BSA Mercury - Early ones .....

[johnbaz]

I've a Mercury Challenger that is blued (Rather nicely too!)



I can't remember what mk this one is but it had some work done by a gent that i've forgotten the name of!!, I think the action was refinished too as it's not like the normal glossy black finish!

It had the axis pin done away with and was threaded to take a bolt and nut!


It had other stuff done too..



Here's two more..




John..

[Sam99]

Quote ; " It had the axis pin done away with and was threaded to take a bolt and nut! "

Why ??

What are the Pro's and Cons's of a Axis Pin over a nut and bolt ?

[Brad3]

Quote ; " It had the axis pin done away with and was threaded to take a bolt and nut! "

Why ??

What are the Pro's and Cons's of a Axis Pin over a nut and bolt ?

There is no adjustment to be had with axis pins to take up any wear of the pivot ears, unlike the nut and bolt system used on the leading German guns at that time. You could not adjust the barrel tension similarly.

The Mercury was a massively underrrated rifle, which I found exceeded the performance of most of the German offerings of the time. Certainly the Original 50 and 35. It had lived in the shadow of the Airsporter which was actually not much cop and thus, assuming the Mercury a lesser gun than the Airsporter, it must be somewhat down on the the German stuff.
It wasn't, having said that the Mercuries pivot pin was always an area for improvement which occurred with the excellent S version.

[Sam99]

Brad3 - Thank You.
Everyday is a school day.

Sam

[johnbaz]

Quote ; " It had the axis pin done away with and was threaded to take a bolt and nut! "

Why ??

What are the Pro's and Cons's of a Axis Pin over a nut and bolt ?

The Merc wasn't as bad as the Meteors as the forend stock lugs were at the end of the yoke (On the Meteors), If the stock was tightened at the forend tightly it could open the jaws of the yoke and the barrel gets side to side slop!!

Also, What made the Meteor easy to bend was the fact that the yoke wasn't machined from billet but was actually a type of brazed tinplate construction, If the axis pin and the latch pins are removed they can be seen to be hollow, It makes it a very weak setup!

The stock screw lugs on the Mercury were further back so it tended to resist the outward pull from the stock screws


John..

[johnbaz]

There is no adjustment to be had with axis pins to take up any wear of the pivot ears, unlike the nut and bolt system used on the leading German guns at that time. You could not adjust the barrel tension similarly.

The Mercury was a massively underrrated rifle, which I found exceeded the performance of most of the German offerings of the time. Certainly the Original 50 and 35. It had lived in the shadow of the Airsporter which was actually not much cop and thus, assuming the Mercury a lesser gun than the Airsporter, it must. Be someway down on the the German stuff.
It wasn't, having said that the Mercuries pivot pin was always an area for improvement which occurred with the excellent S version.

The Challenger had a nice setup too at the breech block, A flush slotted nut, Nicer looking than the German products!, Not sure if it's the same as the Mercury S as I don't have one for comparison, I've an Airsporter S but they don't have them!



John..

[look no hands]

The Challenger had a nice setup too at the breech block, A flush slotted nut, Nicer looking than the German products!, Not sure if it's the same as the Mercury S as I don't have one for comparison, I've an Airsporter S but they don't have them!



John..

Yes John they are the same nut and bolt set up on the S and the standard mk4, they also used it on the Supersport Custom model, had they had used them on the standard Supersport as well, then things may have been a bit different now but they decided to just use the pin.

[KWK1]

The Challenger had a nice setup too at the breech block, A flush slotted nut, Nicer looking than the German products!, Not sure if it's the same as the Mercury S as I don't have one for comparison, I've an Airsporter S but they don't have them!



John..

Same bolt and thicker barrel as the S. I had trouble getting the breech bolt nut to stay put on my Challenger carbine. It would loosen right back up. Had to put a little blue locktite on it. The carbine cocks much easier than an HW99. Handsome gun. I ruined the poor thing's history by replacing the chipped up stock with one I refinished. Repainted the back block

[Dornfelderliebe]

The Merc wasn't as bad as the Meteors as the forend stock lugs were at the end of the yoke (On the Meteors), If the stock was tightened at the forend tightly it could open the jaws of the yoke and the barrel gets side to side slop!!

