Gun Digest's Customize Your Revolver Concealed Carry Collection eShort. Grant Cunningham

qualities of the base stocks are well known, as are the additives and their benefits. Many additives have been in use for many decades, and their effects and any interactions are very well understood. As tribologists have told me, there are very few (if any) proprietary or heretofore unknown ingredients in the lubrication business.

      Given all that, what are the chances that our garage inventor is going to discover a new and revolutionary lubricant or additive, one which has somehow eluded everyone else? I’d say slim to none, but the snake oil salesmen would have you believe it happens all the time.

      Let’s be clear: there are no new, revolutionary lubricant products made for firearms. The ingredients are readily available to any engineer; specific combinations of base stocks and additives might be unique, but it’s all been tried before – if not necessarily on firearms. Just remember, any legitimate gun lube is going to be made up of readily available components, perhaps blended especially for the requirement, but will not be a miracle.

      Stick with what works. Leave the snake oil to the people who use it best: weight loss supplement makers.

       One caveat: avoid chlorine!