BSA spitfire info

[madcarlos]

Hi I don't see these very often but a couple have popped up lately, Just to ask as I did hear these were a bugger to strip and service, Anyone on here who may be able to give some advice on these guns please. Thanks

[Rich]

The general opinion is to send them back to Mr J Bowkett as he has all the necessary jigs etc. I'm just hoping mine doesn't go wrong; it's one of the early ones not the hi-fill type, and all I've done is to replace the breech seal which is a generic BSA type.

[airgunnut]

Hi I don't see these very often but a couple have popped up lately, Just to ask as I did hear these were a bugger to strip and service, Anyone on here who may be able to give some advice on these guns please. Thanks

Might have something to do with them been part pcp part brake barrel, I remember the old gun shop in Doncaster, the old owner swore blind that they were normal brake barrels, he was adamant they were normal springers even after I asked him why they came with little pre charged bottles

[madcarlos]

Thanks for the reply's , Do they suffer with any issues at all, Saying that I sort of mean any common faults, Even tho I am thinking of going back to more springers than pcp I sort of think the spitfire is very much in between in a sort of way,

[Benelli B76]

Thanks for the reply's , Do they suffer with any issues at all, Saying that I sort of mean any common faults, Even tho I am thinking of going back to more springers than pcp I sort of think the spitfire is very much in between in a sort of way,

The only fault that I had was a leak, and this is caused by not using the rifle regularly. If you shoot it once a month and top up the air there should be no problem. Leaving the rifle stored for months you will probably get a leak. On the the positive side they are an accurate easy to handle rifle, and were once used by teams for target shooting with long .177 barrel and target sights. They also very easy to keep at the correct power level by the owner with a tiny allen key.

Baz

[madcarlos]

The only fault that I had was a leak, and this is caused by not using the rifle regularly. If you shoot it once a month and top up the air there should be no problem. Leaving the rifle stored for months you will probably get a leak. On the the positive side they are an accurate easy to handle rifle, and were once used by teams for target shooting with long .177 barrel and target sights. They also very easy to keep at the correct power level by the owner with a tiny allen key.

Baz

Ah thanks for that , just the sort of info I was looking for.

[Benelli B76]

If you can get the Firebird version, these are very handy as the barrels change very easily by loosening two allen screws so you can have a complete range of calibres on one rifle.

Baz

[mdunn]

hi, i have 1 in .22, how can you tell if its a high fill 1. what pressure do they need filling to. smothbore on here services them. atb mick

[madcarlos]

If you can get the Firebird version, these are very handy as the barrels change very easily by loosening two allen screws so you can have a complete range of calibres on one rifle.

Baz

Heard of the firebird but can't say I have seen one unless in a mag over the years. May look one of these up, I been offered a spitfire as part of a deal against a pcp gun I have here, Although I was looking for springers against my pcp gun the spitfire was in with a couple of springers plus it was a bit unusual. As draft as it may sound I convinced myself it was more springer than pcp. Suppose I have never had one so maybe now was the chance.

[madcarlos]

hi, i have 1 in .22, how can you tell if its a high fill 1. what pressure do they need filling to. smothbore on here services them. atb mick

That's a great but if info. Always handy to know people who you can call on if needed.

[Benelli B76]

hi, i have 1 in .22, how can you tell if its a high fill 1. what pressure do they need filling to. smothbore on here services them. atb mick

The hi fill has a standard B.S.A. fill adapter socket underneath and fills to 232 bar, the other Spitfire has a thread fitting underneath that can be filled from a buddy bottle or you can screw in a special adapter to fill from a diving bottle. You cannot overfill this one as it is fitted with a blow off valve and has a tiny indicator just in front of the sight ramp that has three line indicators to show percentage fill. The blow off valve can make some guys jump at the range who are not used to hearing it.

