Seems to be a somewhat controversial topic. For those interested, here’s the official GAO report on the matter:
It works well as a bicycle chain lubricant for me in dusty conditions. But I prefer breakfree LP for lubing my AR and CZ
EWL FTW!
Seroiusly though, very interesting read. We have used both MILITEC & S2000 products & I have always tended to lean toward the EWL. Hell, just try washing that stuff off your hands after a good cleaning.
I’ve been using it [b]for years[b] and it’s consistently run my pistols for thousands of rounds without the need to clean them or re-apply lubrication.
If you read through the pdf file, you’ll see that most (though not all) of the “failures” of Militec were related to its corrosion resistance, or rather its lack thereof. I’m the first to admit, it’s a lousy rust preventative.
The military want an all-in-one cleaner, lube, protectant because it is easier to teach someone how to use it, easier to inventory, easier to supply, and easier to issue/carry. I’d rather use a great cleaner, a great lube, and a gun with a corrosion-resistant finish.
The linked file also discusses that Militec failed tests in military “sand tests.” I can’t speak to that, as my guns are never subjected to that kind of sand and probably never will be.
Militec-1 is good in my book as a lube. I use it mostly on the pistols and light range use with the carbines (less than 300 rounds). I’m currently using a mix of a 75% Motor Oil and 25% Militec. It’s working pretty good and the BCG stays wet longer to me. For cleaning, it’s Hoppes #9. For a carbine class, it’s Slip EWL. I never knew how a CLP could effectively do all 3 (Clean/Lube/Protect) like it was suppose to, without the cleaning agent breaking down the effectiveness of the other two. 
As a former 11B/Aviator/MI guy, Breakfree, IMHO, never got anything really that clean, but it was a decent lube.
This is easy to answer. I am not commenting on Breakfree. I am not familiar with the current Breakfree formulation but 10 or 15 years ago it kind of sucked compared to other CLP products.
However, the how you can have a product do both is easy to answer. I am not a professional in this field so my terminology may suck. The cleaning is not the same as a normal gun cleaner. It is not an anti-oil type product. A regular gun cleaner will typically clean oil as well as residues out of guns. Not a CLP. It is a product to clean out carbon and other residues only. OIL will do that. OIL or other oil products (gasoline, kerosene, etc) act as a solvent for certain kinds of materials like gun carbon residues etc. CLP has stuff in there that does not break down oil but acts to clean out carbon and combustion residues. It is more a field expedient cleaner. It also then leaves behind a lubricating layer of lubricant and also some sort of metal conditioner, whatever that is.
I have used Militec with success over here and in Bahrain and it worked much better as a LUBRICANT than CLP. I have seen CLP literally burn off of a .50 cal when doing gun shoots underway on the ship. I only use CLP for cleaning of rust and crap on weapons and parts. Lately I have been using some of the Weaponshield samples that George sent me and we are now starting to buy that in quantity.
My unit once had a 249 action become gummed up to the point it was difficult to cycle manually. We collectively determined it was due to a militec labeled bottle; however, what was inside of the bottle could very well have been a mixed solution of leftover agents that some monkey decided to consolidate. Knowing some of the people that went through our cleaning tent this is likely the case. YMMV
Has anyone heard of militec or any other lubricant do this, either over time or with the addition of different types of cleaner/lubricants?
You’re right. The time frame was in the early 80’s when I was an 11B. Breakfree was just being introduced and new to the scene. I’m sure the formula has changed quite a bit since then.
We had no issues with MilTec on personal weapons, but stopped even attempting to try it on anything with a cyclic rate, by itself or in combo. It burned off only slightly slower than CLP did; bottom line, the SAW should be renamed the JamMaster 5000 to begin with, so with machine guns (M249, M240, M2, Mk19) we used synthetic motor oil or the TW25 grease that we finally managed to get for our GAU-17s. Both worked very well for us, partucularly on the M249 and Mk19.
I’m pretty certain that CLP has changed formula over time. These days, it doesn’t seem to separate when it sits in its jug for a couple of days, like it used to
IMO: Most of the “controversy” is generated by a few Internet savy individuals who are also oddly enough “sponsored” or at the very least get a ton of free crap from other lubricant manufacturers. I’d bet if you took the posts from these individuals out of the equation the drama would die quickly.
I’ve been using Militec for about 6 years with no problems.
I like Militec simply because it is thicker and stays in place better on carry pistols.
For ARs, i’ve found that any quality lube generously applied works well.
In some ways, this is a repeat of the small arms lubricant controversy from the ‘60s. Instead of Militec, the commercial lube in question was Dri-Slide. No one ever seems to pick up on the fact that the politicians pushing the controversy were from the same state as the manufacturer. Dri-Slide was manufactured in Fremont, MI. In 1965, MI Governor George Romney (R) sent a bunch of cans of Dri-Slide in Christmas care packages to troops in RVN. This started a demand for the product, and resulted in official testing. Rep. Charles E. Chamberlain (R-MI) hijacked the Ichord subcommittee hearings in 1967 to press Army and Marine Corps officials about why they hadn’t adopted Dri-Slide, or in the Marines’ case, why they were rescinding approval for it.
The town of Fremont doesn’t appear to have been in Chamberlain’s congressional district (MI 6th Congressional District), but it was awfully close. You have to wonder whether Dri-Slide owner L.G. “Buck” Myers was a major contributor to the MI Republican Party, or at minimum, was friends with the politicians in question.
I get all my Militec for free … If I wanted another lube, I could probably get that for free, too. So of all the lubes I could get for free, I use Militec because it’s always worked very well for me. Don’t know how that factors into people’s opinions, but that’s my disclosure.
Similar in this case. The Rep asking about Militec is from Maryland, where Militec’s US HQ is located.
what is LSA, this or something different?