Anyone got a conical airsporter mk1/2 leather piston washer going cheap...?

[Shed tuner]

Don't really want to spank £17 on a new one from knibbs... Not fussed if it's a bit ratty.

Just stripped this mk2 and it has a solid PTFE type seal... interim plan is to cut an o-ring groove in it, but I still don't think it will be as soft to shoot as a leather one. Right now it's quite harsh, defo not sealing properly. I guess it's a T.R.Robb jobbie...

Thanks in advance,

JB

[Airsporterman]

Don't really want to spank £17 on a new one from knibbs... Not fussed if it's a bit ratty.

Just stripped this mk2 and it has a solid PTFE type seal... interim plan is to cut an o-ring groove in it, but I still don't think it will be as soft to shoot as a leather one. Right now it's quite harsh, defo not sealing properly. I guess it's a T.R.Robb jobbie...

Thanks in advance,

JB

Make one?
(If you tap the peole that make up leather belts, they may have some offcuts the right thickness - cobblers etc)
ASM

[Shed tuner]

Cobblers to you too

Yeah, I might just do that. Done the o-ring and whilst it's a clear improvement, still too harsh for me.

[Airsporterman]

Cobblers to you too

Yeah, I might just do that. Done the o-ring and whilst it's a clear improvement, still too harsh for me.

I have never done it Jon - but it's the way I would go mate.
When I was a small kid - my Dad made a leather washer for an old Gem German air rifle I acquired, he also made up a cocking link and front foresight.
He soaked the leather washer in oil and fitted it - that old rifle fired like it was new again.
(My old Dad was an engineer and could fix almost anything in the day - he was good with electrical stuff too.)
It wouldn't be too difficult to make a leather washer to fit! - if you get stuck - you can buy leather scraps off e-bay.

ASM
I miss my late Mum and Dad and think of them every single day!
The E.U. is built on pure Poopenshtinken!
(Those that say the ‘cream always rises to the top’ (Politics, Business, Management) clearly have never experienced what rises to the top in a main sewer!)

[Shed tuner]

Well.. the interim plan is looking up...

Leaving the o-ring I installed in place, I figured I'd try a much weaker spring. Found one in the spares box that was an inch shorter, slightly thinner wire, and a nice tight fit on the guide. Much, much, nicer firing cycle. Almost calm (not as soft as leather, but like a modern gun).

Not too fussed about power, bearing in mind how far can I shoot accurately with an open sighted springer - 25 yard max ? I therefore figured that so long as it was doing at least 8FP, I'd leave it alone. Chrono'd with a variety of 14.5-16 grain pellets (Defiant vintage, Superdomes, LRGs, RWS Superfield) and all came in at a slightly surprising 10 FP.

Job done

[coburn]

Well.. the interim plan is looking up...

Leaving the o-ring I installed in place, I figured I'd try a much weaker spring. Found one in the spares box that was an inch shorter, slightly thinner wire, and a nice tight fit on the guide. Much, much, nicer firing cycle. Almost calm (not as soft as leather, but like a modern gun).

Not too fussed about power, bearing in mind how far can I shoot accurately with an open sighted springer - 25 yard max ? I therefore figured that so long as it was doing at least 8FP, I'd leave it alone. Chrono'd with a variety of 14.5-16 grain pellets (Defiant vintage, Superdomes, LRGs, RWS Superfield) and all came in at a slightly surprising 10 FP.

Job done

A case of less is more!

[Shed tuner]

A case of less is more!

Often the case with mainsprings... I think the original would have been fine with a draggy leather seal, but the low friction o-ring just made it slam / harsh.
The cycle with the hard PTFE seal alone was horendous