BSA means many things to many people. To the older generation it may be a bicy cle; more recently the name found fame on a fine range of British-built motor cycles, while to the engineer the name w a s e n g r a v e d o n m a n y o f h i s p r e c i s i o n tools. Over the years branches of the BSA c o m p a n y h a v e m a n u f a c t u r e d m a n y o t h e r things besides, but, to all generations for well over 100 years, BSA has also always b e e n a fi r e a r m o f o n e s o r t o r a n o t h e r . In the mid-1850s many a British soldier slogging it our in the dirt and cold of the C r i m e a n P e n i n s u l a r o w e d h i s s u r v i v a l t o a r m s b u i l t i n B i r m i n g h a m b y t h e o r i g i n a l group of master-gunsmiths who were to f o r m t h e B i r m i n h a m S m a l l A r m s C o . L t d . From then on, BSA-built arms were car ried in almost every major theatre of war, a n d d o u b t l e s s i n t h o u s a n d s o f m i n o r s k i r m i s h e s b e s i d e s . T h e y w e r e w i t h o u r soldiers in the violent formative years of South Africa, in India, and they went "over the top" with the brave men of grand father's generation in the First World War. In the Second World War, BSA provided more than half of the small-arms supplied to Britain's forces, as well as millions of tons of other military equipment and machine tools that paved the way to vic tory. Today the present company, BSA Guns Ltd, concentrates on weaponry for use in happier, sporting circumstances. There's a range of fine sporting rifles, a huge out put of air rifles and air pistols, and—most important for the target shooter—the two c u r r e n t m o d e l s o f t h e f a m e d M a r t i n i I n t e r national small-bore competition rifle. The company's history is, in itself, a fascinating study. In the office of the pre sent Managing Director, Mr Alt Scott, you can read records of arms deals that span ned the world around the turn of the cen t u r y — r e c o r d s i n t e r l a c e d w i t h t h e o f t e n c a u s t i c c o m m e n t s o f t h e t h e n c h a i r m a n . He wrote for instance, of a deal with the Turkish military authorities for the supply of Martini-Henry rifles at 19s. 6d. (QTVz) each, with a discount of five per cent on the price if the bili was settled promptly. The chairman recorded, however, that as Every part of a BSA target rifle is m a c h i n e d f r o m a c h u n k o f s o l i d m e t a l . This mining rig is iust one of the many machine tools used to produce parts for the current "international". 44 The BSA story It all began In 1689—by Mike George the Turks were such notoriously poor payers it was doubted they would take ad vantage of the discount clause in the con tract! To find the very origins of the company, however, you have to go right back to 1689 when King William III, worried by threats of invasion, sharply criticised the practice o f o b t a i n i n g m i l i t a r y w e a p o n s f r o m Holland. He was overheard by a War- wichshire MP, who immediately spoke up on behalf of the many fine gunsmiths in t h e B i r m i n g h a m a r e a . As a result, a trial order was sent to five of them and the military authorities of the day must have been pleased with the r e s u l t , f o r t h e q u i n t e t l a n d e d a G o v e r n ment contract for the supply of 200 s n a p h a n c e m u s k e t s a m o n t h " a t s e v e n teen shillings per piece, ready money". This practice of trading with the gun- makers as a group continued with them WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKa n d t h e i r s u c c e s s o r s f o r o v e r 1 5 0 y e a r s and then, on June 17 1861, they formed the original BSA Company. As an emblem they adopted the sign of three crossed r i fl e s , w h i c h h a s s i n c e b e c o m e k n o w n w o r l d - w i d e a s t h e " P i l e d A r m s " trademark. T h a n k s t o t h e t u r b u l e n t i n t e r n a t i o n a l politics of the time, their manufacturing quality, and their ability to apply machine tools to the job of gun-making, they were soon to become the largest private arms manufacturer in Europe. Adaptable,they got together the tooling to make 40 million c a r t r i d g e c a s e s f o r t h e P r u s s i a n - government. Armaments of any kind be ing a industry notorious for slump and boom (war brings vast demands, and peace vast cancellations), BSA found themselves in the doldrums in the 1870's, a n