I got two magazines for my Supersport V from them a few years ago, and recently some 63Gr 224 Sierra Varminter bullets.
The Decline of BSA (Birmingham Small Arms)
- Thread starter User00040
- Start date
Bloody hell.... ‘Ma’ Parker.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...www.28dayslater.co.uk
I'll post an amusing tale of a bus ticket later today.
Used to peruse her Bisley premises at the start of my shooting journey, when she decamped for the Imperial meeting, when it still had 1500+ entries. It was in her last few years.
Much of what you describe was built on the backs of underpaid yet highly skilled labour.
Abolish the slave trade (undoubtedly the morally correct and righteous thing to do, as it should never have happened) but make labour so cheap that it's effectively free, as long as they recieve some token payment its OK.
The masterstroke of the British Empire, no tears shed by me when I see it in ruins.
Not sure where you get your numbers from, a new T3x is now pushing the $1,000 mark if you go for a flash looking one with superfluous fluting and camo.
Beretta group realised that Tikkas were a better rifle than Sako for less money so they gouged it, compromise build quality and charge more money.
Doubt the Tikka T3 would be made again today.
And it shows, as they have yet to make a proper rifle!
I expect their marketing budget is much higher!
Hmmm. I am old enough to remember British bikes like Norton, Triumph and BSA dominating the racing circuits. Then in the late 50s/early 60s these strange little yellow chaps with large teeth and glasses regularly were seen to be doing lots of tours of the various bike plants, scribbling away on their little notebooks and taking lots of photographs with their shiny small cameras, escorted by senior managers who were only too pleased to display the fruits of the workforce’s labours. How we laughed.
Then about the mid-60s these very high-pitched machines started to appear on the circuits, their high fast-revving engine noise contrasting starkly with the deep thrummmmm of the brit bikes. Lord how we laughed again. Funny names like Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha and even Yamsel. The common belief was that they would never last - “it will blow up by the 3rd lap” was the common belief. Lord how we laughed again. What fun! But boy, could they accelerate and even worse after some “fettling” outperform the local bikes……
What no-one appreciated was that the comparatively small British bike manufacturing industry was about to be swallowed by the burgeoning Japanese industrial leviathon which was bankrolled by billions of dollars (and pounds) from the rebuilding of Japan after the war, just a few years before. Sooo, whilst this was going on the British bike industry stood still and had little money for investment why was that then, you may ask).
This of course was only the start - cars and very many other “essentials” were to go exactly the same way. For heaven’s sake even well known names in the gun industry like Browning and Winchester suddenly had their guns made in Japan rather than in Belgium and America!
For those younger readers, it seemed to us that suddenly everything was “Made in Japan”, which in truth it pretty much was - precisely how it is going nowadays with China.
Enough of the history lesson.
Nurse!!!
Wow, curb your casual racism!
I suspect the Chinese viewed the first Western visitors to their lands with curiosity and maybe some suspicion.
But the Chinese invented paper, gunpowder, boats that could sail the Atlantic and irrigation systems that are still being used today, how could these strange looking pale people be a threat?!
History seems to move in a circular fashion.
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
My bad - when I looked a few months ago they were at the $599 now Cabelas are offeringvtge base T3x lite at $659.99 with their discount card. Still a bloody cheap rifle.
And yes there is still in the UK a very big disparity in wages between the top and the shop floor - very much a mgmt and the workers mentality. There are exceptions but the old adage of paying peanuts.
Bavarianbrit
Well-Known Member
That's what sent me off contracting at 23 years old and I never wanted to come back to work in the UK, living here is OK but most all companies appear to partake of the urine of their workers. The class struggle lives on?
ChrisWorley
Well-Known Member
Hello, I remember a Jeff V Smith Scrambles/Moto Cross rider . Was World Champion in the middle 60s. He was aworks rider, had a Titanium framed 500cc Victor.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.
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.
Bavarianbrit
Well-Known Member
Jeff V Smith gave us a lecture in the BSA training centre 1965-66 about what he did as I remember.
ChrisWorley
Well-Known Member
Bloody hell,you must be nearly as old as me. He was teamed up with Arthur and Sid Lampkin from up our way, their answer to a problem was let's go for a pint. Edinburgh had an engineering shop in Silsden West Yorks.
My first fullbore was a 1975 BSA in 222 with twin triggers.This rifle got me arrested.
The first fault was the blueing which came off in my hand the second fault was it shaved the head off the cases, the third and final fault was the twin set triggers collasped and gave me an ND. As it was the BSA rep who dropped off the gun, I think Jowett was his name, I rang him and he just dropped me another rifle off and took away my old one,not knowing any different I though nothing of it until the Police arrived to check the gun on the ticket was the the gun in my possession, guess what!
They took me away and released me in the early hours, it took me about 3 months to get my ticket back..
I think the BSA rep must of got a right roasting over it.. thankyou Mr Jowett.
