BSA Standard power

[Oldandshaky]

Hi,
I have a "T" pattern .22 1936. A couple of years ago I sent it to Dave Hall to make it smoother to cock and shoot he had it for some while but when it came back it was transformed. It has an artificial piston washer and a different spring, I've never opened it up to see what else he's done but he told me it wouldn't need any lube for years.
When I first tried it out it was doing about 10.75 ft lbs, I put it away until this week when I decided to try to sort my small collection with a view to getting rid of some of them.
There was a little smoke from the first few shots, when it stopped I tested it with 14.5 Super domes it was doing 11.50 11.75 11.60 11.78 with the highest reading of 11.84 not bad for a 1936 rifle.
Then I tried some 15.43 BSA Elite's and got readings of 12.40 12.54 12.48 12 .57 with the highest reading of 12.84. I had no idea that an old rifle could reach that kind of power I will test it again later with some other brands of pellets and I'll test my other standard that has the more conventional leather washer.
What I would like to know is what power other owners of these wonderful old rifles get from theirs...
Thanks for looking Dave...

Here's a link to some pictures of this rifle :http://www.pbase.com/davecthomson/bs...rd_t661&page=1

[ogilkes]

Thats quite high, but a BSA std. will easily do 10-11fpe with good maintainance. Prob needs a bit of detuning given those power levels.

[inproved]

Hi,

Nice looking rifle..However it would probably be more accurate at around 9.75 /10.50 just think it's been around since 1936...No reason to give it to much stick...I bet it would shoot superbly around this ft lbs...


Regard's

Steve..

[johnbaz]

Hi Old and shakey

Here's my 1936 Standard..

And here a pellet after I shot it at a patio slab..

I haven't chrono'd it yet as evertime I think about it, I can't find the chrono


John

[Lakey]

That is a very good level of power from a .22 long cylinder 'Standard' Air Rifle. These old guns are built to last, from very good quality materials so I have no doubt the gun will stand up to that power level indefinitely.
Just make sure that the guns firing cycle isnt too harsh, as that will affect accuracy.

One of the things that I find helps these guns no end, and will surely be an aid to better accuracy is deep cleaning the barrel.

Your rifle is dated 1936, and I bet that in its 74 year life the barrel will hardly have ever been cleaned as the underlever system doesnt lend itself to easy barrel cleaning, however you will probably find that with a bit of effort, a deep barrel clean and scrub will improve accuracy no end.

Let us know how accurate the rifle is after the work to improve the power.

Lakey

[Oldandshaky]

Hi,
I just did some more testing with other pellets and the ft lbs have dropped, with AA fields its averaging 9.20 with Bisley pest control 9.50 and with bisley Magnum 10.20.
Back to the BSA Elite's and its now averaging 11.20ft lbs. so I guess it was coughing a little after being asleep for a while, still smooth and very accurate.
While I was testing I got out my BSA standard 1930 .22 this one has the double springs and a leather washer, it is harder to cock than the other one but still shoots very nicely.
A string of shots with the BSA Elite's clocked 10.58 11.10 11.02 10.88 10.93 11.07 11.01 and 10.94. I think that pellet fit is the main factor for getting the best results from these old rifles, the old Ely Wasps were the best but are unobtainable now the new Wasps come in all shapes and sizes. The BSA Elite's seem to be very good to me although I've heard some bad stories about them, maybe I have a good batch. I also use them in .177 with no problems in my Superstar although your finger tips tend to get black, must be some lube in the manufacturing process, I also shoot a .25 Supersport and it likes the BSA Pylarms best they fit well and run a bit more power than Rhino's.
My conclusion is the newer BSA pellets do well in BSA guns...
Thanks for looking...Dave...
Here's a link to the standard: http://www.pbase.com/davecthomson/bsa_standard

[inproved]

Hi,

Very interesting rear sight on your "S" Standard..looks German to me...Look at the way the no1 is formed...Well, it's been well tinkered with, in it's History!!!!

Regard's

Inproved.... Steve...

[Oldandshaky]

Hi,

Very interesting rear sight on your "S" Standard..looks German to me...Look at the way the no1 is formed...Well, it's been well tinkered with, in it's History!!!!

Regard's

Inproved.... Steve...

Hi Steve,
the sights are from a Mauser 98k and very nice to use, the rifle is very accurate but I would rather use open sights than a scope on it.
I was doing some more pellet testing but unfortunately failed to line up the chrono on the end of the barrel and blasted it to bits so that's the end of the tests
Dave...