Sportamatic MKIII

[Phil Russell]

I have been given a Sportamatic MKIII fairground rifle by No. 1 daughter but know virtually nothing about it. The rifle was in pretty rough condition but after an almost complete strip, lots of time cleaning gunge, rust etc away I get a feeling it could work if needed to ... I would need to replace the O ring seals but suspect that would be OK. The only part I did not strip out was the barrel; I suspect it unscrews from the block but it was very tight so I did not push my luck. The brass valve block also has 4 tapped holes on one face as though the same block has been used somewhere else. On the rifle I have there is nothing to fasten onto them and I cannot see that anything would or is needed.
The air connection is strange ... the connection thread seems to be BSF 5/16 x 22 .... I have not come across this before. Is it a standard air connector thread? Out of interest, does anyone know what pressure was used?
I believe the shot used was 3/16" steel balls. A puzzle for me at the moment is how the shot was activated to give single shot. Was it by a simple single pull on the trigger? Or could a continual pull on the trigger fire multiple shots as this might appear to hold the valve open? But then there seem to be two valves. One trigger activated as the exhaust and one on the air inlet. So, with trigger at rest, does air flow into the valve until shut off by the inlet valve?
I do not think I can realistically expect to get it firing so it is more a 'look and see' piece. Nevertheless, any information would be welcome.
Do I remember one being converted to CO2?

Daft question: I guess it cannot work as a pump up?
Cheers, Phil

[Benelli B76]

I have been given a Sportamatic MKIII fairground rifle by No. 1 daughter but know virtually nothing about it. The rifle was in pretty rough condition but after an almost complete strip, lots of time cleaning gunge, rust etc away I get a feeling it could work if needed to ... I would need to replace the O ring seals but suspect that would be OK. The only part I did not strip out was the barrel; I suspect it unscrews from the block but it was very tight so I did not push my luck. The brass valve block also has 4 tapped holes on one face as though the same block has been used somewhere else. On the rifle I have there is nothing to fasten onto them and I cannot see that anything would or is needed.
The air connection is strange ... the connection thread seems to be BSF 5/16 x 22 .... I have not come across this before. Is it a standard air connector thread? Out of interest, does anyone know what pressure was used?
I believe the shot used was 3/16" steel balls. A puzzle for me at the moment is how the shot was activated to give single shot. Was it by a simple single pull on the trigger? Or could a continual pull on the trigger fire multiple shots as this might appear to hold the valve open? But then there seem to be two valves. One trigger activated as the exhaust and one on the air inlet. So, with trigger at rest, does air flow into the valve until shut off by the inlet valve?
I do not think I can realistically expect to get it firing so it is more a 'look and see' piece. Nevertheless, any information would be welcome.
Do I remember one being converted to CO2?

Daft question: I guess it cannot work as a pump up?
Cheers, Phil

Lawrie Amatruda knows a lot about these fairground rifles, he has a collection of them.

Baz