Fitting a Webley pistol Breech seal!

I know that a few of you have been waiting for this subject and have your fingers hovering over the "Like" button.    I know those same people love pictures of old breech seals as well, but I aint got none 🙂  

For the purposes of this subject we I am going to assume you have got one of the Nitrile/ rubber breech seals, that look a bit like a midget gem (if you remember them?) . They are flat on one side and rounded on the other.  

Also, for the first part of this post, I am going to assume you want to fit it to a Hurricane, Tempest or Typhoon.  

If you are a beginner to tinkering then lets begin with safety.  DON'T try to remove the old seal and fit the new one with the barrel still on the gun!  Yes--you can do it, but it is harder to get the seal in and you may end up getting your fingers whacked as the barrel of the cocked gun comes flying back into position as you catch the trigger! 

So, firstly you need to remove the plastic fore end from the gun and remove the barrel. 

The fore end is held in place by a roll pin and you need a 3/32 pin punch to tap it out. Once it is out then you should hopefully be able to slide the fore end off and gain access to the barrel pivot pin.  Knock the pivot pin through and remove the barrel and linkage from the gun. You can put the pin back through to hold the cylinder end cap/guide in place while you change the seal, which is safer than leaving a pin punch to do the job. 

Open the barrel catch and you should be able to get a small screwdriver or similar into the hole in the old seal and gently lever it out. 

There should not be an crud left in the housing but is there is, remove it. Someone may have used some silicon sealant or glue! 

Now you are going to fit you new seal. It goes with the flat side into the housing and the rounded side outwards. 

If you have bought one of those seal fitting tolls from Nibbs, they don't work with the rubber seals, only the leather ones.  So you are going to use something like a small screw driver. 

Get some lube on the seal and angle the seal a little so the bottom of it is just entering the housing and the top is stuck out. Then you want to gently press from the bottom, upwards and inwards a little on one side of the seal. As that side starts to go in, switch to the other side (left, right, left , right) until you have worked the seal into the housing all the way round.  You will probably have to go around again to  better seat it. 

Once it appears to be fully seated, use something like a bit of wooden dowel or a bigger pin punch and give the face of the seal a tap to fully locate it. 

Some people say you may have to take a bit off the back of the seal by cutting or sanding, but I have never had to do it with Hurricanes, Tempests, only with earlier guns.  Replace your barrel and replace your fore end and you should be good to go. With the barrel closed (gun uncocked and unloaded) you can try blowing down the barrel and no air should be escaping from the seal. 

You can use the rubber seal on earlier guns but you will probably have to take something off the back of the seal to make it fit a MK1 or a Junior.  You can keep you old seals for sanding down to use on these guns. 

If you are fitting a leather seal to an older gun, the process is pretty much the same, but taking off the barrel catch as well makes it easier. You may well have to sand something of the back of the seal to get it to fit. THE TOOL WILL WORK with the leather seals with the brass insert.   Fit the seal dry, sanding off any of the outer diameter it needed. Then use the tool fit the seal or your small screwdriver. If you have taken enough off the outer diameter it should go in pretty easily. One in and properly seated, lubricate it and then leave it overnight to swell up and go tight in the housing. 

If you you don't, there is a chance that the seal can come out as you cock the gun.  

So there you go. Fitting a Webley pistol breech seal. If anyone wants to copy and paste it onto AGF, it should get you plenty of likes! 🙄