d t o w a r d s t h e e n d o f t h e d e c a d e t h e factory actually closed for a year. The pro- V duction of a strange bicycle with large w h e e l s o n e i t h e r s i d e o f t h e r i d e r g a v e them the opportunity to climb back—and although bicycle manufacture was subse quently dropped in favour of arms—it gave them vital experience in a transport field which was later to become a very im portant part of their activities. At the end of the 1880s BSA were again firmly back Into the arms trade and were also making bicycle components that gained a fine reputation for good design and precision manufacture. Big arms orders from the British government came during the Boer War and the company began to experiment with air rifles, cars and motor cycles. The first aii-BSA motor cycle was announced in 1909; it was stur dy 500CC single cylinder machine that s o l d f o r £ 5 0 . BSA's first motor cars were not so suc cessful, and in 1910, determined to break i n t o t h e i n f a n t m o t o r i n d u s t r y, t h e c o m pany acquired Britain's oldest car firm, Daimler of Coventry. The association was t o c o n t i n u e f o r h a l f a c e n t u r y . This is the test rig from which aii BSA Martirti-internationals are tired before ieaving the factory. The target is 100 yards away, aiong a iertgth of inter- iinked concrete cuiverts. Martini-internationai barreis, iike the ones in this rack, are aii accurateiy driiled before being swaged and rified in one operation. I n t h e F i r s t W o r l d W a r B S A f a c t o r i e s t u r n e d o v e r a l m o s t e n t i r e l y t o m u n i t i o n s a n d a r m a m e n t w o r k , a n d t h e y s u p p l i e d t h e a r m e d s e r v i c e s w i t h h u g e q u a n t i t i e s of rifles, machine guns, and the world's fi r s t f o l d i n g b i c y c l e s . B y t h e e n d o f t h e war the company had grown so large that t h r e e s u b s i d i a r i e s w e r e f o r m e d t o d e a l w i t h t h e i r m a i n a c t i v i t i e s o f c y c l e s a n d m o t o r c y l e s , g u n s a n d t o o l s . Surviving the economic depression of t h e ' t w e n t i e s , t h e c o m p a n y c o n t i n u e d t o grow and flourish but—surprisingly- t h r o u g h t h e ' t h i r t i e s a r m s p r o d u c t i o n w a s limited to comparatively small numbers of sporting rifles. B S A ' s c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h e A l l i e d e f f o r t d u r i n g t h e S e c o n d W o r l d Wa r w a s v a s t . A p a r t f r o m t h e i r o w n f a c t o r i e s i n B r i m - ingham, Coventry, Redditch,Sheffield and Co. Durham, many dispersal units and shadow factories were used for the pur pose of arms production. The administra tion at Small Heath, Birmingham, alone controlled 67 factories employing 28,000 people and containing 25,000 machine tools. This organisation provided more than half of the small arms supplied to Britain 's fo rc es d ur ing th e w a r. The war production included nearly half a million of the Browning machine guns w i t h w h i c h R A F S p i t fi r e s a n d H u r r i c a n e s won the Battle of Britain; one and a q u a r t e r m i l l i o n s e r v i c e s r i fl e s ; 4 0 0 , 0 0 0 Sten guns, machine guns, cannon, anti tank rifles, and gun carriages. There were also ten million shell fuses, over three and a half million magazines, and 750,000 anti aircraft rockets. S e v e r a l o f t h e g r o u p ' s f a c t o r i e s w e r e heavily bombed, and at Small Heath more than 50 employees lost their lives. At this w o r k s a l o n e m o r e m a c h i n e t o o l s w e r e destroyed or damaged by enemy action than were lost in the whole of the Coven try blitz. Throughout the War, other parts of the . by then vast BSA group were hard at work ^ i_^. Here are more parts of the Martini internationai, hairing gone through one machining sequence and waiting to pass on to the next. 45 WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKTheBSA story I supplying yet more types of military hard w a r e . A m o n g t h e m " w e r e a r m o u r e d s t e e l fighting vehicle bodies, production m a c h i n e s , a n d a s t o n o m i c a l n u m b e r s o f small hand tools. By the end of the War the BSA group had become vast. And in the 25 years that foilowed growth continued in many direc tions. The crunch, when it came, was com paratively sudden and culminated with an announcement in the spring on 1971 that the