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Thread: British Smallbore Rifles.

  1. #1
    Boolit Master Bad Ass Wallace's Avatar
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    British Smallbore Rifles.

    Are these British smallbore rifles common in the USA. I managed to buy this left handed International Mk 2 complete with target sight which is a mirrored reverse of a RH one!



    20 shots over a bench at 50m on an air pistol target!

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  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master Artful's Avatar
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    Not common in my experience - very cool and accurate rifle - congratulations
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  3. #3
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    I have one, also a left hander. Superb rifles and make good bench rest shooters. I've a few others also.

    http://www.rifleman.org.uk/

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    Guy a t my club has the same lh model .has a scope mount on it, Australian made ,.amazingly accurate past 100 yards( shooting in a tunnel range) 8oz trigger .

  5. #5
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    Here's mine.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    And here's my favourite. A Greener made around 1920-1930. Bog on accurate, sweet as a nut.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    And a BSA Model 13 lightweight.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master

    Wayne Smith's Avatar
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    I have a BSA MK III and a MKV - sights on the III and a external adjustment scope on the V. Both of mine right handed.
    Wayne the Shrink

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  7. #7
    Boolit Master

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    Not real common but there are a few of them out there, did see one on table in Colorado Springs on Saturday.
    Used to use one in competition in a 50 foot indoor club until they disbanded a few years back. Incredibly accurate and will just drill one ragged hole off the bench at fifty yards all day long with about anything you would put through it.
    Now and then you see or hear where one is converted to center fire and they work as well as any small Martini which is usually very good.
    Nice rifles.
    Facta non verba

  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Shot one when I was on the university rifle team....45 years ago. What a great gun it was.

  9. #9
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    Lee Enfield .22 LR Training Rifles

    I've always enjoyed the Lee Enfield training rifles in 22 LR. They are often very accurate. When I instructed marksmanship to Cub and Boy Scouts they really liked shooting them too. I have different length butt stocks for them so I can tailor them to the age of the shooters or to myself.

    Here is a No 2 and a No 7:
    Keep your powder dry,

    Scharf

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    The left handed models are few & far between and they get snapped up fast. But the right handed ones are a lot more common. If I decide to get another BSA Martini it will be a international. I already have a #8 and a 12/15 both with Parker Hale sights. I got them from a shop not far from me who imported them from a gun club in the UK. They still have some various model internationals left but they need wood because the club cut down the stocks. After shooting those BSA's all my other target .22's went bye bye. I'm getting groups like yours with the cheap ammo someday i might see what the do with match ammo. Congradulations on your find.

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master in Remembrance


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    I've seen BSA .22's used in the NRA National Small Bore Matches in the last few years.

    National Matches held in Bristol, Indiana.
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  12. #12
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    ..............I too have a Martini Match rifle. If anyone could tell me what model number it is, I'd appreciate it



    The barrel is 28" long and the muzzle OD is 0.745"



    The rifle came with a somewhat wide adjustable cloth or canvas sling with with longish 'hooks' on each end. There are no swivels but instead round balls with a hole through them on a threaded stud. There are 2 swivels on the rear of the forend, and one on a plate attached to the underside of the barrel about 2" ahead of the forend. None on the buttstock. At the rear of the forend is an inletted brass container (the knurled cap is visible) and this contained a bunch of blued steel front sight inserts. The hand stop on the forend will move about 6" farther forward. The rear sight is a Parker Hale #7, and the aperture front is also a P-H but marked 'FS 22'. At the rear of the forend you can see a couple of those sling attachments. I don't have a photo of the sling.

    I bought this from Navy Arms in the 90's for $250 + shipping if my brain cells aren't lying. At the time they also had Martini Internationals for $400 if I'm not mistaken.



