Britannia Peepsight project

[ptdunk]

Hi all,

I just aquired a scruffy but sound Anglo sure shot Britannia with the early flip up 2 leaf rearsights with the intention of fitting a no'19 ring & bead front sight and no8 rearsight as I think it'd make an awesome combo. (sn.1153, .177 with the awkward trigger adjustment hole side position)

[IMG][/IMG]

I have the sights and I'll need to extend the frontsight dovetail to accept the no.19 and I'm assuming drill and tap two holes in the cylinder to bolt the No.8 rearsight to it.

I just checked the accuracy today with the original sights and it's pretty good, so probably worth the peepsight conversion.
I might epoxy the peepsights in place just to check how the setup improves accuracy before doing anything irreversible, I'm quite confident it could make a vintage supergun though...

I know people have fitted Lyman or BSA peepsights to Britannia's before, are they all bolted into drilled & tapped holes in the cylinder?

It's quite a scary prospect but it's the reason I bought it....

Cheers,
Matt

[Huttles94]

I had a Britannia (serial number 926) and someone told me to put a no 8 sight on it. They also said to just drill into the cylinder. I never did it but I cant see another other way of putting the sight onto the gun.

[Josie & John]

Hi Matt,

I have this Britannia in my list: It was included in a 2019 Gavid Gardiner auction.

I have a BSA No 8 sighted - the sight has been professionally drilled and tapped onto the air cylinder. No idea when but it's the actual rifle from the New Zealand Airgun magazine article from several years ago.

Kind regards,

John

[ptdunk]

Seems drilling and tapping is the way then, thanks.

I did notice these versions with the side trigger adjusters have a much smaller trigger guard than the later ones... maybe there was some customer feedback about shooting them with gloves on that made them change them.

Just dug out my copy of NZ airgun John, your one looks very nice, with a longer barrel too I notice.

I’ll report back when I’ve done it.

Cheers,
Matt

[Shed tuner]

i know this is obvious, but be very careful where you drill - that is a compression chamber As shown in your piccy matt, that position wouldn't be a good idea to drill.

I was actually tempted to go the epoxy route too, as the recoil is unlikely to dislodge it, and easy to change one's mind...

[ptdunk]

i know this is obvious, but be very careful where you drill - that is a compression chamber As shown in your piccy matt, that position wouldn't be a good idea to drill.

I was actually tempted to go the epoxy route too, as the recoil is unlikely to dislodge it, and easy to change one's mind...

I know mate, but that’s the problem.
Bolts would have to be v.short so as not to protrude into the cylinder, thread lock should make it air tight.

That’s a good position for me from a shooting perspective, John’s one has it mounted well forward on the last bit of cylinder just behind the transfer port. Maybe there’s more meat there?

I kind of want it back further close to my eye.

I think it may end up epoxied on with a couple of bolt heads stuck in to make it look right.
I did a test epoxying a couple of bits of patina’d degreased steel together. Quite a good effort needed to prize them apart and glue came off without ruining the finish.

I’ll try it tomorrow.

Cheers Jon,
Matt

[Shed tuner]

I know mate, but that’s the problem.
Bolts would have to be v.short so as not to protrude into the cylinder, thread lock should make it air tight.

It's not just being air tight. You will create an uneven/rough patch on the inner surface, which will eat away at the piston seal (or simply leak some air past it). You could expoy the inside and then hone/wet/n-dry it smooth I guess ?

John’s one has it mounted well forward on the last bit of cylinder just behind the transfer port. Maybe there’s more meat there?

Yes, it's a solid end plug, so no air leakage / inside smoothness issues at all. I guess you could find a suitably profiled (curved) strip of steel (longitudinal section of 3mm wall pipe) glue it along the top of the air chamber, epoxied along it;s length, but bolted at the front into the meaty front bit of the air chamber/end plug, then bolt the sight into the strip further back. Could look a bit heath robinson though. Or you could have it run full length up to the stock, stock which might help aesthetically ?


For simplicity I like the epoxy+fake bolt route...

[ptdunk]

It's not just being air tight. You will create an uneven/rough patch on the inner surface,
For simplicity I like the epoxy+fake bolt route...

I hadn’t thought of that...
I bet if you started the holes at 2mm and went up 0.1mm at a time to 2.9mm for a M3.5 tap there would be minimal deformation and burring. Might be able to come up with a tiny right angle file to drop in the hole to de-burr from the inside...

Just measured the transfer port and it’s 25mm so your right, enough solid plug on the end to get a trouble free mount above the transfer port.

Just tried the above for position and it’s definitely too far forward for my liking, about 6’’ from my eye, only meant to be a couple of inches.
Think I’ll glue it in my position 4’’ from the eye and a good position for the hand, your right it’s the simplest solution for now.

To make it a legit period Adaptation I’d have to be confident it could be bolted if wanted.
I’ll chat to my metalwork/engineer gurus at work.

Cheers for your thoughts,
Matt

[Josie & John]

Seems drilling and tapping is the way then, thanks.

I did notice these versions with the side trigger adjusters have a much smaller trigger guard than the later ones... maybe there was some customer feedback about shooting them with gloves on that made them change them.

Just dug out my copy of NZ airgun John, your one looks very nice, with a longer barrel too I notice.

I’ll report back when I’ve done it.

Cheers,
Matt

Hi Matt,

Longer barrels became standard from approx #2200. Lowest number with an extended barrel that I know of is 2216 and as to be expected with serial production, there are several shorter length models known with slightly higher numbers than 2216.

The improved trigger adjustment came in between #1046 and 1203.

Kind regards,

John

[Farsight]

If I were you I'd beg ,borrow or swap something lighter and less ugly; like a small Greener or a Lyman, make it fit flush and sweat the thing on.

Atb Mark

[Mach 1.5]

Got one of those peepsights in the spare box if anyone requires one? Mach 1.5

[ptdunk]

If I were you I'd beg ,borrow or swap something lighter and less ugly; like a small Greener or a Lyman, make it fit flush and sweat the thing on.

Atb Mark

Thanks for the suggestion,
Do either have the multiple iris? It’s a bit of an advantage for the old vintage HFT.

Cheers,
Matt

[ptdunk]

Ok... seems they do
I’ll have a look.