BSA Viscount 7x57

noworyz

Member
I was lucky enough to acquire this rifle a few days ago..... I will post a pic or two later this evening... The 5B prefix told me 1955-1962 & the scepter proof says 1956-Birmingham..(FXB by insp. 2). it does have the schnabel stock.... the guy I purchased it from had it two weeks & never shot the rifle & cant contact the guy before him.... The bolt operates flawlessly with no cartridge but its firm to close/finish the bolt on 2 different types of factory ammo as well as new unloaded brass... honestly, the gun doesn't even look broken in yet....This rifle looks newer than most any rifle I own.... there are 1 or two small stock scratches & 2 small marks on the bluing & that's pretty much it.... I have e-mailed Knibbs but he requested some upfront $ to date my rifle.... the internet got me to where I am now... I have seen a few references to books that might shed some light...... its #5B110 and the 110 is on the barrel, bolt, & action so appears no mod's done.... I wonder where this has been for the last 57 years....
 
I was lucky enough to acquire this rifle a few days ago..... I will post a pic or two later this evening... The 5B prefix told me 1955-1962 & the scepter proof says 1956-Birmingham..(FXB by insp. 2). it does have the schnabel stock.... the guy I purchased it from had it two weeks & never shot the rifle & cant contact the guy before him.... The bolt operates flawlessly with no cartridge but its firm to close/finish the bolt on 2 different types of factory ammo as well as new unloaded brass... honestly, the gun doesn't even look broken in yet....This rifle looks newer than most any rifle I own.... there are 1 or two small stock scratches & 2 small marks on the bluing & that's pretty much it.... I have e-mailed Knibbs but he requested some upfront $ to date my rifle.... the internet got me to where I am now... I have seen a few references to books that might shed some light...... its #5B110 and the 110 is on the barrel, bolt, & action so appears no mod's done.... I wonder where this has been for the last 57 years....

Unless like Knibbs one has access to the shipping record then the serial number is no use in dating the BSA's. We instead have to use the private Birmingham View code and if I am reading your post correctly and the "(FXB by insp. 2)" is F one left and B on the right of the crossed lances then that dates yours to 1955.

​ According to Knibbs book there were 2617 of these made for the 7x57 cartridge.

Hope that helps.
 
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Thank you Brithunter, it was following your posts over the past on the BSA rifles that led me here..... so let me say I appreciate your help.... I was using rifleman.org.uk to read the sceptor proof... in looking back I see where I read it incorrectly as 1956 when it is actually 1955....... looks possibly like # 110 of 2617.... I will probably never know how it made it's way here to the Panhandle of Florida.... Brithunter, I will post pic's later but any thought to the firmness to finish the bolt closing? ....probably getting to a gunsmith to check it out first but my thoughts are either dirty chamber or not broken in yet.... I've had it less than 5 days..... picked it up scoped w/180 rounds of Remington & Federal factory ammo... both 140gr.... I already load for a Chilean Mauser in 7X57, anybody have a starting point for the Viscount? I would probably look to formfire the brass to fit the BSA, neck size & see what I could work out....
 
As to teh bolt being a bit tight I think it may be dried oil/grease. Be careful stripping the bolt as there is a tiny ball and spring under the safety lever which flies off into the unkown at the first chance. I would be inclined to soak the whole bolt in some white spirit the drain and allow to dry and try again. Clean the chamber and the locking lug recess. I wonder if it still has the old Youngs 303 they used as a shipping protection/preservative.

The BSA's of this type are very strong actions so any modern loads within normal operating pressures will be just fine. The barrels on these were cut rifled and lapped. It was not until quite a bit later did BSA switch to hammer forging. The trigger is also adjustable for length of pull, weight of pull and travel.

In 7x57 they have a 1 in 10" twist according to the information in Knibbs book.
 
Did find some paste in the chamber, closely resembled cosmoline..... will soak the bolt but just seems tight only when closing on a case..... bore light shows no marks at all.... I meant to take pictures but had a SAR mission over this weekend that prevented me from doing so... plan to do so tonight...
 
No luck on contacting the previous owner so the research has ended....for nearly 58 years old she's quite a beauty and looks hardly shot at all........... going to the range this weekend to put a few down the barrel.... here are a few pic's....


