BSA Lightning XL experience

[g60bv]

i've owned 2 xls
the .25 i tuned up and got it running 'right' , it came at 8fp and after a tune it was 11.5 but the barrel wobbles in the breach and the barrels are so tight you could shoot it for long before you had a sore thumb. i had to use rhinos which turned out to be perfect.
the .22 one was equally as bad, i made it a .177 and it ruined it. could not get over 9fp. sold them both, wont buy another bsa springer again.

[harvey_s]

I bought a new Parker Hale Striker in the end... £100 cheaper and old BSA quality.

The lesson I have taken from this is mainly how unreliable the reviews are in the shooting mags - this is not the first time I have been hugely disappointed by the quality I have purchased vs. the projected quailty presented by the magazine reviews (this comment is aimed at at least 3 mags rather than any 1 in particular).
I know they earn a portion of their income from the advertisers, but without the readers who buy the damn things they don't have a magazine at all and I think they've forgotten that

BTW the gunshop where I purchased the PH from said they had also had sufficient quality issues with BSA guns that they too had written a letter of complaint to the same guy I had (Peter Martineau - BSA's Sales & Marketing Manager)

[g60bv]

thats exactly the reason i bought the bsa XL in the first place. had excellent reviews but in real life utter ####e. i saw a new mag doing a comparison against a XL and a theoben evo. omg. the bsa's a table leg when compared to a evo.! hardly a comparison

[hirsute]

I have the bsa xl tactical in all three calibres - started with the .22 about 8/9 months ago and loved it.

Then had the opportunity to buy second-hand a .25 - fitting pellets was a nightmare but my rfd had it back to bsa to get the breech reamed - didn't cost a lot and its now my favourite.

Recently started doing some hft and as you will appreciate felt the need for the flatter trajectory so purchased, new, a .177. Been using it a couple on months now and am still in love.

Sorry to hear about all the poor experiences others have had - based on my three would be happy to recommend the tactical to anyone.

[lucky trigger]

My .25 xl is in a tactical stock puts pellet on pellet at 20yds using h&n ftt's it also groups well with bisley superfields. As ive already mentioned mine has been tuned and is silky smooth and awesome on rats.

[Taz]

hmmm I have a XL Tactical and it's fine, however maybe I got one of the last Uk one's? the first one I had (this time round) was a catalouge of faults
other than that I succumbed to my usual and gas rammed it thats Number 4 now and all ended up gas rammed I just can't help myself, anyway it works perfectly as have all the other ones Iv'e had, it's a decent little springer and iv'e put up groups of 10p size holes at 45 yards standing, I like smallish rifles and I like this, seems that gamo has messed things up a bit

[archie]

A friend of mine has a tactical in .25 and although he quite likes the rifle it is twangy and he has had a big problem with the fit of the barrel in the breech jaws. On balance he would not buy another. As for the mag reviews, well, advert income is required.

[Plinky Pete]

Not in the same league but I bought a Meteor last year as an entry gun. Put 35 pellets through it and it stopped cocking altogether. Took it back and demanded my money back. Bought one of Winerack's finest a couple months later and can't miss anything in my back yard.

[harvey_s]

As for the mag reviews, well, advert income is required.

Not more than the income from the magazine buyers it isn't.... (their entire 'raison d'etre')

[Smudge9123]

i think the bsa tactical xl is a good gun nice to hold and accurate and i get good grouping size up to 25 yards

[Bessa]

I think that the XL and tactical were both quite good guns. However i wonder if there is a conspiracy at work with GAMO since buying up the major competitor at this price range......
The drop off in quality is reported to be pretty bad even from store owners, yet Gamo has paradoxically raised the quality of its own design air weapons which were once very average at best......you might remember the poor Sniper and Apache models as example....think about it.

[mark22c]

had looked at one of these over the weekend at a store near me. obviously didnt get to shoot it but was a nice gun to hold and shoulder.
i did notice the finish wasnt quite as good as i'd like for £250 but then the last time i bought a brand new hw90 they cost £150 and the finish was much better than the bsa i held at the weekend... prices have risen astronomically since i last bought an air rifle about 5 or 6 years ago!
im truly stumped as to what to buy now after finding this thread? as was going to buy one.

[Jenny Dipple]

I have owned Lightening XLs in all three calibres, all shot well, but I did have problems finding a pellet that fitted ok in the .177, Accupell were the only ones that fitted straght from the tin. I had the same problem with the .25, pellets very tight fit in the end I got PCMB to make me pellet sizers which sorted out the problem. I only have the .25 now and would not get rid of it. Its very accurate out to 35yds and hard hitting.

[remorem2jh@supanet.com]

hi guys i had an XL belived to be a version could not get on with it (accuracy probs) no matter what i tried i could not get it to group under 3" at 25yds in even put in a V.Mach kit but still no improvment i have severall other springers and can get sub 1" at 35yds so i had to let it go in the end PX ing it for the Venom77k.
Shame as i spent much time and money on it and loved the short pointy style and handling.
regards Jamie

[mattrob1502]

In had one with a tactical stock. The stock was poorly finished and mine was hollow therefore sounding louder than a beech stocked one, also the end cap fell out after about two weeks and had to be glued back in.

The .177 version was very pellet fussy and the breech way too tight making all but impossible to seat a variety of quality pellets in it, including H&N FTTs, Air Arms etc.

I found the .177 version very "snappy" to fire.

It has an inferior trigger unit compared to say the Weirauch Rekord trigger.

I traded it back to the dealer for a .22 calibre beech stocked version, which had been fitted with a gas ram. Positive points are

Not that pellet fussy
Pellets seat in the breech as they should
The beech stock is in my opinion much nicer than the tactical stock
The gas ram makes it smoother and quieter to shoot

My only negative now is that the trigger still leaves a lot to be desired and if they could improve this then I think it would be a very good rifle in .22 calibre as it looks nice, is easy to cock, has great balance, is fairly lightweight, has the maxi rail for scope mounting and is quite quiet for a springer (gas ram) in my case and when you consider the price new it also represents good value for money.

Every rifle will convey something different to the user, be it, calibre, stock choice, weight, accuracy etc, but I do think the XL Lighting offers very good value for money compared to other makes in the same price bracket, if one was prepared to spend a bit more then I would recommend a Weirauch HW95k as the extra cost is justified in the build quality and trigger unit, but of course were do you draw the line on spend as you can keep going with a springer until you end up in Whiscombe territory at £2,000 so despite my observations and some criticisms I think that what you pay you do get a very nice all round rifle.