I hear about Aeroshell and green Loctite. I was talking to Noveske customer service and he told me when they assemble rifles, they put Aeroshell on the threads and extensions. When I recently put together an upper, the instructions that came with the parts recommended putting lithium grease on the threads and extension. I’m guessing Aeroshell is lithium grease. I wanted to see what type of lithium grease I could find locally. Thought I would share with you what I found at the auto parts store. I think it’s good stuff. I put it on the barrel threads and extension. It’s a Lucas Oil product Red “N” Tacky lithium based grease. I think it has a higher temperature rating than Aeroshell. I did not get the spray on type, seems like it might not be as good. What works best? I’m just wondering what you guys use, and your opinions and if anyone uses this product of rifles.
I bought 2 jars of this years ago and it seems fine. I haven’t had to take many uppers apart again to see how it holds up but seems like a good choice.
https://www.amazon.com/AEROSHELL-33MS-Synthetic-MIL-SPEC-Barrel/dp/B01M5J6J0A/ref=sr_1_9?crid=31NXAY1TUAPJG&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Sr_NUBMzHzVLKRTwKb3xee0u4S1unnFD9_NZk3T0QQJMNzFRQRlZsrBMwP4poykXY7sEeHYsSabOujBMjrTRB8Q8iF_G7BZWAYAM7w6BCnwoUhX4S2ONwgtFwpNkIH9Ahx6NcnzQyqnwbS7yVK61LZNCxBgtPxVUy6NpJlBiMH9yAoqjhUt5PEO9k0Y9WCOhbbDDDvXbojBLTubeim8S-fzeb1hzFsev24pjbupeBcV2tbY_EgRkqC7ZttUeARBKkWDfgYBE-7dmZmBUBRJHM3odHk1vXwXN64EPr85oCTI.7yYgjk_iPZEQM3nuvZf-CgqFfyrdVEmQ3akSij9BUE8&dib_tag=se&keywords=aeroshell+grease&qid=1712461881&sprefix=aeroshell+grease%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-9
I have used both Aero Shell 33/64 and Red and Tacky.
If you look at the Product Data Sheets Aero Shell provides more info, and is .mil and .gov approved. If you look at the common areas on the PDS’s most of the ASTM numbers are the same. Pretty sure both are okay. Red and Tacky is easier to come by.
https://www.lucasoil.com/pdf/04_Greases_RedNTacky_PDS.pdf
https://www.shell-livedocs.com/data/published/en/68a5d740-ba98-4955-9b3c-507d8a3ddeea.pdf
I use Lucas Oil Red “N” Tacky to grease all the contact points on my snowplows. It works pretty good with wet snow and water. Never used it on an AR. Works great on the plows. I get it at O’Reilly’s.
NYH1.
While some of the numbers are similar, some important ones are quite different:
Base Viscosity @40° C (cSt):
Red n’ Tacky - 120
64MS - 14.2
Base Viscosity @100° C (cSt):
Red n’ Tacky - 18
64MS - 3.4
4-Ball EP Load Wear Index (kgf):
Red n’ Tacky - 500
64MS - 68
Never had or seen the need for any type locker in several guns from A1 / A2 to todays ARs. I only use whatever grease I have in proximity. No issues through decades.
I pack the CVs on my axles with red and tacky, good stuff.
On my AR I use something that is silvery grey, it appears to have metal powered in it? It was sold specific to barrel nut use
Of course most use the AeroShell 33MS/64 since it is the recommended grease that most use.
Colt uses MOLYKOTE G-N Metal Assembly Paste.
Personally, I use T.S. Moly’s TS-70 Moly Paste. I do not coat the entire barrel extension with it as that has never been recommended in any manual that I’ve seen. The only place I’ve ever seen coating the entire barrel extension being shown is by misguided YouTube gun hackers that misread the manual. I think that practice started with nsz85 and spread like wildfire from there. It also became standard practice for those that bought into the thermal fit upper hype. All that is needed is to liberally coat the threads of the upper receiver and the forward facing side of the barrel extension flange.
nsz85 going overboard with greasing the entire barrel extension and upper’s barrel extension socket here. All while not saying a thing about greasing the forward facing side of the barrel extension flange which is a critical step to miss in the process. Though oddly, it’s also not mentioned in any manual.
Also, as seen used in that video is the Geissele Reaction Rod, which since it came out has caused a lot of bad juju with thread after thread on sheared indexing pins and damaged uppers. If you are going to use a Reaction Rod type tool for installing barrels, then make sure it’s one with a support block fin or sail on top of the tool (MI-URR or 2Unique LLC barreling spud).
