Leather seal lubricant

[Andy Bee]

Hi folks,
I know there are regular and recommended lubricants for a new leather piston seal, but imagine the scene - bored, pistol was running in a new seal, but it was too soft and I could hear metal contact as I eased the spring after cocking. So a strip down.

I had a near to size seal and with a bit of work got within the tolerance to fit the bore, then I had a look for some lube to soften the seal. My cupboards were bare, but I did find some olive oil. I soaked the seal for a few hours and fitted it, left it compressed. Then today I've been shooting it. No dieseling just a bit of splatter through the transfer port. (might be a flash point thing).

So far put about 100 shots through and all's well stringing a 5 shot vertical group. I can still hear a slight squelch from the seal.

Question is, anyone know if olive oil is going to ruin the leather over time or thin the moly type grease (Abbey LT2) on the piston. Or start eating the metal.

Cheers
Andy

[MrGreen]

You might find it turns a bit gummy with age.

[Andy Bee]

You might find it turns a bit gummy with age.

Any idea how long. I don't mind replacing the seal again in the future, but at the moment it seems to work perfectly. I thought I'd found a secret cheap lube Non dieseling edible and you can clean your ears out with it, although probably best to dispense from the bottle when ear cleaning.

[Raygun]

I've recently tried Neatsfoot Oil and Ballistol.

I thought the Ballistol better.

ATB
Ray.

[Andy Bee]

I've recently tried Neatsfoot Oil and Ballistol.

I thought the Ballistol better.

ATB
Ray.

Cheers Ray,

I though I had some Neatsfoot, but found a part used bottle of some thing with no label (I'm sure it is neatsfoot, but I'm not 100% sure), so I opted for the olive oil.
Ballistol, not used that before. I'll do a bit of searching. Is it it any good?

[uk litehammer]

Ballistol universal oil, in bottles, cans and aerosols. Excellent stuff for all kinds of uses.

http://www.ballistoluk.co.uk/acatalo..._Products.html

[Andy Bee]

Ballistol universal oil, in bottles, cans and aerosols. Excellent stuff for all kinds of uses.

http://www.ballistoluk.co.uk/acatalo..._Products.html

I'm just browsing the link now.

(I still like the olive oil treatment though) - That reads wrong !!!


Thanks,
I'll get back to the link.

[garrygun]

ive been using tallow,several guns now been rebuilt with leather washers,tallow is animal fat warm it up&soak the washer dont boil it, after soaking over night on radiator, wipe of excess&refit to piston and rebuild,
tallow is a good lube for cutting threads on metal
Garry.

[Andy Bee]

ive been using tallow,several guns now been rebuilt with leather washers,tallow is animal fat warm it up&soak the washer dont boil it, after soaking over night on radiator, wipe of excess&refit to piston and rebuild,
tallow is a good lube for cutting threads on metal
Garry.

Thanks Garry
Tallow, that rings a bell. Thread cutting paste. Off white type stuff. Bit like lard. I 'aint' used that in years. Oldies are sometimes the best.

Being animal fat it won't eat the seal, but might take a few shots to get it warm. The olive oil seal is still going well, but still too new after about 150 shots. I'll see how things go. It's still stringing vertical groups for the first 15 shots then it groups ok.