group had suffered a trading loss of £3 m i l l i o n . I t w a s t i m e f o r d r a s t i c r e organisation which culminated with the r e m a i n i n g p a r t s o f t h e B S A group—including BSA Guns Ltd—being established as separately-operating com panies as part of the Manganese Bronze Group. BSA Guns Ltd is now operating as a successful and profitable company, ex porting over half of its products which in clude air weapons, sporting rifies, and the •22 match rifles. There home is on one side of the vast old Small Heath site, part of which is now being re-developed for light industry. On the other side of the site, across the canal, are Parker-Hale who not only make the sights fitted to the BSA match rifles, but are also arms manufacturers and Im porters In their own right. Inside BSA, there's a happy blend of modern production methods linked to the traditional gun-making arts, and the fac t o r y i s l a r g e l y s e l f - s u f fi c i e n t f o r c o m ponents. Much of the space Is given over to air rifle production, which is now the largest part of the business, and the Mar tini Internationals are built in batches. Alf Scott briefly explained the history of BSA's association with the Matini action: "We built our first Martini action rifle on military contract about 1910, and these were foilowed by a number of rifles for cadet training. Our first competition -22 rifle was the no. 8, followed by the familiar 12, the 12/15, and the 13. The parts of this action have gone through ali of their machining and finishing processes, and it is ready to be fitted to the rifie. "The first of the Martini Interna tionals—the Mk I—appeared in 1952, and this was followed by the Mk II which had a much better trigger working on hammer- release principles. T h e M k l l l w h i c h f o l l o w e d w a s a n a t tempt to get over a barrel-bedding pro blem, and on this rifle the wooden forend w a s a t t a c h e d t o a n a l u m i n i u m s t r u t w h i c h was, in turn, attached directly to the ac tion. With this system there was no con tact at all between the barrel and the forend, and good shots found it to be an e x t r e m e l y a c c u r a t e r i fl e . "It gave problems, however, for the less- experienced shooter because it was com paratively unforgiving of errors in techni que. W e found that the barrel and the aluminium strut in the forend acted like a giant tuning fork, so if sling pressures changed, grouping tended to change also. W i t h a g o o d s h o t , s l i n g p r e s s u r e s w o u l d This is the action body of a Martini internationai awaiting finishing processes before being united with the rest of the rifie. be Identical from shot to shot, but this was not so with the less experienced rifleman who found It a comparatively dif ficult weapon with which to shoot accurately. "On the present MkV we have got around this problem by attaching an aluminium strut to the barrel, and at taching the woodwork to the alloy strut. This gets rid of the 'tuning fork' effect and p r o d u c e s a r i fl e w h i c h i s m u c h m o r e forgiving of technique." W h y d o e s t h e M a r t i n i I n t e r n a t i o n a l e n joy such a good reputation? Says Alf: "One reason Is thet it contains no pressed steel components, every single part of It is machined from a solid piece of metal, and every one that goes out of this factory Is hand-adjusted. And we have overcome the problem of forend movement and got a trigger which Is not only smooth, but con s i s t e n t l y s m o o t h . "This business of trigger consistency is very important, and with ours the variation in let-off from shot to shot Is so small as to be Indescernable by the shooter." Before It leaves the factory, every Mar- WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UK■ ;%■ A far cry from tfte tiammer and tfte anvil, this machine does pretty much the same job, but with precision. Barrels go through the centre, while the big drum at the rear contains the cam-driven hammers that give the barrel its shape. tini International Is tested from a machine rest over a 100-yard range. The range Itself Is a 100-yard length of linked large- diameter concrete culverts that run along one side of the factory, the rifle being set I n c l a m p s o n a m a s s i v e c a s t - i r o n b a s e w h i c h I s s e t i n a n e n o r m o u s b l o c k o f c o n crete. Every rifle fires five 10-shot groups, and the average group size must not exceed