BSA's

[johnbaz]

Very nice Louis and with the rarer straight hand stock that had to be specially ordered!!

Here's some of mine, Four rifles and each stock is different to the next!





John

[KWK1]

How did so many duck bills get bent like that? Some of mine are too.
Only thing I can think of is they were dropped.....
Really hard!

[Josie & John]

How did so many duck bills get bent like that? Some of mine are too.
Only thing I can think of is they were dropped.....
Really hard!

On some contemporary photos, the 'duck bill' can be seen at various angles, so I wonder if they left the factory in that condition. I'm not convinced they were bent through use, as I'm sure there would be plenty of broken ones around if this was a weakness of the design.

John

[jirushi]

Very nice Louis and with the rarer straight hand stock that had to be specially ordered!!

Here's some of mine, Four rifles and each stock is different to the next!





John

Very nice John!
It's always a pleasure to see your signature group photos.
The walnut on that straight stock is particularly beautiful.

[trajectory]

On some contemporary photos, the 'duck bill' can be seen at various angles, so I wonder if they left the factory in that condition. I'm not convinced they were bent through use, as I'm sure there would be plenty of broken ones around if this was a weakness of the design.

John

The bending of the ducksbill cocking lever end is a bit of a conundrum, but in my view I wondered if BSA added the strengthening fillets to the ducksbill as a direct result of the need to do so because of experience, use & maybe complaints. Im not sure why they would have modified the design if there was no advantage to be gained from it.

I must admit I only use the ducksbill to pull the lever from its retaining clip before moving my hand closer to the cylinder & off the ducksbill before cocking it. Cautious, wary, well maybe but why risk it when it's potentially avoidable. I don't think I am alone in cocking them this way, but it's the method I have adopted.
I have bought one with the ducksbill missing, not just bent & I had to make a replacement for it & did so with a strengthening side piece, so maybe I'm just not confident in my own welding!

[KWK1]

Knibbs' book says they added the fillets to aid latch alignment when the hinge wears and becomes wiggly. The catches don't allow for movement on the side and front buttons.

I seriously doubt the duck bills left the factory without consistency of the angle. Forged parts are consistent. The dies don't allow for that much variance. They get bent from abuse. The end is bent way over on my LJ "H the Lincoln" second batch. And one of my "BSA AIR RIFLE" standard rifle arms is bent down.

[trajectory]

Knibbs' book says they added the fillets to aid latch alignment when the hinge wears and becomes wiggly. The catches don't allow for movement on the side and front buttons.

I seriously doubt the duck bills left the factory without consistency of the angle. Forged parts are consistent. The dies don't allow for that much variance. They get bent from abuse. The end is bent way over on my LJ "H the Lincoln" second batch. And one of my "BSA AIR RIFLE" standard rifle arms is bent down.

Maybe they were dual purpose as on p42 of J Knibbs book the illustration is described as "cocking lever catch with strengthening fillets".