on his guns either. Both will do the job and IMO if used properly none is better than the other. My Kahrs are greased but you would be hard pressed to see the grease to, as I feel alittle will do the job where as to much can indeed attract "crapola", as would oil the same way. Oil just tends to not stay where you put it .
I've used Proshot Gold grease on all my pistols for many years. I have also been using the same 2 oz tub of grease for that entire time and I probably still have half the tub left. I apply the grease with the tip of a toothpick and remove any excess after working the moving parts of the gun after cleaning. I see no sensible reason not to continue this practice.

I did try Miltech grease a few times, but didn't feel compelled to switch over and abandon the Proshot. Kraigster414 told me about the stuff many years ago.

Just this week, I received a tub of Slide Glide Lite that I included on an order from The P380 store. I'm going to give that a try on during my next cleaning session.

I've read a few oil vs. grease discussions on various boards in the last few months and one thing I read seemed to make pretty good sense. If parts slide, then use grease. If parts rotate, then use oil. I've decided to adopt that maintenance strategy.
some place on kahrs are not grease accessable, so oil is perfect
G
Ljutic said:
I've used Proshot Gold grease on all my pistols for many years. I have also been using the same 2 oz tub of grease for that entire time and I probably still have half the tub left. I apply the grease with the tip of a toothpick and remove any excess after working the moving parts of the gun after cleaning. I see no sensible reason not to continue this practice.

I did try Miltech grease a few times, but didn't feel compelled to switch over and abandon the Proshot. Kraigster414 told me about the stuff many years ago.

Just this week, I received a tub of Slide Glide Lite that I included on an order from The P380 store. I'm going to give that a try on during my next cleaning session.

I've read a few oil vs. grease discussions on various boards in the last few months and one thing I read seemed to make pretty good sense. If parts slide, then use grease. If parts rotate, then use oil. I've decided to adopt that maintenance strategy.
Good advice Bruce. The poster was dinging grease on rails and I had to cut-in. You are absolutely right, there is room for both depending on the part/application.
Just for the record, Prolix actually leaves a very thin film of a high-density paraffin after it dries.

It would be prefect for cleaning out the striker area on a P380 because it is very low-viscosity so it penetrates into all the nooks and cracks.

I prefer it because one product cleans and lubes, and requires no fussing at all - zero need to be compulsive about what lubricant you put where.
I think I will just grease the slide and continue using oil on the rest and see how that goes. I just think the oil is just not staying put on the slide, I will just use a thin line along the slide. Everything else looks well lubricated except along the rails, it looks completely oil free. I dont know if thats because I keep racking the slide to help break in my new gun. One other thing I have noticed is that after I am done playing with my gun and go to put one in the chamber the ammo is getting jammed at a 45 degree angle, some of the time.
Like I've read in here a lot of times, use the slide release lever to chamber the round. There's just a lot that has to happen in a small length of space, to get the power needed that's the best way to chamber the round IMO. Otherwise, you have to pull it all the way back and let it go crisply - it should chamber then.
ok I will do that. I have just been pulling the slide back to chamber a round. I'll try that tomorrow, I already had a beer tonight and dont play with my guns after having a drink.
scott240 said:
ok I will do that. I have just been pulling the slide back to chamber a round. I'll try that tomorrow, I already had a beer tonight and dont play with my guns after having a drink.
I have been around guns all my life and the little P380 IMO is the toughest little bastard to hand rack properly with zero issues. get used to the slide stop lever, practice both ways but the slide lock lever releases that slide every time with the same velocity that is needed to feed that round out of the magazine. Ride that slide the slightest and it will casue FTF's most of the time. Just a smallgun with stout recoil springs and not a hell of alot of anything to get ahold of IMO.

But that being said, that little P380 is the best little, most accurate 380 I have ever shot..
I sure wish that slide release lever wasn't quite so sharp where it rides against my leg.
very easy fix, I did it to my P380 and my PM9, just get a dremel and a sanding drum and contour the entire slide lock lever, you can really make it any damn size u want. You can't hurt reliability either and you can make it look very nice to. I always did think they were to big in the first place. I reduced the one on my PM9 about 1/3rd.

they are all stainless and you can either polish it up or just get some birchwood cold blue and make it match the lower section..
1 - 17 of 17 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top