Thames Valley Guns

Armourers Report

Introduction
At the end of 2018 I rebuilt a BSA .22LR MkII international and really enjoyed it, so much so that I fancied rebuilding
some other BSA rifles. I had restored countless military BSA rifles over the years like the SMLE and therefore I fancied
restoring some BSA sporting rifles as this was a new area of research, that I had less experience in.

Years ago I had done a fair amount of research on the .22 hornet cartridge using a Ruger 77/22 and was very
disappointed with the Ruger’s inability to produce a decent group and consequently purchased my first BSA Hunter.

Although forty years old, the BSA Hunter was so much more accurate than the Ruger and therefor I decided to sell the
Ruger and customised the Hunter as you can see in the images above. Selling that BSA Hunter was one of my biggest's
regrets and finding one nowadays is quite difficult. I searched the Internet with little success until I found the rifle below.

Contacting the seller, I was assured that with the exception of a few knocks, the barrel was good and that it was a fine
little rifle. The rifle had lost both its front and rears sights and had been threaded but it appeared to be the only one
available for sale in the UK at the time, so I went ahead with the purchase. The rifle arrived and after removing the bolt,

I inspected the bore and bolt face, only to be shocked by its condition. To say it
was unsafe to fire was an understatement. You could not see the rifling it was so
bad, the image showing the bolt face gives you a good idea as to its condition.
Had I shot this rifle without checking it, it would have suffered a catastrophic
failure of some description and to add insult to injury, the rifle was out of proof
as a result of the amateur work on the muzzle thread.

Why is it, certain dealers think its perfectly acceptable to sell firearms in this
condition??? Well you can rest assure this is one dealer that will not be receiving
any further trade from myself.

History
The first BSA short action Hunter appeared in 1954 and was only produced in .22
Hornet and .222 Remington. Less than ten years after the WWII many sporting
rifles of the period were base on ex-military equipment and therefore the
Hunter design was ahead of its time, elegant, with many unique and modern
features, that we take for granted today.
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Armourers Report

The rifle was exceedingly well made, using traditional

machining processes with the receiver being being ma-
chined from a single steel ingot with production continu-
ing until 1956. The Hunter weighed 7.25lbs, had a barrel
length of 24” and an overall length of just short of 43”

In 1956 the Hunter was redesigned to include medium

and long action receivers, with the most obvious design
change being the replacement of the Mauser style claw
extractor, with a horseshoe extractor enclose in the bolt face. Whilst the new Hunters were standardised around the
medium and long action receiver to accommodate other calibres, the short action continued to be built from spares
until 1963. Whilst these short action receivers where engraved with the name Hunter, they where renamed the
Regent. This particular rifle shown above as indicated by its serial number is a Regent model

Information concerning these rifles is limited and can become quite confusing. The principle source of information is
John Knibbs book, “The Golden Century” however it can be difficult to follow at times. Besides the Internet, the other
source of information is John Walters book “Rifles of the world” however information conflicts with Knibbs book and
therefore as Knibbs was an employee of BSA I would follow his lead as the more accurate source of information.

The short action Hunter utilised twin front locking lugs and a mauser style extractor. Feed and extraction is extremely
smooth with the bolt throw being only 3” and cartridges being fed from a 4 rd internal magazine. Whilst iron sights
are fitted as standard the rifle has an integral scope rail which was unique for the period. Another unique feature, was
the one piece trigger assembly with the rifles safety mounted on the bolt shroud, which directly engages and locks the
firing pin. Stock options included two versions, American and classic, both being made from French Walnut.

General information
With BSA closing in 1986, these type of BSA sporting rifles vary in age between 35 and 65 years. Despite their excellent
engineering and good accuracy, rifle prices in 2019 rarely exceed £300 making a good condition rifle extremely good
value for money. Shooters always want the latest design that's on the shelf despite the fact, that in many cases, it is
less well made, consists of cheap plastic and polymers and will not shoot any more accurately, however the trick is to
source a rifle that has seen little use and has been well looked after. My Regent had seen little use at the time of
purchase, but the previous owner had left the moderator constantly attached to the muzzle and never cleaned his rifle
and therefore, moisture consequently took its toll. My other BSA’s such as the Monarch, was used once a year on a
pilgrimage to Scotland, was religiously cared for and therefore except for a few transit marks is almost new and shoots
as well, if not better than any modern counterpart. My CF2 varmint and CFT,
where well cared for, but have seen considerable use, however with their
excellent engineering, coupled with a new barrel, means they can be brought
back to their excellence.

