Walther LP53 Lockdown Fun

[hellsquad]

Hi All,
Ok my latest compulsion has been the Walther LP53.....
Never owned on in my life but recently got two

As always I wanted to strip, clean, suss out and improve as much as I could, so selected the old first smooth model LP53.
My obsevations :

1 As it came = 350fps, firing cycle torquey and "slow"

2 After good clean and fitting a "Protek power pod pack" firing cycle drastically improved ! A tad harder to cock(nothing really) but very crisp low torque. 400fps

3 After fitting a mr robb PTFE piston washer = shit LOL all felt nice but fps = 320fps even after bedding in. !! Cause on inspection was clear, LP53 cylinder bore is not very true. Looking down the inside the were witness marks made over time where the casting of the handle part swelled the chamber a tad during casting/cooling and the piston had rubbed, anyway PTFE is hard and needs a perfect bore, this LP53 does not have that

4 Put the old leather washer unit in with original nylon front disk? But gave leather a rough up with sandpaper to get rubbish off and a soak over night in engine oil (yes I know but works for me )
fps now = 450fps

5 Put a 3mm preload under spring guide end , a tab more stiff to cock, but still very accecptabe fps = 475fps and a great firing feel vasty improved

6 Stripping and putting this back together is easy !!! BUT only once you have the knack !!

ATB

[Shed tuner]

good job. A synthetic parachute type seal should navigate the imperfections in the bore even better, and reduce friction too...

(just in case you thought you were finished )

[Garvin]

475fps for an LP53 sounds extremely fast! Is that with very light pellets?

[Hsing-ee]

475fps for an LP53 sounds extremely fast! Is that with very light pellets?

Shit, its an air-powered Luger! Nearly 4 fpe out of that tiny air chamber is remarkable. I wonder if it is using Gerald Cardews 'diesel assist' ?

PTFE piston washers are the devil's work.

[Shed tuner]

it's the engine oil... it's diesel powered...

[hellsquad]

475fps for an LP53 sounds extremely fast! Is that with very light pellets?

Hi, That is using geco match 7.0
using HN field target trophy = 430fps = 8.9

[hellsquad]

good job. A synthetic parachute type seal should navigate the imperfections in the bore even better, and reduce friction too...

(just in case you thought you were finished )

OK so in case you thought you were finished Any tips on where to start? dimensions I guess....oh what have you started !!!

I will be honest, my aim was to do 500fps, so i got to where I have and kind of ran out of time a bit, so to keep myself happy I popped a CO2 pell (remember those?) and got 550fps !! Yes cheating of course but....still technicallly a result I will now however keep trying for 500fps with lead because you exposed me LOL

[hellsquad]

Shit, its an air-powered Luger! Nearly 4 fpe out of that tiny air chamber is remarkable. I wonder if it is using Gerald Cardews 'diesel assist' ?

PTFE piston washers are the devil's work.

I love this place, that made me laugh for real

Actually they can "easy" get to that, but getting any further needs trans port reduction and it gets you very little...

[hellsquad]

it's the engine oil... it's diesel powered...

Its very good engine oil as well, quality makes all the difference ! PMSL

[harvey_s]

3 After fitting a mr robb PTFE piston washer = shit LOL all felt nice but fps = 320fps even after bedding in. !! Cause on inspection was clear, LP53 cylinder bore is not very true. Looking down the inside the were witness marks made over time where the casting of the handle part swelled the chamber a tad during casting/cooling and the piston had rubbed, anyway PTFE is hard and needs a perfect bore, this LP53 does not have that

Interesting, fitting a TR Robb PTFE head in mine gave an instant 25 fps boost.

If you've sanded yours - then that must of made it smaller, so the gain must be coming from the oil swelling which is likely to wear off - possibly fairly quickly.
It would be interesting to see how it's doing after say 500 shots...

[hellsquad]

Interesting, fitting a TR Robb PTFE head in mine gave an instant 25 fps boost.

If you've sanded yours - then that must of made it smaller, so the gain must be coming from the oil swelling which is likely to wear off - possibly fairly quickly.
It would be interesting to see how it's doing after say 500 shots...

Yes will be good to see how she holds, would love to be able to get an original new leather replacement. Which model is your LP53?, I will check my crackle finish 2nd tomorrow and see what the bore is on that, I cannot see a way to make the ptfe work in this current one

PS the protek kit was fab !!! best mod ever for this gun

Sorry for constant edit lol, but also how good was your old washer, maybe the robb is not as good as results suggeted? just a thought ?

[harvey_s]

Yes will be good to see how she holds, would love to be able to get an original new leather replacement. Which model is your LP53?, I will check my crackle finish 2nd tomorrow and see what the bore is on that, I cannot see a way to make the ptfe work in this current one

PS the protek kit was fab !!! best mod ever for this gun

Sorry for constant edit lol, but also how good was your old washer, maybe the robb is not as good as results suggeted? just a thought ?

Mines a crackle finish model and was fairly similar to yours before I started as well.
I fitted a Konceptus P18 spring in mine with a steel top hat made by someone on here which gave around 375 fps with nice easy cocking.
Fitting a TR Robb piston head took that to 400 fps immediately - rising to 410 fps after 100 shots (all using 8.5gr JSB Exacts).
I was quite happy at that level as it was easy to cock and punched clean holes at 10m.
Could have taken it higher I suspect with extra preload, but this level avoided subjecting the gun to any extra strain or wear.

[Hsing-ee]

I think its all going in the wrong direction. The LP53 is an indoor, 'quiet' pistol, ideal for use in flats. What you tuners ought to be doing is reengineering it to have a narrower, possibly longer stroke piston so that the grip can be made narrower. All you need is 300 fps with Hobby for 6 yard practise.

Power mad the lot of you.

[hellsquad]

I think its all going in the wrong direction. The LP53 is an indoor, 'quiet' pistol, ideal for use in flats. What you tuners ought to be doing is reengineering it to have a narrower, possibly longer stroke piston so that the grip can be made narrower. All you need is 300 fps with Hobby for 6 yard practise.

Power mad the lot of you.

Totally understand where YOU are coming from, however it is not about power it is about tinkering for me and making it better. I 100% guarantee mine shoots smoother than yours though, before and after in terms of the speed, smoothness is huge

[hellsquad]

OK another one for you too laugh at
Conclusion PTFE piston does not meet sidewall in places, sooo last try

I took the robb piston and inserted the steel centre, the hit the PTFE section with a drift, expanding it maybe .5 of a mm LOL.
Then as it was now clearly far too big I reversed it so the "cone" was the wrong way and battered it into the entrance of the bore and left in for 5 mins.
Took it out and reversed it the right way

Rebuilt gun test firing it was tighter than I ever would normally allow for about 10 shots then it began to return the same as the leather washer, + a tad with the new piston !!!!! YEA

So getting 462fps at the moment, tr robb piston, but needs bedding in more. I can control either way now using preload now, smooth as silk or monster lol

I am not afraid to say that playing with mechs is just my thing, makes me happy and thats what this is all about
[EDIT] 2 days later I hate PTFE lol, gone back to leather !!!!!