Glock Question

[Guest 240KAR]

Okay so I have a Glock 19(4) and it is my first handgun. I have about 800 rounds through it. While cleaning it I noticed some excessive wear on the slide rails on the gun, like its wore down to a copper color in very small spots... i would take a pic but my camera won't focus on it... anyone else seen this on their glock? Maybe i'm just being ocd about it, but i'm just curious. Thanks guys..

[Patton]

The copper is the factory greese.

[LayNLow]

My G30 is showing the copper on the rails after ~1200 rounds. Not the factory grease on mine. Just keep shooting it if it doesnt affect anything.

[Guest 240KAR]

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heres the pic...

you can barely see it but i circled it in green... sorry about the cell pic.

[Guest 240KAR]

mines not factory grease either.. just normal wear i guess but with <1000 rounds i figured it wouldn't be like this yet.

[Guest bkelm18]

Your gun isn't made of copper, so it can't "wear down" to a copper finish. It's factory grease. Glock uses a copper colored grease. It doesn't feel like grease, but it is.

[graycrait]

Let us know what it looks like in about 30,000 more rounds:)

[TNWNGR]

Others have mentioned the copper colored lubricant Glock is using on current pistols rails. It is a very long wearing lubricant that will thin to a near film over time. At this point it has become hardened and is dry to touch, resembling plating. Unless you scrub this lubricant off parts of it will remain behind, IMHO this is what is being observed on the pistols that were mentioned. Use some brake cleaner and a small brush, you’ll be surprised at how quickly the “copper finish” goes away.

[Guest 240KAR]

Ah, it was hard to the touch.. i picked at it with my fingernail and i was worried it was scoring that would effect its reliability.. thanks guys.. appreciate the comments

[Guest The Highlander]

C5A copper containing grease. Good stuff.

[glockster157]

The gold grease that comes on Glocks I have examined out of the box is a Anti-seize lube and it is supposed to be cleaned off before you shoot the pistol. They put that on the guns because they are produced in such large numbers and stored for such long periods of time. Used to be a Glock stocking dealer. Permatex, I believe, also offers that same anti seize lube. I am not familiar with the allow that Glock makes the rails from but I am sure that it is tough. It could be that the color is normal and may just be a coating wearing through.

[BigK]

I cleaned all that off mine when I got it and lubed the slide rails with synthetic grease. 600-800 rounds later...clean as a whistle

[gl19gobang]

No, your not supposed to remove the copper grease, let it stay on as long as it will.

[Patton]

No, your not supposed to remove the copper grease, let it stay on as long as it will.

Ive heard otherwise.

[Guest DanE479]

Glock Armorers course says:

There is no need to remove the lubricant that is on the slides of Glocks when they ship. It is a long lasting lubricant designed to keep your pistol functioning in between long periods of disuse, and to increase the interval between cleanings. If you wish to remove it, make sure to properly clean and lubricate your pistol before first use.

In short, leave it on your pistol. Glock put it there for a reason. Trust Glock. Glock is your friend...

[BigK]

I'm not questioning Glock's intent by using the copper grease, but surplus guns arrive coated in cosmoline "for a reason". I'm not gonna go shoot one without removing that goop. I'm just saying what I've heard is that they put it on there for long-term storage. If true, it wouldn't be the best lube for running several hundred rounds through. If not, there's no question that the stuff I used to replace it WAS meant to be shot.

[Guest DanE479]

Ok, so to answer your concern, it is NOT there for long term storage. It is there for long term preservation of the weapon.

I've run Glocks for about 11 years now, and I have never taken the factory lube off. and have never had any issues, even with a Glock 22 that I took to 30K rounds.

[gl19gobang]

If they were putting the copper grease on the gun for long term storage, it would be on more of the gun than the slide. It is there for break in, thats where most metal to metal friction occurrs. Plus Glocks dont rust.

Edited September 22, 2011 by gl19gobang

[BigK]

I've seen copper grease sold as a thermal paste for mounting heat sinks to a computer motherboard and for preventing rust / corrosion during storage. I wouldn't have thought that would make it a good hi-temp lube for guns.

So, I did some research and I stand corrected...looks like one of the most common uses is to prevent wear in gears. In fact, it's thick and cohesive enough to resist being flung off of drive shafts, which sounds like it would make a good slide lube after all.

[K191145]

If they were putting the copper grease on the gun for long term storage, it would be on more of the gun than the slide. It is there for break in, thats where most metal to metal friction occurrs. Plus Glocks dont rust.

I cleaned it off my 21 when I got it but I never used grease before, always used oil. I over clean it anyway.

[Guest DanE479]

I use high temperature Lithium Bearing grease for my lubrication of firearms. I strip it, clean it, and very lightly apply the litium grease to the frame rails. Done, and it works great.

Oil evaporates over time and will burn off at high temps. Lithium bearing grease persists and will not burn off as easily.

[LayNLow]

I will take pictures tomorrow, but it appears that the rails are chrome plated. which is the chrome plating comes off, there is copper plating underneath it. I DO have copper plating showing. I removed the copper grease the day I got it a year and 1K rounds ago. Everywhere I read said to remove it, so I did and oiled with gun lubricant.

[K191145]

Unless you use grease regularly as a lube, eventually it will be cleaned off after shooting and cleaning over a peroid of time.

[Guest The Highlander]

Like I said earlier, C5A is the copper-based lube on the gun. It is used as an anti-seize lubricant in all kinds of high-temp applications like gears and heat-treating furnaces. It is very good stuff. I've never wiped it off any of the multiple Glocks I own. It will certainly not hurt the gun. For what it is worth, I use grease on my SIG's because they like to run wet. Sometimes I use minute amounts of grease on my Glocks, but generally use oil on Glocks because they like to run dry. One reason I think they can do that is the small amount of contact between the slide and frame as compared to SIG's and other full-length rail guns. Leave the C5A alone, it will eventually wear off the gun. If you'd like to keep using it, you can buy the stuff at auto machine shops specilizing in rebuilds, probably some other places. I used to buy it by the case when I was a heat-treater.

[Guest DanE479]

I will take pictures tomorrow, but it appears that the rails are chrome plated. which is the chrome plating comes off, there is copper plating underneath it. I DO have copper plating showing. I removed the copper grease the day I got it a year and 1K rounds ago. Everywhere I read said to remove it, so I did and oiled with gun lubricant.

Glock rails are most certainly NOT chrome plated. They are not copper plated either. They are not plated in anything. Parts that see high temperature and high friction movement like that do not get plated with chrome or copper because that wears off rather quickly. Copper melts at a relatively low temperature, and would not provide any useful purpose being on a frame rail. Neither would chrome.

I've been shooting and armoring Glocks for over 12 years. Trust me. THe frame rails are not chrome or copper plated.