John,

You appear to be asking a lot of questions about potential power of your BSA. This is missing the point with these old guns, as they never develop the power of modern sporting/hunting airguns in my opinion.

The joy of these pre-war guns is their sheer accuracy- mostly as a direct result of a quality barrel, and top quality workmanship. Power should not be an issue. Most pre-war BSA's make around 9-10.5 Ft/lb when running well, and in that condition they give great service, and are sweet to shoot.You need to bear in mind that a lot of these guns are 80+ years old!

I have heard of a few people in my time who have tinkered with these guns to try and extract the maximum power possible. All they end up with, is a gun that will have lost its legendary accuracy and become very hard and coarse to shoot.In the search for power, piston bounce is increased dramatically as is cylinder/piston damage, not to mention strain on all the other parts. My advice would be to concentrate on maximising accuracy rather than power. If you want power at or near the legal limit of 12ft/lbs, then choose a more modern gun.

These old iconic BSA's are a link back to a time when Britains industrial output, was the envy of the entire world, and BSA was one of the top gun producers in the entire world. These guns need to be looked after, and treated gently.If treated well, they should go on for another good few years.

All the best with your refurbishment of an English Classic !!


Lakey