It's such a bloody confusing, frustrating yet characterful rifle, the Lightning.......
I really want to like them.....I feel an affinity for BSA springers. My first "proper" air rifle was a Meteor Super when I was 14. Shot my first rabbit with that rifle. And a fair few more followed, as well as numerous rats. I had a Mercury for years, which accounted for lots of rabbits and other vermin. And a Challenger, too.
I owned a Lightning, briefly, at the start of 2011. Beautiful styling. Lightweight. Handy and purposeful. Lovely finish. It was a mint condition Birmingham one. The action felt "tight" and dry. Consistency was AMAZING. But this will have been due to it being so very dry. If I remember correctly, over 10 shots, variation was 1.5fps!
I ordered a V-Mach kit up for it, as I've always been more than impressed with them and now they transform a rifle. But then, I thought, "Er, hang on, the gun cost £110, tuning kit £72, that means a Lightning is now going to owe me £182". And I'll still have a gun with a barrel pivot pin, as opposed to a proper breech bolt, and a not so brilliant trigger. I rang Steve Pope up and luckily he hadn't made the kit up yet, so I asked him to do me one for one of my 95s instead.
The £72 that I'd have spent on the kit, plus a little more, saw me the proud owner of yet another 95.
Not knocking the Lightning. I really want to love them for lots of reasons :- their purposeful nature and to rekindle that love of BSAs I had as a youngster.
I think if you own one, and you're happy with it, but just want to make it a little more refined then, as long as the cost is not prohibitive and is justifiable, then go for it. The trigger may not be perfect, but you get used to it. If the breech jaws ever open up, they can always be nipped up in a vice.
You may see reports of inconsistent barrel quality. I've not witnessed this first hand, but would be inclined not to worry, and I've met owners who are really happy with them.
One thing I think they're excellent at is as a walk-around gun, mainly for standing, instinctive shots. Lovely balance. And the trigger, in that situation, actually seems to suit its demeanour.
I am lucky enough to own many Weihrauchs. Some tuned; others standard. I love them all and they are all keepers.
But one gun that I shot recently sticks in my mind. Okay, not a Lightning..
No, it was a humble Meteor. Owned by our very own Jon Budd. And what a bloody lovely and instinctive rifle to shoot. Lovely firing cycle. I think Jon did the mod to it so that it's running a HW parachute seal, as opposed to the original 'O' ring set up, as it's more forgiving of less than perfect cylinder surface. Maybe it's because it reminded me of my youth. I don't know. But, what I do know is that, if Jon were ever to sell it, and of the price was right, I'd be buying that little beauty from him.
To sum up, if recommending a rifle from fresh, er, I'd probably, personally, choose quite a few other rifles before I chose the Lightning. But for someone that already owns one, is happy, and simply wishes to improve.......GO FOR IT, I'd say!
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Originally Posted by Ryder666
