Another review of the BSA Lighting XL - .22

Ok, there’s a long thread on the Tactical – which we all know is the XL with a plastic stock. Never tried one, I have to confess, but I like my rifles with wood. I’m sure as we cut down more trees and the rainforest grows burgers instead of tables, the push for synthetic stocks will increase, but at the moment I like my guns ‘natural’.

So, I guess the first point of review is the stock. I think BSA have done a very good job here. The stock gives the gun a good start – well shaped, comfortable and a good quality feel. Nice sharp BSA stacked rifles insignia on the base of the grip. Are they all this well done, or have I got a good one I wonder?

The rifle is a carbine and the metalwork together with the stock makes a good looking rifle. As has been mentioned by someone else (sorry I can’t remember who) I won’t buy a gun if it’s ugly, no matter how good, so the XL has a good start here.

Overall feel is again good. Nice balance. Safety catch is a lever to the right side. Easy to access.

So far so good. Now, how does it do what it’s supposed to do? I fit a BSA Essentials (or however they spell it) 3-9x40, get a tin of AA .22 Fields and off we go. Cocking is easy, the shrouded barrel comfortable to grip. The trigger was too heavy at first, but adjusted no problem to something I can live with. A bit heavy, but predictable. Recoil is as expected; sharp, but no ‘twang’.

After practice I get good groups at 25 yards. A chrono shows 11.38ftp which is good enough. Actually, it’s damm good as I was worried by manufacturers being overly cautious.

I bought this as a hunting gun and so far it’s been very effective.

So, any negatives. Well, yes:
The stock screws came loose early on. I’ve re-tightened them and so far all is ok. However the Allen key for the forward stock screws is small. This suggests that BSA don’t want these tightened up too much, so I guess there is a thin area between them coming loose or shearing off – or worse. Maybe a dab of Loctite is the answer, but I can’t imagine a German rifle having this problem.

Cocking the gun produces two sets of loud clicks. Unfortunately rabbits have ears and even those of advancing years seem able to hear this. I’ve tried cocking the gun with the trigger depressed and all sorts of combination, but can’t stop it doing this. I don’t like leaving a springer cocked for too long, so have had to use ‘predictive’ methods to get round this!

We’ll see how it performs on the reliability stakes, but so far I’m pleased, and consider it money well spent.