simesgee
01-04-2011, 11:01 AM
My it’s a handsome beast. And when you pick it up, it feels “just right”. In fact I’ll go further and say this is the best handling light springer you can buy. Don’t though – because everything else about it is rubbish.
There’s enough on here about build quality issues and the fact that you have to shoe horn .177 pellets into the breech to discount that version. I had the .22 version which was better – but you still shouldn’t buy one. Believe me, it pains me to say it and I truly hope someone as BSA takes note because this is, potentially, a brilliant rifle let down by basic flaws which in this price range, it shouldn’t have.
Firstly we have the trigger. BSA proudly proclaims it was “designed by computer”. I have no doubt this is true, in the same way as my lavatory brush probably was. Years ago I was told the only thing I ever needed to know about computers – GI-GO. It stands for Garbage In – Garbage Out. By modern standards it is crude. Against the Diana TO-6 and HW Rekord it is hopeless. It’s a two lever jobbie that even with tweaking has discernable creep and a heavy let off.
Things get worse when you take the action from the stock. The trigger assembly is all held together with floating pins waiting to fall out, and the articulated cocking lever (a good idea) runs on a nylon support crudely stapled into the base of the stock (HW use a proper support that is properly fixed). Also the front stock screws although angled, look pretty weak.
Perhaps the worst part, however, is the barrel pivot. It’s a pin and the barrel alignment is maintained by the jaws being sprung into the barrel. This is not a good idea as there is no facility for adjustment and, on my example, the metal quickly showed signs of wear as the contact between breech jaws and barrel is confined to a small ”edge” .
How did it shoot? Ok really, until the spring broke.
I’m sure BSA would respond to criticism by saying the XL has outsold all previous models, and that may be true. In the same way the Morris Marina outsold the Minor and the Triumph TR7 outsold the TR6. The fact remains that history showed them to be rubbish. In fact a better analogy would be the Triumph Stag – a brilliant design ruined by poor build quality and a dodgy engine. It achieved, quite literally, the distinction of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
What is annoying is that the XL need not be this way. BSA just need to get around to finishing it.
I honestly believe BSA has a World beater here. Forget the build quality issues for a moment, they are easily sorted by bring production back to Birmingham. Just put a properly engineered breech bolt in, and a four lever trigger. And built it like you care. Do that – and yes, I’d probably have one.
There’s enough on here about build quality issues and the fact that you have to shoe horn .177 pellets into the breech to discount that version. I had the .22 version which was better – but you still shouldn’t buy one. Believe me, it pains me to say it and I truly hope someone as BSA takes note because this is, potentially, a brilliant rifle let down by basic flaws which in this price range, it shouldn’t have.
Firstly we have the trigger. BSA proudly proclaims it was “designed by computer”. I have no doubt this is true, in the same way as my lavatory brush probably was. Years ago I was told the only thing I ever needed to know about computers – GI-GO. It stands for Garbage In – Garbage Out. By modern standards it is crude. Against the Diana TO-6 and HW Rekord it is hopeless. It’s a two lever jobbie that even with tweaking has discernable creep and a heavy let off.
Things get worse when you take the action from the stock. The trigger assembly is all held together with floating pins waiting to fall out, and the articulated cocking lever (a good idea) runs on a nylon support crudely stapled into the base of the stock (HW use a proper support that is properly fixed). Also the front stock screws although angled, look pretty weak.
Perhaps the worst part, however, is the barrel pivot. It’s a pin and the barrel alignment is maintained by the jaws being sprung into the barrel. This is not a good idea as there is no facility for adjustment and, on my example, the metal quickly showed signs of wear as the contact between breech jaws and barrel is confined to a small ”edge” .
How did it shoot? Ok really, until the spring broke.
I’m sure BSA would respond to criticism by saying the XL has outsold all previous models, and that may be true. In the same way the Morris Marina outsold the Minor and the Triumph TR7 outsold the TR6. The fact remains that history showed them to be rubbish. In fact a better analogy would be the Triumph Stag – a brilliant design ruined by poor build quality and a dodgy engine. It achieved, quite literally, the distinction of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
What is annoying is that the XL need not be this way. BSA just need to get around to finishing it.
I honestly believe BSA has a World beater here. Forget the build quality issues for a moment, they are easily sorted by bring production back to Birmingham. Just put a properly engineered breech bolt in, and a four lever trigger. And built it like you care. Do that – and yes, I’d probably have one.