I’m not one to toot the SOTAR horn all that much, but he demonstrates the pros and cons of the Reaction Rod type tools pretty well here. He is wrong about one thing though, you are not safe using a fin-less Reaction Rod as long as you stay within the torque spec. Damage to the indexing pin notch will occur at even only the low to mid range of the torque spec when using the Reaction Rod.
Curios about something here. MolyKote has an expiration date on the tube. Mine is currently 2/25. Does it only expire unused inside the tube lol? Or if its installed on your barrel nut a month before expiring and the gun sits inside the safe and it expires after wiped on a barrel nut? No I haven’t been drinking and I am serious.
Does aeroshell have a similar expiration date?
I believe all greases/pastes have an expiration date even if it’s not listed on the container. The one I use also has an expiration date (the TS-70 Moly Paste). I had to email T.S. Moly about it since there is no expiration date on the label. About 2 years stored in inside the house conditions.
I had a container of NECO Moly-slide paste thicken up and go bad on me after about 10 or so years.
I think as long as the grease is in good condition on installation of the parts that’s all you can hope for. Going to disassemble things years later I’ve heard that the moly can be kind of gummy. Actually, the A1 “clone” I took apart at the end of last year came apart easy enough, but the grease did seem much thicker than it was when I installed that barrel nut back in 2016 (if I remember right).
At this point I probably need to go through all of my old containers of Moly grease and check them out to see if I need to get rid of any of them.
Having said that, I think as long as it still mixes up good and has a consistency that still resembles how it was when new then it’s still probably good to go. Though I could be wrong as I’m no grease expert. 
If i am understanding you correctly, the Loctite variations you are referring to are for cylinder fits and come from National Match type shooting disciplines to more or less make the barrel extension and upper 1 piece. The other part of that really has to be the upper’s inside diameter being smaller than the outside diameter of the barrel extension requiring the upper to be heated to expand enough to accept the barrel extension.
Originally that was done by wrapping shim stock around the barrel extension to increase the OD, then some barrel makers started using oversize OD barrel extensions, and now some upper companies(BCM is one) making undersize ID uppers usually advertised as thermal fit.
Another part of that is cutting the receiver face to square/true it up going on the assumption the shoulder of the barrel extension is more apt to be square and true than the corresponding face of the upper where the barrel enters.
Grease specified in the armorers manual is the blend in Aeroshell 33MS, although there are others.
I think the biggest thing is avoiding greases that use graphite due to the possibility of galvanic reactions from aluminum and graphite(and recall reading a Navy memo that graphite and steel can have issues too).
This is the reason moly grease is specified.
A little on the threads and make sure the front of the barrel extension has some grease all the way around where the barrel nut has to rotate against it.
Torque well above minimum and then loosen several times, then torque to minimum and tighten to the first notch.
Bought a canister of Aeroshell a decade ago and have used maybe 2 fingertips from it, should last forever.
The Certificate of Analysis will be reflected to state: “Shelf life of AeroShell Grease is 6 years from the date of manufacture.
I degrease OD of barrel extension and ID of the upper. Blue loctite is then applied to “bed” the barrel extension to the receiver. Its effectiveness is questionable, but why not? Grease is then applied to the threads. I just use normal grease. It is to minimize the friction so that the torque is thread to thread reaction, rather than to overcome frictions.
Galvanic reaction is already going on between steel and aluminum parts. Graphite could make it worse as it is pretty positive in galvanic index.
-TL
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The AR stuff you refer to sounds like basic Permatex anti-seize.
The Permatex moly paste I use on some head bolts is a silver gray color, anti-seize is more of a silver color. It’s a low friction, non metallic lube.
I use it on barrel nuts as well.
In the Army we used a high temp silver colored anti-seize on the tank exhaust grill door bolts. That stuff works good on threads and holds up good to high heat. Might be good on AR barrel installation. Anyone who has walked behind a running Abrams tank knows the heat it puts out. I’ve seen them start grass fires. I saw one pivot steer in a circle in the middle of a riot to clear everyone out when they were blasted with exhaust.
Using antiseize will increase removal torque vs grease for a given installation torque, I think. Anecdotally, that effect seems more significant on threads larger than 5/8” in diameter for some reason. Maybe one of our engineers can illuminate this topic better.
I don’t think I would call moly lube non-metallic, but I also don’t know if it matters.
As for what I use, that’s Lubriplate SFL-0, simply because it’s what I have laying around. I think it’s aluminum or lithium -based. I’ve been using it for several years and haven’t noticed any problems throughout the service life of my barrels, and they don’t give me any drama when I swap them out. Hopefully this isn’t the wrong answer.