Air rifle piston polishing

[Mach 1.5]

The end of the piston was also polished back in the day as under cocking this may well come in to contact with the cylinder. There is no need to polish the entire piston. Mach 1.5

[TonyL]

Welcome to the forum, Mr Fudge.

I always polish the piston (by hand, with rag and Solvol) just because it seems the nice thing to do and looks much prettier. Then a small dab of moly paste around the tail / bearing surface and the tiniest trace around the edge of the seal. Then, once the piston is pushed home, a more liberal application of moly grease around the circumference of the cylinder, behind the piston.

[Vernal]

[QUOTE=TonyL;8086229]Welcome to the forum, Mr Fudge.

I always polish the piston (by hand, with rag and Solvol) just because it seems the nice thing to do and looks much prettier.

Definitely, even when there is a rear bearing to support the piston. There is a lovely warm glow from knowing how nice your piston looks, even when no one can see it.

[gtfreight]

Welcome to the forum, Mr Fudge.

I always polish the piston (by hand, with rag and Solvol) just because it seems the nice thing to do and looks much prettier.

Definitely, even when there is a rear bearing to support the piston. There is a lovely warm glow from knowing how nice your piston looks, even when no one can see it.

Is this a euphemism Tony?

[harvey_s]

A high polish probably does more harm than good, too shiny and the lubricant will simply be wiped away.
As long as it's not a rough surface and correctly lubricated that's probably as effective as anything else IMHO.

[TonyL]

A high polish probably does more harm than good, too shiny and the lubricant will simply be wiped away.
As long as it's not a rough surface and correctly lubricated that's probably as effective as anything else IMHO.

I know where you're coming from.. I do tend to do the piston, but not to "too high" a polish but I never polish the cylinder. Just degrease and clean. Between the two there should be enough "peaks and troughs" to hold any lube. On pistons where the steel tail is a bearing surface (especially taking cocking into account) I tend to burnish a little moly in, too, either in the form of a tiny amount of dry powder, moly paste or moly-in-carrier, like Dri-Slide.

[harvey_s]

I have been using Tungsten Disulfide assembly paste for some time now with excellent long term results.
Worked into the metal it's supposed to form a chemical bond with the substrate with a much higher load capacity than moly.
It's commonly used for lubrication on deep space probes and very aggressive environments where moly based lubes are more prone to be washed off.

[TonyL]

Is this a euphemism Tony?

Absolutely not, Gary.

It's that devil Vernal up to his tricks.