BSA Airguns - any opinions

https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/bsa-gold-star-union-jack-in-177-ongoing-review/

I spent some time with this one earlier this year. Very good field target gun. That stock can be made to fit extremely well. 

Accuracy, consistency, ft match performance can all be found in that link. 

Considering your question about ft guns yesterday (I think that was you) I'd highly recommend the Gold Star. Probably one of the cheaper ways to get a highly competitive field target gun that'll be more than just an entry level gun. 

The barrels are pretty much as good as everyone say they are. I have the Scorpion SE, and I cant’t think of any mid-priced PCP available right now that beat the Scorpion in quality or accuracy. 

AK

I owned a BSA R10 mk2 .177 a few years back and was an excellent shooter. Great trigger and the stock was extremely comfortable. 

Nothing much has changed about them in the past years which I think is why most discount them when other companies keep on improving and coming out with new things. 

Which ones are you interested in?

I assume you aren't including the new bullpup sold in the states as the Defiant. Not sure about the overall value of that model, I probably wouldn't buy one at that price point to be honest. I think they got the stock wrong- I don't hate it but I don't think its worth the cost for the laminate wood. If they put a nice soft touch synthetic stock on it and cut the cost to $799 then different story.

To respond to your inquiry, I've had a buccaneer, scorpion and r10, I still own the R10. The scorpion and ultra have the same trigger which I liked a lot. Neither is regulated but you can add one easily and still have use of the pressure gauge. The r10 trigger is great and my regulator is working fine. Many people replace them with HUMAs as they are known to eventually act up. I guess if that happens to me it's an easy modification. Speaking of modifications, they are pretty easy to work on, and after market parts are easy to get [I've never had an issue ordering from the UK, couple weeks and the parts show up]. They are nice rifles and have a very classic look and bolt cocking mechanism. For that reason they may not appeal to the market which is increasingly including regulators and side cocking as standard features. They are also, in the .25 caliber, under powered compared to the competition. I would also rank the BSA magazine behind daystate, air arms, weihrauch, fx.

If I were you, I'd either get the BSA gold star union jack in .22, on sale for $899 with extras at AOA or a Daystate Revere.

I've got a BSA Defiant (Bullpup). I've only put about 200 rounds though it so far (many guns to shoot !).

I really like it. Some don't like the stock, some think it's heavy, MOST really don't know much about it.

Yes, it looks like "two" people designed the stock. One for the front half and another for the back half. If you inspect it like an art connoisseur, sure, it's a little odd. If you are just a shooter, it's actually not bad. It sits comfortable at the shoulder well. The finish is really second to none. Smooth, light polish, no damage to the wood at all. I have the black pepper stock version.

Weight doesn't bother me. It actually helps hold-stability. If you shoot off of a rest, it's no big deal anyway. I shoot offhand.

The trigger is nice out of the box. No need for adjustments. Nice first stage, a solid wall, and a clean let off. as good as most bullpups.

Loading the pellets into the magazine, no problems, Loading the magazine into the gun, simple, no other levers to move.

Accurate, yes. I can't say as to how far, because my "range" is shorter than most, but shooting offhand, at about 18yrd., nickel sized magazine full, group on a good day, quarter sized on any other day.

Yea, happy with my BSA, Defiant.

Mike

P.S. - Air Guns of Arizona has the best price right now

Poly is just my shorthand term for a Lothar Walthar Polygonal barrel. A completely different type of rifling than hammer forged, button cut, etc. If you're a firearms guy, think Marlin Microgroove in that the lands/grooves are much more shallow, although even the Micro groove isn't an accurate comparison. 

Here's a graphic I found online.



To clarify though, the BSA hammer forged aren't really like either of those in the picture, although more similar to the rifling on the left (just with seemingly rounded lands). 

LW poly barrels are being put into the HP versions of the Daystate Red Wolf. Other airgun makers have been using them for years as well (MAC1, RAW, Brocock, etc?). The poly barrel I was testing the BSA hammer forged against in that review is actually in my MAC1 USFT (purpose built, custom field target rifle). Only a couple hundred have been made-I'd guess between 200 and 300. I spent more than twice the current price of the Union Jack on that USFT and the particular specimen of Union Jack that I reviewed was pretty similarly accurate.

In fact, a friend and member of my local FT club bought that specific review gun (Union Jack) and was shooting it next to me a few months ago. He had one of those gamo swinging targets with 3/8 and 1/2 inch paddles set at 50 yards and was just drilling all the paddles, one right after another, until he got tired of it. 

After I did that review, Airguns of Arizona dropped the price on the Union Jack as a sort of promotional deal. I'm guessing it is a simple supply vs demand sort of thing (dunno for sure, but perhaps they've got, say 20, of the Union Jacks sitting there to sell and only 5 of the black pepper laminate). 

I posted a few days ago about my BSA R10 SE vs my Daystate Revere. The BSA is very accurate even in my novice hands. I have shot both JSB 18 grain and H&N 21 grain pellets and both worked well at 25 and 50 yards. The only issues I had with it in the few months I have owned it is that the bottle would not stay tight and would work loose after a few shots, but after putting a little more effort into tightening it has stayed snugged up. The shroud and the bolt holding the stock were both needing a little tightening as well. I use a Hill Mk IV pump to pump it up, so the 30 ish shots in .22 is a little disappointing. The stock is simply beautiful, and I like that you can adjust the butt pad, something my Daystate doesn't do. BSA also includes sling studs and a moderator that works well. I'll be keeping my BSA for a long time.

This is my R10SE .22

It now has a 300 cc carbon bottle from Best Fittings and a Hawke 8-32X50 Airmax for glass.

I absolutely Love it and would gladly purchase another BSA airgun...the R10 isn't going Anywhere!!

Mike

Most of the BSA guns are very well made and very accurate. The older models are all steel and brass so made to last forever. 

This is my R10SE .22

It now has a 300 cc carbon bottle from Best Fittings and a Hawke 8-32X50 Airmax for glass.

I absolutely Love it and would gladly purchase another BSA airgun...the R10 isn't going Anywhere!!

Mike

Click to expand...

Hey Mike, great looking R10.

Did you need to do any mods to the stock to fit the bottle or did it just screw on?

What kinda of shot count are you getting?

Thx!

I know you didn't ask me but I can answer- the Best Fitting bottles are all made to fit without any stock modifications. The literature on their website claims this and I've read numerous confirmation reviews. They do make the bottles stick out a little bit farther, but I think that's more with the 400 and 500 cc since they are wider. Personally I think that 300 cc is perfect. If I ever have a couple extra bucks to put into my R10 I'd go with the 300cc cf bottle

The urban has my vote as the most overachieving air gun I have ever bought. it's obvious that this Gamo has the BSA barrel because it is every bit as accurate as my tarantula. Yes I bought it at Christmas two years ago by ordering it from Walmart for $214. 

From my research they are quite nice. I ended up buying an r10 MK2 from a forum member and should have it Monday. I’ll know more then. The only real negatives I came across is that some of the r10 regulators would get wonky as far regulating the shots. But a Huma fits right in and takes about ten minutes to install.

I've had a R-10 SE .177 for 4 years. Best bolt action out there. Very accurate, consistent and lots of shots 80/fill. No issues so far.

Thanks for the info BVC.

Any idea how much of an increase in shot count for 177 22 and 25?