Airgun question

[Steve12345]

Hi,

I just had a quick Air rifle / pistol question regarding two Airguns I inherited a few months back, it's something that had never occurred to me until I read some of the threads on this forum. I understand there is a limit of 12 ft.lb for rifles or 6 ft.lb for pistols. Is there any chance either of these could be over? I had assumed they would be under due to their age, but then equally if there were different limits back then I wasn't sure.

One is a BSA rifle shown in the picture, think it may be a Meteor or similar? The other is a Webley pistol, I would guess they are both from the 70s or 80s? Are these both legal to hold or is it impossible to say without testing them?
I know nothing about gun repairs but I assume the rifle needs a new seal from the picture, is it OK to try and fire like this? I assume it would just potentially lose power?

Thanks

[billy_boy_2010]

Not much help but if you're worried I would just get them tested.

having said that I have found some rfd really rubbish at testing gun power. try and do d a place that tunes them or sells a lot of air guns.

a lot of pistols really struggle to get to 6 ft lbs so I would be less worried about that.

do you know anyone with a certified legal air rifle ? you could compare penetration (assuming the calibre was the same) as a crude guide ?

[billy_boy_2010]

twice I have had an unfortunate experience with rfd and chrono. both unknown chrono types.

95k in 177. was told it was 13.5 ft lbs and I needed to detune it asap. it was loud. But it's trajectory and penetration felt legal to me. I took it to an air rifle club with a quality chrono- 11.2 ft lbs!

second was a very hold sensitive hw80k. ft lbs was supposedly 8-12 between shots. trajectory told me this really couldn't have been the case.

[1066]

I think you can sleep easy. If it's an old Webley spring pistol even the best would struggle to get to about 4ftlb. The Meteor in top condition with a new spring might make 10ftlb. It's bigger brother, the Mercury can go over 12 ft-lb, likewise the underlevers Airsporter can go over if worked on.

[1066]

If you fire a pellet from each of these airguns at a solid flat steel plate and take a photo of the pellets, or whats left of them, is a fairly good guide to the power if you know what you are looking for.

This says about 10ftlb for a good example of a Meteor (The new MK7 is not really a Meteor, it's been redesigned and now made by Gamo).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSA_Meteor_Air_Rifle

[Triffid]

I doubt you'll even be approaching 1066's 10ft/lbs with a breech seal like that! You need a new one.
https://www.airrifleshop.co.uk/products ... supersport
Triffid

[Ovenpaa]

If it is a .177 you can come and shoot Bell Target (Virtual league) with us!

[Steve12345]

Thanks gents, sounds like they are probably OK. I may ask around and see if I know anyone that can test them for me but doesn't sound like an issue. Just didn't want to have anything I shouldn't whilst I have applied for the Sec 7.3, not that I expect to get it..

Thanks for the link for the seal, I hadn't even got round to looking yet. I wasn't sure if I was going to bother but for that price I might as well. Are the lead free pellets any good? Maybe i'm being over cautious but didn't particularly want to fire lead all over the garden.

[walesdave]

While I'd almost guarantee your air-pistol isn't even close to the legal limit (it's hard to find even a modern one that is), remember that any air pistol in the UK over 6ftlb is a mandatory 5 years in jail, so worth getting tested by a proper air gun specialist....as others have said, 'regular' RFDs can be a bit hit and miss.

[FredB]

Where do you think the lead came from? The UK is practically made of the stuff, in the form of lead sulphide which is a lot more poisonous than your little pellets.
Fred