GaraGun
27-08-2005, 04:37 PM
BSA Lightning XL .22
I was really impressed with the standard lightning when I first handled one, then when I saw the new XL on the BSA website, I just had to try it! http://www.bsaguns.co.uk/html/index...display&ceid=
Fitted with scope & mounts, (I had a spare Simmons 4x32), zeroed at 10 m, then checked at 25 m, all good. I put about 50 Superdomes through it that afternoon, followed by another 100 or so the next day that included a string through the chrony showing a muzzle energy just under 10 Foot Pounds (fpe), I was happy with that. Later I thought I would just check it over, like you do, & found the R/H forend stock screw a couple of turns loose, no problem, that tightened up easy enough, but worse, the screw at the front of the trigger guard was very loose & wouldn’t tighten up. It wouldn’t come out either, it just span around & round. So after a ‘phone call to the shop I took it back for exchange, but unfortunately the only other .22 in the shop had a slight mark on the stock. A quick call to BSA, & delivery of a replacement was arranged, direct to my home address.
At this stage, I must point out that I was more than happy with the quality, performance & appearance in all respects of the one I had purchased, except for the loose screw!
A second chance for BSA & their quality control department.
The ‘new’ rifle, straight from the factory however - I reckon was 'hand selected' before being sent out to me - had a number of noticeable improvements! It has a very nice grain stock, with only one very small blemish (a spot of dust in the varnish maybe?). The Recoil pad is a better moulding, & it is better fitted to the butt. The cast alloy Trigger guard is much neater; the BSA & crosshatch markings are crisper. The engraving of the piled arms BSA symbol, (the three rifles), on the pistol grip, is altogether a better job.
The metalwork is fine, good deep, even bluing & quality anodizing on the silencer, smooth cocking action, & no dieseling like the first one did!
Most importantly perhaps, all the screws are tight, & have remained so for the first 500 or so shots anyway.
Stock; RH, Very much prettier than the standard or deluxe version, matt finish, clean cut checkering, comfortable good height cheek piece, pistol grip/trigger reach suits my fairly large hands & easy to hold fairly deep forend.
Trigger; Good - but definitely not a Weihrauch Rekord! I am still experimenting with the limited adjustment available.
Barrel; Apparently 10", but is covered by the sizeable, (10 ¾”) moderator for the full visible length from the breech block to muzzle, giving a overall 14 ½” & yes it is very quiet down range! The barrel locking is very positive; a sharp down-force is required to ‘break the barrel open’, followed by a ‘reasonable amount of muscle’ to cock the action. The 1” diameter of the moderator gives a secure grip & certainly feels solid enough.
Safety; Manual on the R/H of cylinder, vertically above the trigger. Feels just right, a nice solid toggle action that can be applied as & when you need it.
Recoil; Yes, it’s a springer! Nothing nasty though.
Weight; Light enough & with a no frills scope, a very ‘manageable package indeed’.
Sights; No sights are provided with the rifle.
Scope rail; Using Low 2 piece ProMounts, the front of the ‘4x40’ scope is a comfortable 4/5 mm above the cylinder, due to the extra height of the ‘Maxi Grip Rail’.
Manual & Tools; The leaflet that accompanies the XL leaves a lot to be desired, it seems that BSA cannot even manage a photograph of the correct model! The order of things left me wondering too! How to load & fire the weapon comes before any mention of fitting a telescopic sight. The small Allen key provided fits the trigger adjuster, brief instructions in the manual.
Pellets; I tried a couple of Eley Wasps .22 (5.6mm in the blue tin), but the heads were so tight in the bore even with maximum thumb pressure; they won’t go in far enough to prevent their skirts being squashed when the barrel is closed up! Then tried Crosman Accu Pells .22, quite the opposite to Wasps, they drop in the breech a bit too easily, there’s no security when closing the barrel, the pellet could easily fall out causing a ‘dry firing’, (not to be recommended). RWS Superdomes are a good comfortable ‘thumb push fit’, as are the AA Fields, with both giving good grouping & consistent velocities.
Performance; checked on my Chrony F1, readings in Feet Per Second, (fps) in daylight with temperatures of approx 8.0C. Both rifles were tested with RWS Superdome .22 @ 14.50 grains, the first set of readings only were from the original gun;
560.0 - 553.3 - 561.4 - 545.9 - 548.6 - 542.8 - 553.7 - 550.7 - 554.3 - 543.6
= average 551.4 fps = 9.8 fpe Max Spread of 18.6 fps
576.5 - 571.8 - 578.9 - 574.1 - 573.5 - 582.1 - 581.6 - 578.5 - 581.3 - 580.0
= average 577.8 fps = 10.75 fpe Max Spread of 10.3 fps
Air Arms Field .22 @ 15.94 grains, air temp 8.0c
551.3 - 554.3 - 553.3 - 549.9 - 553.3 - 556.3 - 562.1 - 551.7 - 550.0 - 550.9
= average 553.31 giving 10.84 ft lb Max Spread of 12.2 fps
561.1 - 561.5 - 561.0 - 559.1 - 557.2 - 559.2 - 559.8 - 563.4 - 561.7 - 556.9
= average 560.08 giving 11.1 ft lb Max Spread of 6.5 fps.
