The 7 Best Grease Guns in 2019 – In-Depth Reviews

Any serious mechanic or engineer should have a grease gun. Whether you have a busy garage, workshop, or do some tinkering on the weekend, it is a must have tool to get the job done properly.

With so many different brands and styles available on the market, which do you choose?

To help you come to the conclusion of which may serve you’re needs better than another, I’ve put together some reviews to try and find which are the best grease guns on the market today. So, grab a coffee, relax and let’s get straight down to business.

It ensures you get the precision that you need, with a trigger that is variable, so you decide how much pressure you need for the job at hand and a filter that safeguards against contamination and dirt in the machinery.

The range for the air pressure in this particular gun is between 40 and 150 pounds per sq./in, giving you a nice scope to work with. If you are looking for an air operated gun, then this could easily be a winner.

Made to fit all standard guns, with an NPT 1/8” fitting. All you have to do is take off your coupler that you have now and attach this one. Simple yet very effective.

It also has a bright led light built in and the kit includes a shoulder strap to help you carry it around, a sturdy carry case and a charger that is high speed to cut down on waiting time.

You can get up to 16 cartridges worth of use for every charge, making it able to last nearly all day. If it does run out however you can get a high peed charger that will get you back working in no time.  

With a pistol gun design, this grease gun has comfort in use at the forefront of its design. A hydraulic coupling system and a flexible 18-inch hose complete the unit making it a great choice for many workshops.

Its pistol shaped design gives up to 7500 psi of pressure while the check valve makes it that you can easily clean the gun without completely dismantling it. The plunger has been hardened to resist any scoring while stopping any lubricant leakages. According to my analysis this is the best mini grease gun.

When looking at buying a new grease gun, like any other tool, you have to find the one that is right for you. Here’s a few pointers you may want to take into account.

The purpose of a Grease Gun

Whatever type of Grease gun one has, the objective is the same, to get grease onto a zerk on an enclosed piece of machinery that has moving parts.

A zerk is a kind of ball-bearing like valve against a spring through which Grease is allowed in to keep moving parts working whilst stopping grease that is already in from coming out.

Grease nipples and ale mite fittings are other Grease fittings through which Grease can be brought to the enclosed moving part. These Grease fittings come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

It is important that one applies the correct coupler to the fitting and also important that one chooses the right grease for the bearings that one is going to lubricate. There is not one standard lubricant for all bearings.

Where Greasing is needed

Every machine with moving parts needs greasing periodically. Apart from a change of the lighter lubricant of engine oil for a car, we don’t as members of the public usually come into contact with the greasing that needs to be done on a motor car.

A garage will usually take care of such matters. It’s quite a different story though on a farm where farm workers need to give frequent greasing to maintain in good working order their tractors and other heavy farm machinery.

These are not in a fixed place and a pistol grease gun will probably be the most common choice of grease gun.

Putting your Grease Gun into action

Using the gun is fundamentally a matter of unscrewing the base to remove an old grease cartridge and replace with a new one.

When everything has been tightened back one needs to someone needs to apply the nozzle of the gun’s hose while the pistol gun’s lever is squeezed.

This part of the operation generally requires both hands and the whole operation is ideally a two-man job. 

Far more convenient is a battery operated tool such as the Dewalt DCGG571B Lithium Ion gun.

The fundamental principle is the same – get ink, generally through a cartridge, into the Grease Gun, apply the hose to the zerk or nipple through which grease is to be brought in and have grease squeezed in – in this case with an electric switch rather than with a lever.  

Sometimes in this operation, air can become locked in the Grease gun. Your Grease Gun should have some simple way for you to bleed it (as you would if there is an air lock in a radiator).

Another problem that can arise is that the zerk can be clogged up and not allow new grease to be injected. It’s a bit like the printer head of an inkjet printer drying up.

There are two solutions for dealing with this. One is to heat the zerk; the other is to apply specially formulated solvents with a tool created for this purpose.

We have tried to answer questions that newcomers to greasing might feel. If you are new to the world of grease guns you may still have some lingering questions in your mind. Here are some of the most common ones. We will try to answer them in advance.

Question: How does a grease gun work?

Answer: The gun is filled with grease, either directly or through a cartridge. It is attached, possibly via a hose, to a zerk or other grease fitting and grease is pumped into the machinery.

Question: How do you change the grease in a grease gun?

Answer: Put any plunger in the right position, unscrew the base, remove the old cartridge and add the new one.

Question: How do you store a grease gun?

Answer: Grease guns do tend to leak when they are not in use. To avoid messy pools of oil, it is best to hang them up with an old bucket or Tupperware container below them to catch the falling liquid.

Question: How do you store grease?

Answer: It is easiest to use cartridges. However, if you are storing unpackaged grease keep it in a clean environment in well-sealed containers at temperatures below 75F.

Question: How do you load a grease gun without a cartridge.

Answer: Unscrew the base of the gun as you would to replace a cartridge pull out the piston pump and reverse the seal at the end. This is now in a suction position and you can draw grease in from a bulk container.

We do hope you have found our little article useful. It is written principally for the person who is coming face to face for the first time with the world of grease pumps.

We have tried to give an idea of the different types of gun available and have tried to pass on some basic knowledge to help you find which is the best grease gun for the money to suit your particular requirements whether you will have a very occasional use for such a tool or are a busy farmer who has to use it all the time to maintain his farm equipment in tip-top condition.