Lanolin as a gun grease

A friend was showing me a jar of the latest new wonder lube for firearms, and the consistency reminded me of... something else. A check of the MSDS for the product showed that it was principally poly-alpha olefin, but I couldn't help thinking it felt a lot like lanolin.

Lanolin is a natural fat extracted from wool in processing. It's waht keeps sheep from getting soggy in the rain, what makes natural wool garments shed water, and in the days before modern lubricants, it was used widely for all sorts of lubrication and rustproofing of metal.

A lot of lanolin is marketed in the form of skin creams and lotions, usually with other oils and a lot of water; lanolin can absorb something like 80% of its weight in water. What you need for gun lube is the pure thing- anhydrous lanolin. Seen in the photo at left is a sample of pure anhydrous lanolin. It's sticky, and won't run. In fact, it has great affinity for metal, won;t melt and run off in hot weather, and keeps its lubricity in the cold.

Pure lanolin isn't always easy to find, but I found 4.8 (net) jars of pure lanolin at Amazon for $8.59, and that's a few years supply. It has a lot of uses beyond gun lubrication for the sportsman. Rub it on your hands when ice fishing, to keep your skin from drying out.  Great for chapped lips, too- it's the main ingredient in Carmex.