Quote Originally Posted by 45flint View Post
Don’t you find it surprising that prewar BSA never did a non- military full stock? The German companies took the BSA design and did just that and made it into what looked like a new rifle. Now as a collector I feel that classic BSA design is on a level all its own. There is a beauty and grace that to me exceeds the full stock underlever taps. But at the time I would think that shooters would have been looking for a “normal” full stock rifle. Even prewar Webley didn’t give it to them. Maybe in the English mind had been conditioned not to expect a full stock on a air rifle.
I've often wondered this too. I suspect it was something to do with the fact that BSA was 'the one to beat' as well as a British 'go it alone' reluctance to follow German innovations before the war.

British manufacturers were quite happy to move to half stocks after Germany was defeated, and even to make one of their designs the basis of their sporter (ie Webley and the Diana mod 45).

When you look at your prewar Hubertus it's light years ahead of eg. the BSA Breakdown, which was essentially a variation on a pre-WW1 design.

It's funny, for ages I found the buttstock BSAs ugly and undesirable, whereas I thought the buttstock Webley Service a thing of beauty from the first time I clapped eyes on it - and I had to have one aged about 17.

Then the collector in me took over in my 40s and I couldn't have enough prewar BSAs.