Bsa mercury 's' vs fwb sport

[Hsing-ee]

The 'S' is a lovely rifle, but very hard to find in .177. With the heavy barrel, deep blueing and a nice walnut stock they compare to the ordinary Mercury like a Bentley does to a Vauxhall. Not quite the same standard as a FWB in terms of engineering finish, but a more robust design, very solid. Might start looking for one myself....

[davidstoncold]

i owned a brand new mercury s in the very early 80s. my friends had hw35s and fwb 124 s and 127s i myself preferred to shoot my s . even though the hw35e was a gun i wanted to own as well , i still do really . the stock on my s was a creamy coloured walnut with lovely grain .

[Amac]

Having never owned a Mercury "S", I cant really comment on how that particular gun compares with the FWB. However, I have owned many examples of Germany's finest offerings over the years and have not personally considered something made on our own shores as being worthy of changing for.
A mate owned the Airsporter"S" version and very nice it was too. However, I didnt think that it had the beatings of the 80 I owned at the time.

For me, the Sport represents an excellent example of what our foreign friends do best. Quality engineering that is built to last. My own current 124 is a genuine pleasure to shoot and is pretty damned accurate. It has to be said that the trigger doesn't compare with the infamous "Rekord" unit on my 80, but I find that using the Sport helps to improve my general shooting due to the guns light weight and relatively high power. As such, I find that I am using the Sport more frequently as spending a few sessions with her helps me to shoot better generally, and believe me when I say I need all the help I can get these days!

I still think that the Sport represents all that is best about the inherent simplicity of break barrel springers, and firmly believe that should they were to go on sale today they would compare favourably with what I reckon are the modern equivalents, the HW95 and the new Diana 280. There again, they would probably still cost a lot more than the opposition.

Not sure if Ian Jones has an example of a Mercury "S" in his arsenal. I will ask him on Wednesday night prior to our "bell ending" competition as it would be interesting to draw a comparison on what appears to be a highly regarded gun.

Andy

[detector2000]

I have had lots of guns over the years but now own a fwb 127 that i have tuned with v mach and this gun shoots better than any other gun i ever had, it feels good to handle head shot rats at 25 yards no problem, a well sorted gun at a total cost of £150.00 sorted. Rob.

[harry mac]

Not sure if Ian Jones has an example of a Mercury "S" in his arsenal. I will ask him on Wednesday night prior to our "bell ending" competition as it would be interesting to draw a comparison on what appears to be a highly regarded gun.

Andy

If Ian goes by the name of IJ on here, and unless he's sold it. He owns my old .177 Mercury S, so you may be in luck.
The only thing that ever went wrong with that merc in all the time I owned it (about 1981-2001) was one of the cocking links (part no UL35) snapped on it, which BSA replaced free of charge at the time.
I loved that rifle and it accounted for lots of rabbits and pigeons for me.

[MattyBoy]

If Ian goes by the name of IJ on here He owns my old .177 Mercury S

He does go by the monika I.J. indeed.

Now... how do I get him to agree to sell me his Mercury "S" .177 before he realises what he's doing...?

[Amac]

Believe me when I say that trying to get the Blackburn "ecky thump master" to part with one of his babies is easier than attempting an assault on the north west face of Everest wearing only shorts and a pair of slippers.

I will speak to Ian and ask him for a try of this particular gun. Its nice to know a guns history prior to shooting I reckon. I am sure I will be impressed by all accounts!

Andy

[maximus]

I have just got one (mercury s .22) and minted it up ith a re-blue and oil finish on the stock (one side of which is very nice indeed) When I was a lad the BSA
S models were what I desired so I guess thats why I have a few now For some reason I never hankered after a FWB. I knew they were one of the best but it was never on my list of wants. The mercury is a very pleasant rifle, I like the balance and the fact it has a 2 piece cocking lever. No problem with power or accuracey either though it has took me a while to get used to the trigger.

[MattyBoy]

Believe me when I say that trying to get the Blackburn "ecky thump master" to part with one of his babies is easier than attempting an assault on the north west face of Everest wearing only shorts and a pair of slippers.
Andy

Easier or Harder?

I've managed to get him to do a swap with me already, so I am part of the way to breaking his resolve

[maximus]

Is a fettled (preferably Bowketted) BSA Mercury 'S' a match for the Feinwerkbau Sport? The .22 I had, once the sears were polished up, had a very acceptable trigger unit. The heavy barrel is nice too, my reservation is the 'O' ring on the piston unit. A nice parachute like that fitted to later BSAs would be the way to go.