I've upgraded the ‘scope now for a Nikko Gold Crown 4x40WA. I'm getting 15 mm groups at 25 m freehand, it can outshoot me!
I rate the XL as extremely good value for money, well made, & with a little TLC, I’m sure will last a very, very long time. It is exactly what I wanted, & I’m sure will do all that is asked of it, ever ready, stood by my back door with 14 pellets safely stored in the recoil pad, it takes but a moment to load, aim & fire! No mucking about, no gas, no pumping, plenty of punch & accurate.
Price: I paid £210, with a free tin of 500 Superdomes, I’m sure you could find it cheaper
Cheers,
John
Edited 23/02/05 The original AA Field pellets I tested with were 5.52 ~ since then I have been using 5.51 ~ very slightly faster, same weight @ 15.94 = 11.2 fpe & it's still cold!
Edit: 27/08/05 6 months on & many changes, I have tried a few scopes but have found the Maxigrip rail a real pain. The only mounts I have found that fit properly is th BSA Scopemaster 603c, which strangely is the only mount that BSA make for the 13.9mm rail. I tried to fit a 30mm tube scope but could not find any mounts that fitted well, even the Scopemaster 608's that BSA sent me do not fit centrally on the rail, the recoil stop is difficult to engage in the hole, because the pin is effectively off centre.
After about 7500 shots, I found the cocking stroke developed a strange feel at the end of the movement. I suspected the main spring had broken, & some of the coils were becoming locked together, making the spring coilbound. I returned the rifle to Westons on Monday, they sent it to BSA for repair, it was returned direct to me on Friday the same week with a slip to say a new mainspring had been fitted. Good service all round I reckon, & seems to be shooting as good as new again. Now fitted with a Nikko 6x42 on the 603 mounts, it's a well balanced & lightweight little combo, loads of fun with plenty of poke.
I was really impressed with the standard lightning when I first handled one, then when I saw the new XL on the BSA website, I just had to try it! http://www.bsaguns.co.uk/html/index...display&ceid=
Fitted with scope & mounts, (I had a spare Simmons 4x32), zeroed at 10 m, then checked at 25 m, all good. I put about 50 Superdomes through it that afternoon, followed by another 100 or so the next day that included a string through the chrony showing a muzzle energy just under 10 Foot Pounds (fpe), I was happy with that. Later I thought I would just check it over, like you do, & found the R/H forend stock screw a couple of turns loose, no problem, that tightened up easy enough, but worse, the screw at the front of the trigger guard was very loose & wouldn’t tighten up. It wouldn’t come out either, it just span around & round. So after a ‘phone call to the shop I took it back for exchange, but unfortunately the only other .22 in the shop had a slight mark on the stock. A quick call to BSA, & delivery of a replacement was arranged, direct to my home address.
At this stage, I must point out that I was more than happy with the quality, performance & appearance in all respects of the one I had purchased, except for the loose screw!
A second chance for BSA & their quality control department.
The ‘new’ rifle, straight from the factory however - I reckon was 'hand selected' before being sent out to me - had a number of noticeable improvements! It has a very nice grain stock, with only one very small blemish (a spot of dust in the varnish maybe?). The Recoil pad is a better moulding, & it is better fitted to the butt. The cast alloy Trigger guard is much neater; the BSA & crosshatch markings are crisper. The engraving of the piled arms BSA symbol, (the three rifles), on the pistol grip, is altogether a better job.
The metalwork is fine, good deep, even bluing & quality anodizing on the silencer, smooth cocking action, & no dieseling like the first one did!
Most importantly perhaps, all the screws are tight, & have remained so for the first 500 or so shots anyway.
Stock; RH, Very much prettier than the standard or deluxe version, matt finish, clean cut checkering, comfortable good height cheek piece, pistol grip/trigger reach suits my fairly large hands & easy to hold fairly deep forend.
Trigger; Good - but definitely not a Weihrauch Rekord! I am still experimenting with the limited adjustment available.
