Couple of Years Ago, Got Reaquainted With An Old BSA From My Teenage Years.

[Tinkicker]

Circa 1978 BSA Airsporter.  Not my original gun which languished in my bedroom after I moved out of my parents house and vanished at some point.  I guess it got lent out and never returned.

I was given this one in a very sorry state.  It had languished in a garden shed for many years and was rusty, the stock was dulled and dried out and it did not fire.  It would not even cock.

A few months later, a few new parts and an awful lot of elbow grease and it lives again.

 

Amazing to think back, as a teenager, I would stick it over my shoulder and saunter down the road to the fields for a bit of target practice.  The old lasses on the street would ask if I was going shooting and be careful not to hurt myself.  No one thought I was going to shoot them or in any way thought it out of the ordinary.

The local bobby would collar me a couple of days later and tell me he had spotted me carrying the gun without a cover on and don't do it again or he would take my name and address and invoke the terror of him calling in and having a cuppa with my parents.  He knew who I was of course, but the casual flip of that notebook and pencil coming out of his top uniform pocket always invoked terror.

 

These days, just being seen in the bedroom window with it by a passerby would invoke an armed police response and helicopters overhead.

 

Beeza Airsporter.

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Tinkicker

[KiwiBob]

I had one of those years ago!

A friend of mine wanted it and so he gave me a box of motorcycle bits for it! 

It didn't take much to put it back together.

 

[billy sugger]

Best rifle I ever owned, though I would not have dared to go out without it being in a case 

[Davidtav]

Well I actually went to the local Grammar School. And my Dad was the Metalwork teacher. And I had an air rifle, a Diana 177 I recall

Anyway the scariest Deputy Head, Mr Hedderley, told all of the boys who owned air rifles to stay behind after assembly one morning. There had been reports of boys shooting birds with air guns … and he looked in complete amazement when I was one of the boys staying behind and immediately exclaimed “Well I didn’t expect to see you here! What do you use the gun for?” … I replied that I shot at targets in the garden … and then when every other boy was asked they all gave the same answer “ shoot at targets in the garden” … I don’t think he knew how to proceed and told us all to go to lessons! … when I got home Dad said Mr Hedderley had collared him in the staff room and berated him about letting me have an air gun. But Dad had told him that he thought it was useful for learning discipline and self control etc. Important parts of growing up. Dad thought it was quite amusing!  Actually in my case it was true that I shot at targets. I made a target with little squares of inch angle steel that rolled over when hit. The faces were painted different colours. Knocked it up in the metalwork shop after school while I was waiting for Dad at nights … happy memories. And I was reminded recently of this air gun incident by an old school friend on Facebook