BSA Club Standard (hunter)

BSA Club Standard (hunter).

My eye was caught by a bin of old air rifles at the Great British Shooting Show and although I spent far more time looking for a PCP I returned empty handed but with an itch that needed scratching. Eventually that itch was soothed by this Club Standard CS40465 which according to Hiller dates to 1929 although I understand that there may be discrepancies in the actual release dates. My initial assumption was that it had been re-blued although I am now unsure as the etching is just legible on the cylinder and internally it has a mirror finish polish so my £300 may have done better than I thought. It is a full size 45 /1/4 inch model in .177 No 1 bore.

Although I would have been happy with this gun as an ornament or plinker I really wanted a rifle fit for short range hunting hence choosing .177 for its flatter trajectory to minimise holdover. I expected to have to do some work on the internals so was not disappointed when the spring turned out to be a badly cut and rather bent replacement. Tests with the chrono showed it was putting out anywhere between 6 – 10 fpe with Jumbo Exact Pellets. Obviously it needed some work and so thanks to this forum I ordered a new set of springs and a washer from Knibbs. To cut a long story short I have tried three sets of springs but kept the old washer. I gave up on the Knibbs springs, I doubt theres a problem with them but suspect I damaged them as the rifle went through a period of severe dieselling often around the 13fpe mark and even up to 21fpe. Fortunately while the springs may have suffered the rifle did not and the solution was to remove all the crud, oil and grease that had accumulated by pouring boiling water through the cylinder and barrel and swabbing out. This resulted in the rifle running at around 7.5fpe but this began falling between sessions. Subsequently I tried a Titan No 7 for about 7.5fpe rising to about 8.5 with preload and then a Titan No 8 for 9fpe without washers (but plenty of preload in the spring itself).

The shot cycle with the No 8 is quite pleasant and at 9fpe is good for short range (<20m) woodland rabbits and the rifle has now put a few meals on the table. However there is room for improvement and I will be spending some time over winter fine tuning her to reduce twang and for an even smoother cycle but not to increase power which I feel is probably at the upper limit for this old girl. I will be doing more pellet testing too. The JSBs are ok but she seems to run best on old Wasps or Bisley Pest Control. Surprisingly heavy Bisley Magnums give the most power but of course with reduced velocity. I have not touched the trigger, mainly because the single stage breaks very cleanly and I don't want a hunting gun with too light a let off.

I have been quite surprised by this old rifle. As others have said there is a joy in being out there with a piece of history in your hands and there is a real pride of ownership. The best compliment I can pay her though, is that out in the field I don't feel like I'm shooting an old gun, she is simply the perfect tool for the job and she does that job very well (although you will have to forgive the red dot sight, time has not been quite so kind to my eyes). No perhaps the best complement is that I have not looked at another PCP but have started looking at Improved Models or perhaps even a Breakdown!

Joe