BSA Lightning XL SE - Airgun Review - theGunLocker 

Good review my man, honesty isn't easy to find anymore👍. So I've studied this rifle for years here in America as i really like the looks. I've gone deep in my investigation in including every youtube, article, blog, vlog etc., and possibly the the best teaching tool for this rifle is reading/watching the airgun smiths......and they confirm nearly everything you said, and a few more things in addition. First off, here in the states the only importer seens to be Airguns of Arizona. The package comes with rifle and BSA 4--12x AO scope, and is around $550.....in no way cheap, and it is still comjng overseas at the UK 12 fpe power rating🤔. Not an endearing trait given the competition, and number of $250 pcp's out there now. The airgunsmiths note two problems which they come in regularly.......1)barrel shroud comes loose from barrel and wobbles, and they have no way of fixing it......and 2)barrel inconsistency, running tight and then very loose as a pellet goes down the bore....again, nothing can be done short of replacing the barrel with another "iffy" BSA barrel. I could go on about poor piston material and internal surfaces in the piston raceway not being machined properly etc. but you did an admirably job here. What this study has led me to believe regarding this rifle and BSA in general, is that money may be tight, and this usuall the means quality control gets put in the back of the line when sales is at the front. BTW...AoA is the importer of the Walther LGV as well, and it goes for $530. The description sounds like an Air Arms rifle.....factory tuned right out of the box for less money, and the .22 shows 800 fps 👍. Sadly I just checked and it says "out of stock"🫤. Hey may God bless you, and you got a subscriber today🙏😊

Love your honesty Mark. Your's is the only air gun review channel I trust.

I have got thr gas ram in .22 it awesome from my house to the barn is 45 yards. Couple of days leading in im getting most shots in a 2p coin. H&N 14 grain 11.5 foot pound in getting

Wow Mark, that is quite clear ! Have BSA contacted you as to their quality control situation at all ?

I was after a reasonably priced springer last year and narrowed it down to the bsa and a HW 99s. I chose the Hw99s and I'm so glad I did, accurate and a pleasure to shoot with a brilliant trigger.

I've got one of these and it is very accurate, shooting targets with tight grouping at 30 - 50 yards. I have some PCP rifles with very light triggers and I agree that the trigger on this takes some getting used to but overall and for the money it's a good gun.

Good honest review, I have shot one of these. Didn't get on with it at all. Trigger was heavy causing accuracy issues. This was brand new had a barrel clean. Tried different pellets still not good. Put this up against my Cometa 400 compact star. 177. The Cometa will do pellet on pellet at 35/40 yards PCP accuracy. If you get a chance to do a review of the Cometa 400, I would like to know your thoughts. I have just bought a new Hw98 bull barrel, I prefer the Cometa at half the price, with a lifetime warranty. Thanks for taking the time to do the reviews. I can only say people buy BSA are usually disappointed. Due to mag issues & accuracy problem and end up returning back for repairs. Quality control is needing a good upgrade.

An interesting analysis! The one I owned had accuracy issues and I sent it back to BSA for adjustment. It came back better but not fully solved. The problem was the horrendous amount of recoil. They had dampened it down a bit but I found the only way around it was to pull it hard into my shoulder and grip the forend tight. Only then could I achieve sub 1 inch groups. But with the Artillery Hold forget it because it grouped like a shotgun!

Had mine for a few years now, same model and calibre. Love the rifle, light, easy to cock and feels great when shooting. BUT, mine also has accuracy issues. I fitted a new breach seal when I got it as the original was damaged and accuracy was good for a while. I have no idea why but suddenly 2" at 20yards off a bag was as good as I could get, the same as free standing. Iv tried lots of different pellets, makes no difference. At first I blamed the cheapy BSA scope so fitted a scope off my HW99S, nope. I can find no fault with the rifle but I will keep it as I like it. I dont hunt with it or use it in comps, only for plinking so I dont really care if the groups a bit loose. Having watched your video I will have good look at the pivot point. I also have an old BSA Super sport in .25 which is more accurate and a HW99S which is way better. Im still keeping it though.!!

man mister you are so right thank you for the reciew!

