BSA Airsporter & Webley MK.3

[POLO]

Hi

When the world was young the only powerful air rifles available, if you could afford them were the Airsporter and MK3. The brochures claimed fantastic ranges and no mention was made of muzzle energy. Indeed the only way to gauge the power was to fire them against a paving slab and compare the pellet deformation. I would be interested to have the Forum opinion on there realistic power levels although I now believe the pre war B.S.A.'s were more powerful and better guns.

[isobar]

i have a healthy mk3 that is about 9flb but i agree with your belief that the pre war B.S.As were better and more powerful.the mk3 is a very well made rifle,solid and dependable.

[Tinram]

I have several Airsporters and Webley MK3’s in my collection and around 10ftlbs is the top end for mine. For me, early model Airsporters (Mk1 & 2) are preferable to later models. Webley MK3’s are lovely, very well made and a joy to own & shoot. Can’t comment on pre war BSA’s personally as don’t own any examples, but friends that shoot them wouldn’t part with them!

[deejayuu]

Just for info. Webley did spec. muzzle velocity in the brochures eg Mk3 in .177 600 ft/sec, .22 550
Had to assume pellet used was Webley Special in the orange tin

[Mark Palmer]

By reputation, the Airsporters were always the most powerful guns when I was a nipper, in reality 9-10ftlb but with a nasty harsh shot cycle and quite a kick, they certainly felt powerful, the mk3 was , by comparison very civilised and far more accurate, similar power but didnt feel like it. To our pre teen minds, the airsporter was a canon and we all wanted one!! Having had both in later life, the airsporter was quite unpleasant to shoot, but the mk3 was a delight. I like to revive abused airsporters but always move them on with no regrets, I do, however regret selling my mk3

[andrewM]

The problem with both, of course, and seen from today's standard, is that neither could accommodate a scope without scope creep. This stated, we all learned to shoot with open sights and after repeated practice, became remarkably proficient.

Some testing I did - and reported on this site - demonstrated that the accuracy of the Mk3s was something of a lottery. When they progressed to button rifling in or around 1970, this greatly improved and the rifle was much more dependable. On some of the older rifles I tried, it was difficult to obtain a group of 2-3 inches at 25yds, using a rest. However, with the later versions, 3/4 inch groups were possible. With a fixed scope, it would be possible to improve on that, I think.

I am of the view that the pre-war BSAs were excellent. The sights were very precise, using the bead foresight. The power was better than post-war and I don't think British air rifles improved upon the pre-war BSA design until the late 1970s. There is an excellent vintage air rifle website which details the capability of the pre-war BSAs.

The Mk3 power was something of a lottery too. Very occasionally, the odd rifle would come out at 11ft/lbs+. For most, I think it is fair to say 9-10.5lbs, depending upon the pellet. Mine does about 10ft/lbs using Superdomes, which are also a good match.

I have no experience of the immediate post-war BSA Mk1 and Mk2s. I had a BSA Airsporter from the early 70s but it was not a match for the German air rifles that were then becoming available.

Rgds
A