Slip 2000 EWL30: Hard Use Comparison Test

Not all firearm lubricants are created equal. Anyone can add “high performance” or “extreme” to a name, but those terms bear little on actual performance. Ultimately, peer recommendations, reputation, and personal experience dictate the quality of firearm lubricants. Over 10 years ago, a close friend strongly recommended a gun lubricant he swore by. The lubricant? Slip 2000 EWL30. Since then, I’ve dabbled with lubricants from a variety of manufacturers. However, Slip 2000 remained my go-to firearm lubricant. To this day, if that firearm’s reliability determines whether I go home safely or save an innocent life, it gets Slip 2000.

During my tenure at The MagLife blog, I’ve focused on evaluating products I already use or ones that interest me. The former motivated me to approach Slip 2000 recently, and luckily, the folks there were receptive to my long-winded diatribes about everything gun-related.

Slip 2000 provides a full course of gun care products for everyone, from the most casual to a professional operator. While discussing their products with them, I pitched the idea of conducting an “everyman torture test.” We’ve all seen videos of folks burning rifles and handguns down, with thousands of rounds, in a short period. However, if lucky, most folks might shoot that many rounds in a year. From that discussion, the Slip 2000 EWL30 “Hard Use Test” was born.

Slip 2000 EWL30

Slip 2000 Extreme Weapons Lubricant 30 (EWL30) is derived from Slip’s flagship Extreme Weapons Lubricant. The “30” represents the lubricant’s heavier, 30-weight viscosity. Ironically, I still have a little EWL30 left in the bottle my friend handed me over a decade ago. In testimony to the long-term stability of EWL30, this bottle’s contents still perform like they did the first time I used it. In addition, all Slip 2000 lubricants and cleaning products are non-hazardous and non-toxic (except for the Copper Cutter).

Slip 2000 EWL30 is more than just a lubricant. In the simplest terms, EWL30 works as a cleaner, lubricant, and protectant (CLP). While we’ve all heard the “CLP” claim before, I’ll stand behind EWL30 as actually holding to it. Without repeating the technical data and details from Slip’s website, EWL30 excels on everything from range queens to heavy machine guns. At a minimum, I can personally attest to it working as advertised on everything from rimfire to semi-auto .50 BMG.

Before going off on a tangent, let’s delve into the EWL30 hard-use test. Without any spoilers, the test provided some insight into how well EWL30 works and reaffirmed why Slip 2000 continues to be my go-to.

The Slip 2000 Hard Use Test

For the vast majority of folks, over 1,000 rounds through a single firearm in a day borders on the extreme. However, it’s not unrealistic for a one-day rifle or pistol class to require 300 to 600 rounds. Having been a part of numerous single, and multi-day courses and range sessions, I wanted to see how Slip 2000 EWL30 performed when compared to another high-performance lubricant. I’ve seen and experienced a multitude of weapon failures over the years. Some were induced by the user, while others were ammo or equipment-related. When round counts get high between cleanings, failures are almost always attributable to a lubricant failure.

Testing included 300 rounds of 55-grain PMC Bronze per lubricant. For the competitor lubricant, I chose one I had on hand: Hoppe’s Elite High-Performance Gun Oil. Hoppe’s is an established and respectable brand, so it fits the bill. Furthermore, Hoppe’s advertises an “exceptional coating technology” for long-lasting firearm protection.

The goal of this test was to run the gun as dirty as possible. To meet that bar, I used a full-auto Colt M16 outfitted with a 10.5-inch direct gas impingement upper to increase the gas and carbon being directed into the receiver. For the cherry on top, I added a suppressor to ensure it ran as dirty as possible. After thousands of rounds previously through this gun on suppressed full auto, I knew it would be a gassy mess.

Testing Protocol

To compare these two lubricants without inducing unreasonable variables, the firearm, ammunition, and cleaning process remained the same. With any extended use, the AR-15’s upper receiver bears the brunt of carbon build-up. While I’m not equipped to conduct chemical analysis with detailed viscosity measurements before and after, I could make some objective observations of the bolt carrier group’s condition, as well as the overall remaining lubrication.

