Stroud Auctions

[erichtfisherman]

Was it nickelled? It didn't look it to me.

Hi Danny,

It's was polished up (blueing having been removed) not nickel finished. There was a improved model B in a similar condition.

[Epicyclic]

Was it nickelled? It didn't look it to me.

It's been nickle-plated all over Danny. There are a few areas where it's thinning, near the tap it's bubbling a bit. I had the action from the stock this morning and found flake-away patches by the cocking lever slot. These are concealed by the stock when assembled.
The quality of the plating is very high and IMHO it's a factory finish. I don't recall anything like this ever so it could be a good 'home-brew', -if so, it would have been such a faff to prep everything for the tank- sight parts, trigger guard, cap, tap and parts, lever parts...I can imagine this happening in the factory when the metal was fresh but not on a used gun that you'd have to take back. You'd not do this to a new purchase either!...
My dilemna now is whether or not to plate the 'Satelite dish' BSF diopter sight that is to be fitted!...

[erichtfisherman]

It's been nickle-plated all over Danny. There are a few areas where it's thinning, near the tap it's bubbling a bit. I had the action from the stock this morning and found flake-away patches by the cocking lever slot. These are concealed by the stock when assembled.
The quality of the plating is very high and IMHO it's a factory finish. I don't recall anything like this ever so it could be a good 'home-brew', -if so, it would have been such a faff to prep everything for the tank- sight parts, trigger guard, cap, tap and parts, lever parts...I can imagine this happening in the factory when the metal was fresh but not on a used gun that you'd have to take back. You'd not do this to a new purchase either!...
My dilemna now is whether or not to plate the 'Satelite dish' BSF diopter sight that is to be fitted!...

Well spotted it just looked polished up to me looking at the photo's. A good buy.

[Garvin]

It's been nickle-plated all over Danny. There are a few areas where it's thinning, near the tap it's bubbling a bit. I had the action from the stock this morning and found flake-away patches by the cocking lever slot. These are concealed by the stock when assembled.
The quality of the plating is very high and IMHO it's a factory finish. I don't recall anything like this ever so it could be a good 'home-brew', -if so, it would have been such a faff to prep everything for the tank- sight parts, trigger guard, cap, tap and parts, lever parts...I can imagine this happening in the factory when the metal was fresh but not on a used gun that you'd have to take back. You'd not do this to a new purchase either!...
My dilemna now is whether or not to plate the 'Satelite dish' BSF diopter sight that is to be fitted!...

Interesting, Richard! A nice purchase.

I'm not aware of any BSFs being nickel-plated, so have to doubt it's factory, even though as you say it's a big job to do it. Maybe it was a special order? As Frank Korn used to say, if Sir was willing to pay...!

Please let me have pics for the gallery.

[Jerry Cornelius]

There was a lot of very cheap Webley pistols too so can only assume they were a bit untidy up close. In fact it was a very large collection with loads of boxed scopes too, wonder who was the vendor?

That’s always going to happen as soon as you have more than a few not very interesting webleys, or anything else common. Not many people are going to be interested anyway so with little competition there’s nothing to push prices up.

All the more so since there were quite a few better guns there. I can’t be the only person who put in a serious bid on something nice, and as a result mickey taking bids on a few others I might otherwise have pushed a bit on.

Without success I might add!

[silva]

It's been nickle-plated all over Danny. There are a few areas where it's thinning, near the tap it's bubbling a bit. I had the action from the stock this morning and found flake-away patches by the cocking lever slot. These are concealed by the stock when assembled.
The quality of the plating is very high and IMHO it's a factory finish. I don't recall anything like this ever so it could be a good 'home-brew', -if so, it would have been such a faff to prep everything for the tank- sight parts, trigger guard, cap, tap and parts, lever parts...I can imagine this happening in the factory when the metal was fresh but not on a used gun that you'd have to take back. You'd not do this to a new purchase either!...
My dilemna now is whether or not to plate the 'Satelite dish' BSF diopter sight that is to be fitted!...

I really liked the look of that BSF 54. Be great with a diopter. Always fancied one after reading an article in the airgun mags as a youngster, about some long range pigeon decoying. Had the stock been varnished on yours, or was it reflection - it was hard to tell from the pics. I like nickel plated rifles, always thought a Bsa Improved Model D one would be a nice thing to own. I remember chatting to some one on here who has Geoffrey Boothroyds nickel plated Webley Service
I'm sure I remember that some Parkerised finished Originals/ Diana's/ or RWS were for sale in the 80's for a brief time, as a sort of utilty model.

