Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Slipstream Weapons Lube

 Kinetic Concepts Tactical

   Crusader Weaponry is known for a lot of things.  Excellent rifles, and upgrades to popular modern firearms.  But what Crusader really wants to do is make your guns work.  All the time.

     Heat and friction are the enemy of machines, hence lubrication.  And most lubricants perform well enough in the sense that they reduce friction and heat, and keep the machine running longer with less wear.

     What I like about Slipstream is it actually makes your gun feel different.  Better.  That's a bold claim, so lets walk through some absolutely subjective comparisons.

     Most of my guns get a spritz of CLP every now and then, and that's all that it takes to keep them running.  Shotguns, pistols, and carbines, that's pretty much it as far as maintenance in a heavy firing schedule.

     When I got into shooting, I used some Hoppe's gun oil, which I found unimpressive.  I also used an old bottle of Outer's gun oil from my grandfather (the 29c price stamp was still on it.), which worked surprisingly well.  I then went on to use Wilson Combat Ultima lube, which is pretty good stuff as well.  Italian Gun Grease is pretty slick, and the Slip2000 I was given at  a class works OK, but not great.

     When I saw Crusader Weaponry roll out their Slipstream lube, I was intrigued.  Nano particles you say?  One thing lead to another and I was on the phone with Joe discussing a business venture, and he was floored that I hadn't tried his stuff yet.  He immediately sent me some of their Styx weapons lube and their grease for full-spectrum firearms care.



     The firearms industry is full of snake oil.  Having followed Joe and Crusader for years, I knew he is a stand up guy who won't put his name on something that sucks.  That's a good start, but I was unprepared for how well this stuff works.  The first gun I put it on, a G17 RTF2, immediately felt smoother as I cycled it by hand.  Of course, most lubricants do that, then the start to get a little rougher as the lube slides off the contact points and gathers into  the recesses of the gun.  The Slipstream felt smoother every time I racked it.  It just kept getting better.  I was originally planning on just doing the Glock and stopping there.  After feeling how smooth the Glock felt though, I realized I just couldn't stop.

     I went to my storage room and started grabbing guns.  Two 5.56 AR's, one 300BLK AR, a Kel-Tec SU-16, and a Mossberg M500 all got the business, and all of them felt better for it.  It's not just like the guns had more lube in them, it was like they became well-worn and smooth cycling guns within just a few minutes.  You know the feeling of running a gun you've had for years?  One that's broken-in in all the right places?  It's like that.  In a bottle.

     Both the grease and the lube work well, I typically use the lube on my AR's and the grease in the shotgun.  I use a combination on my AR triggers, putting grease on the bearing surfaces of the trigger group.  This gives the triggers a smoother feel, and helps relieve the gritty feeling of a stock mil-spec trigger.



     Since using Slipstream, I'm overcome with the urge to use it on all kinds of firearms.  A gritty old AK seemed much smoother after an application.  The trigger stopped feeling like sandpaper, and the gun didn't sound like an old ratchet when we shot it.  The biggest win though, was applying some Slipstream to the trigger group on my Kel-Tec PF-9.  If you have never used a PF-9 before, the long, slow swing of its heavy trigger can be a huge detriment to getting positive hits, and the long double reset makes it hard to stage and shoot at the reset.  It pretty much sucks.  When I poured a little Slipstream into the trigger group and worked it around, I was shocked.  After dry cycling and firing the gun a few times, the trigger felt much smoother.  Yes, it had the long pull, that's the design, and no amount of lube is going to fix that.  But the weight stacked evenly, and the trigger pulled smooth and clean.  It felt like going from running on ice with snowshoes then switching to skates.

    Crusader is really onto something here.  I know people are pretty defensive in their choice of lubes (I had to.  Sorry), but when something works, it works.  People are willing to brew up their own complicated concoctions with motor oil, break cleaner, black widow venom and all that just to get a lube that works.  In my opinion, Slipstream is where it's at.  And realistically, at Crusader's price point, you owe it to yourself to try some.  For about the cost of a box of ammo, you can have your whole gun locker running like sewing machines.

 For more info and purchase details, check out Crusader's website here.


1 comment:

  1. What happened to crusader weaponry and the slipstream Live? Can't find any more for sale and their website and phone number aren't working .

    ReplyDelete