Retro seals

[RedFeather]

Before I start, I'm just wondering and asking here where it's a bit more friendly than elsewhere. And, please, resist the "Why would you want to do that? Are you crazy?", etc, replies. Here's my question:

Is it possible to fit a leather seal to a gun with a synthetic seal? (i.e. - replace the seal with a leather one.) Would it be harmful to the gun by creating more piston slam due to lower sealing properties? Wondering if you couldn't soft tune a "modern gun" this way? [Remember - Don't ask why?]

OK, experts, weigh in!  

[Gene_SC]

Yes you could do that Red. It would be a lot of fab work though. Remember that most all the synthetic sealed guns are slip on seals. Not like the older guns that had a cone with screw on front of piston to everything on. And some of the newer springers with synthetic seals are held in place with a screw. It would be a good project but that is not the real way to soft tune your guns. You want a good seal without detonation which you would have periodically with at leather seal. Spring alternatives etc. would be the best way to go. For instance. a Gamo Hunter 440 .177. I used a Merlin XL spring to lower cocking effort and FPS. It is a very docile shooter now. Very easy to cock and FPS is in the high 700's using 7.9 Gamo Hunters. Bump that pellet up to an 8.3 gn and it would even be slower. That is just one way to do a de-tune.

[shadow]

It would be a project for sure along with a docile shooter when finished, indoor target getter. Ed

[shady816]

hi red saw on airgungunsmith site the buttons to convert to synthetic seals pre fabed and ready to go.

[RedFeather]

That's going the wrong way. Not leather-to-synthetic, but the reverse. Was just thinking, after reading Cardew's article on dieseling, that you could maybe take a modern gun, leather seal it, polish the chamber and end up with something akin to a Diana 27, etc. Just daydreaming, mostly.

[Gene_SC]

Red I love dreaming... Especially when it has air guns involved.. Always looking for ways to make a shooter more pleasant and accurate to shoot..