PRESS RELEASE written for New Mexico Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program   Infantrymen in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan are advised to clean their M-16s daily to combat the gritty mud and blowing dust and sand of the desert environments.             One popular technique makes use of a rope snake, canned air, lubricant and wipes. Although the process is time consuming, keeping a weapon clean and in good working order is a matter of life and death in the combat zone.             Even with regular cleaning, the M-16s are still vulnerable to wear and malfunction.             Noel Calkins, a mechanical-industrial engineer based in Los Lunas, N.M., has found a better solution for keeping firearms in top working order both in Bagdad and on the home front.             Calkins has invented a process using a dry lubricant that not only promises to keep all types of firearms cleaner, but also to improve firing accuracy and decrease wear inside the bore.             “Keeping firearms clean has always been a problem for gun owners, and especially for soldiers. Many people believe this new lubricant is the most revolutionary thing to happen in fire arms in the past 20 years,” said Calkins, who has ten patents to his credit.             Calkins’ white lubricant is composed of tiny ceramic particles (0.5 to 15 microns) instead of oil or other traditional gun lubricant. The special material is created from heating a metal to an ultra high temperature. The ceramic lubricant that results is then used to coat bullets that when fired bond the lubricant to the bore of the firearm.             The lubricant can be applied to cartridges for any type of firearm, whether M-16, pistol, rifle or shotgun. The firing of the coated missiles embeds the ceramic to the grain boundaries of the bore’s metal, creating a smoother, cleaner surface than ever thought possible. “Firing the gun actually cleans and protects it,” Calkins said. And not only does the lubricant clean the gun, but it also increases the velocity, and thus accuracy, of bullets fired from it, Calkins has found. “In a combat situation especially, you want your firearm to be as accurate as possible,” Calkins said.             In his effort to get independent verification of the value of his invention Calkins approached Manual Duran of the New Mexico Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program. Duran paired Calkins with a metallurgist at the Institute of Mining & Technology, a SATOPS’ partner.             Velocity profile testing by institute researchers showed Calkins’ lubricant does indeed improve ballistic efficiency and thus increases bullet velocity and accuracy. The lubricant was superior in performance to a typical chrome-plated barrel for military application, the institute study found.             “Noel Calkins needed independent verification for his invention so he would better be able to interest the military in it, and we were able to help him obtain that,” SATOP’s Duran said.             Calkins’ request fit within SATOP’s ability to offer 40 hours of technical assistance from a SATOP’s partner to further research and development projects.             The institute verification is helping draw more attention to the dry lubricant, said Calkins, who has been approaching military contractors with his potentially life-saving process.             Because the wheels of military contracting turn slowly, and because the process could easily be adopted in the commercial world Calkins has also approached the sporting goods industry.             “It may be that the average gun owner is able to benefit from this product before our soldiers, but I am determined that it will eventually be able to help our soldiers better serve their country and protect themselves,” Calkins said.             Calkins has also developed a process to coat the exterior of a firearm with the ceramic lubricant, and has a patent pending.             “In a desert environment you especially have to be concerned about keeping the exterior as well at the interior of your gun clean,” Calkins said.