Which washer is better: PU or leather?

[spslfa]

hello friends,
i recently brought a brand new National 35 (0.177 c). the merchant told me, now IHP air rifles comes with polyurethane washer not with the traditional leather washer. he recommends PU washers because it will not shrink and need not to oil regularly like the leather ones. but one senior shooter- he is the secretary of our shooting club- advised me to replace it with leather washer at once, for perfect shots.
now i am confused. any fellow member can give a light to this?

thanks

with regards

[snIPer]

PU is what all the guns ship with because it is proven and performs well.
If you like old school then switch to leather.
/S/

[brihacharan]

Hi there!

> I visited IHP factory a couple of days back and saw the PU washers. I was told that they began replacing leather washers / seals since the last couple of years.
> The IHP washers / seals made of PU appeared hard (whereas Leather & Synthetics are comparatively soft)
> While Leather washers / Seals are good, they shrink over a period of time and absorb moisture & lubricant.
> Technically Washers / Seals must possess 'resilience' - meaning adapting to the tube's ID. This way there is very little loss of power / leakage.
> Hence Synthetic Seals are prefered as they are long lasting & do not need lubrication. In my considered opinion APEX Seals are the best - many IFGians have shifted to this with great success.
> Check with 'Tirths' our fellow IFGian - take his advice.
Cheers
Brihacharan

[sawbones]

PU seals are definitely better
The problem with these is the fact that a lot of older generation air gunners like me used to lube with any old oil that came to hand and that worked for leather washers . With PU you have to be sure that you are using so called crossman chamber oil or non combustive oil otherwise it will deisel excessively.
Silicone oil that they sell for a fortune in the gun world is nothing but ATF=Automatic transmission fluid
use that and you will find the ihp to be a very consistent shooter
use any motor or machine oil and you will find the chamber heating up and your group getting wider and your pellets becoming fliers

in the gun world 10 chips worth of silicone grease sells for 1200
have fun

sawbones

[ronish]

stick on leather seal .new ihp pu seals will be worn out within 500 shots,unless piston & cylinder is not well polished. a small scratch in the cylinder can damage the seal & cause accuracy problems & velocity loss. leather seals are some what self healing . use silicon oil periodically or else dieselling can cause spring damage & short life.

[spslfa]

hello friends

thanks for your valuable information

have a good shoot

suresh