Sussex Armoury - The Untuned Springer?

[Hsing-ee]

Way back when Sussex Armoury sold a range of sidelevers, the Jackal family, a design based on an enlarged Hammerli Model 4/400 series.

They sold them for years and years. They were reviewed in Airgun World and give an 'OK hunting rifle' sort of pass, a bit like a BSA Mercury or similar.

Thing is I never ever saw or heard of one of these devices being tuned or customised by any of the custom places or indeed any of the AGW writers, who would stoop to the level of the Webley Hawk and Crosman 766 for a quick fettle. I can't remember perfectly but I think the Jackal that I fired was very buzzy and noisy.

Has anyone ever 'tuned' one of them? I think the Jackal Hi-Power was the peak of the Jackals, with its 15" barrel. Later of course came the NSP Engineering rifles, the fancy stocked Khasmin and Carmargue. But I never heard of them being tuned either. Is it because they are side-levers? Or is it the 'O' ring piston? Or is it basic lack of accuracy potential, that they could be trounced by a well set-up BSA Meteor?

Anyone shot one for accuracy with modern pellets? I know RustyBuzz said there was a problem with the barrel seating on some of them, causing a gap between the tap and the breech, but it can't have been on all of them.

And were the Air Arms sidelevers at all accurate? They cant have been all that or they would not have copied the HW77...