Improved Mod B (1907-8) serial no. 18720 

John Knibbs says this rifle was part of a batch made between September 1907 and January 1908
and despatched between September 1907 and November 1908. He reports that the batch included
Standard and Light pattern Improved Mod 'B's and the first mod 'D'.

At a glance the inscription on the cylinder appears to read 'D' but a closer look shows it to
be a 'B' (well, I'm 90% sure it does, anyway!).

Improved Model B (1907) serial no. 17741 

With thanks to Eddie.

A gun in very good mechanical order, and retaining the original spring steel rear sight tensioner which is so often missing. Also has a period sight protector. Original BSA stamped spring set was in the gun when acquired. (this was a flea market find).

The finish was original in parts with minimal pitting,but had gone grey in areas, and this has been treated with Tetra bluing solution soaked in wire wool which was applied over all areas and has the effect of darkening light areas whilst leaving original areas pretty much alone.

Whole gun;

Sight Detail;

Breech area;

Loading tap;

Cylinder impression;

Crisp trade mark stamping;

Stock LHS;

Trigger block;

Improved Model B (1907) serial no. 16936 

With thanks to Kevin for these pics of this very interesting (.177 cal) air rifle.

It bears the stamps of C Company of the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment, which was officially formed in 1881 when the 100th [Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian] and the 109th Regiments of Foot [Bombay Infantry] were amalgamated... The Leinsters were disbanded in 1922 once the Irish Free State was established.

What do we know for certain about this air rifle? We know the rifle was made in July-September 1907 (according to John Knibbs) and despatched from the factory soon afterwards.

From the pictures we know it was sold in Calcutta. We know that the 2nd battalion of the Leinster regiment was sent to Calcutta in 1907, where it remained for some considerable time.

The small '2' stamped on the butt before 'Lein Regt' could well refer to this 2nd battalion.

There is mention of a 'C Company' of the regiment's 2nd battalion, which was sent to the West Indies in 1898, on this website:

http://www.the-dicksons.org/Leinster_Regiment/origins/west%20ind.htm

Also (thanks to Google Books), in The History of the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment - Volume 1 By Lieut-Col Frederick Whitton, the author mentions that after the deployment in the West Indies, followed by the Boer War in South Africa, the 2nd battalion returned, via Madras, to Calcutta in 1907.

From 1907, apart from some light duty preventing civil unrest (by striking white engine drivers at Asansol, north of Calcutta - most of them ex-servicemen), the battalion remained in India and (in 1909?) they were deployed to the Punjab for two years, before returning to Ireland before WW1.

Whitton describes snipe shooting, race meetings and other activities in some detail after the return to Calcutta, but unfortunately doesn't mention air rifle shooting (at least in the selected pages viewable in Google Books). He mentions that the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Kitchener, was in Calcutta at the same time.

During this period of relative leisure, it seems entirely plausible that the BSA air rifle formed part of the battalion's R&R. Or perhaps, as John M has suggested, it was used for pest control.

Given the craze for bell target shooting ongoing in England at the time (although many of the soldiers would have been recruited in Ireland), it perhaps wouldn't be surprising if officers posted to India were aware of the popularity of the sport and thought it healthy to encourage it in the ranks.

The 1st battalion of the Leinster Regiment was in Ireland and England, after returning for nine years from South Africa in 1902. In 1911 it was deployed to India and at the same time, the 2nd battalion returned to Cork in Ireland.

http://www.oldsite.leinster-regiment-association.org.uk/history/leinster%20regt%20-%20short%20history.pdf

The 1st battalion also had a C Company, pictured here in about 1909:

Taken from the website of The Leinster Regiment Association

The retailer: Walter Locke and Co. was a well known gunmaker, based in Calcutta and with branches in other cities in what was then India.

A quick internet search throws up these pics of its premises at 4 Esplanade Row, Calcutta:

and Lahore (now Pakistan):

Here are scans from a 1923 Walter Locke catalogue (thanks to John M) which show the company continued to import BSAs between the wars (and bizarrely offered them in 'straight-hand' or 'pistol-hand' stocks, although these patterns were discontinued before WW1!):

The rifle:

Improved Model B (1907) serial no. 16775 

With thanks to Tim of www.timdysonairguns.co.uk for these pics. His blurb for this rifle follows.

Product Description

A rare BSA “Improved Model B” No 1 Bore (.177 Calibre) Air Rifle.

Serial Number 16775 which dates it to circa 1908.

