BSA novice: is "Light" the same as No. 1?

[45flint]

In reading about early BSA air rifles it looks to me the "Light", "No. 1", and .177 are all names for the same rifle?

[johnbaz]

In reading about early BSA air rifles it looks to me the "Light", "No. 1", and .177 are all names for the same rifle?

Hi Flint

I have a couple of Standard Model 2 which are .22cal, model 1 is the number one bore and I presume model 3 will be number 3 bore (.25)

I would think it's the same for the Light models and possibly the other early Beesas too


John

[draitzer]

In general, BSA's of 39" overall length get referred to as "Light" models and apparently pre-WWI were made in both #1 Bore (.177) and #2 (.22). Post-WWI this size rifle had first an "L" and later an "A" prefix to the serial number and apparently were all in .177.

Don R.

[Jimny4x4]

I see a number of places online have recently been re-naming these old girls causing me and the OP and possibly many others much confusion . Recall 'Variant" been applied
oddly to differentiate between these . Very mysterious , is there some plot to re-invent the wheel on known BSA history , to confuse us all or is it just people new to collecting who have never read anything .

[Lakey]

Hi Flint,

BSA resumed air rifle production after the Great War in 1919. They offer two new models of "The BSA Standard Air Rifle". The very first rifles to be produced used up some stocks of pre-war parts, so often dont totally conform to the spec of the new rifles, but once these parts were used up, then they went over to fully spec'd productions as follows

BSA Standard Air Rifle No1 Bore - this was a short cylinder, 39" long gun in .177 cal. ( it had an L prefix to the serial number on the trigger block)

BSA Standard Air Rifle No2 Bore - this was a 45", long cylinder, heavier gun in .22 cal ( it has an S prefix on the serial number on the trigger block)

( Dont forget trigger blocks are fully interchangable between guns - leading to mix ups (ie S prefix to the serial number, but gun is in .177 cal etc etc)

In 1921/22 BSA introduced a long cylinder 45" gun in .177 cal, designed for target shooting (as shooters wanted something heavier than the standard L prefix guns). These guns have a CS prefix to the serial number, and are generally known as "Club Standards"


The L prefix guns are commonly known as Light or Ladies Pattern guns ( this stems from Lincoln Jeffries, inventing the smaller, lighter size for use by Youths and Ladies, and marketing it as such in his adverts of the time)

Here is a thread I started a while back, which details all the .177 models which were produced by LJ and BSA ( if you are the kind of collector who wants to find EVERY model type out there) Good luck with your search

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....uot-Collection

[45flint]

Hi Flint,

BSA resumed air rifle production after the Great War in 1919. They offer two new models of "The BSA Standard Air Rifle". The very first rifles to be produced used up some stocks of pre-war parts, so often dont totally conform to the spec of the new rifles, but once these parts were used up, then they went over to fully spec'd productions as follows

BSA Standard Air Rifle No1 Bore - this was a short cylinder, 39" long gun in .177 cal. ( it had an L prefix to the serial number on the trigger block)

BSA Standard Air Rifle No2 Bore - this was a 45", long cylinder, heavier gun in .22 cal ( it has an S prefix on the serial number on the trigger block)

( Dont forget trigger blocks are fully interchangable between guns - leading to mix ups (ie S prefix to the serial number, but gun is in .177 cal etc etc)

In 1921/22 BSA introduced a long cylinder 45" gun in .177 cal, designed for target shooting (as shooters wanted something heavier than the standard L prefix guns). These guns have a CS prefix to the serial number, and are generally known as "Club Standards"


The L prefix guns are commonly known as Light or Ladies Pattern guns ( this stems from Lincoln Jeffries, inventing the smaller, lighter size for use by Youths and Ladies, and marketing it as such in his adverts of the time)

Here is a thread I started a while back, which details all the .177 models which were produced by LJ and BSA ( if you are the kind of collector who wants to find EVERY model type out there) Good luck with your search

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....uot-Collection

Thanks very helpful, the CS was a missing piece for me. Steve

[harry mac]

In reading about early BSA air rifles it looks to me the "Light", "No. 1", and .177 are all names for the same rifle?

No. "Light" is the pattern of the rifle. In England we used to use the word "pattern" instead of the word "model". No1 and .177 both refer to the calibre. No1 bore was .177" calibre, No2 was .22 and (in aiguns) No3 was .25.
In shotguns, No3 bore was another name for the 9mm Flobert shot cartridge.