[Garvin]

I remember chatting to some one on here who has Geoffrey Boothroyds nickel plated Webley Service .

I remember Mick of micksguns.com was advertising this one for ages.

He seems to have another one, unless it's just polished.

[Epicyclic]

Well spotted it just looked polished up to me looking at the photo's. A good buy.

Cheers Tim, yes I am very pleased with this BSF and like you, I was expecting to find it polished 'in the metal'. I was contemplating a re-finish then had a re-think in the room.
I regained my composure well enough to place the top bid!

I have the other types but with the Match, the Artillery has arrived!

Morgan, I also recall articles and adverts in early AW about these big BSFs and though those pages the aura peculiar to the breed came through. It was Eddie Barber with a 54 Bayern in No 1 bore who championed the brand. I'll be hunting those out again shortly!...
Unlike my others, early and late types, the stock has been given a goodly coat of varnish and as someone once said somewhere ( I think about the Match in much-missed Frank's collection ), it looks " Good enough to eat " !...

[coristan]

It is interesting that this thread seems to cast a very positive light on Stroud Auctions, whereas the previous thread https://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread...ht=eureka+pope, was quite the opposite.

I have never dealt with this auction house before , so it would be useful to know from anyone on here who buys from the February auction, what sort of experience they have.

Won a pre-war BSA, hammer price £100, my Stroud Auction Rooms invoice …..

Hammer £100
Buyer’s premium £21.60
Shipping £20.50 (Parcelforce)
Vat on shipping £4.10
Invoice total £146.20

Expensive way to buy.....

[Mobiasstrip]

I paid 32% above hammer for a pistol inc postage. Expensive but exactly what my pre bid spreadsheet expected :-[

[Binners]

Won a pre-war BSA, hammer price £100, my Stroud Auction Rooms invoice …..

Hammer £100
Buyer’s premium £21.60
Shipping £20.50 (Parcelforce)
Vat on shipping £4.10
Invoice total £146.20

Expensive way to buy.....

I paid 32% above hammer for a pistol inc postage. Expensive but exactly what my pre bid spreadsheet expected :-[

Crazy how prices at Armsfairs (not just Kempton) are so much better. I am seriously thinking of buying up bits and putting them in Auction.

[stevegv8]

I was concerned at the very low sale prices on a lot of the stuff in this auction (60's Diana's 27 £30!) great for the buyer but it did bother me that it suggested my guns owe me a fair bit more than their worth or certainly a least if I put any of them in auction. For instance I have a couple of 60's 27's I was going to sell but expected to advertise them at around £100 (and would loose a bit at that too).

On collecting the gun I bought from the sale, for enough money and not as nice condition as I'd hoped (unseen, catalogue view only) I was able to see a number of the other lots and most were fairly rough old things which might explain a lot about the figures they actually achieved.

Not sure if I'm relieved or concerned for the other lot winners

I also had a bit of a fall out with them over an issue, was spoken to like a naughty school boy and will not be using them again, as I made them fully aware.

[Mobiasstrip]

Crazy how prices at Armsfairs (not just Kempton) are so much better. I am seriously thinking of buying up bits and putting them in Auction.

IF they have what you are trying to buy.... :-)

[Garvin]

Auctions are in general a terrible way to buy or sell IME. The only way to end up happy+, I think, is being at the sale in person, or remotely by buying with your eyes wide open like Steve (Mobiastrip).

As a seller I've been disappointed by the low amount you end up with. The only time I was glad to have done it was when I was moving home and selling on quite a large number of less-than-perfect air rifles. At the time I appreciated the fact they collected them and saved me having to package and post them.

As a buyer I've bought a few nice guns that I couldn't find anywhere else. Time has almost erased the painful memory of how much they cost me!

[silva]

Its a shame the fees have increased so much in recent years. Pre all their business costs, the auctioneers will end up with at least half the value of every item they sell, taking into account buyer and sellers fees. Nevertheless I do enjoy auctions and that magic couple of seconds I am the high bidder on all those Military Patterns that seem to be coming out of the woodwork