I will never recoup the cost of the new barrels on the CF2 & CFT but these two
thirty year old rifles are now some of my most accurate rifles I own.

First range test

Because this rifle was in such a diabolical and unsafe state when I received it,
I informed the seller that the rifle would be returned if accuracy was unac-
ceptable. I fully stripped the rifle and methodically cleaned and polished
every part, however I had no intention of completing a full restore if the rifle
was damaged beyond repair and had to be returned.
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Armourers Report

Having thoroughly cleaned the rifle, it was clear that some minor pitting had damaged
the barrel, but it wasn't excessive and therefore I felt the rifle would still shoot well.
Attaching a temporary scope, I shot prone at 30yrds and zeroed the rifle. As can be seen
from the zeroing target on the previous page, the rifle consistently grouped at 10-11mm
which I felt was acceptable and therefore made the decision to retain the rifle and
restore it. Having zeroed the rifle, I went on to shoot, fully supported at 100 yards and
produced this 37mm group, which wasn’t bad, but not good either.

Receiver
The receiver is machined from a steel ingot and is 7¼” long and 1.35” wide. The barrel
screws into the receiver in the traditional way. Running internally down either side of the receiver, are the guides for
the bolts twin locking lugs, which when fully engaged, rotate and locked in corresponding lugs in the receiver. The
safety locking lug is the bolt handle recess at the rear of the receiver. The loading/ejection port is a shade under 2¼”
and is designed for smaller .224 cartridges of the period such as the rimmed .22 Hornet and the rimless .222
Remington. The upper receiver is machined for 17mm rings but lacks any recoil lug or recess that is seen as normal by
today’s standards. Whilst ahead of its time, the lack of a recoil lug, meant that all but the lightest scopes will move,
even with the mild mannered Hornet. Another issue with the score rail dimensions was that, they where designed for
the British Parker Hale rings, fine for commonwealth countries, but less prolific in the America’s which probably cost
BSA considerably in lost sales.

As a side note, readers should be aware

that this was a post war world, scope tech-
nology had changed little in the 1920-40’s
and as a result was still in its relative infan-
cy, scopes where expensive and therefore
historically for the more wealthy shooter
(generation 1). Like many things, war im-
proved technology, mass production tech-
niques and therefore scopes had
improved (generation 2) with windage/elevation drums and mass production lenses. This meant scope prices had
dropped and therefore where now affordable to the mass shooting public. This was also a period where the shooting
community was considerably bigger than today and many people still shot to put food on the table and having a rifle
which could mount a moderately priced scope without the skills of a gunsmith, was a major step forward. On the left
of the receiver is the gas vent, the word BSA Hunter and the calibre. Whilst the rifle has a front and rear sight mounted
as standard on the barrel,
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Armourers Report

it is unusual to find two screw holes which permits the fitting of a Parker Hale PH6E
aperture target sight. I am unsure of the mindset behind this option as the sight can also
be found on the Majestic and Monarch range of rifles as well, regardless of calibre. The
Parker Hale PH6E is a target sight and therefore vastly superior to the fitted standard
sights and therefore my only thought is that this was an alternative option to increase
accuracy without the need to fit a scope.

The lower receiver is secured to the stock via the traditional master screws, however the
receiver has two recoil lugs which a large part of the stock seats between the two. This
configuration provides a very strong receiver to stock bond, minimises receiver/stock

movement and places less stress on the woodwork. Whilst an excellent design, it is only viable due to the small mag
well. As shown in the image above, the magazine well is fairly small and only suitable for the .22 Hornet or the .222
Remington cartridges, the principle .22 centre fire cartridges of the time. The receiver walls are substantial which adds
considerable strength to the receiver.

To the rear of the magazine well is the trigger assembly well,

where the one piece trigger unit is secured using a pin and single
screw. The use of a one piece trigger unit was unique at the time
as most manufacturers tended to follow military style patterns,
which had separate trigger and sear. The slot linking the trigger
and mag well is for the spring loaded ejector which is an integral
part of the trigger assembly.

The image to the left shows the receiver assembled with the
trigger group and the magazine box. Markings to the receiver was
the master serial number, model, calibre and proof marks. Overall
machine finish is to a high quality with a deep traditional bluing.

In summary the receiver is an excellent, strong design with a high quality finish, minimal parts and a smooth cycling
action. My only minor criticism is the lack of any recoil recesses in the scope rail, however this was rectified in later
models.

