Were there any meteor carbines??

[evert]

The Meteor mk6 was delivered in carbine format with a shorter barrel.
But were the earlier meteors ever delivered in carbine format?

I have a mk3 with some ugly tool marks on the front 5cm's of the barrel, and am considering a chop-job...

[Josie & John]

Hi Evert,

BSA were advertising a Carbine version of the Mk V by 1988 and yes, the Mk 6 was offered in an SS Carbine version from the outset when it was introduced in 1994.

Any idea what the SS in SS Carbine signifies - Silencer Shroud?

Kind regards,

John

[WILBA]

my mate had a carbine mk3. ok he did saw the barrel down to 8" and it would not hit a barn door but boy it looked cool as a youngster with my crappy webley hawk mk2 as my own gun. loved the meteor as the best shot i remember was with another late friends meteor as a 13yr old, i hit a squizzel at 25yards with open sights smack in the bonce. beautiful guns and i have a fond place in my heart for them as they bring back so many memeories of my youth with my late mate hunting up the woods near us when nobody battered an eyelid when they saw us hunting. he took his own life 10yrs ago and still drift back to them happy days to ease the pain

[Shed tuner]

Any idea what the SS in SS Carbine signifies - Silencer Shroud?

Slightly Shorter ?

I'd chop it and see how it goes - just push a pellet through to see if there's a choke you would otherwise lose. Ofter you can find an alternative tighter spot and chop just a fraction ahead of that, then machine down so your new "light choke" is in just the right place.

[piggy589]

I've said before,having cut several barrels down they don't appear to miss having a choke.

The guns just felt better balanced as a result

[evert]

BSA were advertising a Carbine version of the Mk V by 1988 and yes, the Mk 6 was offered in an SS Carbine version from the outset when it was introduced in 1994.

Which probably means that chopping a MkIII barrel is historically wrong??
None of the MkV's in my collection have any defects I can use to justify chopping them down...

[evert]

This is the only picture reference to the MkV meteor carbine I was able find on the net:
https://www.gunauction.com/buy/7484852

Those pictures only increase my lust for a carbine meteor.

[Benelli B76]

I've said before,having cut several barrels down they don't appear to miss having a choke.

The guns just felt better balanced as a result

The key thing when cutting down is to crown them properly on a lathe to get the best performance. The .22 Meteor barrels are on a par with modern barrels for accuracy. I also like stubby rifles and fitted a Meteor barrel to my HW 100. It gives the same one hole group at 20 metres as the Weihrauch barrel.

Baz

[jirushi]

Hi, coincidentally I've just finished my two favourite Meteors.
Both have carbine Lightning barrels. I use one with peep sight and one with a scope.
Paul Short worked on the internals for me.
As above, I greatly prefer the balance this way.
Cheers Louis

[evert]

Hi, coincidentally I've just finished my two favourite Meteors.
Both have carbine Lightning barrels.

The guns you have put togetther are some of my inspiration for these ideas! They look absolutely stunning!
One question; did you get the breech block machined for the meteor linkage? If I remember correctly, there are some dimensional differences between the slot for the cocking linkage on the supersport/lightning barrels and the meteor barrels?

[jirushi]

The guns you have put togetther are some of my inspiration for these ideas! They look absolutely stunning!
One question; did you get the breech block machined for the meteor linkage? If I remember correctly, there are some dimensional differences between the slot for the cocking linkage on the supersport/lightning barrels and the meteor barrels?

Thank you. The articulated cocking link of the Mk5 Meteor will work with the Lightning barrel.
The one piece cocking link of earlier Meteor's will not work with the Lightning barrel.
My two guns are Mk5's but I also use an earlier stock with the long slot for a one piece cocking link.
A friend has reduced the thickness of the end of that link, so that it fits in the Lightning barrel slot, if that makes sense.
I can take some photos soon if you want.
Those Lightning barrels aren't too difficult to find in .22. There is one on fleabay atm, look for "BSA large part". Not cheap but you can make Stu an offer
Another friend put the front sight on the Lightning barrel; they do not come with a front sight fitting.
With a peep sight, it works well; with a "normal" rear sight at the breech end of the carbine barrel, I think it wouldn't work.
Mk5 Meteor actions can be used with a peep sight.
I use Mk2/3 metal triggers btw. Much nicer than the plastic ones (in terms of feel mostly, but also looks).
Protek sells those sometimes, otherwise fleabay or a wanted ad on here.
Paul Short does a fantastic job, and I was enormously surpised by the costs - in a positive way. I sent him piston, spring (new Protek spring), spring retaining pin. See photo for what I got back. I asked Paul to shorten the spring btw: in my opinion, less is more in the Meteor (8 ft/lbs in .22 works well for me).
Don't forget to polish all the relevant areas.
Any questions, please ask.
As you can read, I'm quite passionate about Meteors haha
Cheers Louis

[Benelli B76]

Louis, said to my mate I need a part to finish off a Meteor I have rebuilt. He said I have a few locked in the shed you can use for parts (below). Some have nice stocks and finish still, think I will make one of these into a carbine.

Baz

[jirushi]

Louis, said to my mate I need a part to finish off a Meteor I have rebuilt. He said I have a few locked in the shed you can use for parts (below). Some have nice stocks and finish still, think I will make one of these into a carbine.

Baz

[IMG][/IMG]

WOW that upper Meteor stock is amazing!
Never seen one like that. You are a lucky man!!!
If I were you, that would be my choice for a carbine Meteor. Wow. Can't be beech?
My two are maple. Which surprised me; never knew BSA used maple for their stocks.
I guess they might have found a cheap heap of maple one day, but some of it was quite good quality.

[Benelli B76]

Louis, rebuilt 3 of these in the last few days, they were terrible inside, all jammed up. Two had the steel piston head jammed up against the transfer port, with the rest of the piston still sliding up and down. Wondered why the pellet never left the breach on firing when I tested them ! Anyway they look like new as I had a spare sights and resprayed in gloss black as per the original appearance. Without replacing the springs, one was doing 11 ft.lb. already (had a gold coloured spring in) and the others around 8 ft.lb. The last one now is going to be the carbine version with the nice stock.

Baz

[evert]

You guys are lucky to live in the country were all the classic BSAs and Webleys were made...
There are quite few Super meteors here in Norway, but the proper meteors are scarce. My Mk1 and Mk2 meteors were bought in sweden, and I imported a Mk5 meteor stock from Knibbs a while back.

If any of you guys wish to sell a mk3 or mk4 meteor stock and are willing to post, contact me!