Grease guns are a necessity for both home maintenance and general DIY. These important tools will help you to be able to maintain any metal nuts and bearings around the house to make sure that they fit correctly, and they are also vital to ensure that certain metals don’t end up rusting.
Of course as you may expect there are a lot of grease guns on the market so it can be difficult to narrow down what will be the best choice for you. Thankfully, we’re here to help eliminate the guesswork for you. Read on for our list of the best grease guns on the market at the moment. We’ve also written a handy buyer’s guide to help you to narrow down what you’re looking for.
Short on time? Here are our top grease gun picks in 2021
OUR TOP PICK
On first glance, you may think that the Beta 1750 500 Lever Operated Grease Gun is just your average grease gun - we assure you, however, that there’s a lot to love here. Perhaps the best part of this grease gun is that it is so easy to operate.
Loading this grease gun comes with ease, and you don’t need to worry about any grease slipping out of the clamps, as you may find to be an issue with lots of other models. It has great threading capabilities, and it is able to deliver pressure of up to 8,000 psi.
In addition to this, the grease gun is also very sturdy, especially the nozzles which are rust and corrosion resistant. You can therefore be confident that this is going to be a serious investment to last you at least a couple of years. It has a capacity of 500 cm3 which means that it’s ideal for small workshops for automotive. It’s also pretty handy for reaching hard to access areas on a vehicle due to the flexible delivery tubes. It should be noted that it can be rather difficult to change the cartridge, however.
Pros
Cons
👍 Easy to use
👍 Corrosion and rust resistant nozzles
👍 Durable
👎 Can be difficult to change the cartridge
EDITORS CHOICE
You want power? Well, you’ve got it with the Dewalt Cordless DCGG571M1 Grease Gun! This grease gun can deliver over 10,000 PSI of pressure which is perfect for those slightly trickier jobs. It’s a highly effective tool that will be able to help you to get the job done quickly and efficiently.
The gun is able to deliver 5 ounces of grease a minute, so it’s easy to get a job done quickly. It’s actually a cordless model so you don’t need to plug it into a wall socket or anything, you simply just have a 20 volt rechargeable lithium ion battery. This battery is also able to last for an impressive sixteen grease cartridges worth of work before you even need to charge it again. The hose is pretty flexible and measures 42 inches, so you can sneak your way into those hard to reach places in no time.
The grease gun also comes with a filter inside the pump which protects it from any grease or dirt build up. This means that in the long run the amount of maintenance required is reduced too.
Pros
Cons
👍 Flexible hose
👍 Battery operated
👍 Easy to use
👍 Durable
👎 None
BEST VALUE
If you are looking for a fairly affordable model that you can use for basic jobs around the household, you will be pleased with the Astro 101 Mini Grease Gun. This is the perfect option for people on a budget and despite its low price, you are still able to have great accuracy and precision.
The gun comes with a needle tip nozzle which is perfect for when you need more precision in slightly smaller areas. Of course, as the name suggests, this is a fairly small model that only weighs one pound, so it’s so simple to carry around - it barely feels like you’re carrying anything at all!
This is a hand operated mini grease gun that uses pneumatic technology in order to let the grease push onto the surface that you need to lubricate. It has a three ounce grease capacity which is all that you really need for small jobs.
Pros
Cons
👍 Portable
👍 Affordable
👍 Precision tip
👎 Not ideal for huge jobs
RUNNER UP
If you don’t have a lot of money to play with then fear not, the Lincoln Lubrication Heavy Duty 1134 is here to answer your prayers. This grease gun comes with a lot of power despite the low price tag.
This is a grip gun that allows you to control the gun by hand, so you don’t even need to charge any batteries. It’s incredibly durable too, so you can expect that it will last a while. It incorporates a pump head that is cast in solid metal, which means that’s it’s actually resistant against the grease. It’s an incredibly simple tool to use and you can use it for jobs that have more difficult to reach areas because the nozzle is on a flexible cable.
You can also check how clean the gun is without needing to totally disassemble it as there is a little valve on the bottom. It’s a well loved product among previous customers too, and you only need to clean it after five or six refills.
Pros
Cons
👍 Durable
👍 Easy to maintain
👍 Affordable
👎 Not many bells and whistles included
RUNNER UP
Sometimes, corded options just aren’t ideal for every job. This is not something that you need to worry about with the Milwaukee 2646-22CT Gun. This gun is incredibly powerful and operates without a cord, so you could be miles away from a plug socket and you can still get along with your work without a hitch.
The Milwaukee Grease Gun is an incredibly durable option that you can be sure will last you for a long time. It is made out of high quality materials and has been designed in a way that you may expect from such a well known and well trusted brand. The grease gun will give you two different flow rates, and the maximum is 10 ounces per minute. This provides a lot of much needed versatility.
Of course, we can’t talk about this gun without talking about the sheer amount of benefits that it offers. To start with, it comes with a 48 inch hose that is very flexible, so when you need to get into those harder to reach areas you have nothing to worry about whatsoever. You can actually clip it onto the top of the gun for jobs that are easier too. You can also recharge the battery when you need to, but in all honesty the battery is more than good enough to run even as much as 10 grease cartridges. Truly an incredible option.
Pros
Cons
👍 Well known brand
👍 Powerful
👍 Battery operated
👎 Doesn’t come with a hard case
Things to Consider Before Picking Grease Guns
What is a Grease Gun?