Baz

[mdunn]

thanks baz, i must have a high fill as i have a adaptor that pushes in like my hw100. might start using it for ratting. atb mick

[webb22]

wonderful air rifles these - very underrated IMO. i've had JB work his magic on a couple of mine and now they are spiffing! i do have a couple of standard (factory) ones as well and they are still good straight off the production line. i believe they need a rig of sorts to hold all the salient bits together when they are reassembled - you'll find this out pretty sharpish once you've had one to pieces! JB talks about them with great fondness and he really rates them as one of the first rifles he did for BSA, which was basically limited to the BSA production (springers) line at the time - which is why meteor and supersport (or derivatives there of) parts (most of them apart from the springer power plant bits) are fairly interchangeable. I put a 25 'export' barrel on one a while ago and its ace (loves the old skool marksman, rhino, etc). And i sourced an 'export' choked 177 barrel that is ridiculously accurate. This is also helped by how consistent the output is, if you don't overfill them. i have both high fill and the original (low) fill version. i like the low fill best, as you can use buddy bottle to fill it in the field (200cc are nice and portable) and the onboard gauge is brill, once you get familiar with how many shoots equate to each of the lines marked on the valve - clever for its time i think never filled mine past 200bar, as the power curve is more pronounced above this IMO. the overfill valve can get sticky some times, so give it a tap as you fill it to check its not sticking. as said above, use it regularly or dry fire it monthly to prolong the seal life. firebirds are also tasty, if you can find one! but you'll never get a spitfire or firebird in 20 unfortunately - something BSA has never really picked up on, which is a shame IIRC there was a chap on here a while back that said he successfully had one to bits and resembled it! can't remember who though...?

[madcarlos]

wonderful air rifles these - very underrated IMO. i've had JB work his magic on a couple of mine and now they are spiffing! i do have a couple of standard (factory) ones as well and they are still good straight off the production line. i believe they need a rig of sorts to hold all the salient bits together when they are reassembled - you'll find this out pretty sharpish once you've had one to pieces! JB talks about them with great fondness and he really rates them as one of the first rifles he did for BSA, which was basically limited to the BSA production (springers) line at the time - which is why meteor and supersport (or derivatives there of) parts (most of them apart from the springer power plant bits) are fairly interchangeable. I put a 25 'export' barrel on one a while ago and its ace (loves the old skool marksman, rhino, etc). And i sourced an 'export' choked 177 barrel that is ridiculously accurate. This is also helped by how consistent the output is, if you don't overfill them. i have both high fill and the original (low) fill version. i like the low fill best, as you can use buddy bottle to fill it in the field (200cc are nice and portable) and the onboard gauge is brill, once you get familiar with how many shoots equate to each of the lines marked on the valve - clever for its time i think never filled mine past 200bar, as the power curve is more pronounced above this IMO. the overfill valve can get sticky some times, so give it a tap as you fill it to check its not sticking. as said above, use it regularly or dry fire it monthly to prolong the seal life. firebirds are also tasty, if you can find one! but you'll never get a spitfire or firebird in 20 unfortunately - something BSA has never really picked up on, which is a shame IIRC there was a chap on here a while back that said he successfully had one to bits and resembled it! can't remember who though...?

Thanks for taking the time to write the above post, One of these caught my eye a while back but you don't see many about, Just seems so simple to use, As said above I been offered a couple of springers and one of these spitfires could be included so at moment just thinking about doing the swap. Thanks for the above ok bud.

[Jtibbs]

wonderful air rifles these - very underrated IMO. i've had JB work his magic on a couple of mine and now they are spiffing! i do have a couple of standard (factory) ones as well and they are still good straight off the production line. i believe they need a rig of sorts to hold all the salient bits together when they are reassembled - you'll find this out pretty sharpish once you've had one to pieces! JB talks about them with great fondness and he really rates them as one of the first rifles he did for BSA, which was basically limited to the BSA production (springers) line at the time - which is why meteor and supersport (or derivatives there of) parts (most of them apart from the springer power plant bits) are fairly interchangeable. I put a 25 'export' barrel on one a while ago and its ace (loves the old skool marksman, rhino, etc). And i sourced an 'export' choked 177 barrel that is ridiculously accurate. This is also helped by how consistent the output is, if you don't overfill them. i have both high fill and the original (low) fill version. i like the low fill best, as you can use buddy bottle to fill it in the field (200cc are nice and portable) and the onboard gauge is brill, once you get familiar with how many shoots equate to each of the lines marked on the valve - clever for its time i think never filled mine past 200bar, as the power curve is more pronounced above this IMO. the overfill valve can get sticky some times, so give it a tap as you fill it to check its not sticking. as said above, use it regularly or dry fire it monthly to prolong the seal life. firebirds are also tasty, if you can find one! but you'll never get a spitfire or firebird in 20 unfortunately - something BSA has never really picked up on, which is a shame IIRC there was a chap on here a while back that said he successfully had one to bits and resembled it! can't remember who though...?

Hi I have got a firebird with the following barrels .177 .20 .22 .25 .30
It shoots like a dream