three-quarters of an Inch. Neither may the shots In any single group exceed one inch. And, as proof of accuracy to the customer, the accuracy diagrams produc ed on the test range are Included with the r i fl e w h e n I t I s s o l d . Of the two current models, the ISU Is designed to meet every detail of the Inter national Shooting Union's specification for the Standard Rifle. It weighs lO'A lb, against the 12% lb weight of the MkV. B o t h m o d e l s h a v e 2 8 - I n c h b a r r e l s w i t h s i x grooves and twist that gives one turn In 16 Inches (right hand). Triggers are ad justable from less than half a pound up to a m a x i m u m o f S V a l b . A l l B S A b a r r e l s a r e f o r m e d b y s w a g ing—a process which leads to accuracy as well as giving the barrel a particularly good metallic structure. In the process the b a r r e l b l a n k I s b o r e d b y d e e p d r i l l i n g techniques, then put Into a machine that hammers the barrel over a rifled mandrel which Is passed Inside the bore. The hammering part of the process elongates the steel blank by approximate ly 25 per cent, and work-hardens It In such a way that the walls of the bore become particularly hard. This process and the hardening It achieves allows BSA to use a free-cutting steel for barrel-making, which means that a straight and accurate hole can be bored before the hammering part of the process begins. N e x t m o n t h : D o n ' t m i s s t e c h n i c a l a r t i s t Roy Crowson's cut-away drawing of the ISU rifle, in full colour. NEW AMMUNITION .38 SPECIAL PER 100 148gnH.B.W .C £13.00 158gn R.N. Lead £13.00 158gnS.W .C.Lead £14.00 158gnJ.H.P £15.00 . 3 5 7 M A G N U M P E R 1 0 0 158gnS.W .C.Lead £1^.50 158gnJ.S.P £18.00 O m m P A R A B E L L U M P E R 1 0 0 gOgnJ.H.P £16.50 •44 MAGNUM 240gn S.W .C. Lead £19.85 240gnJ.H.P £22.50 .45A.C.P . PER 100 1 8 5 g n S . W . C . F . M . J £ 1 8 . 0 0 2 3 0 g n R . N . F . M . J £ 1 9 . 8 5 N E W H I - P E R C A R T R I D G E C A S E S U N P R I M E D B R A S S P E R 1 0 0 P E R 5 0 0 .38 SPECIAL £5.75 £25.00 . 3 5 7 M A G N U M £ 8 . 1 0 £ 3 7 . 5 0 O m m P A R A B E L L U M £ 8 . 6 5 £ 4 0 . 0 0 ■ 45A.C.P £10.35 £47.50 MOUNT AIN &SOWDEN REMANUF ACTURED AMMUNITION .38 SPECIAL PER 100 148gnH.B.W .C £1 1.20 158gnR.N. Lead £1 1.20 158gn S.W .C. Lead £1 1.20 .45A.C.P . PER 100 200gn S.W .C. Lead £12.95 230gn R.N. Lead £15.50 2 3 0 g n F . M . J £ 1 6 . 5 0 .223 (S.56mm) 50gnJ.S.P £15.25 5 0 g n F . M . J £ 1 5 . 2 5 .308 (7.62mm) 150gnJ.S.P £17.25 IMPERIAL NEW AMMUNITION .222 REMINGT ON PER 100 50gnP .S.P £17.75 . 3 0 8 ( 7 . 6 2 m m N A T O ) P E R 1 0 0 150gn Sabre T ip £21.30 . 3 8 S & W ( D O M I N I O N ) P E R 1 0 0 145gnR.N.Lead £1 1.50 •22AMMUNITION per500per1,000 ■ 22short £9.60 £16.60 ■ 22 LR target £10.00 £18.00 ■ 22 LR moving target £10.50 £18.70 ■ 22 LRtioiiow point £1 1.00 £19.00 SWAGED LUBRICATED BULLETS . 3 2 ( A . C . P . ) P E R 1 0 0 P E R 5 0 0 7 8 g n F . M . J £ 4 . 3 0 £ 2 0 . 0 0 .38SPECIAL PER 100 PER 500 148gnH.B.W .C £3.25 £14.25 . 4 5 ( A . C . P . ) P E R 1 0 0 P E R 5 0 0 200gnS.W .C. Lead £4.00 £17.50 230gnR.N.Lead £4.75 £21.60 HORNADY BULLETS .38/357 PER 100 PER 500 158gn R.N. Lead £3.00 £14.00 158gn S.W .C. Lead £3.25 £14.50 9 m m p e r 1 0 0 P E R 5 0 0 1 1 5 g n F . M . J £ 5 . 2 5 £ 2 5 . 0 0 . 4 4 ( M A G ) P E R 1 0 0 P E R 5 0 0 240gn S.W .C. Lead £4.75 £21.60 240gnJ.H.P £6.50 £30.00 2 4 0 g n F . M . J £ 6 . 5 0 £ 3 0 . 0 0 . 4 5 ( A . C . P . ) P E R 1 0 0 P E R 5 0 0 2 3 0 g n F . M . J £ 6 . 5 0 £ 3 0 . 0 0 A L O X B U L L E T L U B R I C A N T 8 5 p p e r s t i c k £ 7 p e r 1 0 £ 1 3 p e r 2 0 C.C.I. PRIMERS N o . 5 0 0 p e r 1 0 0 0 p e r 5 0 0 0 Small pistol, boxertype £12.75 £46.00 O N C E - F I R E D C A R T R I D G E C A S E S .38 special perlOO per500 perlOOO Brass, same tieadstamp £2.25 £9.50 £18.00 ■ 45 A.C.P . M i l i t a r y b r a s s £ 5 . 5 0 £ 2 7 . 0 0 £ 5 2 . 0 0 A L L C E N T R E F I R E C A S E S A N D A M M U N I T I O N A R E B O X E R T Y P E R E L O A D A B L E . F. A . C . N E E D E D FOR AMMUNITION ONL Y, NOT REQUIRED FOR B U L L E T S , C A S E S S P R I M E R S . VAT C A R R I A G E & PA C K I N G I N C L U D E D , O R D E R S O V E R £ 7 0 VA L U E D E D U C T 7 % . D E A L E R S S E N D F O R O U R W H O L E S A L E P R I C E LIST . MOUNTAIN & SOWDEN LTD (Dept. T.G.) P.O. BOX 5, HORSFORTH, LEEDS, LE18 5TH. Tel: 0532-582666 MON-FRI-9.00 am-5.00 pm TA R G E T G U N 47 WWW.RIFLEMAN.ORG.UKNext >