Abbey gunlube sm50

[rancidtom]

Cheers!

[TenMetrePeter]

Im confused. There should be no silica in any lube as its a hard mineral aka quartz. Silicone manufacture uses silica as a starting point but it shouldnt be in the finished product any more than sand in your beer glass.

For my other 2 pennorth I have always thought SM50 was moly in silicone oil. Pretty sure it was advertised as such last century.

[Zomboid]

Im confused. There should be no silica in any lube as its a hard mineral aka quartz. Silicone manufacture uses silica as a starting point but it shouldnt be in the finished product any more than sand in your beer glass.

For my other 2 pennorth I have always thought SM50 was moly in silicone oil. Pretty sure it was advertised as such last century.

I'm going to dig out the Abbey lube sheet I got in the late 80s. sure I still have it.

[Barryg]

Im confused. There should be no silica in any lube as its a hard mineral aka quartz. Silicone manufacture uses silica as a starting point but it shouldnt be in the finished product any more than sand in your beer glass.

For my other 2 pennorth I have always thought SM50 was moly in silicone oil. Pretty sure it was advertised as such last century.

I find the whole silicone oil thing confusing LOL
Everyone but the most green airgunner should know that you don't use silicone oil on metal to metal but what about moly and silicone oil not only sm50 seems to be a 50/50 moly/silicone but some pro tuners used to lube piston seals with silicone oil for example after degreasing a break barrel they would put some silicone oil on the piston seal then slide it in the cylinder smearing it on the metal to metal area then painting on moly grease on the piston skirt and painting over the smear of silicone oil behind the piston in the cylinder, this was done probably thousands of times with no problems, I still have one old gun that I lubed this way and I wonder many second hand classics have been lubed with silicone and moly mixed
What I was also told on the phone about sm50 was what they meant by silicone on the bottle was the their oil had the same benefits as silicone oil but wasn't silicone, could this be true

[rancidtom]

The safety data sheet supplied by Abbey to WILBA lists silica as being a product of burning the compound/s in the lubricant. It isn't actually a list of contents (ingredients) but it would point to the fact that there is silicon in the compounds in the product. The safety data sheet doesn't have to itemise non-hazardous contents and hence Abbey have chosen to say simply that it contains a mix of organic and inorganic compounds none of which are hazardous according to current definitions.

[Barryg]

The safety data sheet supplied by Abbey to WILBA lists silica as being a product of burning the compound/s in the lubricant. It isn't actually a list of contents (ingredients) but it would point to the fact that there is silicon in the compounds in the product. The safety data sheet doesn't have to itemise non-hazardous contents and hence Abbey have chosen to say simply that it contains a mix of organic and inorganic compounds none of which are hazardous according to current definitions.

So do you have any conclusions does ms50 contain 50% silicone oil?

I have been looking for a old bottle of ms50 but I must have thrown it away, I would like to have done some experiments with it out of interest, but I did find some Steve Pope oil that looks a bit like it, anyone know anything about it, could it be silicone and moly? surely not

[rancidtom]

It would lead me to believe that if there are silicates or silica produced as a product of combustion then there must be silicon in the compounds used to make the stuff, therefore I would assume it contains a silicone synthetic lubricant or a semi synthetic lubricant (silicone lube with a mineral oil or even a vegetable oil in a mixture) as silica and silicates are usually crystalline and abrasive. Silicon oxides and other compounds such as silicon carbide are particularly abrasive so partial combustion of the mixture could produce damaging compounds in a metal to metal, leather to metal or rubber to metal sliding wear situation.
I am convinced that a synthetic (i.e. containing silicone) lubricant is used with suspended MoS2 particles which perform the metal to metal friction reduction as it is one of the best extreme pressure lubricants we have.
Partial or complete combustion in a springer may well produce nasty materials other than silica/silicates, there are often acidic products of combustion of oils and synthetic lubricants that will definitely damage the metals they are supposed to be lubricating, however silicone lubricants do tend to be more combustion resistant than mineral and vegetable oils.

[aris]

I do often wonder if these 'specialist' products are just snake oil, of if they have some sort of testing or proof that they are indeed batter than a generic product.

https://www.abbeysupply.com/about-us


About Us

Home Page ArmyAbbey Supply Ltd started in 1975 by producing silicone based lubricants for airgunners, and we have now expanded our range to include greases, oils, sprays and cleaning cloths.

The marvellous properties of silicone are now widely understood but, previously, no specialist lubricants were available, which caused airguns to 'diesel '.

Dieseling is an explosion of the oil/air mix within the compression chamber of a gun which causes a rapid but uncontrolled exit of the pellet. This effect is dramatic, dangerous and can lead to damage being caused to the gun.

The inert properties of our silicone lubricants remove this problem whilst still providing all of the cleansing and lubricating benefits to your airsoft gun, shotgun, rifle or airgun.

[tmstech]

I used 1 drop of SM50 directly into the transfer port of my old BSA air rifles (with leather piston seals) ever 100 or so pellets and never has any issues spanning over 25 years. This was on advise from Neroche Armoury my local RFD at the time. I guess in this scenario the silicone had no negative effects whatsoever, however not used on any other gun parts I would add.

[greenwayjames]

Bowket tells me that he has been using and recommending the use of Abbey SM50 or Bisley Gun Lubricant since the 1980's. He advised their every now and then use in the hundreds of Sharp pumper conversions, his thousands of springer conversions and the pcps/CO2s he has both made and those based on his designs. He has never had any reason to advise against its use providing the small bottles are well shaken before use The proof of the pudding is in the eating. He advised BSA to use it during assembly first on the SuperTen and then all the other BSA pcps based on his designs. Before that in the late 1980's he used it during assembly of the Titan JB1, Manitou and Mohawk for Titan Developments Ltd.
When he carried out springer conversions he advised against the use of Abbey 35 as it was not suitable for metal to metal where Abbey SM50 was ideal for both metal to metal and seals. Lubricant never staying where you want it to.
These facts came from from someone with over 30 years practical experience of using the product not just after a bit of googling or wikipaedia searching.

[aris]

Bowket is a legend of an engineer in the airgun world of course - but chemist he isn't. Did he just use this product because it was presented to him, he tried it, and it worked, so he stuck with it. Or was there some critical testing Bowket did on the product compared to others, or even more generic products.

On my firearms (powder burners) I like to use SuperLube on metal-metal friction surfaces. It is a synthetic grease with PTFE. They make a synthetic oil too - with and without PTFE. Both very compatible with Nitrile.

[TenMetrePeter]

"Gun Lube SM50 is the recommended lubricant for high velocity moving parts...." they claim.

So some years ago I tried it on mt FWB P34 striker hammer. It stopped the pistol working! Had to strip and clean. High velocity and silicone oil (or whatever it is that makes SM50 viscous) don't always mix IMO.

[aris]

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.p...60562123988669

Bowkett refers to SM50 as a silicone/moly mix

[TenMetrePeter]

I always thought Abbey SM50 and Bisley Gun Lubricant were the same thing marketed by different competing franchises. The usage wording is almost identical but the Bisley is advertised as molybdenised silicone oil in several outlets.

The msds sheet for the Bisley stuff is remarkably similar to the one for Abbey including silica as a product of combustion

[Zomboid]

Found my old Abbey leaflet. SM50 is for piston bodies and piston heads.

This was also confirmed in an article in an old Sporting air Rifle mag from 1985 when the writer said he used SM50 on the piston head and body and LT2 grease on the spring.