Reply With QuoteSomewhere between £150 and 200?Originally Posted by Drew451
Bit of a guess. 54s are weird. Arguably, slightly less interesting/good than Mk1/2 Airsporters, Webley MkIIIs, Diana 50s. But they still have a certain cachet about them.
Registered User
Evening folks. Can I ask your thoughts as to the value of a BSF S54, late model and the basic version with the grooved forend and no cheekpiece. Complete and condition very good to excellent. .22 calibre.
Thanks.
Dodgy Diana User
Somewhere between £150 and 200?
Bit of a guess. 54s are weird. Arguably, slightly less interesting/good than Mk1/2 Airsporters, Webley MkIIIs, Diana 50s. But they still have a certain cachet about them.
Registered User
Evening mate,
To me condition is everything here. That and the relative rarity of the gun. They do come up on here every so often but no where near as years ago. And if not you have to go hunting for them to track one down.
I know very little of the BSF range but the base model 54 is a plain old beast and very front heavy to my mind. I certainly dont see the same quality in these guns as I see in other German guns such as FWB, HW, Diana, Anschutz etc. But they area bit of a rarity and are desirable for those collecting German air weapons.
From memory when I have seen them come up now and again on the advert site that is free they are all the wrong side of £300. Even the base models. I cant recall seeing any Bayern or Match examples for a long time though I did pass on a Bayern about two years ago after seeing some modifications to it from standard that I didnt like.
There was one on the auction of all the goodie air rifles in the thread link the other week? I cannot recall what that went for but it was upwards of £200 from memory.
Much depends on how badly you feel the need of a BSF in the rack. But if it is in very clean presentable and good mechanical order then I personally would pay north of £250 for one if it REALLY is squeaky clean. These guns are now pushing on a bit age wise and if they havent been sleepers some will have picked up a few dints and have faded bluing by now as the finish on them is not the best straight from factory.
Good luck with the search!
Dave
Registered User
Thank you, men. I call BSF's blue moon guns. Hardly ever come up, but one has.
Baldyman is now extinct
Also depends whether it shoots straight or not.
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" -- Benjamin Franklin
Award-winning Airgun Anorak
Can't really agree with Dave about the quality being inferior to other German guns, although I've only seen older BSFs, so maybe there was a dip in quality in the '70s or '80s? What he says about values sounds right. I have a 1950s S54 and it's super accurate and beautifully made, if a tad agricultural in design.
Last edited by Garvin; 21-02-2019 at 10:36 PM.
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..Above link posted with permission from Gareth W-B
In British slang an anorak is a person who has a very strong interest in niche subjects.
Registered User
I think the quality was very good if not a bit Germanic and dated. I believe the last had some pretty horridly modern stocks to try and jazz them up. It failed.
Quite rare, but all in the condition. Somewhat on the looks too. There are plenty in collections already. Start line £200, more will need justifying.
They shot quite well if not a bit of a front heavy lump. Triggers nothing to get excited about.
Dodgy Diana User
Agree with that, mostly. BSFs I have owned and examined are well-made in traditional fashion. There are some oddities, like the laminated trigger, but they were still using steel triggers and sights and trigger guards when others had moved to alloys or plastic.
I’d put them in the same rough quality category as Dianas. My 70s BSFs have similar metal finish to my 70s Dianas, and slightly better wood finish.
Contemporary HWs, Webleys, and Walthers are a bit better finished (esp blueing). HWs and Walthers always had better triggers. FWB Sports are made to tighter tolerances, of great metal, despite their design flaws. But, excepting maybe finish (not sure), 70s and 80s BSFs do not show the cost-cutting of, say, contemporary BSAs and many Webleys compared to what came before.
As I said above, I’m not a huge fan of the 54. I am more inclined to the 55, 60 and 70. And I.J.’s unicorn 65.
Registered User
I remember there was an Airgun World article in the early 80's with a gentleman shooting pigeons from a hedge hide, with I think a Bayern. Always hankered after one since then.
"helplessly they stare at his tracks......."
Registered User
I remember that article which inspired me to get one a few years back when I was buying all the things I could never had had in my youth.
Sadly the BSF 54 wasn't the tac driver I expected. Open sights at farmyard ranges it was fine if a bit of a lump and front heavy. But once scoped just annoyingly tricky to keep pellets where the cross hair was. Same could be said of many springers of that time. It just wasn't a HW77.
The collector formerly known as micky
Hi l sold mine which was in excellent condition in 2011 for £220. but someone had made a custom stock for it. l think it was made from Elm. and it came in a fur lined case. l remember it was a bit twangy and a right weight but it shot alright.
hope this might help.
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