Trigger Assembly
The trigger assembly was quite unique for its time in that it was a one piece unit that contained the trigger, trigger
pawl, sear, sear trip, various springs and ejector. The side plates consist of a single folded press steel plate with the axis
pins supporting the working parts and the plate. The whole unit was secured in the trigger well with a single pin and
screw, which made its removal and maintenance extremely simple. The sears secondary role is to act as the bolt stop
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Armourers Report

Removing the bolt

To remove the bolt varies from model to model and can get confusing if you own a
number of different BSA’s. In the case of the BSA Hunter, the sequence starts with
the user closing the bolt and releasing the firing pin. Open the bolt and withdraw it
approximately 1” or when you can see the rear of the extractor spring, at this point
depress the trigger and whilst keeping it depressed, remove the bolt.

Bolt
The bolt is fairly substantial for diminutive cartridges like the Hornet and the .222
Remington. It is 0.700” in diameter, uses large twin front locking lugs and claw
extractor similar to the Mauser.

The cranked bolt handle and bolt body are part of the same forging adding consider-
able further strength to the whole design and this is due to the bolt handle being the
third safety lug, when engaged in the receiver.

The all steel cocking piece contains the firing pin and the safety catch. The safety
catch can only be applied when the firing pin is cocked on the sear. Applying the
safety catch, locks the firing pin directly, disengages it from the sear and locks the
bolt in the closed position. When the firing pin is cocked on the sear, the rear of the
firing pin protrudes from the rear of cocking piece, thus acting as a gun state indicator.

Personally I prefer this type of safety as it acts directly on the firing pin, however it
does offer less “options” than a trigger mounted safety catch.

Like the Mauser system, lifting and rotating the bolt body, cams the firing pin to the
rear and engages in the bent on the bolt body. At the same time the cam on the
bottom of the bolt handle engages in a corresponding cam in the receiver, which in
turn generates primary extraction. The bolt has now reached its maximum rotation,
the main locking lugs have disengaged and it is now possible to pull the bolt to the
rear. Rearward movement of the bolt is arrested by the sear.

Having overcome primary extraction and the firing pin has been withdrawn, the
empty case is extracted from the chamber and is held on the bolt face by the
extractor claw. The ejector is kept depressed during the rearward travel until it
meets a recess in the bolt body. At this point, it is allowed to raise under the
influence of its spring, strike the rim of the cartridge, pivot it around the extractor
claw and eject the empty case very efficiently away from the rifle.

Pushing the bolt forward strips the next cartridge from the magazine, up the feed ramp, levers the rim of the case
under the extractor claw and feeds the round into the chamber. As the bolt handle is depressed, the firing pin bent
engages on the sear and the locking lugs, lock into the corresponding lugs in the receiver. Whilst the trigger can be
depressed at this stage and the firing pin released, the firing pin cannot strike the cartridge until the bolt handle is fully
depressed, thus ensuring mechanical safety.

In summary this is a nice bolt, cycling is silky smooth, ejection is highly effective, the safety catch engagement is
positive and easy to apply and the gun state indicator is highly visual and easy to detect in the dark.
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Armourers Report

Magazine & Trigger Guard

The trigger guard is an aluminium affair and typically as part of a hunting rifle tends to take quite a battering. My rifle
was no exception and the original painted surface had been heavily worn and scratched. I cleaned up all the damage
and the expensive solution would be to get it cerakoted, however as a cost saving measure I sprayed it myself using
Rust-oleum universal black satin. The finish was fine, but even when hardened, this type of paint finish is too soft.

The trigger guard is a separate unit, con-

tains the floor plate release mechanism
and is secured to the stock with a screw
and the rear master screw.

The magazine assembly is an internal de-

sign which consists of the magazine box,
floor plate, magazine platform, magazine
spring and can accommodate four
rounds. The magazine box is a press steel stamping and seats in the receiver and is secured in place by the stock and
the floor plate. The floor plate houses the magazine spring and platform and is secured by the front mast screw and
the retaining catch on the trigger guard. Cartridges can be removed from the magazine by releasing the floor plate.
One point worth noting is the rimmed Hornet cartridge, when seating the round in the magazine, the rims of the
cartridge must be placed in front of one another, failure to ensure this process will result in a double feed and a jam.
In summary a traditional design that works extremely well as long as the cartridges are fed into the magazine correctly.

