Air Rifle lifespan?

[Hoppy]

have an old BSA Air-Sporter that i bought new at least 25 years ago, it saw a lot of use the first 10-15 years of its life and now gets used 2 -3 times a year to thin out the pigeons around the farm buildings. my question is can you shoot out an air rifle barrel? seem to be struggling to get it to zero, tried some different scopes on it that i have laying around but starting to question whether its the rifle or are the 3 scopes i tried all at fault, cant remember why they were taken off i am fairly sure it was because they were upgraded rather than issues.
P.S. its never been cleaned

 

[Dunwaters]

I would start with the P.S. as a possible source of your problem.
I have a 30 plus year old Stringray. It still groups well

 

[cjm1066]

Yes, it can be **** out but lead is a lubricant so many millions and millions of shot to wear out the barrel.

Earlier BSA had nylon piston heads that failed, spring weaken and bend and lubricants fail, it's perhaps time for a service?

 

[moeggesit]

have an old BSA Air-Sporter that i bought new at least 25 years ago, it saw a lot of use the first 10-15 years of its life and now gets used 2 -3 times a year to thin out the pigeons around the farm buildings. my question is can you shoot out an air rifle barrel? seem to be struggling to get it to zero, tried some different scopes on it that i have laying around but starting to question whether its the rifle or are the 3 scopes i tried all at fault, cant remember why they were taken off i am fairly sure it was because they were upgraded rather than issues.
P.S. its never been cleaned

Short answer is no, unless you shoot steel ballbearings or similar . I have a air rifle which at the time as around 40 years old and had tens or thousands shots through it, when one day it would not group any more, turns out it had a really bad rust patch last 1” of the muzzle. Cut the barrel down 1” and reattached the front sight after which it continued to shoot perfectly. I can only imagine water got in and sat in the muzzle for months between use.

 

[Rhodesianjess]

I've got a model D BSA, the one with the saw handle grip. The grandad of the Airsporter.
Work perfectly,had it renovated and now use it around buildings for birds. Chances are that yours needs new spring,piston seal etc and general overhaul. Very much doubt it's shot out.

 

[Smellydog]

As others have said. If the piston seal is goosed it won't work.
Short of rusting the barrel should be fine.
BSA started counter boring the muzzle for some bizarre reason which makes it bloody difficult to check the crown for rusting.

 

[Greenmist]

Stick on over a chrono and see what its doing, start with a clean, although after so many years something has likely deteriorated or gummed up. IIRC chambers gunmakers do a service kit for not a lot of money, I've recently done a Webley victor and Omega

 

[Klenchblaize]

Easy to forget how a springer needs to be shot. Certainly not from an unsupported free-recoiling front rest as per a CF.

K

 

[Hornet]

I agree a service, new spring, piston washer and while it's apart, give the piston a polish, spring ends a mirror finish, some delrin parts tbt tuning kit is a good buy, that should see it run at 10.5-11ftlbs and be very consistent, finally and far more important than a lot realise, try a selection of pellets, use the ones it gives the tightest group with, it's highly unlikely the barrel is shot out, inspect the barrel, if the rifling is clear and crisp, don't clean it, if it's hard to see/gummed up/rusty clean it, enjoy your classic rifle for many years to come.

 

[Hoppy]

Used to be a seriously accurate rifle, could stick multiple pellets through the same hole then shoot the pins off of the paper with it. Now can’t get it under a 6 inch group.
Have started the strip down, will give it new seals spring and anything else that looks worn. Not looking forward to releasing then decompressing the spring!

 

[Greenmist]

Used to be a seriously accurate rifle, could stick multiple pellets through the same hole then shoot the pins off of the paper with it. Now can’t get it under a 6 inch group.
Have started the strip down, will give it new seals spring and anything else that looks worn. Not looking forward to releasing then decompressing the spring!

Sash clamp

 

[Hornet]

It's not too bad on an airsporter, sometimes, getting the rear of the cylinder to screw off can be a real pain, some however, come apart easily, don't underestimate how much improvement a delrin kit will provide.

 

[moeggesit]

Silly question but are you using good quality pellets ? It can make a really big difference.

 

[Stevie/P]

Have started the strip down, will give it new seals spring and anything else that looks worn. Not looking forward to releasing then decompressing the spring!

Be careful what spring you get chances are you’ll ned to cut the spring down most springs available are longer than the original ones fitted ask me how I know
I’ve a 1975 mk11 mercury that I serviced more or less the same internals as the airsporter the shape of the trigger block as you know is not easy realignment under a new spring tension look at Welsh Willy tuning kit well worth doing remember keep it under 12ft lbs good luck keep us informed on progress.

 

[Cyres]

Easy. Done hundreds of them. To re assembled my dad used to grip the rear trigger block assembly. Weapon muzzle down on a piece of wood. Dad who was big just pushed down till the threads engaged and I would rotate action to screw up. I had a bit of round bar to fit in hole of trigger block. On some tight actions needed leather market to break threads.
I doubt it's possible to wear out an air rifle barrel.
D

 

[sikasako]

To be honest, the original springers are likely to last longer than ‘modern’ pcp’s without regular maintenance, with the latter tending to suffer from seal failure / loss of pressure.

 

[wanderer]

My 1980's era BSA airsporter, I had to replace the piston O ring/ buffer after it had seized up . I had the same issue on an old BSA Scorpion air pistol.
Both had the same type of components and a known issue of decay.

I think there were around 2 or 3 different sized o rings, each slightly tighter than the other to try to get the best performance.
The spring on mine was fine.

For what its worth i didnt bother with getting a new buffer washer, just replaced the o ring and a suitable bodge in lieu of not replacing the former.

I found that the likes of RWS superdome pellets were more consistent in power and accuracy than the old BSA pylarm or Eley Wasp type pellets.

 

[Hoppy]

ordered a Welsh Willy kit from Woodfield. Will get it stripped and cleaned over the Christmas period and rebuild it in the new year, mine is a 1998 model so spring is held in with 2 bolts into the trigger housing rather than the assembly being threaded.

 

[Hoppy]

I will try and photograph it along the way

 

[maximus otter]

Re upgrade / replacement / polishing kits etc.: Just remember to run it over a chronograph afterwards. Possession of an off-ticket s.1 firearm is an absolute offence, i.e. “I didn’t know” is no excuse.



maximus otter