MCR, M60 links, oil or not?

[3rdmardiv]

Is it advisable to apply oil to links before firing the Mission Configurable Rifle, or the M60?  Thanks!

[taylorwso]

for the m60 and real beltfeds NO

For the MCR I wax new links when shooting steel. Just spray them down with one shot or any reloading spray wax. Some use oil but it collects dirt.

[MGTedFL]

The short answer is no, for a variety of reasons, like excessive crud accumulation, due to the excess lubricant, etc.,  ... however, here is my personal experience:

My M1919A4 in 308 will shoot anything I put thru it.  Any garbage, beat-up. dented, corroded ammo with be handled. If you get a misfire, just bang down the bowed top-cover with a mallet...and keep shooting. God Bless John Browning.

For the the M60, the Queen....I only use new Lake City 7.62x51. It is sensitive to ammo, especially once the gas system starts to foul-up a bit. Again, no lubricating the belts. BTW, my M13 links are reused, and ultrasonically cleaned in a mixture of 90% kerosene and 10% ATF, so they are lubricated to a slight degree.  After the gas system fouls-up a bit, alternative ammo like the Hirtburger and the Maylay starts to short-stroke. Also, given the value of my transferable E1,3,4 and my E6, why even consider using anything but the factory new, mil-spec ammo. Same for the HK51B, just remember to load the belts properly. 

My MGA M249 in 5.56 semi-auto, no issues with XM855 or other powerful ammo. Maybe one day she'll be a postie, and I can put a pack on her.   

The Shrike, the little princess, like a temprimental 14 year-old on the rag. I need to over-juice her. XM855 only, H2 buffer and full open gas port, or there is not enough energy on the recoil to properly feed the  next round.  I also spray a light coat of dry silicone (ACE Hardware Dry Silicone spray works for me) of the fully loaded m27-linked belt before I load.  My links are all pre-tumbled in walnut shells, and again cleaned in 90/10 kero/ATF..... and properly sized using a Terry Rood link sizing tool. Proper preparation makes for a great day at the range, especially when Belt-feds are your fancy.

Again, these are my personal preferences and personal experience, and what works for me, based on 40+ years of collecting and shooting -so before the snarky haters unload and tell me that I should not share an opinion because I don't know what I'm talking about.... well, you know what you can go do to yourself.  

FWIW,

Ted

 

 

[johnsonlmg41]

It is not necessary unless your guns have issues, then lubing all that stuff and link stretching may be the crutch you need to get it all working, but it's not needed for fully functional guns.

A LOT of mg's have issues and you see all sorts of secret sauce applied and voodoo rituals performed to make them work.  Watching this at shoots is like sitting by a boat launch for a few hours.  The entertainment can be priceless.

[jbntex]

I clean my used links before reusing them as quite often they end up on the ground  or mixed with spent brass and are dirty/gritty after firing that I don't want that dirt/grit ingested into an expensive gun be that an M60, HK,  or a Shrike upper on the next loading.

To clean them I dump them in a 5 gallon bucket filled with water and dawn dish soap.   The bucket has a paddle screwed to the inside similar to what is in a front loading washing machine, I let them soak, put a lid on and them roll them around a bit.   I then have another bucket lid with holes drilled in it to drain the dirty water.  I refill with fresh water to rinse and then dump them on a tarp to dry.

Once cleaned and dried I don't "oil"  the links but do use silicone spray lube from the hardware store (that dries to the touch after a couple hours) to both seal the parkerizing so they don't rust in storage and to make it a bit easier on me to link them up and for the guns to strip the rounds from the belt.  

I do run my M27 links  through Terry's resizing rod as well but that is because I run a weaker than factory recoil spring and a heavier buffer to keep the cyclic rate down a bit.  The resized links work fine in my other 5.56 beltfeds as well but if I am mixing in new/used links I will stretch them before putting them into use.  I also use the sizing rod to reshape M27s that have been stepped on or are hard to load.

My 1919 is the only one that I don't use the spray silicone lube because I shoot it exclusively in 7.62x39 and the links are polymer so there is no need to reseal them after cleaning and the 1919 also spits the links directly into an ammo can separate from cases so the links stay much cleaner.

[MGTedFL]

2 hours ago, johnsonlmg41 said:

It is not necessary unless your guns have issues, then lubing all that stuff and link stretching may be the crutch you need to get it all working, but it's not needed for fully functional guns.

A LOT of mg's have issues and you see all sorts of secret sauce applied and voodoo rituals performed to make them work.  Watching this at shoots is like sitting by a boat launch for a few hours.  The entertainment can be priceless.

LOL....Watching newbie boaters try and land at the dock, especially with an off-dock breeze, or a stern breeze is truly priceless. It usually includes mom out on the bow trying to throw a excessively short dock line to the hand. Occasionally someone goes for a swim..... truly priceless. My son was a dockmaster at a local waterfront Bar & Grill. Some of my best Saturdays were spent, sitting at the Bar, and watching him try to make lousy boaters look competent while pulling in.... what fun.

[MGTedFL]

2 hours ago, jbntex said:

I clean my used links before reusing them as quite often they end up on the ground  or mixed with spent brass and are dirty/gritty after firing that I don't want that dirt/grit ingested into an expensive gun be that an M60, HK,  or a Shrike upper on the next loading.