Barrel
The tapered barrel is 24” long and is 1.0” at its widest point and narrows 0.6” at the muzzle. The original rifles did not
have their muzzles threaded as this was an aftermarket task when moderators became the norm in the 1980’s. My
barrel had been threaded by an amateur and consequently was produced to poor quality workmanship. The old style
over the barrel moderator that had been utilised, had also damaged the bluing and therefore I made the decision to
shortened the barrel by 3” and re-crowned. The original barrel would have had a brazed fore sight ramp and blade,
however the muzzle thread-
ing exercise had caused this
to be lost.
The rear sight was dovetailed
into the sight band which was
located about a third of the
way down the barrel from the

chamber as can be seen in the image above. The rearsight consisted of a folding leaf and had also been removed and
lost. This is common problem on these rifles, as the rearsight often conflicted with the scopes objective lens and was
therefore removed and subsequently lost.

Around the chamber is stamped various proof marks, plus unusually the recommended bullet weight of 45grns and
the chamber size of 1.43”. I have never seen this type of data stamped on a rifle before, but as I point out later this is
important information.
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Armourers Report

Stock
At the time of production, the rifles were offered with two stock options, American and Classic, with both options
being made from French walnut. Upon receipt, my stock had seen better times and required restoration. The stock is
very well made and metal to wood fit is extremely good. Due to the age of the rifle, checkering is done by hand, with
none of the laser cutting we see today. The Butt plate and white spacer are plastic, which in my opinion lets the design

down a bit, but it does stand the test of time. I have seen other BSA rifles of the period, which due to the calibre are
fitted with rubber recoil pads, however over sixty odd years, they perish and disintegrate.

As part of the restoration I bedded the action, hoping to maximise the rifles accuracy, however as I found out during
the accuracy test, any improvement in accuracy is minimal, which proves the excellent quality metal to wood fit
obtained at the factory.

Accuracy test
If you recall, on the side of the barrel it states 45gr bullets as the most suitable weight for this barrel type and therefore
using Vihtavuori N110, I made up and chronograph fifty 45gr and fifty 40gr bullets. I made up the 40gr bullets as I had
some spare, which were left over from some .222 research that I had done years before and was very interested to see
how they performed.

As the .22 Hornet is such diminutive case, reloading increments must be kept very small to avoid a rapid rise in
pressure but even still, it is easy to creep over the maximum recommended load, so caution is always advised. Despite
only a 5gr difference between bullet weights, the velocity spread of the 40gr bullet was considerable with 17 - 200fps
recorded difference between medium and maximum loads. The 45gr bullet was much better behaved with only 08 -
59fps.

As the reader may recognise, these wide ranging velocity spreads will have a noticeable impact on accuracy. Shooting
from the bench and with the rifle fully supported at 100 yards. The 40gr bullet at 2650fps was generating average
groups of approximately 32-35mm or 1.5” groups. Likewise shooting the 45gr bullet at 2633fps was generating average
groups of approximately 26mm or 1.0 groups.

The barrel does have some slight pitting about 12” from
the muzzle and this will have some impact on the bullets
stability and condition, as it travels through the barrel and
therefore will have some impact on accuracy, however 1”
is not bad and a 0.5” improvement over the pre-restora-
tion accuracy tests.
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Armourers Report

Summary
Returning a rifle from a rusty and un-
cared for precipice is always a pleasure. I
had fitted a Redfield 3-12 scope and peri-
od parker hale rings but the lack of a
recoil stud had caused some scope creep
during accuracy tests. Tightening of the
rings does seem to have cured the prob-
lem, however any increase in recoil, say
with a .222 will definitely re-introduce the
issue.

Being a rimmed cartridge it is imperative

the user places the rounds in the maga-
zine correctly, failure to do so will incur
misfeeds. Despite these two minor issues,
this is a lovely little rifle and an absolute
pleasure to shoot. Cycling the action is
effortless with a smooth feed and posi-
tive extraction. I personally liked the safe-
ty and the gun state indication being very
close together and on the cocking piece,
although I do appreciate it is not to every-
one's taste.

The .22 Hornet may not be a nail tacker

but its minimal recoil, reasonable velocity
and low report makes it ideal for fox
shooting in the UK. In my opinion these
rifles are superior to their modern equivalents and can be found at a fraction of the price of a new gun. Even if you pay
to have the rifle restored, it will still work out cheaper and you will be a proud owner of a fine, good quality classic rifle.

Paul Green
Thames Valley Guns
www.thamesvalleyguns.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

First published: 02nd April 2019