Thanks, it was £280 from a Holt's auction. Turned out to be little used with only a tiny amount of pitting in the bore. Even with this chunky PMII scope it only weighs 8.5lbs.Thanks for sharing, real beauty with a nice scope, I am envious!
Regarding the stocks, the gunsmith who restores BSA's that I spoke to also recommended the same procedure along with aluminium pillars.
The Decline of BSA (Birmingham Small Arms)
- Thread starter User00040
- Start date
Bavarian, the gun quarter was not in Aston but in fact almost in town all to the left of Steel house lane exiting town. My old fella was a toolmaker at the Birmingham small arms co, prior to joining the RAF WW2. Their symbol on push bikes was three rifles resting in a triangle. The giun quarter mainly disappeared due to redevelopment, spaghetti is about 3 miles North. I remember as a young engineer doing many surveys prior to that being built
So that the columns avoided the main Sewer from Brum to Minworth and other secret places.
Used to drink with the BSA bike tester Lol can't remember surname but Smith rings a bell, him and Percy Tate the Triumph tester used to be great craic after a beer or two.
So that the columns avoided the main Sewer from Brum to Minworth and other secret places.
Used to drink with the BSA bike tester Lol can't remember surname but Smith rings a bell, him and Percy Tate the Triumph tester used to be great craic after a beer or two.
Bavarianbrit
Well-Known Member
It is all 55 years ago so location have become vague,.We would cross town from Nechells on Friday nights on our scooters to Aston where there was a cellar yoof club/early disco, my oiling mate from BSA once went across the main road there flat sideways with a girl sitting on the back and it was showing a red light, he was/is a licky bugger.Bavarian, the gun quarter was not in Aston but in fact almost in town all to the left of Steel house lane exiting town. My old fella was a toolmaker at the Birmingham small arms co, prior to joining the RAF WW2. Their symbol on push bikes was three rifles resting in a triangle. The giun quarter mainly disappeared due to redevelopment, spaghetti is about 3 miles North. I remember as a young engineer doing many surveys prior to that being built
So that the columns avoided the main Sewer from Brum to Minworth and other secret places.
Used to drink with the BSA bike tester Lol can't remember surname but Smith rings a bell, him and Percy Tate the Triumph tester used to be great craic after a beer or two.
lincolnjefferies
Well-Known Member
Has yes.... I wasn't running the rifles down - I had a rare .223 CF2 rebarrelled with a 1:9 twist, with the nicer later oil finished stock, a weaver rail and an S&B 3-12 x 50 on top - a lovely rifle.
lincolnjefferies
Well-Known Member
Steve Phillips
I have a CF2 in .223 in perfect condition.
Feature wood stock, handcut checkering, 3 way adjustable trigger and a Tobler heavy varmint SS barrel, a Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50, bipod, rear stock pin, pillar bedding and a sling. It weighs in at 14lbs. Ridiculously heavy!
It has the CF2 bolt which has a grooved, polished, sleek shroud and a cocking indicator.
The Monarch has the squared off shroud and they are NOT interchangeable. The locking lugs on the Monarch are have different dimensions. It shoots (in the right hands) 1/2" at 200yds .
It is beautifully made and finished. Better than any American rifle available at the time and easily the equivalent standard of a Sako or Sauer.
It cost me (sans scope) AU$450.
A bloody bargain!
Has yes.... I wasn't running the rifles down - I had a rare .223 CF2 rebarrelled with a 1:9 twist, with the nicer later oil finished stock, a weaver rail and an S&B 3-12 x 50 on top - a lovely rifle.
In 1940 my great grandfather jumped over the garden gate in the morning and presumably died at work at the Bsa. My great grandmother worked in the stocking shop in Shirley during WW2 and also testing Lee Enfields on an under ground range at the Bsa. My grandfather did his apprenticeship at Bsa and during it was required to work in all the different departments they had then. Both my great Uncles also did spells of work there. I have a great affinity with Birmingham Small Arms rifles.
I have a CF2 in .223 in perfect condition.
Feature wood stock, handcut checkering, 3 way adjustable trigger and a Tobler heavy varmint SS barrel, a Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50, bipod, rear stock pin, pillar bedding and a sling. It weighs in at 14lbs. Ridiculously heavy!
It has the CF2 bolt which has a grooved, polished, sleek shroud and a cocking indicator.
