sacrilege or sensible?

[larrylamppost]

i have replaced the leather piston seal on my bsa standard with an adaptor and synthetic seal,who would consider this sacriligious or a sensible modification?
i must say it shoots an awful lot smoother.

i know mr.milewskis answer

[Airsporter1st]

m

i have replaced the leather piston seal on my bsa standard with an adaptor and synthetic seal,who would consider this sacriligious or a sensible modification?
i must say it shoots an awful lot smoother.

i know mr.milewskis answer

If its possible to change back again, I would say sensible. I like to shoot my guns and anything reversible which improves them in that respect is OK in my book.

[larrylamppost]

totally reversible

[Josie & John]

i have replaced the leather piston seal on my bsa standard with an adaptor and synthetic seal,who would consider this sacriligious or a sensible modification?
i must say it shoots an awful lot smoother.

i know mr.milewskis answer

Ah but do you? As Paul says, as long as the mod is reversible, then it is absolutely fine!

[Dicklee]

If it extends the life of the gun, and makes it nicer to shoot without irreversibly changing anything, it makes sense to do it. There are many classic machines, bikes and cars, still rolling because the owners or restorers have cunningly installed modern components inside original parts. Electronic ignition units hidden inside obsolete magnetos, for instance.

[Binners]

It would be nice to know how the power is affected

[Benelli B76]

It would be nice to know how the power is affected

I made a polyurethane seal for gingernuts Bonehill Brittania and it now does 600 fps which is well over 100 fps more than it did previously. I recently made one for an Improved Model D Light Model 39 inch and there was a smoother action and quite an increase in performance.

Baz

[johnbaz]

I converted a Mk1 Airsporter piston to O Ring by turning a recessed piston head on my lathe

Pic 1

Pic 2

It stood in a corner for two years as I thought i'd thrown the sights and loading tap away accidentally but when the wife found the parts, I rebuilt it but can't remember if i've shot it yet!!



John

[Josie & John]

I converted a Mk1 Airsporter piston to O Ring by turning a recessed piston head on my lathe

Pic 1

Pic 2

It stood in a corner for two years as I thought i'd thrown the sights and loading tap away accidentally but when the wife found the parts, I rebuilt it but can't remember if i've shot it yet!!



John

I hadn't had much luck with Airsporters and thought them pretty pellet fussy in .22. That is until my friend Paul O'Donnell replaced the washer on my Mk 1 with an original spec leather one. This instantly transformed the rifle's firing characteristics and she now shoots almost any brand of pellet very smoothly. So, if anyone encounters harsh performance in an Airsporter, it may well be the washer at fault rather than the pellet. She still prefers original Eley Wasps and I have had excellent results with Defiant Vintage too. The best news is she no longer chokes on Hobbies and other German brands. Previously I thought the rifle was being physically sick when I dared to feed a Hobby into the breech.

John

[ggggr]

i have replaced the leather piston seal on my bsa standard with an adaptor and synthetic seal,who would consider this sacriligious or a sensible modification?
i must say it shoots an awful lot smoother.

i know mr.milewskis answer

Oddly, I have thought about fitting leather washers to a few older guns. I recently got stuck for a piston seal for a Baikal 53 pistol. Luckily, Frakor (thank you Frank) sent me a couple. Tinbum told me to try a Tx200 one if I got stuck. I was thinking or trying to drill and tap the piston and fit a leather washer. I have done this with a Webley Hawk mk1 as the old Ptfe washers seem to diesel like hell, probably having soaked up all those years of being lubricated with mineral oils. I know APTD52 got the piston on a Webley Hurricane drilled and tapped and made a leather washer to fit. Being tight, making a leather washer can save a few quid (factoring in postage) over buying a washer. I think leather is a pretty long lasting material for washers and seems to suit the old stuff, as it will distort and take the shape of an irregular or rough cylinder. It is also quite surprising how many guns will not shove a pellet out or shoot really harshly and all that they need is a new leather breech seal making up.
I think Ed has fitted a modern seal to one of his tuned Pre war underlevers?
As others have said---it is easy to revert back to standard if you want.