A little while back I wrote an article on the different lubes I use and why. This review hasn’t changed any of that opinion as I still believe each has its own strengths and weaknesses. For this rifle, for its life, it has had Frog Lube and known no other and has performed beautifully.
The weapon in particular used was the Stag Arms Model 3 flat top. I bought this rifle and went right into adding all the fun tacticool accessories. 15” Midwest rail, Aimpoint Comp M4, 556 Tactical muzzle break, Magpul, Magpul and more Magpul from PMags to rail covers, and grips finishing off with a VLTOR stock. This rifle has been to several training classes, has had well over 10k in rounds through it and internally is (I believe) 100% stock. I have yet to have a stove pipe, a double feed (that wasn’t induced) or any other issues. So with all that said either Stag builds the most reliable AR-15 in the world or its a combination of good product with proper preparation.
Frog Lube is different than most CLP lubricants because they want you to heat up the components and metal before applying. What’s even more different is after you heat it up and apply the paste… they want you to wipe it off. Seriously? When you actually do it though it is not just a visual difference but you can actually FEEL it as well. See, you don’t actually “open pores up” or anything like that… all you are doing is “Seasoning” the metal with this lubricant. Think less Bioré and more Cast Iron Cooking pan. Get it hot, lube it, use it, wipe and repeat and it will last you a lifetime. Now, I am not trying to say you will have a brand new looking weapon forever and no parts will ever need to be replaced. False. No lubricant or elven magic stops fatigue and stress. Moving, metal parts, especially those that are under the stress of repeated small explosions (shooting) will eventually fail and need to be replaced. How long between failures all depends on your preparation.
Frog Lube kept everything… EVERYTHING in almost a “suspended animation” state. All the carbon and fouling that had been thrown back up into the receiver, all the sand and gunk never actually even got the chance to start burning or adhering to any surface. It may have taken about 300-400 patches and some time on my end to wipe it all down, but it all wiped clean. I used 3 brushes, a nylon brush, a heavy nylon brush and a brass bristle brush. These were mainly used to get into the tight corners and angles that a chubby finger and patch couldn’t get into effectively. Nothing on this rifle required any kind of hardcore heavy brushing or even soaking. Everything came off almost instantly. Basically, Frog Lube did everything as advertised and then some, at least more than I was expecting.
This rifle hadn’t been cleaned or maintained on well over 6 months and had well over 2000 rounds in that time. It was so dirty I literally had to break the rifle down to every pin, spring and screw. I even cleaned the 15” rail one segment at a time… but even the burnt and discolored metal at the muzzle was no match for Frog Lube as it was restored almost 100% back to pure black. The most time consuming aspect of it all was breaking all the parts down and reassembling them all after cleaning and re-treating them with Frog Lube, but I must say I am still very happy with the results over the past (almost) two years.
Before I let you go watch the video I wanted to add some tips to Frog Lube as we have had dozens come in over the past two years.
Make sure the rifle is clear of all oils and petroleum based lubricants first. This stuff just gobbles up all that stuff and all it will do is make you clean sooner or give you spots where the Frog Lube didn’t cover evenly and may require some scrubbing and scraping.
Heat and paste EVERYWHERE. First mistake I made way back when was inside the BCG. I had to kill myself to get all that fouling out which sucked because everywhere else just wiped right off. If it is made of metal, it gets heated and pasted. Period. That includes Gas block, barrel, gas tube and even the break. I have not tried it on a suppressor or if that’s even recommended.
Use a heat gun, a hair dryer will just piss you or the wife off. Use the heat to not only get the metal hot, but you can also use it to spread the paste into areas you may not be able to get in with a brush. $12 Heat gun worth it’s weight in gold.
Do not be worried that there doesn’t visually appear to be any lube in spots. When the rifle starts heating up (like shot 2 or 3) all the frog lube will literally start turning into a liquid, capturing and lubricating. The only place I don’t fully wipe down after applying is inside the BCG. If you leave more than that behind your rifle will have that wonderful “sweating” look from the pins and controls as the excess finds its way out.
I only use the liquid Frog Lube to help break down fouling during cleaning and on the range on (usually) other peoples hardware when something needs to work NOW. Other than that it’s the paste all day and forget about it.
Listen to me, don’t listen to me, either way the only way to learn is to find out on your own. To each their own but for me and this Stag though, it’s Frog Lube all day everyday. I’m sold.