Advice re fitting scope rail to pre-war BSA

[andrewM]

A very interesting thread and you seem to have two first class rifles there, well looked after.

As Lakey remarked here, sometime ago, PCPs are without souls. Yours is of exceptional power, however, so clearly it has a purpose, probably to shoot at much greater ranges than would be possible with a sub 12ft lbs rifle. On the other hand, anyone can hit the centre of the target with a PCP. Almost no skill is required if a rest is employed.

Once one gets to appreciate the engineering within the springer, I have found that it is difficult to revert to the pcp - and I am without much technical ability. The former stands out, head and shoulders over the latter. I have returned to the sport after many years and much prefer, these days, the springer. There is more satisfaction using it. In turn, I became so impressed with the abilities of the old BSA Standard, that I purchased last year a 1922 version, with which I am delighted. This is one of the best air rifles ever produced, in my view, and far exceeds many of the air rifles that were produced up until the late '70s and even beyond in some instances. That said, they all seem to be a little different, each with their own personalities, which one has to learn.

A number of people have already added scopes to these rifles. I have seen many photographs posted here, not least, from memory, in Edbear's magnificent collection - one or two of which, I recall, had scopes. Some, I suspect, had them fitted before WW2 but not in all instances. Despite the view of the purists, I see no reason why these rifles should not be improved. After all, they are continuously being tinkered with and improved, with new springs, pistons, washers and so on being fitted. Ideally, one would seek a period scope - they are available. In addition, one would have very carefully to engineer the fitting to ensure a tasteful and acceptable mount, probably with a recoil arrestor.

Doubtless advice is available here - the members are most helpful - and there might be those who read this thread who can advise how their scope has been fitted. Many are capable engineers. Certainly, there are some substantial collectors of these rifles, some with scopes.

Lakey, if he reads this, might have a view.

I would be most interested to know how you get on and what sort of groupings you can achieve with a scope.

[45flint]

I like Andrew purchased a 1924 BSA Standard last year and to my delight found out how truly special these rifles are. It amazes me that they were so well made that they can compete with any rifle I own and their open sights may have no equal. I have taken some of my classic air guns and scoped them to see what they can do. The most recent is my 1949 Crosman Town and Country, a American Classic. But my criteria for scoping any classic is doing it without any permanent alteration. Cause what I am finding is yes, I like certain aspects of a scope but is it really that much more accurate than the aperature sight? I could not bear to alter such a classic and every time I hold it I like stepping back in time.

Good luck but given my experience with the BSA open sight, I not sure it can be improved by anything?

Awesome hat by the way!

[Shed tuner]

try a peepsight / diopter for increased accuracy whilst keeping things contemporary ?

[averageplinker]

How about finding an engineer who can make a scope rail in 2 parts that clamps around the barrel and try a pistol scope on it? If it was made well it should not mark the barrel too much/at all and would be completely reversible!

[Lakey]

Interesting thread.
I too would try fitting an aperture sight onto the gun, and try that out before fitting a scope ramp.

That said, I have two BSA's in my collection with scope ramps fitted. One gun sports a Parker Hale, once piece scope ramp, that has been screwed to the compression cylinder. The other is a flat steel plate that has been spot welded ( and screwed) to the cylinder and has the step of the higher trigger block to act as a scope stop. It looks as if someone has added blobs of weld ( or they could be shortened screw shanks) to the top of the cylinder, then further welded the scope ramp to them? Both are effective, but neither are reversible.

I had thought of possibly fitting another scope ramp to another one of my guns ( only an average to bad condition gun - would never do it to a good condition gun) , and thought you might be able to bond a closely fitting scope ramp, with a high modular silicon sealant.
I think if you degreased the area well enough, you would have enough bonding power to safely support a small scope, and I reckon that would be fully reversible if you decided to change your mind at any time.

NOW I HAVEN'T TESTED MY THEORY OUT, but if the correct ramp was fitted to the cylinder, and enough silicon ( high shore rating ) was used, it would damage a patinated finish to much, and you would have in effect a primitive "Dampa Mount" idea to further protect the scopes internals. Maybe fit a nice early weaver scope, as their long thin profile wouldn't look out of place on a pre-war BSA.

Just my thoughts........



Lakey

[jirushi]

Thank you gents for all the interesting and kind replies.

@AndrewM, although I must confess that I own more pcp's than springers, I do agree. I like pcp's especially for long range precision work. It is fascinating - at least for me - to see a .25 pellet land exactly where you want it at 100 meters. For close range work, I prefer springers. More interesting to shoot, less things to go wrong, no worries about needing to fill up with air, etc. I find that the lower powered springers work better for me. The Light Model for instance, and a Lightning which was made for .22, but now has a .177 barrel. This reduced the power from about 11 fpe to 8 fpe. It shoots better now.

@45flint, wearing this hat makes me shoot better haha. Interesting to read that you have scoped some other vintage airguns. I had never heard of the Crosman Town and Country by the way, but it looks nice. It reminds me of the Sheridan Blue/silver streak. The Sheridan must be based on the T&C? Just read an interesting article on Pyramid Air about the gun. Mr. Tom Gaylord aka BB Pelletier never fails to write something good.

@shed tuner, good idea, but thinking of the peep sight on my Webley Service Rifle, I find it difficult to see targets further than say 20 meters. A scope for me means magnification and a nice and easy aim.

@average plinker, that is an interesting idea, but wouldn't something holding the barrel cause the gun to be less accurate? Not sure if this is true for the one-piece design of the old BSA's, but I know that with break barrels, the barrel should not make contact with anything during the shot.

@Lakey, any chance to see some photos of your scoped vintage BSA's?
Do you mean a sealant like Loctite btw?

Thanks, Louis

[averageplinker]

Hi Louis
The idea I suggested should not affect the accuracy in the way you suggest unless you rested the barrel on something when shooting it.
The weight of the mount/scope however might make the rifle too front heavy. It may also affect barrel harmonics which might aid accuracy or might make it worse?
Rich.

[Shed tuner]

yeah I wonder if tiger seal or something would hold a scope ramp, and allow a light scope (the SMK 4x28 is light, cheap and surprisingly clear)... I might try it on my standard. Needs a very careful degrease first though, but the finish on that gun is pretty crap, so not much to lose