Has anyone got tips on fitting a leather breech seal to a Webley pistol.
The seal came from Mr Knibbs and appears to be to large on the overall diameter ?
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Ok thanks for that John.
Sabre
Does the replacement leather breech seal have a brass insert in the center ?
Yes it does.
This insert is in place to stop the air passage in the seal from closing up. Some 'replacement' leather seals didn't have this.
Webley sold a small punch, the same diameter as the breech opening, with a projection in the middle that located into the insert to centralise the punch, and prevent damage to the breech when the seal was tapped into place, as even the originals were a tight fit.
If you apply oil to the seal before it is fitted, it will expand and make it even more difficult to fit.
Once in place, a few drops of, preferably, Neats Foot Oil were applied to the seal to stop it drying out and shrinking, but in practice any oil was used. Watch out for dieseling after the oil is applied, as it tends to get into the air chamber.
The later 'composite' seals from the Tempest/Hurricane era also fit the earlier pistols.
Ok thanks Troubleshooter.
Sabre