The Monarch has the squared off shroud and they are NOT interchangeable. The locking lugs on the Monarch are have different dimensions. It shoots (in the right hands) 1/2" at 200yds .
It is beautifully made and finished. Better than any American rifle available at the time and easily the equivalent standard of a Sako or Sauer.
It cost me (sans scope) AU$450.
A bloody bargain!
Has yes.... I wasn't running the rifles down - I had a rare .223 CF2 rebarrelled with a 1:9 twist, with the nicer later oil finished stock, a weaver rail and an S&B 3-12 x 50 on top - a lovely rifle.
In 1940 my great grandfather jumped over the garden gate in the morning and presumably died at work at the Bsa. My great grandmother worked in the stocking shop in Shirley during WW2 and also testing Lee Enfields on an under ground range at the Bsa. My grandfather did his apprenticeship at Bsa and during it was required to work in all the different departments they had then. Both my great Uncles also did spells of work there. I have a great affinity with Birmingham Small Arms rifles.
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Bavarianbrit
Well-Known Member
It is a great memory for me too.
There was group in brum called the Horsefair Harriers to be a member of which you had to have run off without paying for your meal in one of the Indian restaurants located at the Horsefair area of the bull ring. I never had the cojones to do that one myself.
There was group in brum called the Horsefair Harriers to be a member of which you had to have run off without paying for your meal in one of the Indian restaurants located at the Horsefair area of the bull ring. I never had the cojones to do that one myself.
7upwestmids
Well-Known Member
Started deer stalking with a Parker Hale 1100lw in the late 80s with a Pecar 6 x 45 scope and israeli samson 150gr Sp rounds, great rifle.
Of course one of the "characters" of the B'ham guntrade....Miss Edna Parker...was way up the hill near where Curry's/PC World finds itself today
www.28dayslater.co.uk
I'll post an amusing tale of a bus ticket later today.
Report - - A J Parker Birmingham May 2012 | Industrial Sites
I know the place has been done before and was originally posted in the private section. More of an update really on its present state i assume its okay to put it here now as it is stripped of anything of value and has been well trashed though there is still plenty of paperwork lying around...
www.28dayslater.co.uk
I'll post an amusing tale of a bus ticket later today.
So. Miss Parker. Her place on Moseley Road was a fair way away from the Proof House. So if she needed an odd thing proofed she'd usually send one of her male employees down with it.
The Proof House told of one of her men arriving to submit an item for proof but then suddenly becoming quite upset and agitated. "I've lost it, I've lost it." The guys at the Proof House also became concerned. Asking "What sort of gun was it?"
Only to be told that he hadn't lost any gun he'd lost his bus ticket and unless he presented it to Edna Parker when he got back she'd think he'd walked down the hill to the Proof House and not re-imburse him the money for the bus fare for that part of the journey!
The Proof House told of one of her men arriving to submit an item for proof but then suddenly becoming quite upset and agitated. "I've lost it, I've lost it." The guys at the Proof House also became concerned. Asking "What sort of gun was it?"
Only to be told that he hadn't lost any gun he'd lost his bus ticket and unless he presented it to Edna Parker when he got back she'd think he'd walked down the hill to the Proof House and not re-imburse him the money for the bus fare for that part of the journey!
Of course one of the "characters" of the B'ham guntrade....Miss Edna Parker...was way up the hill near where Curry's/PC World finds itself today
Report - - A J Parker Birmingham May 2012 | Industrial Sites
I know the place has been done before and was originally posted in the private section. More of an update really on its present state i assume its okay to put it here now as it is stripped of anything of value and has been well trashed though there is still plenty of paperwork lying around...
I'll post an amusing tale of a bus ticket later today.
Thanks for sharing that forum, I've walked past A.J Parker (now a complete ruin, even the signs on the shopfront are missing) and going by some of the pictures it looked like there were rifle stocks, part assembled actions and tins of powder still intact along with machinery!
I do wonder if the Birmingham gun trade going bust has anything to do with the high rates of gun crime there? No doubt when the writing was on the wall a lot of stuff went walkies?
A real shame, as the real loss is not in the material worth but the knowledge and skill of hand fitting that is probably gone forever.
