Swap .25 cal Bsa Improved Model D

[silva]

Swap .25 cal Bsa Improved Model D in very good condition, for Bsa Military Pattern Air rifle.

[Prewar]

Anything else you would consider in swaps? Cheers, Scott

[hwvixen]

Hi there,

If you didn't want a swap....have you got a cash price..?

[silva]

Still looking, might be able to add some cash too !

[Prewar]

still interested

[silva]

Hi Scott !

[Gareth W-B]

My friend ####, has got an almost pristine BSA Military Pattern in .25 among his wonderful collection (the most wonderful collections I have ever seen), that he bought for £250 in 1976. Told him I'd double his money and give him £500 for it, but he told me to go away, and used some very unpleasant language . Ha ha. Sorry for going off topic, just wanted to sneak that anecdote in . Atb: G.

[silva]

Hi Gareth, Is that a cider typo, or is there really a .25 cal Military Pattern out there.
Cheers

[Gareth W-B]

Hi Gareth, Is that a cider typo, or is there really a .25 cal Military Pattern out there.
Cheers

Ha ha, nope, there really is a .25 cal BSA Military Pattern out there, and apparently, according to Messrs Knibbs, who verified said rifle's authenticity, it is one of 100.

[Binners]

Ha ha, nope, there really is a .25 cal BSA Military Pattern out there, and apparently, according to Messrs Knibbs, who verified said rifle's authenticity, it is one of 100.

Next you'll say it has 3 barrels... .25 my arse

[edbear2]

Next you'll say it has 3 barrels... .25 my arse

..I might even part with my BSA imp mod D, .32 cal smoothbore, experimental one off model as a swap........
































You might have to wait a bit though........the 30 inch 7.6mm long series drill and reamer set is taking a an age to arrive

[slug-gun]

In his book Knibbs states that all the Military Patterns were in either .177 or .22, the quantity of either depending on the batch.
I suppose it is conceivable that the odd .25 barrel was grafted onto a M/P from a .25 Imp. Mod.D of 1908, but I think it unlikely.

What is definitely nonsense (IMO) is the fact that there were 100 made in 25 calibre. There were only about 450 M/P made in total, so 100 represents getting on for 25% of the total production. The M/P is a rifle which has survived well, I personally have recorded 42 serial numbers, not one of them in .25.

If there had been 100 made then others in the larger calibre would have come to light by now, simply by the law of averages.

So forget it, this particular one may be right in that it may have been one of a very small handful put together as an experiment for example,but even this is unlikely otherwise it would have appeared in the records and another would have been found by this time.
Rather like the Short M/P, the existence of genuine examples of which are very much in doubt, and that rifle was actually advertised and priced!

A single unit in .25 suggests a non-factory one-off, the provenance of which therefore will always be in doubt? I would however be delighted to be contradicted if evidence exists to show otherwise?

[slug-gun]

Hi Gareth,

Because any particular gun comes with a receipt etc is no evidence at all of provenance, unless the seller can say where/when it came from, which of course Mr Knibbs cannot, I presume?
So that does not help us in establishing the authenticity of this unusual calibre.
I stand by my comments about the 100 made bit, pure pie in the sky, imo.
If none have surfaced yet in the UK, then it is equally unlikely they will turn up in the US. Somewhere in the 'colonies' would be more likely as that is where much of BSA's export production went.

I would be interested to know the serial number of the rifle; stamping on the cylinder and whether spade or bayonet underlever. Might help with dating it etc?
Would you be able to get that information?

[Gareth W-B]

I would be interested to know the serial number of the rifle

Hi again slug-gun. Yep, as stated, I was/am unsure about the x 100, too. Am seeing him in a fortnight however, so will get the serial number for us then . Turning into a couple of regular air gun sleuths here aren't we . Many apologies to Morgan for hi-jacking his thread however, and promise this'll be my last post on the subject here, as will start a fresh thread regarding the .25 Military, as and when I have the aforementioned info and an up-date etc . God I love this section of the BBS. Every day is a school day . Atb: G.

[silva]

"The figure of 100 may be speculative, and based on special order export considerations, of which there are no surviving records, but regardless of the numbers involved, they were made, as I have seen one, so however unlikely it may appear on paper, they do exist "

Have you considered a job with the government ?