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Had some good range time on Wednesday with the Viscount...... It shot really well and got it to zero with two shots and things went bad from there.... appears the Leupold rifleman rings are not a perfect fit and ever so slightly give under recoil.... I'm having the devil of a time getting rings... Got some CZ 550 rings on referral by leupold cause of the 19mm base but they wont work because of the odd design of the CZ recoil lug... I could use 2 front rings but the rear is bad.... any thoughts on what might be a good direction for me to go.. I saw a few old posts here but never really got anywhere with the links... any help is appreciated.... I'm hunting hogs this weekend with a .220 Swift and wishing it was the Viscount...
 
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I have, in the past, very carefuly filed the recoil lug off a set of mounts and if you assemble it very carefully you should find it doesn't move.

David.
 
Lynx-B-Square make the old Hilvers. You have to fit the rear with the recoil stud but that should not be a problem.

What size scope are you using?

If not huge I may be able to help as I have a few 1" rings.
 
Optics wharehouse have some 26mm Hilver mounts, I have them on my Hunter in 7x57, a rifle I will never sell. P/no BSAQDmountp @ £58 Hilvers were the only mounts I could find 25 years ago when I bought my rifle from Kynock for a song, original owner had had it since new and was a colonel in the army. It went to Africa with me and took plains game up to a large 62 inch Kudu, I hope you enjoy your rifle as much as I have with mine. Only issue is the aluminium trigger guard, I still have mine, but made a replacement out of mild steel and blued it, with a release button the same as my Sako. deerwarden
 
Thanks Deerwarden & Brithunter...... went to optic warehouse and found them but out of stock.... The RANS.3 rings sold before I could get them, probably for the better....I'd prefer to get the high rings and mount a 1" tube w/40mm obj......... I have a 4-12x40 scope in mind.... Hunted this weekend with a buddy that has a milling machine and we are looking at attempting to cut the CZ550's to fit... will keep this post alive til resolved... thanks to all for the help...
 
Thanks Deerwarden & Brithunter...... went to optic warehouse and found them but out of stock.... The RANS.3 rings sold before I could get them, probably for the better....I'd prefer to get the high rings and mount a 1" tube w/40mm obj......... I have a 4-12x40 scope in mind.... Hunted this weekend with a buddy that has a milling machine and we are looking at attempting to cut the CZ550's to fit... will keep this post alive til resolved... thanks to all for the help...

No need for a mill a hack saw and a 2nd cut file will remove that Brno lug quite neatly if your careful. Use a solid vice to hold the ring, padded of course to protect the finish, and your set. Yes I have done this and in fact was looking at them just now as I have to sort a scope out to go on the .243 Midland as it looks like it might be being sold and it's got new P-H blocks on it that I sourced. As it's most likely going I am wondering about getting and fitting some weaver bases for it so rings are easier to find should the new owner wish to change the scope for a new hubble type.

I doubt a 6x42 will suffice :rolleyes: especially with only a 1" body tube ....................................... gotta to be 30mm at least if not 34mm to shoot out to 300 yards on the range ya know! Oh yes and must have at least a zillion x mag :cuckoo: .

Will see if I can find some bases and how much they are before deciding on what to do.

I did have some RAHS.3's but let someone talk me out of them so only have a couple of sets of RALS'3's now.

Will try to take a photo of the modified Hilver Brno rings in the morning.

Oh yes I may have bought the last two sets of those 26mm Hilvers a while back for my " JIC stock" ...................... sorry.
 
Well, the saga continues...... I took the Leupold CZ550's 19mm dovetail rings and milled off the Brno recoil lug and you cant even notice they're not factory....It's my first use with a milling machine and it's impressive... I mounted the rings to have a look and me and my buddy didnt like the fit of the clamp on the 19.5mm BSA base.... I know, I know.... were only talking .5mm but he took a tri-file to the rings and worked the fit to snug up proper.... I left the rifle with him and apparently he even machined in a recoil lug on the ring to fit the mount....... I will pick up the rifle this evening and take a few pic'c..... hope this snugs up the scope proper.... Again, thanks to all who helped get me this far.... this has been quite a bit of fun building this up, it came to me with a poorly mounted scope and weaver rings, I now believe the rifle was sold as it wouldn't hold zero due to the improper mounting system and the owner didn't research the proper mounting for BSA rifles...... lucky for me I guess....
 
Well, here is the Leupold CZ550 ring minus the BRNO recoil lug with a new BSA recoil lug installed..... going back to lap the rings and get it ready to shoot this weekend.... pretty pleased so far....
 

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