A Rifle For A More Refined Time.....BSA Model 15 Target Rifle

1srelluc

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Nov 21, 2021
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Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
I picked-up this single-shot BSA Model 15 .22 Target rifle yesterday. It was made back in the 1930s and based on a miniture version of the Martini action....28.50" barrel and weighs-in at 10.6 pounds.

It was fitted with a Parker-Hale adjustable iris eyepiece but I went with a 6-hole P-H "dead center" eyepiece instead....The little brass thingy on the bottom of the rifle is to hold the fore-sight inserts.
ph 001 (2).JPG

It was a Brit "club gun" and had it's share of cosmetic "warts" as Brit club guns often do but I got them more or less straightened out.

LOL.....Never put a match rifle and hand tools within easy reach of a Brit as he will hack on it with no regard how it will look afterwards......At least the guy who hacked on this one did the finger/cheek indentions as well as the handstop rail on the forearm OK. ;)

More info:

BSA Model 15 and Centurion rifles
 
Ah, 'Birmingham Small Arms'. I was wondering when the Boy Scouts of America had marketed their own rifle ... lol

A competing Scout organization endorsed a Remington single shot made for their Scouts at one time, though, which also surprised me.

 
Ah, 'Birmingham Small Arms'. I was wondering when the Boy Scouts of America had marketed their own rifle ... lol

A competing Scout organization endorsed a Remington single shot made for their Scouts at one time, though, which also surprised me.

I had a Rem. Cadet at one time as a young man but to be honest it was sort of a dog. Of course that was back when I did not know all that much on how to work on guns.
 
I had a Rem. Cadet at one time as a young man but to be honest it was sort of a dog. Of course that was back when I did not know all that much on how to work on guns.

Not a fan of them either, just commenting on seeing 'BSA' and thinking it referred to the 'other BSA'.
 
Nice. Had a few martini action, cool rifles.

Army donated Win M52's to out 4 position smallbore. Well used but very nice. Had my own rifle anyway.
 
Nice. Had a few martini action, cool rifles.

Army donated Win M52's to out 4 position smallbore. Well used but very nice. Had my own rifle anyway.
Win. 52s were OK but were out-classed by foreign makers.....Then again they had been at it for some time.

The real "sleepers" are the Soviet made match rifles of the 60s/70s era. While (in true Soviet fashion) they are not much to look at they will hold their own with western-made rifles.

Here's a MU,12-2 (called a MT) made in the 60s at Tula....They were custom 3-postion rifles made in very limited numbers for Soviet rifle teams.

This one is #23. It made it's way to England when the Soviets were desperate for hard currency and was later exported to the US. Very few survive in their OEM trim. This one also came with a wooden case full of accessories.

mts-12-2-001-jpg.513298

mts-12-2-002-jpg.513299
 
I picked-up this single-shot BSA Model 15 .22 Target rifle yesterday. It was made back in the 1930s and based on a miniture version of the Martini action....28.50" barrel and weighs-in at 10.6 pounds.

It was fitted with a Parker-Hale adjustable iris eyepiece but I went with a 6-hole P-H "dead center" eyepiece instead....The little brass thingy on the bottom of the rifle is to hold the fore-sight inserts.
View attachment 588703
It was a Brit "club gun" and had it's share of cosmetic "warts" as Brit club guns often do but I got them more or less straightened out.

LOL.....Never put a match rifle and hand tools within easy reach of a Brit as he will hack on it with no regard how it will look afterwards......At least the guy who hacked on this one did the finger/cheek indentions as well as the handstop rail on the forearm OK. ;)

More info:

BSA Model 15 and Centurion rifles
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder........... I've got a couple of guns that are ugly as sin also.
 
Win. 52s were OK but were out-classed by foreign makers.....Then again they had been at it for some time.

The real "sleepers" are the Soviet made match rifles of the 60s/70s era. While (in true Soviet fashion) they are not much to look at they will hold their own with western-made rifles.

Here's a MU,12-2 (called a MT) made in the 60s at Tula....They were custom 3-postion rifles made in very limited numbers for Soviet rifle teams.

This one is #23. It made it's way to England when the Soviets were desperate for hard currency and was later exported to the US. Very few survive in their OEM trim. This one also came with a wooden case full of accessories.

mts-12-2-001-jpg.513298

mts-12-2-002-jpg.513299
That is a slick Russian. Wish I had one when I was competing. The 52's were good but I went with my own.

I have many Russian firearms. Baikal, Tula, Ivesch. Have a bole 22lr, forget the sesig and it's the gnats ass for a deadly plinker. Got a 1895 Nagant revolver, Tula 1929 but referbes of course. Several shotties. MP153 12 ga semi, eats anything. SxS 20ga for skeet, trap and sporting. Shoots good as my Franci Veloce.
 
That is a slick Russian. Wish I had one when I was competing. The 52's were good but I went with my own.

I have many Russian firearms. Baikal, Tula, Ivesch. Have a bole 22lr, forget the sesig and it's the gnats ass for a deadly plinker. Got a 1895 Nagant revolver, Tula 1929 but referbes of course. Several shotties. MP153 12 ga semi, eats anything. SxS 20ga for skeet, trap and sporting. Shoots good as my Franci Veloce.
I have a mess of Soviet era weapons. One of my favorites is a 1936 Tula TT-33. It was a Vietnam bring-back.....And looks it.

I put a new recoil spring in it and it bangs away as new. ;)

dscn3399-2-jpg.126228
 
I have a mess of Soviet era weapons. One of my favorites is a 1936 Tula TT-33. It was a Vietnam bring-back.....And looks it.

I put a new recoil spring in it and it bangs away as new. ;)

dscn3399-2-jpg.126228
I have had many Toks, different makes, 9mm and 7.62x25. Now that's a wicked round. Had CZ52's in the tok round too. Looks perfect to me :)
Got a Polish P83 wanad/vanad I'm pretty fond of. The euro military firearms are a favorite and for the most part very well made.
 

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