Thank you for your review, very fair assessment in my opinion. Some background ; l have been shooting for over 50 years, spring, gas ram, pcp etc. Following published and on screen reviews I purchased a GRT powered version and that's when the trouble started. The accuracy was terrible so I chronographed it, 8ft lbs recorded so along with stock screws that constantly were coming loose it was returned to BSA. On return it put out a shade over ten pounds, however the front stock screws were loose. Upon removing the stock to investigate l noticed that the stock was cracked and I contacted BSA who promptly sent me a replacement. However the accuracy was still not terrible but non existent and still the stock screws came loose despite the loctite l applied. Perseverance in the form of several scopes and still terrible accuracy, enough is enough. Clearly BSA still stands for best scrap available just like there motorcycles of the past. Absolute rubbish, but a very good assessment of an awful product, thank you.

Oh dear oh dear….I’ve had my Lightning XL for sixteen years and have had no issues at all. This review sounds like a totally different rifle. I seriously hope all the new ones aren’t as bad as this. Be interesting if you could get a ‘new’ Lightning to review and see if it’s the same.

Yeah well done. Spot on- No breach block. You saved me £375 quid.

Hello from across the big pond my friend, thanks for your no-nonsense review! I'm a huge BSA Guns fan, I once owned this same exact rifle about eight years ago, couldn't hit the side of a barn door! Sent it out to have a gas ram installed, waisted money and totally upsetting! I tried all types of ammo with no success. The U.S. importer for BSA has a sale on these rifles, too bad that it can't shoot straight! I really appreciate your indepth analysis of this break barrel model, which makes all the sense in the world. My U.K. Webley Tomahawk and HW30, both have amazing accuracy and superb barrel lock-up, which makes these break-barrel rifles a pure joy to shoot!

I bought one of these and it was terrible in terms of accuracy. I replaced the trigger adjustment screw with a longer one which make a big difference to the trigger and found that my barrel move ever so slightly left and right so took it apart and added a 0.1mm shim to the barrel hinge. It's a lot better but still not brilliant. I also found the stock screws kept on working loose so had to thread lock those

Mark, with regards to the maxi grip scope rail. This was one of the major selling points going back over 25 years ago when telescopic sights suffered with recoil induced cross hair failure. The rubber strips really did work as intended! BSA are shocking with there quoted power output figures! I wonder what there tolerances are in the small print. The silencer unit is a selling point. This gun is pure economy item this must be remembered as such. If I could by a gun with a included silencer I would and not have budget for a silencer which pushes the price up! I was very close to purchasing one of these rifles for the reasons stated. I only buy what I can afford and there are other people in the same boat. Even if the silencer area was hollow it would still have a quietning effect! Many add on accessory silencers are like this. Not every one has the budget to buy from the top self without previous knowledge. I'm the owner of 2 Hatsan springers at under £100 each new. 1 hatsan Flash QE £275 new and shoots like a dream plus a new Kral NP 500 for £425. Sadly it appears to me as BSA have chosen the economy route with this gun! PS. I found shooting my springers of a cushion was far better than any thing else I tried for accuracy.

Just bought a second hand one, deadly accurate with jsb hades, 5 p size grouped at 25 yards in .22 😊ps gas ram version

Not at all surprised to hear this - everyone I’ve spoken to has a similar story to tell re the lightening. I was so close to getting one when returning to the sport 5 years ago, all I can say is thank god I didn’t! My TX200hc and tuned HW99s are almost as accurate as my PCP (krait) out to 45 yards. That’s most def not the case here! 😳🤦‍♂️ IMO it would have been good to have put at least one of the groups up (maybe a side by side with the LGV) so we could really see how awful the lightening is! At least you didn’t test the GRT they’re supposed to be even worse!!🤦‍♂️😂

I’ve owned a xl se for a few months now not had a problem I use air arms Diablo fields and it has grouped really well and killed rabbits cleanly at about 30 meters I would say it’s worth the money

BSA, will.luv you,,I have one no complaints at all,

Its the pivot thats is not a normal bolt that you can adjust the play between barrel and body like weihrauch Its a steel pin pressed in.

Like any springer or Gas Ram gun, they need running in, I bought one from a chap who complained about accuracy (I detected the faint wiff of new lubricants) for a hundred pellets the best group was one inch at 25yds then suddenly settled down to consistently shooting pellet on pellet. The trigger is a dream and simply needs adjusting to your needs. Sorry but many issues raised are explained on the BSA site e.g. the MaxiGrip mount which is there to dampen recoil for the scope. Of course the barrel is shorter than the silencer...

I'm quite surprised by this as, 3 years ago I bought a s/h 1st gen lightning .22 and it's very accurate indeed. Maybe qc has deteriorated, but to my mind, if you knew the barrel was wobbly you probably shouldn't have reviewed it; they can't all be like that surely? The trigger on mine is great but needed shaping a bit for comfort as the edges were sharp. The biggest problem with mine is that the recoil is so violent that it keeps breaking the stock screws. I find it exciting to shoot though!

