easy lube of IZH61 air chamber

[neric]

Side lever air guns aren't as easy to lube the air chamber as break-barrels.  I've lubed the air chamber on this IZH 61 twice now without doing a power plant teardown.  The first time was pretty sloppy.  It took two times using the long thin screw-on tube that I acquired somewhere to get any lube into the air chamber (as evidenced by some dieseling afterward).  The second time using the long thin tube I got some in because I over lubed; some got in there and the rest went down the barrel (going down the barrel was the only thing that happened the first time).

I came up with this better method and it's very simple.  I bent a paper clip to slide into the barrel from the loading port. The paper clip has a small 90 degree bent tip that will drop down into the transfer port of air chamber.  You can feel it drop down in.  Then while holding the paper clip in place, with the barrel slightly pointing down, I dripped 3 drops of RWS Air Chamber Lube onto the paper clip, the lube follows the paper clip right down into the hole where you want it to go.  It worked very well. A little dieseling, increased velocity,,,,life is good.

[jmdavis984]

Another option is to take out the little plastic screw on top of the action that gives direct access to the transfer port.  I think that's what it was made for.  Just don't over-torque it, it is a plastic screw in plastic threads.

[Roadworthy]

Unless this rifle has a leather seal you probably should not be oiling it at all.  Synthetic seals do not require oil and the detonation can damage the seal or the gun.

[jmdavis984]

All recommendations for oiling the transfer port AND the main spring are taken from user manuals provided by PA, EAA, and IZH-Baikal.

[neric]

Unless this rifle has a leather seal you probably should not be oiling it at all.  Synthetic seals do not require oil and the detonation can damage the seal or the gun.

I take everything, especially knowledge, with a grain of salt.  The proof is in the pudding.  Based on my experience these synthetic seals do benefit from lube designed for air chamber.

First example I offer is this '61 I just lubed.  Deviations had become widely extreme, like 50 fps; they used to be only 8fps extreme.  The dieseling I mentioned was hardly noticeable - to a newbie the dieseling would have been unnoticed.  It only dieseled twice and then the extremes were back to 8fps again. 

My RWS 54 has a synthetic seal, its manual specifically states 1 drop of RWS Air chamber lube about every 500 shots.  I have observed the same deviation pattern and resolution on the 54 as I wrote  about on the '61.

My newer model Sheridan Blue Streak, the generation with the dreaded aluminum valve body that corrodes; its manual specifically stated "no oil in the compression chamber' presumably because these new space age synthetics 'don't need any lube'  Ha.  With in one week of shooting that new rifle the deviations became REALLY extreme, like 150 fps between shots.  I played around with letting it cool down - that didn't work; then tried giving it a couple of warm up shots - that didn't work.  Finally I posted a question to BB Pelletier and his response was something to the effect of the manufacturers don't alway know what is best - 'lube it' he said.  I did lube it and it instantly became normal with about 10-12fps extreme deviations.  Who knows, perhaps my seals were damaged from the short interlude of no lubing - perhaps my extreme deviations would be better than 10-12 if I had lubed it from the beginning.  Guess I'll never know.

[neric]

@ jmdavis984, thanks for the tip of the obvious - the plastic screw.  Too many times I overlook the simple and the obvious.

[jmdavis984]

@ jmdavis984, thanks for the tip of the obvious - the plastic screw.  Too many times I overlook the simple and the obvious.

The only reason I used it was because I could not figure out how else to oil the compression chamber.  I remembered Tom Gaylord mentioning that screw gave access to something in one of his reports, so I opened it and there was the transfer port and the tip of the bolt.

[neric]

I've never had that screw out.  Now that you mentioned it I'm wondering if that might be a possible source of a breech seal leak, guess a tissue test will tell me