BSA CF2 .308 Restoration

[nun_hunter]

After selling my Sako 75 in 308 and Tikka T3 in 243 to fund a Tikka T3X Tac A1 Creedmoor I thought I was done with getting more rifles as I wanted one rifle to do it all, long range targets, long range vermin and also just a good rifle for deer stalking. The Tikka in Creedmoor is brilliant, love the rifle and the cartridge has been so easy to load for and giving great results. I really like the 4-30x56 Delta scope I have on it and from sitting in a high seat it is pretty much a point and shoot rifle so great for getting some venison in the freezer but not really a walking/stalking rifle especially after fallow in thick woodland.

This got me thinking, so the plan was a cheap lightweight 308 rifle for woodland stalking with the emphasis on being cheap. After a bit of looking about and nearly getting a single shot Baikal I saw an old BSA CF2 on guntrader for £195. These were some of the pictures I based my (crude) evaluation on



It wasn't screwcut and looked pretty dirty but I thought I'd take a risk on it and buy it unseen as being a 308 and not screwcut I guessed/hoped it hadn't done a lot of actual shooting just been carried a fair bit judging by the grease and dirt on the stock plus the blueing still looked pretty good and no signs of rust. Also the RFD selling it had lots of really nice expensive guns on their website so I got the feeling this was a part ex against something nicer and the shop wanted rid of it. As you can see I was doing a lot of guesswork here.Whether or not it would shoot well I'd have to wait and see.

When I got it home I straight away saw it was dirty and not very well looked after but there was definitely potential under all the grime.




So after some YouTube videos I set about taking it all apart and cleaning it. There is not a lot of information on the BSA CF2 rifles on the internet and YouTube (how I wish Brit Hunter was still a member on here) so plenty of it was guess work and spending a lot of time browsing John Knibbs' catalogs of parts. I was fully expecting to have to get some Nitromors or paint stripper to sort out the stock but actually after the first clean up with Cillit Bang Grime and Sparkle the stock looked pretty good. The chequering was still all pretty crisp which confirmed my suspicions that the rifle hadn't really been used much.

 

[nun_hunter]

Everything got a good clean and some parts were polished too before the stock got a light sanding and then a few good coats of linseed oil mixed with Danish oil before being reassembled


I think she looks pretty good now, at least better than I had hoped. I fitted a Simmons Whitetail 1.5-5X20 as part of the rear sight is missing but after watching the recent videos about the German guy stalking with open sights I am tempted to fit some replacement Williams fibre optic open sights to it as the original rear blade is no longer available. I took her out to shoot with some Geco 170 grain ammo and at 75 metres I was getting a group just over an inch from a standing rested position over the bonnet of my truck. More than good enough for the close shots I have planned stalking fallow and muntjac in thick woodlands.

I had thought I would cut the barrel to 16" and fit a moderator as I thought the rifle was going to be a bit of a dog but she has scrubbed up so nicely I think I will keep her as original as possible and just enjoy some woodland stalking, after all a decent set of in-ear ear defenders will be about the same as a new moderator and barrel thread!

 

[levigsp]

Nice gun, I have the rear sight if you require it minus the v blade , you could find or make one.Or just buy the complete unit new BSA CF2 Rearsight Unit - John Knibbs International Ltd

 

[nun_hunter]

Thanks for the offer but I think I am going to go down the fibre optic route from Williams, sort of an upgrade but from the original manufacturer (also they're similar to the Trijicon sights I use at work which I do like). I would have originally got one from John Knibbs but he is out of stock and as far as I can tell the only person who did stock original parts so an modern upgrade makes sense to me.

 

[spiker76]

nice work there!!! the CF 2 is a quality piece of British engineering. i have in .222 they will outlast a lot of these newbies appearing ............

 

[foxbasher12]

That's a really nice looking rifle now mate, I was torn between the BSA and the Parker Hale a few weeks back. I ended up going for the Parker Hale as one came up that looked a good un.
What did you polish the bolt with, it looks better than new!

 

[nun_hunter]

I have a cheap bench grinder from Lidl and got a couple of sisal polishing wheels and compounds off eBay a while back as I've made a few knives and used it to polish them up. Only took a few minutes vs a few hours if I'd had to do it by hand!

 

[foxbasher12]

Fair play to you mate that's a really good finish for a home job, I thought you were gonna say you had a local workshop do it

 

[nun_hunter]

I was pleasantly surprised at how well it polished up. Apart from some gun oil that's soaked into the stock around the action it looks pretty much unused so I'm definitely pleased with the purchase.

 

[alberta boy]

Great write up and a nice rifle . I do love those CF2's , or any old BSA for that matter . Thanks for posting it .

AB

 

[Glengarral]

Great job.
Just picked up a .270 Monarch featherweight with flaking varnish which I hope to refurbish as oil finished.
Lovely rifles.

 

[Odders]

You did a really nice job of that rifle.

 

[CarlW]

You've made a lovely job of it. Nice rifle.

 

[Roro]

Nice rifles those old beeza's, and the old Parker Hales too. I have found in the past that Danish oil isn't the toughest of finishes, have you considered using tru-oil, i believe its what Beretta use on their shotguns at the factory.

 

[penta]

Very nice, superb job.

 

[nun_hunter]

Cheers for the comments. Danish/Linseed oil is what I had to hand and as I didn't expect such good results I thought it would be fine. Maybe if I do it again in future I'll use a more suitable oil.

 

[nun_hunter]

Just a bit of an update for anyone who may be interested. I managed to zero the rifle a while ago and was getting just over 1moa shooting from a bench at 100yards with factory Geco 170 grain ammo so more than happy and no need to reload. Only downsides were the trigger pull was very heavy and had so much creep I was developing a flinch especially when trying standing shots. I took out the spring and clipped off small bits until I got it to a weight I was happy with and adjusted the sear for zero creep and now it's amazing how good the trigger has become. I also had th bottom metal powder coated satin black as I felt the silver colour just didn't match the rest of the rifle.

It doesn't look as good as if it was all steel and blued properly but as it's part aluminium that was out the question anyway. Over all though I'm really pleased with how it now is bearing in mind how cheap it has been.

 

[Woodsmoke]

You should be! Cracking job, and a lovely rifle

 

[levigsp]

Just a bit of an update for anyone who may be interested. I managed to zero the rifle a while ago and was getting just over 1moa shooting from a bench at 100yards with factory Geco 170 grain ammo so more than happy and no need to reload. Only downsides were the trigger pull was very heavy and had so much creep I was developing a flinch especially when trying standing shots. I took out the spring and clipped off small bits until I got it to a weight I was happy with and adjusted the sear for zero creep and now it's amazing how good the trigger has become. I also had th bottom metal powder coated satin black as I felt the silver colour just didn't match the rest of the rifle.

It doesn't look as good as if it was all steel and blued properly but as it's part aluminium that was out the question anyway. Over all though I'm really pleased with how it now is bearing in mind how cheap it has been.View attachment 97684

Well worth the effort, great guns esp if tuned up. My own have fully adjustable triggers that can be adjusted down to 12 oz pull without going of if bumped! two tiny grub screws adjust both pull and creep.

 

[Cris]

Well worth the effort, great guns esp if tuned up. My own have fully adjustable triggers that can be adjusted down to 12 oz pull without going of if bumped! two tiny grub screws adjust both pull and creep.

Are the adjustment screws on a standard trigger or something different? I have a CF 2 that has one screw I can adjust but not seen a second one.