Inside the 1912 BSA Improved D

[Lakey]

The spring had no preload when I took apart the rifle, is that normal?

Not ideal but perfectly understandable with the original spring. I think 1-1.5" of pre-load is normal for these rifles.

But if you are just shooting in the back yard, why stress the 100 year old metal by trying to get every last foot per second out of it


Lakey

[TonyL]

I must say that I am impressed with the attention to detail from BSA, with the piled arms stamp on the spring edge … I don’t suppose there was a need at all to do this, other than to id it as a BSA spring, but it was done never the less.

Absolutely. Beautifully built, solid rifles with superb attention to detail.

[TonyL]

Not ideal but perfectly understandable with the original spring. I think 1-1.5" of pre-load is normal for these rifles.

But if you are just shooting in the back yard, why stress the 100 year old metal by trying to get every last foot per second out of it


Lakey

100% agree and enjoy this lovely rifle for what it is and represents.

[Benelli B76]

Not ideal but perfectly understandable with the original spring. I think 1-1.5" of pre-load is normal for these rifles.

But if you are just shooting in the back yard, why stress the 100 year old metal by trying to get every last foot per second out of it


Lakey

Andy, I thought all these rifles had a two flat cross section springs in. Mine have, when did they switch to a one piece round section ordinary spring ?

[jirushi]

Interesting thread, and congrats with your purchase.

I hope it's ok to write the following, as I do not want to hijack your thread, but I thought it is related to your question.
I recently bought a lovely Light Pattern from Binners.
This morning I worked on a new piston seal. The leather washer on the inside of the cup is now a bit thinner, so that the metal washer and screw head are sunk in a bit.
I should have asked if this is the right thing to do first, but it felt so.

Power is up with 1 ft/lbs, to 5 ft/lbs. I think there is room for improvement though.

Does this look about right?

[gunshop]

Andy, I thought all these rifles had a two flat cross section springs in. Mine have, when did they switch to a one piece round section ordinary spring ?

Some have one spring some have two, depends on the calibre and the overall length of the gun

[45flint]

Andy, I thought all these rifles had a two flat cross section springs in. Mine have, when did they switch to a one piece round section ordinary spring ?

Highly recommend John M’s Book on the BSA. Tells you when these kind of changes were made. My 1912 had one long spring, my 1914 had 2 springs.

[ashf9999]

It certainly is an excellent book. Very informative and interesting. Since I started running out of Webleys to collect, I had dabbled with old BSAs. From that book (& Mr Knibbs’) I’ve learnt a lot.

[gunshop]

Highly recommend John M’s Book on the BSA. Tells you when these kind of changes were made. My 1912 had one long spring, my 1914 had 2 springs.

The John Knibbs book will tell you more.

[ashf9999]

The John Knibbs book will tell you more.

I had name dropped it…