Pat Rogers’ Side by Side Review of Slip 2000 EWL and CLP
About 18 Months ago Greg Conner (Slip 2000) asked me to do a side by side of EWL with CLP. Greg Sullivan (Defensive Edge) provided two of his SLR15 carbines so we would have a standard by which to compare the lubes.
We started out with bone dry new guns then lubricated them properly. We handed the guns out to students at class and ran them through 4 classes.
We needed to apply CLP to that gun at approximately 400 rds. At 2000 rds we reapplied lube to both guns.
As we approached 4000 rds, the Slip 2000 EWL gun was still running and the CLP gun was starting to get sluggish.
No problem so far. I took the guns and put them back in the case. And promptly forgot about them.
Last week I was in the armory and found the guns. What we saw was interesting, and worth reporting.
The EWL gun was very dirty, with a fair amount of carbon. However, the bolt was still moist. The action cycled easily and nothing was askew.
When I went to the CLP gun, the bolt was locked to the rear. We could not move it. Not at all. I called up Chad M (aka BoreBrush) an armorer for a fed agency and asked him to take a look at it. He got the bolt forward, but told me it was a mess.
That was an understatement.
The bolt was bone dry and solidly caked with carbon. The wear areas had some rust. I could not remove the firing pin retaining pin nor easily move the bolt within the bolt carrier.
I soaked the bolt in my washer tank of Slip Carbon Cutter (Carbon Killer) for 10 minutes. I took a cleaning brush and scrubbed the outside of the BCG. A pair of needle nose pliers removed the firing pin retaining pin and I disassembled the bolt.
Ten minutes later and after some tooth brush scrubbing, paper towel wiping and q-tip twirling, the BCG was GTG. I cleaned the upper receiver, lubed everything with Slip EWL and reassembled the carbine.
Later I cleaned the Slip gun. This one took less time as it was not as hard baked on.
I know, Pat cleaning a gun? Cleaning two guns? In one day! The world may indeed spin off of its rotational axis and we are all soon to be doomed…
Lessons Learned:
(head smack) Guns that are constantly used can skip cleaning. Those that are used hard need to be cleaned before being stored.
The legions of myth re-tellers who claim that carbon causes pitting may not have a clue, or may never actually witnessed this. While we saw some rust on the (formerly) shiny areas, there was absolutely no pitting on the bolt or bolt carrier. None. Nada. Nuthin’….
Slip works. Let me say that again. Slip works. Period. Better than any other lube I have ever used.
Slip Carbon Cutter (Carbon Killer) works like a bandit. Big Time.
The DI system is far from dead.
The AR does not need to be white glove clean. It does need to be wet.
Many thanks to Greg Conner (Slip 2000) and Greg Sullivan (Defensive Edge). Read Greg Sullivan’s comments about the test here.
Thanks to Chad M for showing me something new.
I don’t recommend allowing any guns to go too long without cleaning.
I certainly don’t recommend letting a duty gun get this dirty.
I allow this because my days of hunting people are long over, and my purpose here is to see how guns run when used hard, and not pampered.