I bought one brand spanking new, stock screws needed blue loctite plus an additional washer under them to stop the barrel movement and that really did help it, from 8 yards to 60 yards 30mm targets and its bang on with AA field 16gr in .22, chrono read 560 in the first 50 shots one shot chrono showed 370, but that was just the once, the trigger unit is a gamo special. Also needed a new weirauch harder breach seal cause the stock one is like chewing gum. Now the scope issue.... i had cheap mounts and the scope nearly fell off after 60 shots even with the maxi grip rail, went to a sportsmatch one piece and that seems to have stopped that but it chewed a nikko sterling mount master right up with the kick,

I have two and they are both very accurate, however, they are accurate only because I changed the barrels on both for earlier barrels. The original barrels with the "cocking aid" you have on the one you tested, I found were useless.

I’ve been thinking about getting one of those and have watched many reviews none of them had any negative comments about accuracy yours is the only one I have seen that has complained about this -mmmm food for thought

Did you try RWS Super Dome and RWS Hollow Point? I find these pellets work best in mine.

Weird. My BSA GRT SE is rock solid. No play with the breach/barrel. Very accurate and as for recoil...is there recoil on an air rifle? Anyhow, It is tiny on this gun. Horrendous recoil? What are these people talking about? Air rifles as 12 gauge shotgun? I think not! I started in 1975 with a Webley Hawk (not very well made but had interchangeable .177 and .22 which I thought very cool as a teenager) I could shoot anything with that thing. It was brilliant. We are spoiled these days. The GRT SE is an amazing rifle and I would have given my eye teeth to have a gun of this quality back in the day. Shame some have quality control issues it seems.

Truly sad to hear BSA has gone 'el cheapo' trail. I'd seriouslly consider returning to BSA. That being said, I'll keep my RWS- Diana 350, Walther Parrus, Benjamin (Classic) 397PA, Old Feinwerkbaus 124 & 127 and a couple Hatsans. Many thanks for your honest review.

I had one made by Gamo i had one recoil from hell trigger could have been better very hard adjusted to sumthing better and it went hard very hard to hard a trigger pulls the rifle left and right and up and down mine did not have the scope rail and the wood looked like ply board yes was play on the barrel. The recoil it was that bad it loosened the barrel waight took it back to get sorted the could not fix it so got my money back and some more bought two 99s i think when it became Gamo Bsa every thing went down hill but i see there making a few at Bsa

Yet Andy from AAR says it is "Quality for less" suppose not all guns are the same.

Thank you why does the company bends the truth? Very sad on bsa company

It would probably be best to take the shroud off completely and attach a LIMBSAVER SHARPSHOOTER X-RING BARREL DERESONATOR to the barrel and attach a silencer to the end. This may tighten the pellet groups.

I wish I had seen this before I purchased my BSA Lightning SE. The Maxi Grip Rail isn't the Maxi Grip anymore just an adaptor rail even the BSA gunsmith admits to this. I purchased the Gamo maxi grip rail to no avail. My gun would not stay zeroed, had a huge recoil, the breech pin was moving and the barrel was loose as in your review.

I bought the very first model Lightning (1999?) in 22 for occasional pest control in my employment. It was very accurate, ideal for the work. However the stock screws loosened off and stripped the threads, a common fault.

Hello My friend, Thank you for honest review of this BSA Lightning spring air rifle. This is really disappointing to hear from a manufacturer that should be leading the way, especially with their pedigree. 1861, blah de blah... It looks a beautiful air rifle, though to make something cheaply with a wobbly lock up, they should know better and is inexcusable. Like you said, they can make hammer forged barrels all day long, but what use are they with a loose lock up! A very disappointing review to watch, when this companies engineering skills should be frightening Weihrauch, Diana, Walthur, etc. Thank you for your honesty.

I bought one from new & they are utter junk. The only way i found to solve the accuracy problem was to part ex it for a HW95.