Barrel; Apparently 10", but is covered by the sizeable, (10 ¾”) moderator for the full visible length from the breech block to muzzle, giving a overall 14 ½” & yes it is very quiet down range! The barrel locking is very positive; a sharp down-force is required to ‘break the barrel open’, followed by a ‘reasonable amount of muscle’ to cock the action. The 1” diameter of the moderator gives a secure grip & certainly feels solid enough.
Safety; Manual on the R/H of cylinder, vertically above the trigger. Feels just right, a nice solid toggle action that can be applied as & when you need it.
Recoil; Yes, it’s a springer! Nothing nasty though.
Weight; Light enough & with a no frills scope, a very ‘manageable package indeed’.
Sights; No sights are provided with the rifle.
Scope rail; Using Low 2 piece ProMounts, the front of the ‘4x40’ scope is a comfortable 4/5 mm above the cylinder, due to the extra height of the ‘Maxi Grip Rail’.
Manual & Tools; The leaflet that accompanies the XL leaves a lot to be desired, it seems that BSA cannot even manage a photograph of the correct model! The order of things left me wondering too! How to load & fire the weapon comes before any mention of fitting a telescopic sight. The small Allen key provided fits the trigger adjuster, brief instructions in the manual.
Pellets; I tried a couple of Eley Wasps .22 (5.6mm in the blue tin), but the heads were so tight in the bore even with maximum thumb pressure; they won’t go in far enough to prevent their skirts being squashed when the barrel is closed up! Then tried Crosman Accu Pells .22, quite the opposite to Wasps, they drop in the breech a bit too easily, there’s no security when closing the barrel, the pellet could easily fall out causing a ‘dry firing’, (not to be recommended). RWS Superdomes are a good comfortable ‘thumb push fit’, as are the AA Fields, with both giving good grouping & consistent velocities.
Performance; checked on my Chrony F1, readings in Feet Per Second, (fps) in daylight with temperatures of approx 8.0C. Both rifles were tested with RWS Superdome .22 @ 14.50 grains, the first set of readings only were from the original gun;
560.0 - 553.3 - 561.4 - 545.9 - 548.6 - 542.8 - 553.7 - 550.7 - 554.3 - 543.6
= average 551.4 fps = 9.8 fpe Max Spread of 18.6 fps
576.5 - 571.8 - 578.9 - 574.1 - 573.5 - 582.1 - 581.6 - 578.5 - 581.3 - 580.0
= average 577.8 fps = 10.75 fpe Max Spread of 10.3 fps
Air Arms Field .22 @ 15.94 grains, air temp 8.0c
551.3 - 554.3 - 553.3 - 549.9 - 553.3 - 556.3 - 562.1 - 551.7 - 550.0 - 550.9
= average 553.31 giving 10.84 ft lb Max Spread of 12.2 fps
561.1 - 561.5 - 561.0 - 559.1 - 557.2 - 559.2 - 559.8 - 563.4 - 561.7 - 556.9
= average 560.08 giving 11.1 ft lb Max Spread of 6.5 fps.
I've upgraded the ‘scope now for a Nikko Gold Crown 4x40WA. I'm getting 15 mm groups at 25 m freehand, it can outshoot me!
I rate the XL as extremely good value for money, well made, & with a little TLC, I’m sure will last a very, very long time. It is exactly what I wanted, & I’m sure will do all that is asked of it, ever ready, stood by my back door with 14 pellets safely stored in the recoil pad, it takes but a moment to load, aim & fire! No mucking about, no gas, no pumping, plenty of punch & accurate.
Price: I paid £210, with a free tin of 500 Superdomes, I’m sure you could find it cheaper
Cheers,
John
Edited 23/02/05 The original AA Field pellets I tested with were 5.52 ~ since then I have been using 5.51 ~ very slightly faster, same weight @ 15.94 = 11.2 fpe & it's still cold!
Edit: 27/08/05 6 months on & many changes, I have tried a few scopes but have found the Maxigrip rail a real pain. The only mounts I have found that fit properly is th BSA Scopemaster 603c, which strangely is the only mount that BSA make for the 13.9mm rail. I tried to fit a 30mm tube scope but could not find any mounts that fitted well, even the Scopemaster 608's that BSA sent me do not fit centrally on the rail, the recoil stop is difficult to engage in the hole, because the pin is effectively off centre.
After about 7500 shots, I found the cocking stroke developed a strange feel at the end of the movement. I suspected the main spring had broken, & some of the coils were becoming locked together, making the spring coilbound. I returned the rifle to Westons on Monday, they sent it to BSA for repair, it was returned direct to me on Friday the same week with a slip to say a new mainspring had been fitted. Good service all round I reckon, & seems to be shooting as good as new again. Now fitted with a Nikko 6x42 on the 603 mounts, it's a well balanced & lightweight little combo, loads of fun with plenty of poke.