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Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) A lightweight BSA Martini. (Read 5090 times)
Nero
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A lightweight BSA Martini.
Jun 29th, 2021 at 6:13am
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In all probability when you get into your seventies and eighties and have been down several times and back to the 200 metre firing point after patching your target you think you should have put several targets up to prevent the long walk there and back and when you look around at others on the firing point it makes you think where have all the guys I used to know gone and you realize your the oldest one on the firing point.
The same thing applies regarding carrying a heavy rifle and scope combination all day in the bush, it gets too tiring but all is not lost as I thought up a cunning plan regarding a lighter weight rifle.
I bought a little BSA Martini 22 target rifle with a cut down barrel and high scope rings and horrible home made scope blocks for a hundred bucks, sold the scope rings online for twenty five dollars and took the barrel and butt off and last summer spent several happy hours on my deck polishing by hand all the machine marks and other scratches off the internals and externals of the action. 
Steamed the dings out of the stock and took all the whiskers off and finished with umpteen coats of boiled linseed oil whilst the action was with my gunsmith to put a new twenty inch slim barrel on it in 30-30 as well as bushing the breach block and a small firing pin.
A slim new wood fore arm which matched the stock completed it.
He also put on a nicely made fore sight and in one of his boxes he found a really neat flip up rear aperture sight of a type I had never seen before but were obviously made for this type of action as they fitted perfectly the two screw holes at the rear of the action.
All set to go, put the rifle in a padded vice in my garage, opened the garage door and put up a on a tree a target about twenty metres away and bore sighted the rifle in. 
Bought some once fired 30-30 cases off Trademe and as the rifle only weighed just over four and a half pound ends on my bathroom scales decided to start with 110 grain spire point and round nosed projectiles in an effort to keep the recoil down a bit.
At the twenty five metre sighting range took about five or six rounds to get it printing dead on and then off to the hundred metre range.
If you don’t use the sighting in range I have found that although you might think that bore sighting it in you will be on target at a hundred metres, its not always so and you wonder where the heck your shots are going and then have to visit the sighting in range
Recoil was manageable and with the open sights after a lot of fine tuning an acceptable group was achieved.
With an old friend a day out in the bush was called for, we hadn’t gone far when we found a beautiful Dragonfly caught in a large spiders web.
With care we released the Dragonfly which said thank you for saving my life and for which I will give you one wish each.
Now just in case you have never come across a magic Dragonfly before it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. They do.
I thought for a bit and then said.
I wish to be the smartest man in all the world and I was.
Quick as a flash my friend said.
I wish to be smarter than smartest man in all the world.
With a clap like thunder this magic Dragonfly turned him into a woman.
  
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Nero
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #1 - Jun 29th, 2021 at 6:22am
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I have tried many ways to get the size of my photo's down to under 500KB using the preview edit on my Apple computer but it seems there's a bug in Preview, going back some time, around the resizing option. There are quite a few reports, going back more than a year, saying the size slider doesn't make any difference to the image size on disk (despite saying that it will be smaller).
Had to email the photo back to myself which made it much smaller to post it here.
  
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Old-Win
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #2 - Jun 29th, 2021 at 7:10am
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A very nice-looking rifle and a great story. I hope it brings you many more happy stories to tell later on. Bob
  
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830singleshot
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #3 - Jul 1st, 2021 at 8:07am
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Nero
Your story about building this little sporting rifle was great but the part about the"magic dragonfly" made me laugh out loud, and I needed that.
Thanks
  

J. Scott McCash&&New Braunfels, TX&&830-237-2376&&jsmccash@yahoo.com
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Schuetzendave
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #4 - Jul 1st, 2021 at 10:12am
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My light weight .218 Bee BSA Cadet for varmints.
Shoot with Bausch & Lomb 4X scope or Anschutz iron sights.
  
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SBoomer
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #5 - Jul 1st, 2021 at 10:20am
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Nero,
That rifle is just begging to stillhunt cagey whitetail bucks, late November, in the dark cedars lining the banks of the East Branch River here in Upper Michigan. Right now, the 110gr. would be just about right for the latest batch of mosquitoes!
  
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JLouis
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #6 - Jul 1st, 2021 at 1:07pm
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Nero for practice and or load development I made my own target frame to take to the range. I too find it hard to keeping walking to 200 yards and where I always shoot at. When out for just a practice session I will hang ten per-say record targets and five sighters to the left. I will shoot ten shoots not counting sighters on each target and a typical practice outing for the day. When done I just take the frame back home to fully examine all of the targets and then staple new ones back on for my next outing. 

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JLouis
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #7 - Jul 1st, 2021 at 1:10pm
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In regards to your rifle it is very nicely done and I like your choice of cartridge.
  

" It Is Better To Now Have Been A Has Been Than A Never Was Or A Wanna Be "
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art_ruggiero
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #8 - Sep 13th, 2021 at 10:56am
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great story and sooo true Cheesy   art
  
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gwahir
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #9 - Dec 26th, 2021 at 11:55am
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I wonder what reaction the shooting public would have if the 30-30 cartridge were invented today and used for the first time. I am a fan. I used it on a gibbs and a one design break action. A perfect combination for your martini.
  
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chipmaker
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #10 - Dec 26th, 2021 at 12:27pm
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Attached is a photo of my favorite light weight Cadet. The 8.15X46R wouldn't be my choice for deer but it sure is a pleasure to shoot.
Otto
  
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oneatatime
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #11 - Dec 26th, 2021 at 12:57pm
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Love it!
  
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oneatatime
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #12 - Dec 26th, 2021 at 1:10pm
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Can't compete with the other ones here and not a BSA but this is my factory made lightweight Martini. Unmarked, Belgian made and in 32 Long Colt/300 Rook. Sweet to shoot. Rooks, rabbits and raccoons beware!
« Last Edit: Dec 26th, 2021 at 3:38pm by oneatatime »  
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gnoahhh
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #13 - Dec 26th, 2021 at 10:26pm
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Excellent rifles all. I was in the mood for a delightful Martini this evening....
  
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CptCurl
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Re: A lightweight BSA Martini.
Reply #14 - Dec 27th, 2021 at 6:02am
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I have a soft spot for the little Martini.  Back in the '80s I had a really nice custom rifle built on a cadet action.  I shouldn't have let that rifle go.

Currently I have an all-original cadet rifle in pretty good shape.  It's fun to shoot.

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Curly
  
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