BSA Airsporter Mk V help

[rothers]

Gents,

I am very much a shotgun, firearms kinda guy. Just got my Grandfathers BSA Airsporter Mk V .22, and am having a few problems with the old girl.

Did a check zero and she fires straight enough but something must be wrong as she won't even drop a pigeon from 20 feet. And yes, I am hitting the target!

Any ideas? Loss of power? etc etc. How can I give a good service?

Rothers

[Gareth W-B]

Hi Rothers, am of the opinion that you'll get the best info regarding this from the collectors section, so am going to move this thread to there for you, but will leave a titled shadow of it in the general section, so people can still access it from that section, too (the best of both worlds ). Atb: G.

[scirroco]

Gents,

I am very much a shotgun, firearms kinda guy. Just got my Grandfathers BSA Airsporter Mk V .22, and am having a few problems with the old girl.

Did a check zero and she fires straight enough but something must be wrong as she won't even drop a pigeon from 20 feet. And yes, I am hitting the target!

Any ideas? Loss of power? etc etc. How can I give a good service?

Rothers

sounds like it needs a good service,spring and seal
rgds scirroco

[gemini163]

as above ^ and the buffer washer normally breaks up

[rothers]

Can I do this easily myself? Is it a case of some oil and grease, or does it require specialist tools, spares etc.

Cheers

[rothers]

Also, if I buy a fairly budget scope and give it a good service, what sort of max range will I realistically drop pigeons at etc.

I'm a pretty decent shot- at least I would like to think so- I'm an army sniper so probably worrying if I'm not....!

[Vulcanator]

A reconditioned Airsporter that makes good power will drop Mr Pigeon at 40yds no problem with a good shot!

[edbear2]

A really basic (old school) test of power you could try if you dont have a chrono, is to put a piece of steel into a small cardboard box, then with the muzzle as close as possible to the box, fire a shot........open the box (prevents shrapnel!) and have a look at whats left of the pellet........a healthy gun should shatter a pellet at point blank range.........here is an old advert showing what I mean;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3122848...7608030264100/

When we were kids, this would be the very first thing you would do to check a gun if you were buying/swapping one!.......(no chronos in shops those days!)

P.S. rebuilding one is a basic job........think bicycle pump!.just a spring, piston on the end, with a sealing ring/washer and buffer....exploded pic here;

http://www.gunspares.co.uk/shopdispl...24687&cat=Mk5#


get everything inside spotless, polish any scratches or marks on the piston, lube and re-assemble.......the back block is a bit of an awkward shape to hold when compressing the spring back in and trying to engage the thread....best way is piece of wood/carpet on the deck, gun upright, push down with block (wear one of those grippy "builders" gloves).AND PLEASE......dont be tempted to buy a "powerfull" spring......they do the job, and shoot much nicer with the standard version........loads on here about this sort of thing.........try the search button with "rebuild" etc.

[rothers]

cheers guys!

[pennineway.fswo]

hi Rothers
When you have serviced the gun, one thing to remember is that pigeons are pretty well armour plated from huge strong wing feathers and also in the chest areas if the crop is full. So the actual target area that you must hit is very small compared with the size of the bird


My son in law (who regularly shoots pigeons with a .22 Weihrauch) held the GB Under 21- 3 position 50 metre rimfire title several years ago. He is still an excellent shot with a spring rifle and advises 25 yds max with an Airsporter

Basically a .22 Airsporter even in very good mechanical condition can usually only achieve 1" groups at 25-30 yards in expert hands. And that is the size of your target.

So stick to short ranges.
john

[Guzzidom]

Put a little half litre water bottle, Evian / Vittel or whatever, fill it 3/4 with water and put a 20mm dot on it about half way up the bottle.
In .177 the range at which you can consistently hit that dot and go through the bottle is your hunting range, in .22 the range at which you can hit that dot and do some damage to the other side of the bottle (it will probably go flying) is your hunting range.
Always worked for me and makes my AA S400 .177 good for a little less than 35 metres.
Some would say further but I would put the target as being a bit softer than a bunnies head and lets me have a bit of margin for range finding error.

My old A/sporters would struggle a bit at 20 metres but I doubt any of them were much over 9 ft/lbs.

[joffy]

dont go stripping the old girl till you've tried the right pellet first you really need to find some old blue tin eley wasps not the new blue tins as they are not the same size the old eleys are a tighter fit in the tap and bore . i have a small supply left here for my ol' mercury in .22


atb jonathan

[rothers]

Had it tested today, and its at about 10lb. I managed to kill a woody this afternoon, very chuffed! Ha ha ha...

I'm using green tin Bisley 'pest' pellets? Is this the right sort- they have a flat, hollow tip.

[joffy]

domed pellets work best in tap loaders