Relube of leather washer & Vintage Air rifle service

[Josie & John]

I have never poured any oil into the barrel of an air rifle. I don't think it is necessary as the barrel does not require oil.

You should not put any oil into the transfer port unless there is a leather washer (as you have), in which case it seems to be a few drops every 1000 shots, say. Or two drops - no more - after 500 shots. Then work/suck it into the cylinder and leave the rifle upright overnight to soak into the leather washer.

Yes, use neatsfoot for this purpose - no need to mix.

No, don't ever fire an air rifle without a pellet; it is very bad for the internals. You can obtain small spongy wads to fire into the barrel to clean it. They come in small tins of about 200 and could be soaked in oil but I have not used them because they are far lighter than a pellet and might cause damage to the internals. If you want to clean the barrel, use a special cleaning rod without any sharp edges, so as to protect the barrel.

I think everyone here will agree with this advice.

Rgds
A

Good solid advice there.

John

[TonyL]

I'd say so.

I have never felt the need to either clean or oil a springer barrel over many years of shooting them. It's my belief that the small amount of lead from pellets protects the barrel. Many might advise to clean the barrel when testing different pellets, but I just shoot about twenty of the new pellets to "condition" the barrel and then get on with testing. And to no detriment, as far as I can tell.

Incidentally, John, what do you personally use for the lubrication of the leather seals on your vintage and classic rifles? These days, most of my (more modern) springers run synthetic seals, but I may go back to leather on one of my older 35s and I have an older Diana 24D that runs a leather seal? Guessing you use Neatsfoot?

Looking forward to reading many more of your most excellent and informative articles.

[WILBA]

[QUOTE=TonyL;7620949]I'd say so.

I have never felt the need to either clean or oil a springer barrel over many years of shooting them. It's my belief that the small amount of lead from pellets protects the barrel. Many might advise to clean the barrel when testing different pellets, but I just shoot about twenty of the new pellets to "condition" the barrel and then get on with testing. And to no detriment, as far as I can tell.

i agree with tonys comments above. my AAS300 is 20 odd years old and i have never cleaned the barrel. out of all my guns this gun is,and always will be my favourite. just get on with shooting and leave the barrel cleaning crap alone. i owned a relum tornado for 30yrs and only oil i used was 3 in 1. they are plinkers so just enjoy them for what they are meant for.

[Josie & John]

I'd say so.

I have never felt the need to either clean or oil a springer barrel over many years of shooting them. It's my belief that the small amount of lead from pellets protects the barrel. Many might advise to clean the barrel when testing different pellets, but I just shoot about twenty of the new pellets to "condition" the barrel and then get on with testing. And to no detriment, as far as I can tell.

Incidentally, John, what do you personally use for the lubrication of the leather seals on your vintage and classic rifles? These days, most of my (more modern) springers run synthetic seals, but I may go back to leather on one of my older 35s and I have an older Diana 24D that runs a leather seal? Guessing you use Neatsfoot?

Looking forward to reading many more of your most excellent and informative articles.

Thank you for the kind words Tony.

I've used neatsfoot but found it can become too sticky with age. I tend to use well mixed SM50 on my leather washers and have done so since the 1980s. As long as a rifle is not over lubricated, it won't diesel and I've never experienced any of the scare stories relating to silicone oil using this stuff. In my younger days however, I did manage to completely seize a Webley Junior using pure silicone oil and would advise against using that alone. SM50 is fine though.

All the best,

John

[TonyL]

Thank you for the kind words Tony.

I've used neatsfoot but found it can become too sticky with age. I tend to use well mixed SM50 on my leather washers and have done so since the 1980s. As long as a rifle is not over lubricated, it won't diesel and I've never experienced any of the scare stories relating to silicone oil using this stuff. In my younger days however, I did manage to completely seize a Webley Junior using pure silicone oil and would advise against using that alone. SM50 is fine though.

All the best,

John

Thank you for that, John; much as I thought.

And that poor little Wobbly!

This might make for the basis of a good future article?

[Josie & John]

Thank you for that, John; much as I thought.

And that poor little Wobbly!

This might make for the basis of a good future article?

That poor Junior was repaired by Webley's service department for free some 25 years ago.

Not sure if I'm the man when it comes to engineering/maintenance as most who know me would agree! I'm OK with the basic stuff and will pass on any hints and tips that I come across if I end up taking a specific model apart. However, I can be ham fisted and tend to pass on anything more involved than a relube to a more qualified friend at Bisley.

It's been a while since we've seen your name in print though Tony - maybe you could consider drafting a basic guide to maintaining the humble boinger? The kind of maintenance that can be performed without recourse to a fully equipped workshop maybe?

Kind regards,

John

[TonyL]

Aha, cheers, John.

Yes, it has been a long time. Far too long. Had a bit of a rough time here of recent times. Fingers crossed, if we can have an easier passage, I'd love to be penning a few more dribbles of scribble.

[trajectory]

I had a Relum under lever air rifle a while ago. It was in poor mechanical order so it needed to come to bits to be inspected & then repaired. I'd suggest that if yours is working well then it might be advisable not to take it to bits if you don't really need to do so.
Somewhere on the site is the run down of what I discovered with my one, plus the help & advice from other members who had Relums as well. The one or two spring debate may well continue but in my experience two springs were not the way to go, leaving the smaller internal spring out resulted in a smoother opperating mechanism. Velocity might have been down a bit but ok for a bit of informal target shooting at shortish range.