    The opposite side of the action is marked:

    "Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs"
    "15, Arundel St"
    " London W.C.2"

    I have not shot it in quite some time. WHen I first got it I took it to the range (I went to the range EVERY Tuesday then) to try it out with some of the various ammo I had. The range master cam by and asked what I was doing? I said I was trying out different ammo to see what this rifle liked. He said, "Heck, they don't even make half of that stuff anymore!" My favorite ammo for ALL my 22's was Winchester Dyna-Points. It did quite well in all of them. One day at the range I was shooting it off the bench and one of the silhouette shooters set down a partial box of Eley TENEX on the bench and said, "Here, try these out". I fired 5 into the berm and then proceeded to put 5 into a scant .370" at 50 yards on paper. At that time the stuff was $10/50 rnds. But since I wasn't competing in 22RF matches but the accuracy was admittedly wonderous, I still stuck with the $9.85/500 round boxes of Dyna-Points

    BTW, if you have a chronograph, try this the next time you have your 22 rifle along with you. Fire five rounds over the chronograph. Record the data. Now fire 5 rounds, but lean over and simply blow a puff of air through the bore before loading and firing each of the next 5 rounds. Compare the data.

    .................Buckshot
    Last edited by Buckshot; 08-17-2016 at 11:24 PM.
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  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    Buckshot, you have a 12/15 that someone put a international buttstock on.
    Which is a clever idea. Are there any markings on the muzzle around the crown?
    If so that means it's been lined no biggie some folks in the UK had it done to brand new rifles.
    If you really want to have some fun see what the ol girl will do at a hundred yards.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1Hawkeye View Post
    Buckshot, you have a 12/15 that someone put a international buttstock on.
    Which is a clever idea. Are there any markings on the muzzle around the crown?
    .
    ..............Thanks for the info on the model. There is nothing stamped on the crown.

    .............Buckshot
    Father Grand Caster watches over you my brother. Go now and pour yourself a hot one. May the Sacred Silver Stream be with you always

    Proud former Shooters.Com Cast Bullet alumnus and plank owner.

    "The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."

    Shrink the State End the Fed Balance the budget Make a profit Leave an inheritance

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buckshot View Post
    ..............Thanks for the info on the model. There is nothing stamped on the crown.

    .............Buckshot

    I'd say it is an earlier BSA Martini of the Francotte's patent design, for which someone has copied the Martini-International stock. Probably it is a 12/15, though I don't remember at which stage they acquired thicker sides than the early ones, or the Australian Cadet centrefires.

    Purely for the sort of rimfire target shooting for which they were designed, the Martini-International is hard to beat. All of them have an extremely good trigger pull, adjustable for creep, weight and overtravel. The MkII brought a trigger more easily adjustable with the action in place, which was actually an automatically cocked single set trigger. The MkIII was the first to have a fully floated forend, mounted on an aluminium hanger attached to the action. For most purposes I prefer a fully glass bedded forend, for a wide gap can let in debris, and a narrow one can make irregular contact due to sling tension, warping or water held by capillary action. But a wide gap is fine for this rifle in its intended, indoor or fair weather use.

    The earlier Martinis would be my choice as a heavy or even light sporting rifle, or for any kind of conversion, or for fantasies of seeing off the Zulu hordes. The idea of the Martini-International action being weaker, or producing sideways barrel vibration with high pressure, is very likely pure moonshine - I don't know. But it would be difficult to insert a larger cartridge than .22 Hornet or thereabouts. It also has a spring-powered ejector which will kick the rimfire case clear, no matter how gently the lever is moved, which is well worth having - with the rimfire. But I don't believe they offered positive extraction by pressure of the lever, as the earlier Martini-shaped Martinis did. You might find the ejector spring isn't enough to break the adhesion of a centrefire case in the chamber, or ejection takes place before a wider rim than rimfire clears the top of the block.

    http://rifleman.org.uk/BSA_Martini_I...I_&_%20II.html

  16. #16
    Boolit Master

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    BSAs are one of the finest 22s ever made. Got a bubba'ed 12/15 and a 13, both very accurate insanely accurate with the right ammo.
    Be well
    When you read the fine print you get an education
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  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    Superbly accurate rifles.

    This is my 1950 Mk.1 International with thumbhole stock, `Parker rifled` bore and PH25B sights.

    ukrifleman.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails BSA Martini International.jpg  
    Last edited by ukrifleman; 08-20-2016 at 02:32 PM. Reason: additional information

  18. #18
    Boolit Buddy

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    These Martini action rifles are excellent rifles. Wish i had one, but I do have 2 cadet rifles which I am lucky to have.

  19. #19
    Boolit Bub
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    One of these is on my shopping list when my licence comes back from renewal.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master JMax's Avatar
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    There is a small gun shop near where I live that has 20 or so of these rifles. I need to stop by tomorrow and see what the prices look like.

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
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