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bsa airsporter s.


gemini52
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Picked up a bsa airsporter s in 177, the owner had died and the family wanted shut of his air rifles,it was seized up,would not cock,so a good soak in oil and got it to work,its in excellent condition, the blueing is like new, the stock is walnut with some type of varnish applied,having the o ring and buffer washer replaced,will be looking forward to shooting it when its done thanks to my mate len,not bad for eighty quid.

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14 hours ago, Zapp said:

One of my all time favourite airguns.  This thread needs pictures...

what was the difference twixt the airsporter and the S model...............

 

there is a fair bit of difference tween the standard mercury and the S model i have............

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my first gun as a boy, my Dad got it off a lorry driver who had been picking up from the BSA factory or so he said. I had to put the butt on the ground and put my knee on the under-leaver to cock as I wasn't strong enough. but mine was a .22. fond memories!!

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8 hours ago, ditchman said:

what was the difference twixt the airsporter and the S model...............

 

there is a fair bit of difference tween the standard mercury and the S model i have............

The s model has the metal work nicely blued and a walnut stock,some had two stage triggers but mine has a single stage,it also has some checkering to the forend and pistol grip,i will do my best to up load some picks when i get it back.

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Here's my .177 Airsporter S zeroed at 25 yards it took a lot of rabbits in the 1980s I have to admit my Theoben .22 was a more accurate rifle in my hands but within the ranges I used them both performed well. The Theoben would be used up to 35 yards confidently photos to follow

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Another gun suffering from rose tinted specs - the older we all get, the better it was - was king of the hill because BSA were the top selling maker and this was their top model at the time, but time moved on and BSA didn't, enter the Germans and the rest is history, as are BSA - the S was just another attempt by a failing manufacturer to match the imported guns and they even struggled to get that right - there were 3 MK's of the S before it died. Just my opinion of course.(tin hat firmly in position)

Edited by bruno22rf
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40 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

Another gun suffering from rose tinted specs - the older we all get, the better it was - was king of the hill because BSA were the top selling maker and this was their top model at the time, but time moved on and BSA didn't, enter the Germans and the rest is history, as are BSA - the S was just another attempt by a failing manufacturer to match the imported guns and they even struggled to get that right - there were 3 MK's of the S before it died. Just my opinion of course.(tin hat firmly in position)

It was never GREAT in my opinion, but was pretty much near as good as you could get at the time.  It is very simple and very primitive by todays standards.  I don't have a pair of rose tinted specs, I speak as I find!  Just the same, my Airsporter is staying put for the time being, even if I do treat it as a glorified museum piece!

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5 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

Another gun suffering from rose tinted specs - the older we all get, the better it was - was king of the hill because BSA were the top selling maker and this was their top model at the time, but time moved on and BSA didn't, enter the Germans and the rest is history, as are BSA - the S was just another attempt by a failing manufacturer to match the imported guns and they even struggled to get that right - there were 3 MK's of the S before it died. Just my opinion of course.(tin hat firmly in position)

you are quite right in what you say.........................but if you fiddle about with them and get them right...........they will stand their ground against a HW77 and my fiddled with HW77 is super accurate all day long.......when the spring comes and i have the time i will pit my 177 merc S against my HW 77 at 30 yds...ive done it at 15 and there is no difference at that range.......

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I've had venom spring,top hat etc installed on my Airsporter S and it will confidently nail rabbits at 25 yards but as much as I like shooting it it won't put pellet onto pellet at 25 yards that my Theoben Scirroco is capable of and it has nowhere near the finish. But it does have the greater emotional appeal so although it would be hard to choose I think the Theoben would win .

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On 03/12/2018 at 19:50, gemini52 said:

Picked up a bsa airsporter s in 177, the owner had died and the family wanted shut of his air rifles,it was seized up,would not cock,so a good soak in oil and got it to work,its in excellent condition, the blueing is like new, the stock is walnut with some type of varnish applied,having the o ring and buffer washer replaced,will be looking forward to shooting it when its done thanks to my mate len,not bad for eighty quid.

I got it back a last friday,its had the buffer washer and o,ring replaced,its putting out 11.1 foot pounds at the moment,tried a few different pellets and it shoots quite well with superdomes at 25 yards,yes i agree its not super accurate but its fun to shoot,so will keep it just for that reason.

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The thing to remember ditchman is that the Asptr S was top of the range - in effect the ultimate BSA that was available at the time - lay that alongside the 77, which was a simple factory mass built gun, and the difference is apparent. You may fiddle away and bring the S up to the 77's level - but at the end of the day it should have been better to start with, but the quality of materials and engineering in the 77 will always show in time. How many competitions does the 77 have under it's belt. BTW - I'm not a HW fan since the 95 was born.

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On 08/12/2018 at 18:43, Dekers said:

Posh ******...….

BSA1a.jpg.570b99036a1e373a748094c4f1829732.jpgBSAa.jpg.9872f9ac71732782370b112292f4d45e.jpg

Mine from new in about 1970/71 I believe, and if memory serves me correctly still about 11.4ft lb when I last checked, gets very little use these days but can't bring myself to sell it! Oh yes, and a proper calibre .22! :good:

very nice bud and if come to sell that theoben on then let me know :good:

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I had a BSA Airsporter back in the mid 70's and would buy another in a heartbeat. They're far from being perfect though because few if any were truly accurate but then what can you expect when the design is asking the pellet to "jump" from the rotating breech into the barrel ! Mine wasn't particularly smooth to cock and twanged like they all do and a 50p size group was about the best you could expect but then everyone thought you had the best gun going :) .  I used to nick mine from the headmasters study at weekends and would wait and wait till everyone had deserted the upstairs dormitories and pop at sparrows on the schools back lawn 🤣, you've no idea what being proper scared with a racing heartbeat feels like till you hit one. 😂

The problem wasn't just the design but the engineering tolerances and materials available back then plus of course the pellets of the era which by today's standards were pretty much rubbish. The AirArms Khamsin proved you could execute the design somewhat better but even that could never live with the accuracy available from a good break barrel never mind a 77 ! 

I have never owned a 77 nor been a fan as such because having handled a mates early offering I found it much too front heavy (almost as bad as the BSF s54) but was astonished at how effortlessly accurate it was, keep thinking about getting a modern tuned one for my collection. 

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The Theoben belongs to Konor, I believe (as well as an Airsporter) but then Dekers put up a picture of his Airsporter (note the different background) - this is where you got muddled ant.mass - Dekers doesn't have a Theoben - if he did then he would never have bought the Airsporter :whistling:.

Edited by bruno22rf
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