The Walther LP2 and LP3 pistols
Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 8:11 pm
This came to me last week, a Walther LP2 in quite good condition. But as with all of these pistols that have not been rebuilt, the main seal had perished. I didn't so much as remove the old seal but more scrape it off!
In this first picture the piston is attached to the cocking mechanism and the seal is still attached.
All I did was show it a scraping tool:
And here we are again, back at the Taig Lathe. The Soft Jaws are just the ticket for this. I am not yet sure exactly how I am going to approach this yet. I don't have a piece of urathene of a suitable size or hardness to make a new seal and even if I did I am not sure that is the right approach. I think machining a couple of grooves and using 'O' rings is the best and oft used solution but because the piston has the seal groove so close to the top a new crown on the piston and then 'O' rings is is probably a better solution. I will make further measurements tomorrow and decide then. The other observation is that the piston has suffered galling around the skirt and although I have absolutely not a jot of proof I would guess at some point a well meaning person probably used silicone grease as a lubricant and this is not up to the job. By all means, a slight smear of silicone grease on an 'O' ring as it rides against metal is good but silicone will not protect metal against metal, especially if those two metals are aluminium.
In this first picture the piston is attached to the cocking mechanism and the seal is still attached.
All I did was show it a scraping tool:
And here we are again, back at the Taig Lathe. The Soft Jaws are just the ticket for this. I am not yet sure exactly how I am going to approach this yet. I don't have a piece of urathene of a suitable size or hardness to make a new seal and even if I did I am not sure that is the right approach. I think machining a couple of grooves and using 'O' rings is the best and oft used solution but because the piston has the seal groove so close to the top a new crown on the piston and then 'O' rings is is probably a better solution. I will make further measurements tomorrow and decide then. The other observation is that the piston has suffered galling around the skirt and although I have absolutely not a jot of proof I would guess at some point a well meaning person probably used silicone grease as a lubricant and this is not up to the job. By all means, a slight smear of silicone grease on an 'O' ring as it rides against metal is good but silicone will not protect metal against metal, especially if those two metals are aluminium.