Quote Originally Posted by eyebull View Post
Lightnings are extremely variable in quality and shootability and some of them are absolute dogs - try before you buy is my advice. They are much better in .22 because the action has less work to do to get power through the tiny barrel.

BSA have always made a good .22 barrel, even post-Gamo. The .177's are a bit more pot luck though.

End of a broomhandle with a notch cut out did nicely for compressing the spring, some are under a lot of tension though so best done with a sash cramp.
Agree with all of the above apart from I haven't had experience of lots of examples.

The .22 Lightning I bought about seven years ago did seem accurate enough.

The experience I had with the .177 I had back in '88 would substantiate your comments re .177 vs .22, and pretty much as you'd expect when comparing efficiency and taking into account the relatively high power output for such a lightweight springer.

And, yes, an old shooting friend of mine who was mainly into shooting .22 rimfire but also FAC air, always spoke very highly of the .22 barrels and often used them for one-off projects.