To clean them I dump them in a 5 gallon bucket filled with water and dawn dish soap.   The bucket has a paddle screwed to the inside similar to what is in a front loading washing machine, I let them soak, put a lid on and them roll them around a bit.   I then have another bucket lid with holes drilled in it to drain the dirty water.  I refill with fresh water to rinse and then dump them on a tarp to dry.

Once cleaned and dried I don't "oil"  the links but do use silicone spray lube from the hardware store (that dries to the touch after a couple hours) to both seal the parkerizing so they don't rust in storage and to make it a bit easier on me to link them up and for the guns to strip the rounds from the belt.  

I do run my M27 links  through Terry's resizing rod as well but that is because I run a weaker than factory recoil spring and a heavier buffer to keep the cyclic rate down a bit.  The resized links work fine in my other 5.56 beltfeds as well but if I am mixing in new/used links I will stretch them before putting them into use.  I also use the sizing rod to reshape M27s that have been stepped on or are hard to load.

My 1919 is the only one that I don't use the spray silicone lube because I shoot it exclusively in 7.62x39 and the links are polymer so there is no need to reseal them after cleaning and the 1919 also spits the links directly into an ammo can separate from cases so the links stay much cleaner.

Did you ever bring that setup to Hernando Sportsman's Club for their MG shoot? I saw someone shooting that exact set-up you describe on a M1919A4. The proprietary double links for the 7.62x39 were twice the cost of the ammo, so the links were ejected via a 4" metallic dryer vent into a bucket...and the spent steel cases were left to rust in the sand..... Now with X39 rising in price, the difference isn't what it used to be, but good LC x51 is now $0.80 to a buck a round. My complimentary belts for others to shoot have dropped form 50 to 40 rounds. Sounds like shopping for groceries.   

[DINK]

I am fortunate enough to shoot at a range with a concrete pad under the firing line, so my links don't get dropped into sand or grass.  I just gather up the used links and stuff more ammo into them so they don't get stretched, tumbled, lubed or otherwise pampered.  I load 5.56 by hand so any overly-tight links are evident during the linking process and are discarded.  .308 is linked in a plate-type machine, so a visual inspection is all they get.  The Shrike (yes, it's that old) and Miss Piggy don't seem to mind.

 

Oh, yeah- I'm running Tula steel cased ammo in the Shrike.  It ain't supposed to work but the gun goes bang anyway.  Like Ted, this is my personal experience over 40+ years of MG fun and worth exactly what you're paying for it.  YMMV

[jbntex]

8 hours ago, MGTedFL said:

Did you ever bring that setup to Hernando Sportsman's Club for their MG shoot? I saw someone shooting that exact set-up you describe on a M1919A4. The proprietary double links for the 7.62x39 were twice the cost of the ammo, so the links were ejected via a 4" metallic dryer vent into a bucket...and the spent steel cases were left to rust in the sand..... Now with X39 rising in price, the difference isn't what it used to be, but good LC x51 is now $0.80 to a buck a round. My complimentary belts for others to shoot have dropped form 50 to 40 rounds. Sounds like shopping for groceries.   

I have never been to the Hernando Sportsmans Club.    I don't recall the cost of the 7.62x39 barrelxchange polymer links but they were not super expensive.  Maybe 10 cents each.  Thankfully I stocked up on 7.62x39 when it was in the low 20cpr range, although I wish I had bought maybe another 25K more to pad my inventory.

The 1919 is easy to catch the links because the links come out the side and the spent cases out of the bottom so its easy to catch and sort.  You are generally also  shooting the 1919 off a mount vs. offhand like a M60, HK, or Shrike.

My setup has the three ammo cans on the gun mount, one on the left to feed cartridges, on underneath the gun to catch spent cartridges, and one on the right for links to be caught into.

[MGTedFL]

I've seen a similar 3-can mount before. Someone had them on Ebay for a while. He would configure them any way you wanted.  I use a 1917 pintle with a single can holder and pick up the links with a big magnet. Nice shooting spot...where is that?

[jbntex]

2 hours ago, MGTedFL said:

I've seen a similar 3-can mount before. Someone had them on Ebay for a while. He would configure them any way you wanted.  I use a 1917 pintle with a single can holder and pick up the links with a big magnet. Nice shooting spot...where is that?

That is a line spot at the Big Sandy Machingun Shoot outside of Wikieup Arizona.

[MGTedFL]

We're talking about coming out this year...since the Creek has died-up.

[3rdmardiv]

My thanks to all that responded with great practical advice.  The consensus seems to be if it's not broke don't fix it.  My MCR and M60 run just fine, so no lube for me.

[rhouston8]

I have never ever cleaned my  M60 , FM-9, MM23E, or 1919a4 links.... Decades now. No tumbling, washing, silicon or other stuff. Nada.

For whatever that may be worth.

I sometimes add a strip of sprayed oil on a belt if the gun is "acting funny"...but usually I just spray the crap in the bolt area and rails and rock n roll.

Your Miles may Vary of course.

[rodfarva]

https://youtube.com/ixKxT_YSvuE?feature=share

 

 

No lube or link stretching.  
 

 

Edited June 23, 2023 by rodfarva