Also, What made the Meteor easy to bend was the fact that the yoke wasn't machined from billet but was actually a type of brazed tinplate construction, If the axis pin and the latch pins are removed they can be seen to be hollow, It makes it a very weak setup!

The stock screw lugs on the Mercury were further back so it tended to resist the outward pull from the stock screws


John..

I've had two Meteors converted to a bolt now by a sympathetic engineer using the Mercury S bolt. It does mean the bolt bears on the inner wall so I've used an extra washer to beef it up and it works.
This could be retro fitted to an old Mercury very easily because the dimensions are the same and the jaws are solid. The two early Mercurys of mine have not shown any wear.
If you over tighten Meteor stock screws without washers they will push against the breech block.

The Mercury always has been overlooked. All the looks of the Airsporter with none of the drawbacks.

[Brad3]

The Challenger had a nice setup too at the breech block, A flush slotted nut, Nicer looking than the German products!, Not sure if it's the same as the Mercury S as I don't have one for comparison, I've an Airsporter S but they don't have them!



John..

Can confirm exactly as the S pivot. The S got ruined by the later Challenger incarnation employing the Maxi grip rail and raised trigger block.
One of the main features of the Mercurys/ Airsporters (forever) was the graceful trigger block.
If they had wanted it made taller to act as an arrestor behind the rail, why didn't they just opt for a stud in the Maxi rail. It would have saved costs by not having to have new tooling for casting the taller block.
The Challenger stock was better however, with traditional higher quality chequering.

[Mikeymoo]

Can confirm exactly as the S pivot. The S got ruined by the later Challenger incarnation employing the Maxi grip rail and raised trigger block.
One of the main features of the Mercurys/ Airsporters (forever) was the graceful trigger block.
If they had wanted it made taller to act as an arrestor behind the rail, why didn't they just opt for a stud in the Maxi rail. It would have saved costs by not having to have new tooling for casting the taller block.
The Challenger stock was better however, with traditional higher quality chequering.

Has anyone on here seen or have a Mercury with a maple stock?

[hawkdriver]

i have a ZA serial number, early blonde stocked .22, black glossy enamelled barrel and action, cylinder, i find it snappy and the lack of bolt on barrel pivot makes it not too accurate, its been on my wall in a spare room for 49 years, mad!

[isobar]

I love the look of your challenger John,smashing stock design compared to the mk1 and 2 mercury.I do like the mk3 and S merc but don't have any of them.I do remember my old merc that I bought new in the 70s,it shot really well but was never really liked that painted finish.

[Brad3]

I love the look of your challenger John,smashing stock design compared to the mk1 and 2 mercury.I do like the mk3 and S merc but don't have any of them.I do remember my old merc that I bought new in the 70s,it shot really well but was never really liked that painted finish.

I once had the mind to fit a std. Mercury trigger block to a Challenger, replacing the ugly contrivance of the Challengers, in a bid to make for the best Mercury ever, but never could fall in love with the Maxi rail and left it.
The Mercury S was probably the best BSA springer ever, outshooting even the Goldstar.
Despite the Challenger gaining the Maxi rail, I never had any trouble mounting scopes in the std Mercury grooves, at least not enough to justify the ugly plastic on the cylinder, or the holes drilled into it.
My Lincoln Jeffries might give it an argument but lack of scope provision would leave it just behind.

[look no hands]

I once had the mind to fit a std. Mercury trigger block to a Challenger, replacing the ugly contrivance of the Challengers, in a bid to make for the best Mercury ever, but never could fall in love with the Maxi rail and left it.
The Mercury S was probably the best BSA springer ever, outshooting even the Goldstar.
Despite the Challenger gaining the Maxi rail, I never had any trouble mounting scopes in the std Mercury grooves, at least not enough to justify the ugly plastic on the cylinder, or the holes drilled into it.
My Lincoln Jeffries might give it an argument but lack of scope provision would leave it just behind.

Over the years, I've collected many Mercury and Challenger parts and have managed to make up hybrid rifles, I've put a Mercury trigger block onto a Challenger cylinder but it still looks odd with the maxigrip rail protruding out the top of the cylinder, it looks far better than the Challenger, I haven't had much shooting with it, so I'm not sure how secure the maxigrip will be without the raised trigger block holding it in place, I may have to drill the rail and tap a thread in the trigger block to secure it with an Allen bolt.