Unspellable,

Do you have a recommendation of what to use on the hinge?

I can say that rust protection is not my purpose in greasing the hinge. My practice is to apply a small amount of grease when I put the rifle into service - either to shoot or to hunt. At the end of the session or the end of the day I disassemble the rifle and thoroughly clean off the grease, along with cleaning the rest of the rifle.

The next day's hunt or next shooting session I follow the same procedure.

I rely on other products for cleaning and rust protection.

On the issue of "cushioning" of the hinge pin, I defer to the expertise of others. However, I did some cursory research after BigRx made mention of the "Timken ok load rating" because I had never heard of the term. A google search turned up lots of information about this test, including specifics on the Timken website. I learned that the test does give a measure of how the extreme pressure additives add to the mix.

Here is the blurb on Timken's website:

Timken website

Here is a graphic explanation of the test:

Timken load test

And yet another discussion of that test:

EP testing

Anyway, I'm not an engineer, but I did find this interesting. I then searched for and found the specifications for the automotive grease I have been using, just for the sake of curiosity.

I remain open to trying other products that have better characteristics and would welcome your suggestions.

Regards,
CptCurl