NZJJ Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 Hi all, new here. I hope this post is in the right place. I’ve just been given this BSA Snipe. Shoots great and it’s in great condition considering its age. would like some advice on giving it a birthday. The barrel and receiver look like it has a factory paint finish. There is some minor rust on it which I would like to take off. Should I sand it back with steel wool and apply liquid blue to the barrel and receiver ? Or would this be a different finish than the painted finish it seems to have from factory ? any advice would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 Welcome to PW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 You will find that the receiver is made from a cheap, lightweight alloy and was never ‘blued’ in the same way as a barrel can be blued. The ‘Snipe’ was a cheaper to manufacture replacement for the old BSA ‘Single12’, which was a far better gun. Incidentally, you may very likely find that the barrel carries a stupid amount of choke. Mine certainly did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 (edited) Aluminium can be notorious to paint and have the paint not then rub off. The reason is that almost as soon as you polish it bright it oxidises...or so I have been told. So I'd leave well alone for that reason. The old "suncorite" paint was marvellous for aluminium - that's what I used to use an aluminium gun parts - but, alas, is now banned as was environmentally not nice. Edited November 26 by enfieldspares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob85 Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 Has anyone tried the Durablue aerosol sprays? I saw a couple of videos on YouTube of it being used and it looked ok. Maybe a bit expensive as its about 75quid on ebay. could be an idea for them barrels. For the receiver I would just get it powder coated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN749 Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 That takes me back to 1972,and my first shotgun! Second hand,£13 from Richardson’s in Halesworth.30” barrel and about half choke.Couldn’t give one away today,but then they had a market.Not a quality gun,just cheap,Webley were much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno22rf Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 London best is spot on, cheap nasty things that cock the hammer via the top lever from memory, pretty sure I've given away 4-5 of these over the years. His comment on choke brings back a vivid memory - out shooting with a novice many years ago and he was using a Snipe, crow flew over and neither of us saw it till it was almost across the field and heading away, novice points the Snipe at it and before I could say "don't bother" he shot it stone dead, we paced it out at 75 yards!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 They were competing against the AYA cosmos...........which had err "turkey choke" 32" barrel and a uselless ejector.... you can spray the reciever but will need an acid etch primer first....blue the barrell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 (edited) Hello, Oh here is another one that takes me back many years, very fine wire wool on the barrel only just to get rid of the rust spots and a good wash with white spirit , I just sprayed mine black like the Action, If I remember mine was full full ? I use to shoot Duck off the Pond and Pigeon coming out the Woods on early mornings with Eley Maximum 5s, I have an old BSA single 12 , Think made for DTL shooting back in the 1980s, Bought a Hushpower to fit on but still to do, I am sure many PW members had a single shotgun back in our teens Edited November 27 by oldypigeonpopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 2 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said: I use to shoot Duck off the Pond and Pigeon coming out the Woods on early mornings with Eley Maximum 5s, keep us posted 👍 Cripes! In a BSA Snipe? I bet that was painful on the shoulder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 what was that single english 12 gauge shotgun with a break barrel "trigger" infront of the trigger gaurd ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 3 hours ago, bruno22rf said: London best is spot on, cheap nasty things that cock the hammer via the top lever from memory, pretty sure I've given away 4-5 of these over the years. His comment on choke brings back a vivid memory - out shooting with a novice many years ago and he was using a Snipe, crow flew over and neither of us saw it till it was almost across the field and heading away, novice points the Snipe at it and before I could say "don't bother" he shot it stone dead, we paced it out at 75 yards!! The early Snipes were very tight choked. I could not hit a cow’s **** with a banjo with mine. (I had only been shooting 2 years then.) I ’patterned’ it on a gallon paint tin at twenty yards and it blew a six inch hole through the tin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 1 hour ago, enfieldspares said: Cripes! In a BSA Snipe? I bet that was painful on the shoulder! Hello, It was at the time but i ended up putting a rubber pad on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 (edited) 1 hour ago, ditchman said: what was that single english 12 gauge shotgun with a break barrel "trigger" infront of the trigger gaurd ? Baikal. Had a lever either behind the trigger guard. The only single barrel British guns I can think of would be the Argyll, the BSA XII and maybe some of the lesser known makers? Edited November 26 by enfieldspares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 no .....my mate defo had a webley or BSA........i was in my teens and he was seriously into duck shooting...and swore by his tightly choked machine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 (edited) There you are BSA XII as below: Edited November 26 by enfieldspares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fargo Posted November 26 Report Share Posted November 26 Don’t spend much on it is my advice unless it’s a labour of love. Good single barrel is worth £5 maybe unless smaller calibre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushandpull Posted November 27 Report Share Posted November 27 My first new gun was one of these with a 3 inch chamber. £18.98 I think. Blands charged £3 extra for fitting sling swivels and reblacking. It served me well on the marsh, and was a much easier gun to use with cold hands than the "semi-hammerless" singles. You will learn from working on this piece and and perhaps one day achieve the sort of lovely restorations we see on this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted November 27 Report Share Posted November 27 (edited) Oddly enough I had to recolour the aluminium base of a pistol magazine yesterday. I used Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black. It needs several coats, or rather wipe overs one after the other after the other as quick as that, and it won't make silk purse from sow's ear, but it will very much darken what otherwise is light grey bare aluminium. It is not bad stuff. I have also used it on aluminium 'scope mounts. And it worked the same with them. If the OP is close to LE9 2AL...Leicester...he is welcome to come (with sight of valid SGC) and have a wipe over on his action! Edited November 27 by enfieldspares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted November 27 Report Share Posted November 27 Like many on here it would appear, I too started off my 12 bore shooting with a BSA Snipe and used to walk up grey partridges on the stubbles. In those days (early 60s) the stubbles were invariably left to over winter unlike today where the plough or discer often immediately follows the combine. The partridges thrived with `ungrubbed up` hedgerows and it was common to see several large coveys in the same field. That old Snipe accounted for many partridges, but I soon learnt not to take them too early as the choke (whatever it was, probably full, no knowledge of chokes then !) would smash them a bit, so they were left for slightly longer shots. In my innocence, I thought that getting a side by side would double my success rate. How wrong was I?. It just didn`t concentrate the mind sufficiently than with the single knowing that you had just one chance. Happy days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear68 Posted November 27 Report Share Posted November 27 My first 12 bore was a later Italian-made BSA single barrel. I loved that gun, but being young I insisted on using Eley Super Game cartridges which were a 1 & 1/8 ounce load....kicked like hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN749 Posted November 27 Report Share Posted November 27 32 gram loads were fairly standard in the 70’s, also 30 gram game loads. The velocities were lower then so we didn’t notice a great recoil even with a single of under 6lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushandpull Posted November 27 Report Share Posted November 27 The Snipe was not that light. One of the selling points in the adverts was "generous barrel wall thickness for minimum maintenance" - really ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted November 27 Report Share Posted November 27 20 hours ago, enfieldspares said: There you are BSA XII as below: thats theone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN749 Posted November 27 Report Share Posted November 27 2 hours ago, Pushandpull said: The Snipe was not that light. One of the selling points in the adverts was "generous barrel wall thickness for minimum maintenance" - really ! The barrel was thick,probably 5mm at the breech end,as most single barrels were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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