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BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:17 pm
by leadpig
how durable are these,ive seen a few going cheap but can not try/view before i buy,is it worth a chance :) or do the bores burn out :thdn: .

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:54 pm
by Shootist
They undoubtedly do burn out after a while. I have one that will barely group 1" at 50 yards and it's only had the current barrel since 1896 FFS!

My 90 year old Greener is only about as accurate as a modern CZ, and as for the 50 year old Model 13, well, one hole groups are not really good enough at 50 yards. :grin:

Undoubtedly there are poor specimens out there, but they are few and far between. Mind you, I am biased, as I have five, or six if you include the shotgun. I'm looking for more.

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 10:01 pm
by Shootist
Shot with tired old eyes and aperture sights.


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Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 10:08 pm
by leadpig
cheers bud :thup:
that will do nicely :grin:

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 11:48 am
by Dave 101
BSA MkII 1957 , 15x vintage scope , 25 yd .

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Vickers 1930 ish , apperture sight , 25yd , 5 shot group .
Better action than a BSA as it is all one part with the barrel

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BSA Model 12 1930ish , apperture sight , 25 yd , 5 shot group with a flyer .

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You cant beat them . There are plenty around have a look on guntrader , you can buy some very good rifles at very reasonable prices , ask around your local dealer , or even at a club if you find one that someone has had for a long time for precision shooting its probably been very well looked after , and will still shoot as good as a new rifle .

Dave

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 12:53 pm
by TheSquire
I'e seen club shooters shoot 10 x 10 (on competition cards) with rifles that are 40+ yrs old, prone at 25 and 50 yrds. Lots of clubs were selling them off and if you talk to a biggish RFD they may well have a nice old ex club rifle lurking somewhere. American collectors were buying them up and they were going for silly money (£30 - £50) and an RFD I know couldn't get enough to satisfy the demand! If I had space in my cabinet (and on my ticket) I'd get one ...

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 8:00 am
by grandhubert
I have to echo the comments above, the first time I saw one I thought "what is this old thing?!" but as Shootist points out they are some of the most accurate .22 rifles reasonable money can buy.

Our club uses one for a round of the Christmas shoot at 200 yards! :shock:

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 7:25 pm
by Shootist
I've given this matter a great deal of thought, and I've decided to come clean. Martini rifles are crap. They won't shoot worth a damn, and everything on them breaks as soon as you use them. They really are rubbish. Nobody should buy one. Don't do it. Just leave them alone. In fact they're dangerous to the user. No, don't ever buy one. You'll thank me for this, honest.

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 10:20 pm
by Keef
In fact they are so rubbish that Shootist will take them off your hands and will even be generous and pay you twice the scrap value for every one that you donate to him.

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 4:25 pm
by leadpig
so if i accidentally bought 6 silly cheap,no one would be interested then ;) :lol:

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 1:35 pm
by Shootist
leadpig wrote:so if i accidentally bought 6 silly cheap,no one would be interested then ;) :lol:


Only six? Hardly worth the bother of collecting them, I shouldn't trouble yourself. Errrmmmmm. whereabouts are they? Just out of interest, and purely for geographic research, like. :)

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 12:41 pm
by Viperteks
Thanks for pissing me off, had to sell my Venom Martini .22LR as I was skint! :mad: :mad:

They are superb and can be bought for buttons and customised for not much more!

Beat the crap out of most of the modern, expensive suff out there!

Still - I have a nice BSA Century .22LR on hold for me, it will be a nice project!

Dave

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:15 pm
by Hornet 6
Viperteks wrote:Thanks for pissing me off, had to sell my Venom Martini .22LR as I was skint! :mad: :mad:



Dave


I am still kicking myself for not being able to come up with the readys at that time :cry:
As punishment I still look at the pics of what might have been mine from time to time :oops:

Neil. :)

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:13 pm
by Viperteks
Hornet 6 wrote:
Viperteks wrote:Thanks for pissing me off, had to sell my Venom Martini .22LR as I was skint! :mad: :mad:



Dave


I am still kicking myself for not being able to come up with the readys at that time :cry:
As punishment I still look at the pics of what might have been mine from time to time :oops:

Neil. :)


This is it, I forgot you were interested in it - she was stunning and stupidly accurate! :cry: :cry: :cry:

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Dave

Re: BSA Martini 22lr

PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 4:11 pm
by Keef
Tony kindly sold me one to use a s abarrel project.

I wanted to know what it shot like with cheap SK ammo so I put a scope on it.

Lets us bear in mind that I used two weaver blocks that I had made for an Anschutz so they weren't the same profile as the barrel.
The screws were too long so I put two pieces of 0.012" shim under the middle of each block.
I didn't have the right size weaver mounts for the spare scope so I put some adaptors on these blocks, then put some dovetail mounts on top of them.
The barrel is tapered, the blocks weren't so the front scope cap wasn't done up tight as it would bend the scope, is was just lightly nipped up to give some support.

So with a totally cobbled together mount set up I fired seven rounds of cheap SK ammo through the same hole at 25 yards.

If it does that when it's in the 10/22 action I will be very pleased!