Silicone Spray from Halfords

[Samurai]

Yes, silicone reduces drag. For example you can spray it on the dashboard of a car, and it gets extra shiny and slippery.

The bad thing is that the rubber sucks it up and gets soft and swollen. It is a good thing for gas sealants in gas mags. If you have a leaking magazine, and don't have a new o ring, just spray silicone in a small tray, put the o ring in it for overnight, and it get softer and a bit bigger - the perfect thing for a good seal.

But for a hopup rubber that's bad.

For any other parts in an AEG it's way too light. It just splashes everywhere from the moving parts just after a few seconds of shooting and nothing is left on the gears.

It's also not good for lubricating gas guns, because it attracts dust and dirt. After a while it will become something like mud. You shoud use dry silicone or teflon spray, or something similar there.

You can use silicone in the barrel, but you have to be careful to avoid the hopup rubber, and it is not for cleaning so it won't do a perfect job. Rubbing alcohol does it better. You can lubricate the barrel after cleaning it with silicone but it doesn't really do any difference.

As for my background: I was working as an airsoft mechanic for some years as a part time job.

 

[ronin677]

Really this is all good advice

My background is not in lubricants but I am a qualified civil engineer and have far too many years under my belt to even hint at my age haha

All this info is really informative and is allowing me to make an objective decision on what to use and where

once again thanks for all the feed back, it is really appreciated

 

[Sitting Duck]

So we have different techniques or methods or findings that we go with based on

our experiences nad what we find works best for us

I admit I am am still learning - aren't we all though ???

But did say about the warning of not using silicone on rubber

(not because it kills it but will affect its performance in holding bb)

Many chemicals can degrade rubber or cause it to swell but swelling rubber

is just a tempory fix as it will return to its worn state eventually

we can swell the rubber at work to bring rubber back to life but doesn't last for very long

replacement is the real answer for worn parts I'm sure we all will agree on that

Also there is is this myth that one thing will do it all - very rarely the case

various items will require different things to keep them running smooth

and silicone and Isopropyl on their own is not the one and only thing to use

Think we all agree that less is more and the only thing that should be applied

in large quantity when doing quick clean or quick service or even a full rebuild is

Basic Common Sense - alas you can't just buy this off the shelf

But keep it clean and don't go nuts I think is the general message I think

 

[straffham]

Used Halfords Silicon spray for years, had no problems using it as a general spray used sparingly on GBB pistol internals (NOT IN THE HOP / BARREL), inc TM, and on the OUTSIDE of new AEG hop rubbers when fitting them so they move freely in the hop unit. Would never use it in a gearbox or for cleaning barrels. Use silicon GREASE on the piston head air seal.

 

[Undieing_Lust]

Wow! there's alot of really good information in this thread. So I might as well thrown in my 2 cents.

Barrel: I spary some pure silicon oil on the cleaning rod with cloth on it and run it down the barrel from the muzzle of the weapon, to avoid it hitting my Hop-Up. depending on how dirty the barrel is sometimes there is lots of black crap out of the barrel, other times nothing. I do this 2 or 3 times.

Hop-Up: Keep this dry becuse you want friction to keep backspin on the BB.

Gearbox: on the gears you can use white Lithium grease or Teflon. on the teeth of the gears, Shaft ( Insert Penis joke here ) and also the bearings. Dont go crazy but also dont use to little. When in doubt use alittle bit more becuse a dry gearbox is your worst enemy. Also dont forget to clean out the old stuff before adding the new grease. I use a tooth brush and WD-40 on all the metal parts BUT ONLY the metal parts....

Piston rails: Just a touch of while Lithium grease.

Piston O-ring and cylinder head O-ring: Add a little silicon grease, Not oil as it is not thick enough. To the O-ring to allow it to seal better and expand alittle.

That should cover it I think. Airsoft international did a really good article on greasing a gearbox Volume 8 Issue 1 It was a god send when I started. Also dont forget YouTube is your friend.

List of what I use:

3-IN-ONE White Lithium spray grease.

Castrol LM Grease.

3-IN-ONE Silicone Lubricant.

Carlube Silicone Multi-purpose grease.

WD-40