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Info on BSA "Hunter" in .222 Rem.

25K views 21 replies 10 participants last post by  Brithunter 
#1 ·
I recentl;y aquired a BSA Bolt action rifle marked "Hunter" in .222 Remington It has an internal magazine. Bolt has safety mounted on the right side of the bolt. Weaver style mounts are integrated into the receiver. Stock is nicely burled English Walnut. I see no import marks or US import company info stamped anywhere. It has front and rear sight blocks with the dovetails filled with filler blocks. The rear sight block is on a tapered area of the barrel......the barrel tapers as it leaves the receiver, then it tapers out wide for the sight block, then back down towards the muzzle (almost like a donut shape) the front sight base is grooved for a sight hood also. This particular rifle has been bedded at the action block and the barrel is free floated. I cannot seem to find any info on this model. Some sources state it is the "Royal" model, but that model was only produced in the 50's. I'm assuming the integral scope mounts suggest a later manufacture date. Looking for any info I can on this rifle.
 
#3 ·
Ok I'll see if I can help especially as the link is to my post and my rifle. Now if I read the serial numer correctly from your photos then your rifle is a first year production and daes from 1954 as they started with prefix 2A101 on 26th August 1954 an ran with 2a until 2A1819 on 14th February 1955. Your rifle has bno import marks because it predates the Gun Control act of 1968. It's much earlier than you think not later. The "Hunter" was the modle of BSA's in house design and the pre-production model was shipped to Elmer Keith for evaluation and he made soem suggestions which were incoporated in the production models one thing was a slight change to stock design. You realise that the trigger is adjustable don't you?

Ahhh checking with John Knibbs book and the prefix listings against Models it appears mine is not a Hunter but a Regent Featherweight !!! now I am confused as it's not a Featherweight at all in fact it's heavy and has none of the Featherweight features and still has the barrel swell for the rear sight, which is missing on mine, something the featherweight didn't have. Anyway it's a 1956 model and that was the change over year so perhaps it's an odditiy?


Notice no "Hunter" name on mine


Mine also has the European stock while yours has the American "export" stock

Oh the dovetails are for Parker-Hale mounts and not of Weaver style, no cross slots, and I believe the angles are a little different. Later ones like mine have a recoil stud locating hole in the rear dovetail to accept the tapered recoil stud in the Parker-Hale rings. Now to confirm the year of manufacture with these BSA's we can consult the Birmingham Private View mark which for 1954 should be E-B with "E" at 9 o'clock and "B" at 3 o'clock either side of the crossed lances found in the proof mark on the barrel. if it's not "E-B" then let me know what it reads and I will look it up on the list and let you know which year it is. You can just make out the View mark in this photo, it's below and to the left of the "BNP" stamp on the barrel:-



Accuracy of these is normally very good to outstanding and the barrels were cut rifled then hand lapped something which would be classed at "Custom" nowadays. I am sorry to hear that someone has messed the bedding up as these were very well bedded at the factory and DID NOT HAVE A FREE FLOATED BARREL but the normal pressure point bedding at the forestock tip although I cannot get a piece of even till reciept paper between the stock and barrel of mine anywhere along it's length and it shoots very well indeed:-


yep I dropped one.

Hope that is of some help.
 
#4 ·
Thank you for clearing up quite a bit for me. Mine's locked up right now and I'll get it out to check the date codes later.

The bedding is quite tight, it is only bedded right at the front action screw. The wood removal in the barrel channel (if any is minimal to the point that you can't really tell) I imagine it was an improvement. I did notice the trigger was adjustable. I don't have a way to measure trigger pull , but it is a light set up, I may adjust it up slightly. It's not a hair trigger, but it's almost too light since I intend for my 10 yr old son to use it for coyote and groundhogs.

I haven't had a chance to sight it in yet, but I put one through it to test fire and I LOVE IT!

I can't find anything like this online for sale, just mostly the Monarchs and a few of the other models. I got the rifle (Bushnell Scopechief 8x on it) and 7 full boxes of original factory loaded Hornady Fronteir 50 grn (w.2 boxes of empties) for $330, I think I did ok since that equates to about $100 worth of ammo, making the rifle around $230-maybe $250 at discount price on the ammo.

Thank you again
 
#7 ·
Can't speak to the trigger, but it looks to me as if you got a heck of a good deal on the rifle. As best I can tell from your photos, I'd have paid the $330 just for the rifle before the seller changed his mind, with the ammo just a clincher.

I keep looking for a quality 222 at a price I can fit into the budget. one of these days...
 
#8 · (Edited)
It is an "E" at 9 o'clock and a "B" at 3 o'clock. So it's a 1954 manufacture! Great old rifle for 55 yrs old! I have the action out of the stock and I see a hex type screw going through the trigger lengthwise, one on the underside and one on the back.....are those the adjustments? If so, what direction does what? I tried changing them one at a time and all I got was no trigger and lots of slop! I set it back to where it was originally and it appears to be about the same. Wish I could find some written directions to change it.
 
#11 ·
Bolt Action Rifles(de Haas) describes two adjustments on the BSA Royal trigger:

1. The weight of pull adjustment screw is at the base of the trigger and can be reached thru the trigger guard bow w/an Allen wrench. Turn clockwise to increase pull weight and vice versa.

2. There is a trigger over-travel/engagement adjustment screw located at the top front of the trigger housing. The action must be removed from the stock to access it. It controls sear engagement, limits take-up, and can change the takeup from single to double stage. Factory setting is single stage takeup. Turning the screw in clockwise decreases engagement/take up and vice versa. If turned counter clockwise far enough, it will convert the trigger to double stage.
 
#9 ·
I will have a look at mine later but right now we are getting ready to collect Dad from the Hospital. He was taken in on Christmas Day so not much of a Christmas here this year.

However working from memeroy there is one which adjusts the sear engagement and one controls the travel and weight. I know I set up the trigger on a CF2 the other week as it had some creep so I had to adjust the sear engagement so the safety would just engage and added weight to the pull. It's fine now.
 
#10 ·
It seemed like I had either the same trigger I had or no trigger no matter what I did. I'll keep mssing with it......eventually I'll figure it out! Thanks for all your help so far. I had this posted on several other websites for over a week and you answered back right away when I posted it here. Much appreciated!
 
#12 ·
Thank you, I didn't get a chance to get it out and try your adjustments. I was remembering when I thought it had three adjustments, but (my eyes aren't that great anymore) and as I recall when I put the hex wrench in that place I thought was the third adjustment screw, I couldn't get it too budge, so I'll have to get some better light on that, it probably woudln't budge becaus it wasn't a screw! I was only getting the two screws to change with the wrench. I'll try to make some time tonigth and give it a whirl! Much appreciation!
 
#14 ·
A single word answer would seem: No. The two rifles are considerably different in configuration. Yet it is also important to distinguish between "fit" as in simply a 'drop in' and "fit" as in capable of being 'fitted'. The latter implies a situation where sufficient wood (or other material) could be removed to create a decent fit without esthetic or performance-inhibiting gaps in wood to metal fit. There used to be a firm, I believe it was Sile, which offered aftermarket stocks for the BSA series. These stocks may show up on such as eBay. Persistence may pay.
It is important for you also to reference the specific BSA model in relation to the stock you seek. Presumably in 222 it is the first, long extractor model.
All of the above said, I would suggest that you should possibly revisit your desire to 'remodel' your rifle. If original, it would likely be in something of a classic configuration, possibly with a Schnabel foreend. Your plan might well turn a nice collectible rifle into a plain Jane hybrid.
My take.
 
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