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Hi All,

Have only just got registered on the site but as some will no doubt reconise the name from other boards, and yep it's the same old me

, well they know I happen to have a soft spot for British sporting rifles although sadly I don't own a double rifle

. Now I do have few BSA commercial sporting rifles but as this particular forum is about the Lee Speed types I will keep to that subject.

Quite a few years ago on a visit to my local, then anyway, gunshop in East Grinstead in Sussex on the rack I spied a Lee sporting rifle which was a rarity then as you just didn't see them. This was before the blossoming of interest in shooting classics here in the UK and seeing as how I have a soft spot for the .303 I asked to see it and of course was hooked. Now I already had a Parker-Hale Supreme No1 sporting rifle built on a BSA No1 Mk11 action dated 1916 with Australian service marks under the high gloss blacking that P-H appled after the conversion and this commercial BSA would make a wonderful companion to it. Sadly durign a period of unemplyment the Supremem was sold to pay the rent.

After some haggling a price was agreed and it was put upstairs to wait for me to get a variation on my FAC and so raise the money as the price agreed upon was £350. A fairly high price but then again you just didn't see them. It took me weeks to find and buy mt P-H Supreme which cost £125 and I had to drive 150 miles to get it.

The rifle is a BSA No2 (I think ?) pattern sporting rifle built on a Metford carbine action with it's flattened and swept forwards bolt handle and dust cover, no charger bridge. Fitted with BSAs patent thumb safety on the wrist. Sights are stand with two leaves and ladder from 400-1000 yards and a bead foresight proteceted by wings set into a full cape rib. Engraved five shot magazine horn tip and cap retailed by Wm Powell & Son of Birmingham.

Now the sad bit the barrel had just been replaced with a 39 dated surplus one and in removing the rib they had damaged the very tail of it at the breech end

then tranposing the rib to the new barrel a infill was made but of course it does not match as it should. Of course this does mean that I have a new barrel to play with.

Winged foresight on rib

Ladder raised.

Engraved Butt plate

Damaged rib

Shotgun type sliding thumb safety of BSAs patent.

Well I hope you like it and I will make a post to cover the BSA Model E which of course is a re-built and sporterised P-14 which BSA did between 1949-1953 before their own design of sportign rifle came into production in 1953.

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Don't let the bastards grind you down!

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