I know IJ has both rifles, and so does RustyBuzz. Whats the score then? Much prefer the chunky breech lock-up on BSAs to the effete FWB arrangement.

wouldn't worry about the o ring, my mercury gives fantastic consitency with FTT 5.53 but is most accurate with super domes. I once got my hw35 luxus "super venom convereted" When I took it apart after few few years I discovered an o ring in place of the piston washer. I believe Bowkett used 2 on his conversions!

atb

Max

[Muskett]

Amac post 78; just sums up my thoughts on Sports too.

"The ORIGINAL 45 is an aesthetic masterpiece"; I sure do agree. They have a definitive purpose like a Messerschmitt BF 109e! Love the simple straight lines with a menace. Heavy, stable, a bit long but get an early one and wow can they shoot. Shame they never put anything better than a plank for the wood.
However, the Omega is the best. The stock is a really superb, probably the best sporting stock ever. Again never done in walnut, shame on them, and add insult to injury why couldn't they have put a trigger on at least, if not better, than that on the Sport. All history now but what missed chances.

Next year I've just got to find a Challenger because I think that will be good too.

The trouble with all break barrel rifles they can get bendy barrels. They are all guilty especially when you lend them out to friendly idiots I nearly gave up on the type and went fixed barrels only for a while. But fixed barrels are just so slow to load and I prefer to shoot rather than to load.

[maximus]

Muskett, you'll do well to bend a BSA barrel due to them being hammer forged, not just soft bits of mild steel like most others. Airsporters aren't slow to load either, not quite as fiddley as 77's and the like

[Amac]

Ian has an absolute refusal policy regarding selling any of his collection. The only "window of opportunity" occurs if he buys an example of something that is in better nick than the one he already has. There again, he is very generous in lending me some fine examples of his shooting hardware. I actually have a Rapid of his on a long term loan at the moment. Its an early Mk2 with the Anschutz trigger and very nice it is too.

Back on the springer front, the Omega is another gun that sneaked below my radar when I was preoccupied with attempting (and failing) to be a good husband and father. Since that battle has been lost, my intention is to now try out as many of the finest guns that I have thus far missed!

The 45's stock that I had was a classic example of "G Plan" for guns. However, the very fine .20 example that Jonse'y lent me wasn't too bad at all, and was just as accurate as it was originally described by Jim and friends in his classic mag all of those years ago. Have we really progressed with springers?

Andy

[I. J.]

If Ian goes by the name of IJ on here, and unless he's sold it. He owns my old .177 Mercury S, so you may be in luck.
.

The above example (WH01266 Mk 1) is indeed still nesting in my bosom - unlike its sister rifle a lovely tiger stripped .22 version which has since been replaced with a Mk 2 version.

He does go by the monika I.J. indeed.
Now... how do I get him to agree to sell me his Mercury "S" .177 before he realises what he's doing...?

I fell for that one time - NEVER again. I was mugged. The buyer threatened to move me to Oswaldtwistle if I didn't sell it him (a .22 Mercury 'S' mk 1 tiger stripped) .

Believe me when I say that trying to get the Blackburn "ecky thump master" to part with one of his babies is easier than attempting an assault on the north west face of Everest wearing only shorts and a pair of slippers.
I will speak to Ian and ask him for a try of this particular gun. Its nice to know a guns history prior to shooting I reckon. I am sure I will be impressed by all accounts!
Andy

I will do my best Andy to bring it to the club Weds night but its Bell target night and I will be classed as cheating if I didn't bring the Walther 55 and Karyn wants to borrow my Steyr to you lads at HFT.

One point regarding the FWB Sport. In an earlier post I mentioned that a 'Sports auto safety could be made manual. I guess that by removing the front part of the safety slide the piston will not make contact with it and the safety would therefore be manual. Ive never actually done this because though I'm not a lover of safety catches I do try to keep my rifles as standard as possible. Has anyone ever done this modification?

ATB
Ian

[Amac]

Thanks Ian. That Walther 55 of yours has to be the most accurate break barreled springer at "belling" and 10m ranges that most of us have ever shot. It is also beautifully made and, as you know, a joy to use. Its almost cheating!

Andy