BSA Airsporter S

[Kevev]

[QUOTE=Waddy;8302325]Welcome Kev, you might find a front sight on fleabay. Failing that you might want to consider a telescopic sight, which is what most rifles use these days esp for target shooting, you can pick one up second hand & save a few quid.

For spring lube "high moly paste" is the thing to use & if you buy a kit from the likes of Welsh Willy or Tinbum, it comes with the kit. Whatever you do don't get any lube or grease forward of the piston seal or it will "diesel" which can damage the rifle as well as putting it over the power limit.

There is a good target range near Brandesburton btw, good bunch of chaps there. (Humberside shooting ground )


Hi Waddy,

Thank you for the welcome and advice.

My Airsporter does have a telescopic sight fitted. It's a Bushmaster 4x32. I wanted to see if I could find an original foresight just to keep the thing as it should be. I'm a bit OCD about things not being complete.

I've seen a few articles about springs while browsing Google in an attempt to gather information. That browsing is what lead me to find this forum and I signed up to it as I thought it would be best to get the knowledge from proper enthusiasts. I use similar forums for my classic motorcycles and they have been invaluable over the years for sharing info and tips backwards and forwards.

Would you recommend a particular spring? Is the standard one good enough, or are there more powerful alternatives that may give the rifle a bit of an edge and improve it's performance?

Good to know about the range in Brandesburton, it's not too far away from me. I live in Anlaby to the West of Hull. I have a good friend who lives over the East side in Burstwick, and I'm sure he will know about the Brandesburton range as he is into target shooting. He has some very expensive modern rifles which use compressed air. I had a go on one of them recently and I found it very difficult using the extremely powerful scope on it. Probably my age, but I just couldn't keep the target steady. Trying to hold my breath and keep a steady grip didn't seem to improve the experience. I think I would have needed to get myself a bean bag and lay down in it with a little bipod rest on the gun. :-)

Cheers,

Kev Ev

[Kevev]

Good extra information, Pete. Another vote for the Welsh Willy kits for these. That's what I used in the Mercury S that you now have, Pete.

I also like to use a heavy rubber mallet on the flat section to get the trigger block started. Guessing preload shouldn't be too bad unless an aftermarket spring has been crammed in at some point. You'd hope that this isn't the case, but always better to proceed with caution. I always clean those threads up, too, and very lightly grease on reassembly.

P.S......There has been an Airsporter strip / re-build article in the last three months' issues of Airgun World by our own p.j., which the OP might find useful, too.

Would you know which Airgun World magazine issue months have the Airsporter strip/rebuild article in them. I can order back issues online but cannot find any mention of which ones have the Airsporter article.

Thank you

Kev Ev

[TonyL]

Pete, if you're looking in, would you be able to tell the OP which issues he needs for the Airsporter articles, please. I can't put my hands on them right now.

[gunshop]

Hi there,

I am a new member here, and I am hoping to get some advice and information from more experienced air rifle enthusiasts.

I have inherited, from a deceased family member, a BSA air rifle. From the serial number suffix 'EP' I believe this is a 0.177 Mk1 Airsporter S from the 1979 - 1983 period.

I intend to use this rifle for target shooting, as I have always enjoyed this since my days in the Army cadets, where I used to use .202 and .303 rifles for target shooting.

The rifle is in very good condition from what I can see on the outside, but I am not sure what it will be like inside as it has been stored, untouched and unused for many years. I believe it has not been used since the mid 1980's. So that is over 40 years with no use and no maintenance.

Bearing that in mind, what would be the best course of action? Would it be wise to strip the rifle and examine seals and other items that may have degraded over time?

Although I am not an expert with air rifles, I am a retired engineer with access to hand tools and machine tools.

Could anyone lead me to an instruction, or service manual for this gun and recommend any service parts and UK suppliers.

The rifle is also missing the foresight, which screws to the barrel with a single fastener. I have located the foresight screw, the foresight hood and the foresight unit. However the foresight unit is not like the original but is a newer fibre optic type, which needs modifying to fit the hood. I would prefer to get hold of an original foresight, does anyone know of anywhere I would find one?

Thank you in anticipation and best wishes to all.

Kev Ev

Hi Kev,

All the Airsporter S parts are available through this link (it is a hot page diagram, so click on the part on the drawing and you will be taken to it)

https://www.airgunspares.com/gunspar...sporter-s.html

The original front sights are no longer manufactured and the original tooling has been destroyed (we cant make them again unlike some of the rear sights)

[look no hands]

Hi Kev,

All the Airsporter S parts are available through this link (it is a hot page diagram, so click on the part on the drawing and you will be taken to it)

https://www.airgunspares.com/gunspar...sporter-s.html

The original front sights are no longer manufactured and the original tooling has been destroyed (we cant make them again unlike some of the rear sights)

Paul's your man

[TonyL]

This may help, too.....posts 39 and 40.....




https://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread...s-(pt-1)/page3

[TonyL]

Would you know which Airgun World magazine issue months have the Airsporter strip/rebuild article in them. I can order back issues online but cannot find any mention of which ones have the Airsporter article.

Thank you

Kev Ev

Sorry for the delay.

You will be wanting the February, March and April issues, Kev Ev. The latter two directly relating to the strip and re-build. The articles centre on the Stutzen version, with the longer stock, but much will apply and should prove useful.

Hope this helps.

If you like watching on-line videos, I'd also guess that there may be a selection of viewing material on that certain video channel. Watch a good few to get a balanced general consensus.

[Leepelletb]

If you're thinking of getting the welsh willy kit, he also does a parachute seal conversion that works very well.