An airgun geezer, a 1910 Beezer, and a 55 yard target.

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Leonardj
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An airgun geezer, a 1910 Beezer, and a 55 yard target.

Post by Leonardj » Sun Sep 07, 2014 1:15 am

The other day, just for giggles, I thought that I would try shooting my 1910 BSA Improved model D at 55 yards to see what it (and I) were capable of. This Model D has the Model 12 peep sight set right into the trigger block from the factory, so it seemed this would be the best equipped gun to try at that distance.

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But first, a couple of disclaimers....LOL.
The former owner of this gun had it rebuilt in the UK, before he immigrated to Canada about five years ago, and I believe that it has been over-sprung, with what appears to be one of the Titan square section mainsprings. This heavy spring makes for an absolutely abysmal trigger pull weight. The trigger is set about as light as safety will allow, and it is still horrible. The shot cycle is very harsh, so it required a tight fitting pellet to tame that down a bit. Pellets chosen were the 7.9 gr Crosman Premier Lights, shooting at right around 700 FPS.

All shooting was done from a seated position (on my FT stool), with elbows rested on knees. Not the most stable of shooting positions, but one that I am confortable with. There was a light, variable breeze which may have been more of a factor than I initially thought it would be.

A ten yard target was shot first, using the tangent rear sight, and was quite acceptable to me. Appears that the tangent sight could stand a light tap to the right though. (The tangent sight would have to be removed if I were to want to try the peep at that range). A regulation 10M rifle target was used at this range.

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It took a few tries on the targets at 55 yards, to see where the shots were hitting, and to get the peep sight dialed in just right. Once I was satisfied with all my settings, I posted "the official" 55 yard target, which in this case, was an official 10M pistol target, for it's larger bull. (I had a hard time seeing the much smaller 10M rifle target bull at 55 yds).

I fired three, five shot volleys, with a brief rest in between volleys. When I finally walked down to the target, I was initially a bit disappointed with what I found. However, after considering the age of the gun, the age of the shooter, the position from which the target was shot, that absolutely horrendous trigger, and the light, variable breeze, I decided that the group wasn't so bad after all. All fifteen shots were at least within the 6.5" square target card - although three shots were outside the scoring rings. I was quite pleased that six shots were actually in the bull area

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All things considered, not bad for a 104 year old airgun, with a decrepit old geezer on the trigger.

PS - Yes, this gun will be receiving some TLC in the not-too-distant future to correct the shortcomings noted in my "disclaimer" above.
Last edited by Leonardj on Tue Sep 09, 2014 5:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

gab
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Re: An airgun geezer, a 1910 Beezer, and a 55 yard target.

Post by gab » Sun Sep 07, 2014 10:11 am

I'm impressed with both targets. I look forward to seeing the next target after the old BSA receives some attention.

Certus
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Re: An airgun geezer, a 1910 Beezer, and a 55 yard target.

Post by Certus » Sun Sep 07, 2014 12:06 pm

Hi Leonard,

Is the aperture sight fitted to your rifle marked Parker Hale as I have this 1909 Improved Model D which has the optional BSA No 12 aperture sight fitted and regularly shoots 1" groups from a standing position at 20yds. I do have access to an outdoor 50yd range, so I'm now tempted to give it a go at the longer range. Your 50 yd group seems to be mainly vertically strung apart from a few flyers, so I would guess the difficulty in reproducing the exact same sight picture at 50 yds was the problem rather than any wind effect.


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I also own this 1912 Light Pattern to which I have fitted a BSA No 8 sight, but the overall appearance isn't nearly as neat as the air rifle specific BSA No 12 or 21 peep sights.

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Regards

Brian

Leonardj
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It was my understanding that Parker Hale.....

Post by Leonardj » Sun Sep 07, 2014 4:07 pm

Was the primary supplier of all versions of the peep sights used on the BSA air rifles, or am I in error on that?
Was the Model 12 sight made in house at BSA?
The sight is not marked "Parker Hale", but the range markings do bear a resemblance to those on PH sights.

Certus
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Re: An airgun geezer, a 1910 Beezer, and a 55 yard target.

Post by Certus » Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:03 am

Hi Leonard,

BSA certainly advertised the sights as being of their own manufacture, but as you say, they are very similar to the Parker Hale sights.

Maybe there was some sort of commercial agreement, but I'm not aware of any evidence to suggest BSA didn't produce the sights themselves.

Regards

Brian

Leonardj
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Re: An airgun geezer, a 1910 Beezer, and a 55 yard target.

Post by Leonardj » Tue Sep 09, 2014 5:41 am

Edited OP to correct the peep sight description.

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