Bought a grt .177 lightning at the beginning of the year after seeing a good few reviews on RU-vid, never even used it till i seen this video so thought i better see what its like. Manged to get it grouping ok and few pellet on pellet at 30m with superdomes so was pleased with that but agree with ergonomics and price

You must have had a bad one, mine is as good as my clx pcp

Just found your channel, nice comprehensive and balanced reviews. I've owned both the xl se and grt and found the Springer to be slightly more accurate due to less recoil. I found the trigger pull far to heavy on both guns however and I could feel the plastic trigger blade flex slightly when pulled. I don't recall any lateral barrel slop on the se however there was plenty on the grt which I mentioned to bsa and they said slight movement is acceptable. I very much doubt I will be buying another bsa product.

shame really bsa are a heritage brand but not the first time i have seen a dodgy rifle but i have seen some good ones to . however very poor mech when you look at other break barrels or you have a bad one there

mine in 1.77 is spot on ????

Excellent review, too which I've nothing to add, ( mainly cos I'm not a springer guy I suppose) one thing for sure, unless there's a budding gunsmith out there who wants to take a punt on it, well I think it's gonna stay on the shelf for quite a while Ps. 10" is pretty short, for a rifle barrel anyway... Would that ALSO Be a contributing factor?

Never heard anything good about any bsa springer, or pcp for that matter.

The triggers are terrible, I'd give it one star.

I have watched many of your reviews and have thoroughly enjoyed many of them, however this is one of most unfair appraisals of a complete rifle model I have ever seen. I am a senior shooter and have been around since the early days of John Bowket, Arthur Shepherd, Venom arms and many more of the old worthies. I have built , Tuned and dismantled 100s of air rifles and examined and rebuilt many parts over all those years. Your review here is of an ex Demo rifle and you haven't a clue as to what treatment it has had prior to you getting it. Yet you advise no one to buy that model which down cries the whole BSA Lightening XL SE model range. How very unfair. you have blasted the whole model range of that particular gun with a poor result you achieved on ONE EX DEMO RIFLE. How very sad. I have 2 of that particular rifle and can produce sub half inch groups at 25 yards. Both will provide sub 1 inch groups at 40 yards. Do I say its the best rifle in the world because I can achieve that, of course not but you have no problem in saying the worst grouping rifle you have ever shot condemning the whole range of them. Perhaps you should go and get another one Brand new, Run it in, and then do another test. I am certain the results would be far different. The way you expressed your review black marked what can be and is proven to be a superb rifle. The comments show that some have called it rubbish due to your review. I have a friend, a wonderful shooter who shoots a HW77 and can place pellets on top of one another. He can do exactly the same with his BSA Lightening. I hope more people do not avoid this rifle because of your unfair review based on (ONE ex demo rifle).

It's a gamo /Bsa and not good

What a load of rubbish barrel pin worked loose after 20 30 shots sent back to bsa they put a new pin in another 20 shots worked loose again the barrel was rubbing against the stock sent it back came back exactly the same from a new gun bought a 97 brilliant

Здравствуйте. Я из России. Пишу на родном языке, можете перевести мой комментарий на свой язык. У меня три такие винтовки. Две с пружиной и одна с газовым поршнем (GRT). Две выпуска 2013 года, одна 2018. На винтовке 2018 года не было антабок (я установил их сам), и ложе имеет небольшие отличия - оно более гладкое, нет острых углов. Две винтовки подарил друзьям, оставил себе 2018 года со стальной пружиной. Все винтовки выдают 12.5 фут/футов (17 джоулей). Скорость пулями RWS и JSB 0.55 грамма +/- 250 м/с. Ваша винтовка неисправна. Поэтому нет точности и звук выстрела очень громкий. Скорее всего, прогорела манжета поршня. Перед использованием новую винтовку нужно разобрать и удалить консервационную смазку. При необходимости заменить манжету поршня. Она установлена от Gamo 1250, либо от Gamo G-Magnum (зависит от года выпуска). На моей BSA 2018 года установлена манжета поршня от G-Magnum. Спусковой механизм на BSA Lightning XL SE установлен от Gamo (SAT), мастера компании BSA смогли его отрегулировать на усилие 900 граммов. Я считаю, это великолепный результат для механизма с двумя шепталами. Винтовка задумана как охотничья. Способна без проблем работать на дистанцию до 50 метров. Я попадаю в мишень 4.5 см даже на 70 метрах. Оптический прицел использую Hawke Airmax 4-12*40. У меня ещё есть винтовка Gamo CFX. Сделан тюнинг - заменён спусковой механизм на механизм с тремя шепталами, исправлен ствол. CFX очень точная, но длинная и с плохим балансом. BSA Lightning XL SE моя любимая :) . Я благодарен англичанам за такую прекрасную недорогую винтовку. Желаю вам удачи : ) .