Neatsfoot on piston seals

[clarky]

Oils mentioned so far here - Ballistoil sounds the better - low viscosity and from memory its not a mineral oil .
Another poster said certain Mineral Oil which I always thought was a def No but if it works and TONY say's so.....
So what about WD40 .
Very easy application .
Lazy mode would be to squirt in thru the cocking slot , invert the airgun , with the transfer port blocked . Oil would settle around the Leather Piston Seal .
As its so viscous , absorbs easily into the leather and evaporates ... .
So no risk of combustion ?

I did hear /see the WD40 being used to quickly bring back a tired springer before .
Plus for the run in period you may get some vapourised residue down the barrel - gives it a clean in the process .

Ballistol is a mineral oil but unlike the pure mineral oil of the Bisley oil, it contains many other components.
Particularly cleaning acids. It would probably be ok.

[Airsporter1st]

How about a bit of Ballistol? Seems to keep my sling in nice condition.

it would be a bad idea..
Its a surface protector for Leather and metal components ....not a remain liquid and viscous substance.
So it would be fine for sling or riding boots as a water repellent but a real bad idea for your piston washer that needs to remain open and soakable .

it does indeed soak in just like any other emoilient but it acts as a barrier repelling further loading.
With a leather piston washer we need continual wetting of the leather.
It might be fine and difficult to notice any difference but ultimately you may not be able to resoak the inner material of the leather.

Ballistol is a mineral oil but unlike the pure mineral oil of the Bisley oil, it contains many other components.
Particularly cleaning acids. It would probably be ok.

So Ballistol has gone from 'a bad idea' to 'it will probably be OK', via 'it might be fine'

I would be very interested in a link to the information that you have that indicates the presence of 'cleaning acids'. I'm not doubting that you know what you are talking about, but would like to read the formulation details for myself.

I have been using it for years with no adverse effects. Some people dislike the smell, but I actually find it nice - evokative of the magic of my first airgun experiences.

[Airsporter1st]

Oils mentioned so far here - Ballistoil sounds the better - low viscosity and from memory its not a mineral oil .
Another poster said certain Mineral Oil which I always thought was a def No but if it works and TONY say's so.....
So what about WD40 .
Very easy application .
Lazy mode would be to squirt in thru the cocking slot , invert the airgun , with the transfer port blocked . Oil would settle around the Leather Piston Seal .
As its so viscous , absorbs easily into the leather and evaporates ... .
So no risk of combustion ?

I did hear /see the WD40 being used to quickly bring back a tired springer before .
Plus for the run in period you may get some vapourised residue down the barrel - gives it a clean in the process .

The debate may go on about Ballistol, but I would definitely advise against WD40. It will cause dieselling, unless left for long enough for all the volatile components to evaporate.

It has very little lubricant content and I have personally observed rusting of bare steel which has been liberally coated with WD40 and then left in the 'dry' (bearing in mind that any normal air contains a degree of moisture). In contrast, I've lubricated relatively cheap outside padlocks with Ballistol and a film of oil was still visible after more than a year of weathering. Function remained smooth.

[pelletcaster]

Ballistol

this may be helpful:
https://ballistol.com/

[oliver13]

Just a footnote really, but Neatsfoot oil is made from cows leg bones & in the UK has been banned for some years due to a Foot & Mouth Disease risk. If you get a modern can now it will contain some substitute or other. I'm the proud owner of a can which was knocking around the shed when I was a kid & it's still a quarter full so I've no worries.
I tend to use that or some saddlery related leather dressing like Flexalan or Hydrophane - more rusty cans from way back. After that its generally just the old 3 in 1, after all that seemed to work OK for BSA & Webley.

[clarky]

So Ballistol has gone from 'a bad idea' to 'it will probably be OK', via 'it might be fine'

I would be very interested in a link to the information that you have that indicates the presence of 'cleaning acids'. I'm not doubting that you know what you are talking about, but would like to read the formulation details for myself.

I have been using it for years with no adverse effects. Some people dislike the smell, but I actually find it nice - evokative of the magic of my first airgun experiences.

Look it up on Ballistols own website.....click on the product ....it provides all the information on at least 4 other ingredients in the mix.
TBH ive no strong feelings on it either way but my choice of "bad idea" is personal to me and i should not have put it out there.
Deal is my Walther 53 washers are unobtainable....the original spares gone forever.
I have a pair of seals which i therefore treat with the greatest of respect and have chosen to go pure mineral oil route for me.
Hope the Ballistol works fine for u .

[DCL_dave]

Hot topic...Airsporter1st and Clarky, can I ask you two to picture this, please...100 years ago, you two chaps may have sorted this out the old way, like gentlemen, Marquis of Queensbury rules and all, using stout boxing gloves made of the finest leather, no doubt!...

Can I ask you chaps - what strange potions would you have used to keep those stout leather boxing gloves in good condition?

[Airsporter1st]

Hot topic...Airsporter1st and Clarky, can I ask you two to picture this, please...100 years ago, you two chaps may have sorted this out the old way, like gentlemen, Marquis of Queensbury rules and all, using stout boxing gloves made of the finest leather, no doubt!...

Can I ask you chaps - what strange potions would you have used to keep those stout leather boxing gloves in good condition?

Assuming it was around then, I'd probably have used neatsfoot on my running shoes.

[Airsporter1st]

Look it up on Ballistols own website.....click on the product ....it provides all the information on at least 4 other ingredients in the mix.
TBH ive no strong feelings on it either way but my choice of "bad idea" is personal to me and i should not have put it out there.
Deal is my Walther 53 washers are unobtainable....the original spares gone forever.
I have a pair of seals which i therefore treat with the greatest of respect and have chosen to go pure mineral oil route for me.
Hope the Ballistol works fine for u .

I'm not seeing the acids on the website - in fact this excerpt suggests the opposite:

WHAT PH LEVEL IS BALLISTOL?

While most other brands are pH-neutral, i.e. have a pH around 7, Ballistol has a pH between 8 and 8.5. This is why Ballistol is capable of neutralizing mild acids and human hand sweat, which is of a slightly acidic nature. Please note that Ballistol does not contain any water, so therefore a pH cannot be established until emulsified with water.

Anyway, I hope the Ballistol works out OK for me too - or I've ruined a lot of good guns

[pjbingham]

Stripped an old Beesa today that I had stripped 6 months ago and used pure neatsfoot on the piston washer and not used since and I can confirm there was no trace of rust in the cylinder at all. Reassembed with a new piston seal courtesy of DCL Dave,will leave it till tomorrow for abit of a plink.

[edbear2]

Airline oil like Cengar green for me (just to muddy the waters)....It's 95% mineral as per ''normal'' old oil, but has inhibiters to protect the metal when not in use and is formulated for use in air tools which often have a percentage of moisture in their air feed.

The diesel thing is a red herring in most vintage stuff (IMHO) if precautions are taken not to over oil, and especially to let the gun rest and the atomised oil settle between shots when first used, this is the cause of most ''bangs''....I have never soaked a washer ever, I allways size and build dry and then add oil sparingly after and stand for a few days.

This and straight 30 weight oil are all I have ever used in all my leather sealed guns, with no problems at all for years. and I just put 2-3 small drops in the transfer every tin of pellets.

Too many choices these days and too many speciality lubes IMHO that are faddy as people ''discover'' them ......K.I.S.S.

ATB, Ed

[andrewM]

Protek gunsmiths informed me that one should be purchasing 'neatsfoot compound', which is a compound comprising neatsfoot and mineral oil; that, presumably, comprises the best properties of both elements.

Rgds
A