Things come to he who waits.

[look no hands]

Please anyone: What are the differences between the Brum Supersport and the Challenger? And, was there a problem with roughness and spring breakages on the Supersport, or, was that the "foreign" Lightning? I must admit, I love my Challengers including a Carbine version......

Kind regards to all.....

Basically the Challenger is a break barrel version of the Airsporter, the piston has a rod which latches to the trigger mechanism and it also has the graceful and iconic sloping trigger block housing, the build quality seems to be a bit better as well.

The Supersport is an enlarged and updated version of the Meteor, which means it can reach full power easier than the Meteor, the piston has no rod and the trigger sear locks onto the side of the piston, the rifle overall isn't as well built (in my eyes) as the Challenger as the trigger mechanism is housed in a cage welded to the cylinder and the trigger guard is a bit of bent metal.

Pete

[SRV1]

Many thanks Pete for your reply....Even though a Brum jobbie, not really up there with the quality collectables then?

[Hsing-ee]

Many thanks Pete for your reply....Even though a Brum jobbie, not really up there with the quality collectables then?

BSA barrels are some of the best there are. Pete loves his BSAs so why not .. the SuperSport might be a bit unsophisticated, which means that they improve proportionately more when tuned, tweaked and fettled. Better job satisfaction for the home Tuna. And they haven't got that iconic but super-awkward curved back block like the mercs challengers and airsplinkers...

[look no hands]

Many thanks Pete for your reply....Even though a Brum jobbie, not really up there with the quality collectables then?

BSA barrels are some of the best there are. Pete loves his BSAs so why not .. the SuperSport might be a bit unsophisticated, which means that they improve proportionately more when tuned, tweaked and fettled. Better job satisfaction for the home Tuna. And they haven't got that iconic but super-awkward curved back block like the mercs challengers and airsplinkers...

Like what Alistair says, I'm probably being biased about the Supersport as I'm a lover of the Merc/Challenger/Airsporter because of their beautiful looks and I also believe at this point (but that could change in a few days time) that the Challenger could well be the best break barrel BSA have ever made (although the rear curved back block can be a pain sometimes when trying to get proper eye relief when fitting a scope), that could be tipped off the number one spot if the SS custom performs better after a fettle, as it has all the best bits of the Challenger but with an even better trigger (hopefully), I can't see why a Supersport can't be on someone's collectables list, it's been on mine for many years, albeit only the custom model, as like many people point out that because of BSA's (or most probably Gamo's) choice to use breech pivot pins instead of bolts ruins the normal models but at the end of the day it's basically a Merc without the rear trigger block, the barrel and cylinder are the same design, there's just a few more cheaper parts used (plastic rear end cap and bent metal trigger guard) but that shouldn't put anyone off collecting them or even using them as an normal everyday rifle, in fact many happily do.

Pete

[SRV1]

Thanks again Pete for your reply, re-reading my comment it didn't come out well, sounded negative and not quite what I meant - sorry. I love collecting, especially BSA; typically Superstars, Challenger, Mercury S, Airsporter S, RB2, Goldstar.... and the usual foreign stuff, I was wondering about the Brum Supersport being worthy of collecting, especially a custom job and now you have cleared that up. Either by myth, or propaganda, it seemed that the Lightning and possibly the Supersport(?) had problems with spring breakages and suffering quality issues - this may be related to the foreign BSA's? Not being knowledgeable of the model and the hear-say, it had put me off somewhat, please excuse my ignorance of the Supersport. Now being more knowledgeable from the replies, a Brum Supersport is worth looking out for.

Kind regards....

[look no hands]

Thanks again Pete for your reply, re-reading my comment it didn't come out well, sounded negative and not quite what I meant - sorry. I love collecting, especially BSA; typically Superstars, Challenger, Mercury S, Airsporter S, RB2, Goldstar.... and the usual foreign stuff, I was wondering about the Brum Supersport being worthy of collecting, especially a custom job and now you have cleared that up. Either by myth, or propaganda, it seemed that the Lightning and possibly the Supersport(?) had problems with spring breakages and suffering quality issues - this may be related to the foreign BSA's? Not being knowledgeable of the model and the hear-say, it had put me off somewhat, please excuse my ignorance of the Supersport. Now being more knowledgeable from the replies, a Brum Supersport is worth looking out for.

Kind regards....

To be honest I wouldn't have a standard Supersport in my collection mainly due to the points I made on the other reply, now the SS Custom model luckily has the BSA "Deluxe" style Beech stock as like fitted to the Challenger and Super/Goldstar and the later Airsporter S (the mk1 & 2 S had Walnut stocks but the mk3 had the Deluxe Beech stock), which although is Beech and not always highly figured has the higher cheekpiece and the proper pistol grip checkering, which I just love the look of, if BSA had offered the same style of stocks in Walnut then I'd be giddy with joy, the only other Supersport model I'd have in my collection would be the later special edition XL model with the Walnut stock, the stock shape isn't as pleasing to me as the Deluxe version but it's still a nice looking rifle in Walnut, it's just the build quality of the action isn't as good as the earlier Brum made ones and the XL triggers can be a be a bit hit and miss.

Pete

[Hsing-ee]

Can we have a picture Pete, theres none on Google.

Also, did you say it has a PIN instead of a bolt holding the barrel on?