Just found this if anyones interested 
www.guntrader.uk
Guns For Sale | New and Used Guns | GunTrader
GunTrader the UK's No.1 marketplace for guns for sale. Buy or sell new and used guns and shooting equipment. Browse shotguns, rifles, air rifles and pistols.
SPIKER76. Made for Africa. Or a serving officer. How do I know? It has sights out to 1000 Yards which rifles made for India don't usually have. There's no need the distances at which game was shot in India was never that far. Or a serving officer as if his rifle was capable for chambering service ammunition and in addition was sighted to a 1,000 yards that officer was entitled to have it sent out, free of cost, with his unit's weapons rather than having them sent out at his own expense.
I had a BSA CF2 in .308 a good solid working rifle which I used on my first safari in Africa it done the job very well , where a friend on the same trip was using a Blaser had a few miss haps . Nothing to do with the actual gun though. Just goes to show it's not what you pay it's how you use it.
Mick9abf
Well-Known Member
I use my friends battered old BSA CF2 in 30-06 whenever I go to Germany nowadays and have to say even though the blueing is worn and it’s seen better days it still reliable, accurate enough for pigs and deer with a set trigger as well.
For a lad that has a rake of hunting rifles of various combinations it seems to be his go to rifle and has travelled the world. I’ll actually be quite ‘reflective’ of he ever gets rid of it as I shot my first driven boar with it.
For a lad that has a rake of hunting rifles of various combinations it seems to be his go to rifle and has travelled the world. I’ll actually be quite ‘reflective’ of he ever gets rid of it as I shot my first driven boar with it.
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Scapegoat
Well-Known Member
BSA still make air rifles and barrels, and are based on Armoury Road.
In the 70s they closed their UK operations and moved abroad. A friend of our family was a huge enthusiast and bought up all their machines and tools. I remember going to his house near Marston Green and obtaining a foresight for an Airsporter which he made for me. Wasn't such as bad idea, as he is now the go-to supplier of all BSA spares in the UK.
In the 70s they closed their UK operations and moved abroad. A friend of our family was a huge enthusiast and bought up all their machines and tools. I remember going to his house near Marston Green and obtaining a foresight for an Airsporter which he made for me. Wasn't such as bad idea, as he is now the go-to supplier of all BSA spares in the UK.
Bavarianbrit
Well-Known Member
My other half of the oiling squad told me last year that a .22 lr BSA international usually walked out of the main gate by itself every week before a s/n was stamped on it. Seemed to be the done thing in the 60"s to help with the wage deficit.
We apprenties wore deep red overalls to differ us from the main workforce.
Up I think it was over on the top floor of the motorbike bike assembly area there was a one man operation who pinstriped the fuel tanks with a fine line between the chrome and the painted area of it, he used a very long sable brush with a saucer of gold paint, he would hook the tank into his armpit then with one movement "woof" he would have a full 360 degree of pinstripe applied. We watched him for hours on end. I heard many years later that BMW in Berlin had a woman who did the same job and when she retired they stopped this feature as nobody else could manage to do it.
We apprenties wore deep red overalls to differ us from the main workforce.
Up I think it was over on the top floor of the motorbike bike assembly area there was a one man operation who pinstriped the fuel tanks with a fine line between the chrome and the painted area of it, he used a very long sable brush with a saucer of gold paint, he would hook the tank into his armpit then with one movement "woof" he would have a full 360 degree of pinstripe applied. We watched him for hours on end. I heard many years later that BMW in Berlin had a woman who did the same job and when she retired they stopped this feature as nobody else could manage to do it.
lincolnjefferies
Well-Known Member
Terrible shame - loss to national security - they say we would never have been able to rearm for WW2 if it wasn't for the enormous capacity of BSA. I noticed they have removed and bricked up the original windows of the other remaining original BSA building on Armoury Road next to BSA guns and its full of white vans. Should of been given listed status as an historic building. I did hear the PC brigade were trying to rename the Gun Making Quarter a few years back.
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lincolnjefferies
Well-Known Member
Again could be a BSA myth or stories got mixed but........but wasn't the rifle tooling and machinery sold to possibly India - there were some customs issues and the whole lot ended up compounded and rusting away on the dockside somewhere. I hope this story isn't true. They were sold in the USA under the Herter brand and were well liked by decerning states side riflemen - but the odd sized scope rails on the earlier rifles limited sales. Think they sold just actions too.
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