I figure I'd post my little rant about my experiences and thoughts of the lubes I've used.
CLP is popular because its cheap, both a cleaner and a lube, and because its what the military uses. I tend to go thru a lot of CLP because I just happen to always have some on hand, and it does what as a "good enough" cleaner, and a "good enough" lube. In my experience though, CLP is kind of just "good" at both, but not spectacular at either, which is the trade off you get. I feel like CLP is more of a duty/usage lube. Really meant for guys that shoot/clean/relube their weapons regularly, like our servicemen. And I always apply a bit before shooting, since it tends to dry and leave a light "dry film", rather than staying wet.
Ballistol is another cleaner/lube/protector product that's gaining more traction, even though its been around for forever. I find its a better cleaner than CLP, and is a decent enough lube, though I find it just a tad thin for my taste. It doesn't dry out as fast as CLP does, though I've heard it gets cooked off faster than some other lubes. One of the biggest advantages of ballistol is that it can be used on wood and leather, and actually vastly improved the stocks on my rifles. Of course the downside is that the stuff stinks.
Mobile-1/synthetic motor oil- I heard about it, and I had to give it a whirl. I gotta say, for a dedicated lube, it does work pretty damn well. It doesn't dry out or cook off like CLP. And of course, its absolutely dirt cheap when compared to other lubes. The downsides are that as an external protectant, I'm gonna stick to CLP. Motor oil will stay wet for a long time, and that's where the drying out has its advantage. Also, it tends to get into all the little nooks and crannies you may not like to clean, so if youre the kind of person that likes to strip all the oil off when you clean, it does make it a little harder.
Militec-1 is a pretty damn good lube, especially for AR-15 lovers. Its one of those lubes, like slip200 and froglube that actually penetrate the pores of the metal. The recommended application involves heating the metal before applying. These lubes seemed to be marketed towards the crowd that wants a very high quality, thin coat of lube. I know that some people still prefer the thinnest coat possible of lubrication to avoid attracting particles/debris. Personally, I am not in that train of thought, I am quite liberal with my lube needs, and feel that I'd rather have a wet/dirty gun, than trying to keep it dry/clean, since any gun is going to get dirty anyways. While I like the science behind it, I'm personally a bit too lazy to do the whole heating up of the metal thing, when conventional lubes have worked just fine for me in the past. Considering the volume I shoot, and our shooting regulations at kokohead concerning rapid firing, I really don't see me needing to invest my time in any of these.
I'm also a big fan of using grease when/where it is appropriate. I like to apply grease to the slide rails of my pistols, the high wear spots of my ar-15 bolt, and of course on the op rod of my M1a. I find grease stays where you put it, and it works very well. For grease, I just use cheap automotive store white lithium grease, and I use it incredibly sparingly.
Right now, I recently began using FIREClean. And I gotta say, so far I am very, very impressed. Its marketed as a metal conditioner as well as carbon repellent, on top of being a cleaner/lube. Its non-toxic and odorless. It cleans better than CLP, it works its way into the metal conditioning it like militec-1 without having to heat it up, and it lubes incredibly well. This stuff is SLICK. The big selling point of this stuff is that, because its a carbon repellent, once it gets soaked into the metal, it makes clean up a breeze, as nothing gets too caked on. I haven't put it thru the full ringer yet, since I don't have the money/ammo to shoot in high volume, but so far cleaning my guns afterwards goes by much faster. The downside to this stuff is that its pricey. I was given a bottle by my cousin to try out, but a 2oz bottle runs about $15
That's just my little rant of what has worked for me.