THE B.S.A. REPEATING MODEL RIFLES
of slide action
Click here to see the elegant "Ralock" semi-automatic rifle and the "less remarkable "Armatic".
We start here with the earliest model - the slide or "pump action" rifle.
The B.S.A. slide action rifle was the British equivalent of the Winchester, Remington and Fabrique Nationale - (FN) Browning pump-action repeating rifles. It was manufactured mainly with the tube magazine as shown, but early in production from 1923, a small number ( probably a maximum in the very low hundreds*) of these rifles were produced with a box magazine. This version was then little advertised and is rarely come across today. The action is simply marked "Patent Pending" .
A pretty and well balanced design, the operating system was not as reliable as its well-proven American counterparts and sales probably suffered as a result, although prices in the U.K. were fairly well in its favour by comparison with the Remington and Winchester slide or "pump" action rifles, all being only a few shillings either side of £5.00 in 1925. The then newly introduced Browning pump-action rifle was entirely a different matter. This hit the market running at the incredibly competitive price of only three pounds and five shillings (£3.25).
.........
The Tubular Magazine Model, of which around 8,000 were manufactured before the the commencement of the Second World War* brought such production to an abrupt close. The manufacture of this design was destined not to be reinstated post-war, effectively leaving the market for slide-action rifles clear for Winchester and FN.
The rifle above has been professionally fitted with a sophisticated pair of quick release offset claw mounts for a German manufactured "Gnomet" telescopic sight (not illustrated), and the muzzle has been threaded for a sound moderator - the knurled cap at the muzzle being the screw-on thread protector for when the silencing system is not in use.
Below: as advertised in 1925 as a "Take-down" rifle
Below: the patent no. of the main production version with the tubular magazine
* John Knibbs -"BSA - the Golden Century" - see Recommended Reading
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