A grease gun is essentially a tool that can add grease or another sort of lubrication onto machinery. The purpose of the tool is to put lubricant onto a certain area. They will also usually come with a fitting that will allow you to apply it easier, also known as a ‘nipple.’ There are actually a few kinds of grease guns on the market, such as hand powered with a trigger mechanism, hand powered without a trigger mechanism, air powered or pneumatic or battery powered.
You can use them for a range of different things, from reducing friction to oiling parts among other functions. You can also use them in difficult to reach places and with accuracy.
Things to Look For
So we’ve covered the best grease guns in the market, but you may be wondering what exactly it is that you need to look out for when making your decision. It’s important to understand the factors that make up a great grease gun. Here are a couple of things that you should consider when buying a grease gun.
Requirements
You need a lot of precision for lubricating machinery, and not everyone always realizes that. It’s important to make sure that you don’t have more or less lubrication than you actually need.
The first thing that you need to consider when you’re buying a grease gun is what exactly it is that you intend to lubricate. Of course, greasing a machine like a lawnmower is totally different from greasing the ball joints of a huge tractor, so keep this in mind.
Loading Method
There are three key ways that you can load grease into a grease gun. The main options are via cartridge or by suction.
The best option is usually cartridges and this is also usually the cleanest method too. This method also helps to ensure that you don’t end up mixing up old grease with new grease. They tend to cost more money, and you need to create more pressure in order to use them.
This pressure is created naturally when you have a suction load grease gun, because you can draw it out of a bulk amount of grease. This is also a lot cheaper, but as you may imagine it makes more mess.
Cleanliness
On the topic of cleaning, you don’t really want to be getting grease absolutely everywhere. Grease can have a nasty habit of holding dust and grit, and it can also mean that if you get grease all over any tool kits or surfaces it can be harder for you to hold onto them.
Greasing is generally quite a dirty task anyway, so you’re going to make a bit of a mess. You should just try to reduce the mess by trying to find a gun that is relatively mess free.
Price
Of course, there are a lot of grease guns on the market, so you could be paying anything from what you’d pay for an expensive ball point pen to what you would pay for a fountain pen. You should probably try not to get the cheapest option out there though, because you probably won’t get the correct pressure or volume to allow you to lubricate things correctly.
You should really be trying to budget based on your individual needs. Usually you can buy a versatile grease gun for barely any money. If you have a large grease gun that has a lot of capacity, you’re naturally going to be spending more money but the investment will go a long way.
Extra Add Ons
You tend to find that a lot of grease guns also come with extra things that can make them more expensive, but they don’t always add on to the performance of the gun. Before you buy your grease gun you should always think about why you’re buying it and what extras are going to be helpful to you. Do you need an LED light? Is it going to be worth an extra expense to you? These are things you should think about.
Of course, a grease meter is one important feature that you really should look out for. You don’t want to apply more grease than you actually need. Always check the specifications in the owners manual, but if you want real precision then a grease meter can be really helpful.
Hose
You have two main choices when it comes to hoses: a fixed or a flex hose. When you have worked out what sort of gun you require and you’ve figured out how it loads, it’s important to work out how you are going to get the grease from the gun and into the joints that you are attempting to lubricate.
Usually flexible hoses tend to be better as far as versatility is concerned. With a flex hose, you can easily grease a joint and have lots of space around it. Sure you can do this with a fixed hose but it’s possible to move a flex hose a bit more in order to get to harder to reach joints. Of course, flexible hoses can break a lot more easily because with flexibility comes more fragility. Fixed hoses tend to be a little stronger but they don’t adapt as easily as a consequence, which is why it’s so important to understand what it is that you need to lubricate.
Delivery Method
You tend to find that grease funs can break down into three key ways of creating pressure in order to move the grease.
Hand operated grease guns tend to be the most popular options, and all you have to do with these is crank a lever in order to make air pressure behind the grease in order to push it out. This is a very portable option that is also affordable, and it can be used for the vast majority of jobs. If you do decide to get this option then it will be important to make sure that you know about the amount of grease that it is able to push out per crank as you will need to know just how much lubricant you are applying.
The hand operated guns then also break into another two subcategories. Firstly, you have the traditional manual grease gun that will use a lever in order to build up pressure. This requires the use of both hand. If you’re working with small jobs then you have the pistol grip for that. This is a good option for when you’re on a budget, but it’s also designed for specialized situations.
If you want a higher flow rate with more consistency or if you want something that operates more quickly, then you may wish to opt for a cordless grease gun. They are great if you want a portable option, but they do cost more because they require a charged battery to use.
You can also use pneumatic grease guns if you’re working on commercial and industrial projects. This is an expensive option but they do work enough pressure so that if you use it on something lighter you could end up blowing out the bearings and other parts of the machine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it possible to use oil instead of grease in an oil gun?
The name kind of says it all, but with a grease gun you need to use grease. Using oil is not recommended because it’s thinner than grease and it can leak out when you’re not using the tool. You also may not get a result that’s as good. Grease guns also don’t tend to come with grease cartridges either so you are going to need to buy them separately to your gun. It’s not too difficult to find them though because they’re in most hardware stores.
Does grease leak out of a grease gun when they aren’t being used?
It is possible that the grease gun may leak when it isn’t being used. In order to prevent this from happening, cover the tip of a hose with a non drip protective cap. You should also make sure that you keep the tool in a cool dark place in order to avoid the grease leaking and melting.