The first fault was the blueing which came off in my hand the second fault was it shaved the head off the cases, the third and final fault was the twin set triggers collasped and gave me an ND. As it was the BSA rep who dropped off the gun, I think Jowett was his name, I rang him and he just dropped me another rifle off and took away my old one,not knowing any different I though nothing of it until the Police arrived to check the gun on the ticket was the the gun in my possession, guess what!
They took me away and released me in the early hours, it took me about 3 months to get my ticket back..
I think the BSA rep must of got a right roasting over it.. thankyou Mr Jowett.
I did a lot of trials in my youth, would this be the same Lampkins?
Plus V.A.T. of course!
In essence there's a lot of truth. The much vaunted Raleigh when you see this old film from 1945 shows a workplace that today you wouldn't believe ever existed. No wonder in the 1945 General Election the voters dumped the Tories out regardless of what Churchill had or hadn't done in the prior four years.
How a Bicycle is Made | British Council
How a Bicycle is Made showcases the design and manufacture of Raleigh bicycles, as told by a designer to a father and son.
film.britishcouncil.org
You show "kids" under forty this clip and they just are amazed. Not only the size of the place but the "gradgrind" and close together cheek by jowl of the workmen of it all. It is literally put one thing down and pick the same thing up and do it again, and again, and again. With your fellow worker almost stoof on top of your shoulders.
Look at the frame assembly and also the wheel shop. The fork polishing...not a set of googles or face covering in sight and all tightly costed piecework I'd say.
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ChrisWorley
Well-Known Member
Yes the very same family, Martin was the youngest of the three brothers , who was Dougies dad .Dougie is a multiple World Champion at trials.Sadly Martin has passed away. Every talented family.
Yes remember seeing them at a few trials, along with Colin Appleyard,Stuart Oughton and Malcolm Ellis, wasn't in their league just had to watch how they cleaned every section, while I made a complete arse of my self..
If I remember correctly
Colin was Yam ty250(possibly an MAR)
Stuart was Ossa 250
Malcolm was Montesa cota
Were the Lampkins Bultaco
a'h the good o'l days
I think you're missing the irony here: the Brits observing -and misjudging- the Japanese spies are the butt of this joke. Moreover, those racist views were historically accurate, being commonplace in the decades after a war in which propaganda had systematically sought to mock and dehumanise the enemy (and in which the Japanese themselves had shown little concern for our shared humanity). All credit to you for calling out what you saw as active racism, but I still think context matters.Much of what you describe was built on the backs of underpaid yet highly skilled labour.
Abolish the slave trade (undoubtedly the morally correct and righteous thing to do, as it should never have happened) but make labour so cheap that it's effectively free, as long as they recieve some token payment its OK.
The masterstroke of the British Empire, no tears shed by me when I see it in ruins.
Not sure where you get your numbers from, a new T3x is now pushing the $1,000 mark if you go for a flash looking one with superfluous fluting and camo.
Beretta group realised that Tikkas were a better rifle than Sako for less money so they gouged it, compromise build quality and charge more money.
Doubt the Tikka T3 would be made again today.
And it shows, as they have yet to make a proper rifle!
I expect their marketing budget is much higher!
Wow, curb your casual racism!
I suspect the Chinese viewed the first Western visitors to their lands with curiosity and maybe some suspicion.
But the Chinese invented paper, gunpowder, boats that could sail the Atlantic and irrigation systems that are still being used today, how could these strange looking pale people be a threat?!
History seems to move in a circular fashion.
jc5
New Member
Greetings all! I joined the forum because I came across this thread. I am researching the history of the BSA, especially their firearms production. If anyone has any personal stories to tell about working at BSA or living nearby, I would welcome it.
Question for those of you who have been to Armoury Road. I know that the only surviving buildings from the original BSA factory are the stocking shop (currently making air guns) and the adjacent Trucson building from 1914, but there is also a building diagonally across from the old stocking shop that is likely part of the older works, but I'm not sure what it might have been. It is now marked "Northgate Vehicle Hire" and "Reception." I was pressed for time when I was there and didn't have time to stop in for chat, but the current occupants might not even know the history. I'm wondering if this might have been part of the original 4-walled building that was constructed in 1861.
Perhaps BavarianBrit or someone else knows?
Question for those of you who have been to Armoury Road. I know that the only surviving buildings from the original BSA factory are the stocking shop (currently making air guns) and the adjacent Trucson building from 1914, but there is also a building diagonally across from the old stocking shop that is likely part of the older works, but I'm not sure what it might have been. It is now marked "Northgate Vehicle Hire" and "Reception." I was pressed for time when I was there and didn't have time to stop in for chat, but the current occupants might not even know the history. I'm wondering if this might have been part of the original 4-walled building that was constructed in 1861.
Perhaps BavarianBrit or someone else knows?
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