Air Armoury - Episode 40 - Old Mystery Air Rifle This month the Air Armoury's JRH looks at a rusty old mystery air rifle, possibly a BSA Cadet? *At 15:41 I meant to say '1 not an I' rather than '1 not a U'. Social Media: / airarmoury
Definitely a bsa cadet. I had a cadet major, and that had a trigger adjusting screw on top of the trigger block. The cadet major was also longer. I think to restore the rifle would be quite rewarding. These rifles were used on funfairs often with smoothe bore. Hope you can get it restored!
BSA cadet. First made in 1945. The Cadet Major (a larger version) appeared slightly later in 1946 and lasted until 1959 when the BSA Meteor took its place. They usually produce around 420 fps in good condition. It was designed for young shooters and its non adustable trigger was purposely rather stiff. They were made in .177 cal only. Cadets, and indeed Cadet Majors were a common sight at fairgrounds. A total of 107, 750 Cadets and 116,000 Cadet Majors were manufactured.
My grandfather gave me this exact model of air rifle before he died, it still has the wood stock but the mechanism needs restoration. Guess i have something to do in the weekend now 😀
I love this vid. Best thing I've watched all day. Wipe it down, put a coat of oil on it, and put it away for another vid on making a stock. As to cost effective? Free + scrap wood + time = Fun
What you have is the action of a BSA Cadet. The Cadet Major's little brother. They were both made in .177 only. BSA did make only one Cadet Major in .22 for experimental purposes. These were the predecessors of the BSA Meteor which was introduced in 1959.
I’d say it was a bsa cadet by the sloping end block and them dinky sights. The cadet major was slightly larger with more advanced sights and an adjustable trigger. Worth fixing up with stocks and even customised stocks are available on eBay of all places. They Only put out about 8ft/lbs mind ATB
Looks very much like the cadet. I had an old webley hawk that sloped off like that but I think the trigger was more complex but it was many years ago so I wouldn't like to put money on it.
Im in agreement with the other comments , this rifle MUST have a stock and refurb ... also someone mentioned the " air armoury " tee shirt , will these ever become available? ( it would be a good way of making a few bob too fund your vids ) ... super vid btw .. right interesting , a shed lot better then the feast of cobblers put out on main stream telly ... keep up the great work JRH ...
Hey Glad to see you posting more Videos!!! Is it possible to get one of those shirts of yours... (Air Armoury) ???...... Let Me know if its Possible... Id REALLY Like one for myself...
I'm super amazed that it had the power it had. I was expecting mid 200's up to 300 if was really lucky... could prolly increase the FPS By a lil' tad more with a good cleaning and then running 25-35 pellets thru it after. Ither way im inpressed it even fired. That just goes to show how things use to be made to last compared to how things are made to break nowadays...... ***You should have considered fabbing your own stock by hand*** 😞 Not spent any cash of course... but Maybe could used some scrap black oak or something. That would have been cool IMO. Otherwise, I would have tried to preserve the gun as best as possible from this point on, but other than that and adding a handmade stock out of scrap, I would have just left it how it was. Oh, also after i made stock i wouldnt have stained or varnished it. I would just have let it be so it could have got dirty and aged as well as absorb oil from hands and so on. That would have helped give it the aged look somewhat naturally pretty quick to match the rest. Anyway, Thanks for sharing this Video. Have a Blessed Weekend... From a Fellow Airgunner & Fan of your channel from across the pond, Cheers... ~Doc~ [06/01/18]
I thought of making a stock, but the amount of time it would take me just wouldn't be worth it. I could spend the time making more videos for you guys instead!
I would do it up polish it all up and cold blue it and you can get a stock off eBay I come across a old webley junior air rifle it was in a bad state it was a rusty like it been in the lake but now it’s like new but you got to keep it well oiled though
I do hope you are going to sort it out and not just put it away to gather dust ,,that is just the type of airrifle I love to get my hands on an sort out ,I'd make a stock for it and with the metal work been so bad just spray it an make it usable. By the way it looks like it could be a bsa mercury as they slope down at the back.