This model has the straight hand stock which is hand checkered with the BSA piled arms trade mark to the left of the stock. The top of the cylinder is stamped “The BSA Air Rifle (improved model B, The Birmingham small arms company limited. sole manufacturers” The tap port plate is stamped “P.Pat 8246/06?. The underside of the under lever is stamped “Lincoln Jeffries Patent”. The under lever is the earlier pattern without the side fences.

This particular rifle is in very good original condition and retains most of its original blueing. It has worn in areas to a brown smooth patina but is mainly still dark grey/black colour. The stock which features a metal butt plate is also original with no splits or cracks. The rear sight looks to be non original but is a period one with a flip down element for differing distance shooting. The foresight is original. The rifle is fully functioning cocks and fires with no issues.

A good example of a scarce BSA Air Rifle

Improved Model B (1907) serial no. 17379 

With thanks to Peter.

Improved Model B (1907) serial no. 17205 (presentation model) 

Presented to the Royal Masonic School 1st team.

Pics copyright Holts Auctioneers.

A superb presentation grade B.S.A Improved Model 'B' 

With thanks to Lakey.

Here are some pictures of a totally superb B.S.A Improved Model B, that was presented by BSA, to the winner of a shooting contest in 1907.

Edit: This wonderful description of an eventful day of competition, in which Field Marshall Earl Roberts personally presented the air rifle below to the winning shooter, is kindly provided by John M:

I am pleased to have obtained a contemporary account of the Overbury meeting, where the superb BSA was presented as a prize. The following is a brief account of the day. As you will see there was a serious lapse in safety during the meeting and those who have been fortunate enough to handle this rifle have handled something presented by someone rather special:- The 1907 Miniature Rifle and Air-Gun meeting took place on the Overbury Estate in Evesham on August 31st. The event was the annual gathering of the Worcestershire Union of Workmen’s Clubs and Institutes and entry was limited not only to clubs belonging to the Union but also to air-gun and miniature rifles clubs in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Both miniature and air-gun ranges were in the open, with the slopes of Bredon Hill rising steeply behind. Three of the fifteen butts were used for the four single entry air rifle competitions and the day’s shooting accommodated some 370 individuals and 50 teams. The immense popularity was partly down to the presence of Field Marshall Earl Roberts, who was on hand to distribute the prizes. Lady Martin from Overbury Court gave a garden party and nearly all the guests came up to the range, which was within 100 yards of the gardens to watch the shooting. Unfortunately a violent storm of rain swept the ground during the afternoon and drove the crowd not only into the large refreshment tent but also into the statistical tent, which was filled to overflowing. Many of the visitors amused themselves by inspecting and comparing shot targets, resulting in confusion for those attempting to score them. Then to complete the confusion and hindrance of the markers, some careless competitor brought a loaded rifle into the tent and laid it upon a box. It was knocked off by the crowd and went off, with the bullet entering the leg of Captain Birchall, who was scoring. Thankfully the officer recovered but the incident demonstrates why strict control of a shooting event and crowd is necessary to ensure the safety of all present. The primary air rifle event was shot at a distance of 8 yards upon the SMRC standard target and once all the results were in, the two top scorers had tied for first place with highest possible scores of 100 x 100. Following a shoot off, A. Dodwell of Cheltenham prevailed over R. Southam of Bewdley and was presented with a brand new BSA Improved Model B air rifle by Lord Roberts. Those collectors who have been fortunate enough to handle this fine air rifle today have handled an arm which was presented by Lord Roberts himself. A true link with history.

The winner Mr A Dodwell, must have thought all his christmas's had come early, and the gun has been in the winners family ever since until it came onto the market in 1999.

The gun features a silver oval, which has be carefully let into the exhibition grade walnut stock, in order to commemerate the details of the competition and the winners name.

The gun has an un-common barleycorn foresight, however apart from that and the exhibition grade stock, it is a standard Improved Model B, in all other respects. It is smothered in inspection marks (far more than is normal on everyday guns)I can assume that this particular gun underwent strict inspection and quality control so that it was worthy of being a presentation model.

When this gun was purchased directly from the descendants of Mr Dodwell, it was covered in a speckling of light rust,which was subsequently treated with very fine wire wool and light gun oil. I got the opportunity of photographing the gun (by kind permission of the new owner) just after it had had the wire wool treatment, so that is why some of the closeup shots show odd shreds of wire wool.

All in all, a fabulous gun, which would be the centrepiece of any B.S.A pre-war collection, and exceptionally rare to find in such good condition.

All the best

Lakey

BSA Improved Model "B" (1907) serial no. 16982 

With thanks to Mark.