BSA Lightning accuracy

[p.j.]

Im currently fettling a supersport carbine which was a bit harsh and twangy (.177). Polished trigger sears, piston liner, new piston seal,deburr and relube. Bit less twangy trigger better, 9.5ftlb, loose 25mm groups. Now Venom kit, tophat,seal,guide, now running slightly hot, no twang, quite violent recoil. Next job crop the spring, get it down by 2ftlb, when it theory it should be shooting better. I really like the supersports, to me they are a Meteor on steroids. They will never be as accurate as HWs nor perhaps have the build quality, but at the end of the day I still like them, I think its the general look and handling that does it for me.

[richardscar]

Im currently fettling a supersport carbine which was a bit harsh and twangy (.177). Polished trigger sears, piston liner, new piston seal,deburr and relube. Bit less twangy trigger better, 9.5ftlb, loose 25mm groups. Now Venom kit, tophat,seal,guide, now running slightly hot, no twang, quite violent recoil. Next job crop the spring, get it down by 2ftlb, when it theory it should be shooting better. I really like the supersports, to me they are a Meteor on steroids. They will never be as accurate as HWs nor perhaps have the build quality, but at the end of the day I still like them, I think its the general look and handling that does it for me.

It is nice to hear you have kept it Pete and are enjoying it . I have never known a rifle twang like that one did though ! Take care of the little sh*t(affectionately) for me , atb , rich.

[secretagentmole]

I too bought a lightning a gas ram rather than springer, what I have found is that a lot of top quality pellets are too fat for it and cheaper ones that fit into the chamber seem to group acceptably.

it seems that BSA's are a marmite rifle......

still searching for a decent pellet.....

Crosman Premier Ultra Magnum!

[Fabio]

If it's anything like my Supersport (which it probably is) it'll put you off springers for life, just not worth the hassle. Even if you manage the perfect hold with the perfect pellet (is there one?) it'll still give you grief. I recently got a tuned inexpensive XS19 and it's an absolute gem compared to the BSA, almost as easy as shooting a PCP too. Good luck and endeavor to persevere.

[bionicactionman]

got my bsa lightning xl about a year ago wasn't bad either 20mm groups at 30 yrds. but recoil was a bit harsh, so made a project of it. took trigger apart first and gave all the sears agood polishing with the dremmel and tooth paste,then polished all internals including piston piston release bar and inside compression chamber till silky smooth. then replaced spring and piston seal for a v-mach kit including top hat ect. then sprayed all internal shiney surfaces with dry molly spray which is used on bicycle chains then polished that when dry with a drill and a soft rag wraped round it so molly embedded itself into metal surfaces. next relubed trigger sears with t2 grease and put a bit more sticky tar grease on the new spring.then put back together before putting back into stock I took the opportunity to remove the barrel and heat the so called silencer to soften the glue and removed it in the vice leaving me with a nice 8" barrel to which I put on one of those silencer adaptors and put on a PROPER! silencer. now after about 100 or so falcon.22 pellets put through it (the xl loves them!) I have one of the smoothest quietest and accurate springers I have ever had the pleasure to own even though it is now over 12 years old, you may say oh ek what a lot of work but I loved every minute of it and my god what a transformation to the old springer am now getting 10.3ftlb and making sub 10 mm groups at 30+ yards not bad for an old boinger eh?

[1airways]

Whilst perservering with the XL an opportunity to get an Air Arms prosport came my way so snapped it up and it feels just like a PCP. Not put any groups together yet, but looking to do a comparison this weekend.

[Rob M]

I've got a Lightning XLTactical in .22 and love it. I did have one issue with it when it was new but it's now probably the most accurate spring rifle I own, even my two Birmingham-made Webley Longbows aren't quite as good and they have Walther barrels. I know that some people have had bad experiences with them (probably ones made during the period when Gamo moved production to Spain, they're made in Birmingham again now) but I seriously don't think the Lightning deserves the bad press it gets on here. It's actually a popular rifle and sells well, and continues to sell well, so comments like "for every one good one there's ten crap ones" sound like rubbish to me. I'm very pleased with mine, in fact I'm considering buying a second one in the other calibre.

[elewis411]

Which I think just goes to show it basic QC rather than bad design, a certain percentage will be right & you've got one - I get the impression that you are in the minority though.

One of my friends has one too. lightning xl .177, he bought it second hand and was told that it had a v-mach or similar kit fitted, i have shot this rifle quite a few times and believe me, it's absolutely amongst the best springers i have ever shot. I dont consider myself to be anything other than an average shot but i can fairly easily shoot 1/2 inch groups at 25 yards rested across my knees sort of ft style and also 10 yard unsupported standing groups that can easily be covered with a 5p piece. It's running at a tad under 11ft/lbs with jsb's with very tame recoil and the trigger is nice too, it also doesn't need an aftermarket stock or a set back trigger either as the ambi stock has the correct height cheek piece and reach to the trigger. I would take this particular example over a hw95 or similar every time i seem to hear constant criticism of the lightning but their clearly not all bad...

[Charlieslade]

When I got my .22 it had terrible groupings, but it was all down the the pellets. I use webley accupowers and the groupings are within 25mm at 30 yards. Also pull the trigger with the pad on the end of your finger on the other side under the finger nail. Hope this helps