Before testing and after shooting, the bolt carrier was cleaned by hand and soaked in Slip 2000’s Carbon Killer. Carbon Killer does a fantastic job of cutting through built-up carbon, leaving parts nearly spotless. I’ll echo Slip’s words of caution about Carbon Killer, though: Soaking parts in Carbon Killer for too long can strip protective coatings or paint from them. Be conservative and, ideally, don’t exceed 15 minutes.

Observations on the Range

With the heat index reaching 100°F (the test was done in mid-August), most shooting was done from the shade. While a novel effort, it didn’t help much. Hoppe’s went first, with all 300 rounds fired in around 45 minutes. After three magazines, the heat seeping from the handguard and receiver was too much to handle and needed a cool down. Overall, the rifle needed three cool-down periods.

The rifle cycled through magazines quickly and produced the carbon build-up and filth we sought. Ultimately, the rifle ran flawlessly with Hoppe’s. With one hot and dirty rifle, it was time to photograph how the lubricant held up. Then, clean the parts and re-lubricate with Slip 2000 EWL30 for another 300 rounds.

With the heat index still hovering around 100°F, it was time for round two. Once again, the rifle ran through all 300 rounds without a hiccup, but with one major difference. The rifle ran through ten magazines with one cool-down period, unlike the three with the other lubricant. This observation and difference took a minute to unpack.

For one, the gas block and handguard remained uncomfortably hot in both strings of fire. However, the Slip 2000 EWL30 test felt less hot around the receiver and allowed us to shoot more per string of fire. Logically, this makes sense. Friction produces heat, and lubricants reduce friction. Better lubricants do a better job of preventing or reducing heat from moving parts. As a result, Slip 2000 EWL30 showed performance above the competitor for a more technical reason than anticipated.

Parts and Lubricant Condition

Earlier, I touched briefly on how EWL30 is a CLP but didn’t expound much on how it acts as one. It seems almost counterintuitive for a product to behave as a cleaner and lubricant. After all, most cleaners, if they work correctly, should remove lubricants. In this case, Slip 2000’s EWL30 improves and simplifies the cleaning process. Simply by providing extending lubrication and penetrating metal surfaces, EWL30 allows you to remove carbon from metal components easily. Thus, the cleaning process becomes much easier and less about soaking and scrubbing parts or chipping away at carbon build-up.

Once all 600 rounds went downrange, I was reaffirmed on the importance of two things: proper lubrication and using reputable lubricants. While the picture says quite a bit, the bolt carrier was noticeably dirtier and more difficult to clean with the other lubricant. While things cleaned up nicely (with a little carbon leftover) after a soak in Carbon Killer, it would have been a pain to scrub clean. Meanwhile, EWL30 came out a little “cleaner.” It’s not that EWL30 eliminates carbon. After all, it’s the same amount of carbon for the same number of rounds. Instead, EWL30 didn’t dry out and allowed carbon to excessively build up in areas like the firing pin.

The bolt carrier cleaned significantly easier with EWL30. While it still received a soak in Carbon Killer for good measure, the bolt carrier and its parts wiped down easily. In a testament to the “Protectant” part of EWL 30’s CLP properties, the bolt carrier still glistened lightly. Compared to a clean carrier, this characterized how EWL30 actually penetrates the metal surface, thereby providing a protective layer.

The Verdict on Slip 2000 EWL30

As mentioned earlier, I prefer covering products I already know I can stand behind. Slip 2000’s EWL30 was a no-brainer, and I openly embrace any suggestions of “bias.” Simply, I owe my life and the lives of others to Slip 2000 products. When the reliable operation of my firearms determined whether good people went home safely, EWL30 more than held up its end of the bargain.

I’d love to do a higher round count to show differences between more lubricants, but that wasn’t the goal here. Rather, I wanted to conduct a realistic performance test of what to expect on an extended day at the range. While high round counts look cool, it’s better to show where and how to expect benefits from high-quality firearm lubricants during realistic use. While unsurprised by EWL30’s performance, it was interesting to compare this lubricant to another off-the-shelf brand. Both performed well, but EWL30 showed that it will provide noticeably superior protection and performance, even during routine operations. When conditions take a turn for the worse, EWL30 can definitely meet the demands.