BSA Monarch

[Brithunter]

Hi All,

Well finally after getting the licence altered I picked up the BSA Monarch in .270 Winchester and here it is :-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v166/Brithunter/BSAMonarch1stPatRHS.jpg

The stock has some dings and chips in the varnish, I have covered the barrel for now in cold blue as it was well worn. Once I find out how well it shoots I will decide on what to do then, rebarrel or re-blue :p On cleaning it I simply could not believe the crap I found inside the breech recesses, had to soak it in Nitro solvent then flush it out with WD40 finally poured a couple of pints of boiling water through it which cleared it all out. Although I thought the rifling was slightly worn upon trying a handload in the chamber the bolt closed with a little resistance. On carefully examining the bullet I can see the marks for the rifling so it's got a shorter leade than the Majestic which has less worn rifling.

I will try some factory ammo through it first then some handloads, lt looks like will ahve to change the bullet seating depth so the handloads fit any of the three 270's I have just to be on the safe side :) Who ever owned it atsome time did not care for it well, I am thinking that it could be a ex-forrestry commision rifle, if not it's a farmers Landie rifle which was thrown in the Landrover and not in any protective cover :( For those who may wonder why I brought it ............. well the price was vert good $72US and it's the next model to the Majestic I already had, also I enquired about a new barrel and found some oen who has some brande new BSA made barrels for this model and the price makes it well worth while so restoration is going to be done :D all that has to be decided is how much needs doing.

[Dan Morris]

Nice looking rifle n a NICE price. Let us know how it shoots. As to
small dings in wood.....you can relax and hunt with it! Ever decide anything on your Elk hunt?
Dan
:D

[Brithunter]

Hi Dan,

The Elk trip is cancelled for the foreseeable future I am sorry to say. I am just relocating to care for my parents and have no job right now which does not help matters. Once I get settled and work out a routine then I can start making plans.

As for hunting with the rifle well yes if it's accurate enough it will go afield. I test fired it today and have the barrel soaking now, I have discovered that there is a fairly large patch of pitting about 1" in from the muzzle possible rain of a snow flake. The more I examine it the more I think this was either an estate rifle of a forrestry Commision one, I doubt the owner neglected it like this although I have seen some real dumbasses who should never be allowed to own a gun the way they treat them :mad: Not sure what to do about the Varnished finish, personally I don't like varnished finishes so it may get stripped off and an oiled finish applied. BSA offered both as a option :D

Everything works on the rifle properly but I am suspect of the old scope I have put on it and need to find another to test it with. The firing was only at about 40 yards just to test it all works OK and the test was encouraging but not as good as I would expect, until I find another scope to try I won't know for sure.

All my sporting rifles go hunting no matter their value, it's what they were built for so I use them including the Bespoke one off rifle, it's the only one of it's kind they made and it was not cheap but I have shot several deer with it and it bears a few small marks from it's outings.

My Whitetail trip this fall is also in doubt now, and I am not even sure I can make it to Scotland and I have an invitation up there this September after Red Stags:rolleyes: The Elk trip was going to have to be postponed to next year at the earliest as I didn't quite realise the total cost. Came as slight shock :rolleyes: I knew it would not be cheap but didn't quite realise just how much it was going to be. After all the Whitetail trip once I include flights, tags, guest fee, stop overs food etc adds up to about $2300 but the Elk trip is something else. I will just have to put it off and try to have some money for it once I get some income coming in that is.

[Dan Morris]

Sorry to hear of your troubles with your folks, keep on pluggimg
though. These things have a habit of working out! Besides, thats the only ones you will ever have. Good luck.
Dan

[Brithunter]

Hi Dan,

Thank you for your kinds thoughts and words:) Old age is cruel and spares no one :(

[kailua custom]

Enjoy your new BSA. They are great rifles. I have included a picture of my BSA "Royal" which is the predecessor of your Monarch. Mine has the mauser style extractor seldom seen now days. Also the calibre[ 7X57] is rare. Rifle has only had 8 rounds through it and is for sale if anyone is interested. Actually belongs in a collection somewhere.

Aloha, Mark

[Brithunter]

Hi kailua custom,

Sorry to tell you this but BSA never used the name "Royal" on their sporting rifles. Yours is either a Hunter or a Viscount and in front of the serial number will be "5B". The 7x57 was the first of the medium length actions to be despatched from Small Heath in July 1955, the very first ones were in .222 Remington. As yours has the Mauser full length extractor then is was made prior to the spring of 1956 and is thus a Hunter model, so it's an early one. Please remember that all British guns are proofed at one of the proof houses so there is no such thing an an unfired one, if you have fired 8 rounds through it then it in all probabilty had 10 cartridges fired through it.

BSA made 2617 between 1955-1962 rifles with the 5B prefix and 389 with the later 5R for the CF2 range which I have one of. I also have a Majestic Featherweight Delux in 270 Win.

That is a nice rifle for sure and one I would be proud to own, however I am in no position to do anything about it being unemployed right now plus there is the hassle of exportation/importation to deal with ................ pity :rolleyes:

[Cariboo]

BSA marketed these rifle under different names in different countries. The "Royal" was sold in the USA while in Canada the same rifle in long action was marketed as an "Imperial" or "Royal" . So refering to the same rifle as a Royal or a Hunter or an Imperial all depends on point of view. BSA NEVER marked any of their early rifle as to model and the various names seemed to be made up on the fly.

Over the years I have owned several different examples of BSA rifles and the original Mauser clone discontinued ~1959 , regardless of what name you call it, is the best of the bunch by far. My personal favorite was the Royal/Hunter/Imperial featherweight which tipped the scales in long action at around 6 pounds! Not too bad for a wood stocked rifle with a 22" barrel eh?
http://www3.telus.net/cariboo6699/pictures/BSA-side.JPG

[Brithunter]

Hi There,

Well I can only go by BSA's own records, which were used by Mr Knibbs to write the book about BSA and nowhere in these records is the name "Royal" Used. I am thinking that seeing as how all the BSA rifles of the period used royal connections in their names, such as :-

Emperor
Viscount
Majestic
Monarch
Regent

Possibly led to Importers naming them "Royal"

Yes the Majestic Featherweight De Lux is a wonderful rifle mine in 270 Winchester weighs 6 1/4lb but does not have the BESA recoil reducer and as of yet I have not seen one here in Britian with one. It seems that most went for export, pehaps one day I will find one. Oh and the early Hunters had the action marked so, the Majestic has the bolt body engraved so, the actual Mauser long extractor was dropped from production in 1956 but some rifles built using this extractor were still sold up until 1963 as BSA made batches and their production was way ahead of their sales it seems.

Now on another BSA rifle matter, I recently saw an article and in it was mentioned a chap who used to work in one particular gun shop, it seems he now works at another. I must contact him later as the old shop had a certain Model 1923 sporting rifle in stock which I viewed but whilst I was sourcing inforamtion on it the shop closed and it's wherabouts were unknown. Hopefully this chap may know where it is and if it's still available. If it is perhaps a trade or deal could be worked out, so wish me luck.

[kailua custom]

Dear Brithunter,
I appreciate your information and I won`t tell anyone[if you won`t] that someone stamped "Royal" on the rifle as part of the Birmingham Small Arms . It is pretty obvious it was done at the factory. Disgruntled Employee???

Aloha, Mark

[Brithunter]

Hi kailua custom,

That's wonderful, any chance of a picture of the marking? I am not doubting you, I just want to be able to point this out to some one :p . And thank you for the information the more I learn about BSA the better I like it :D

[gregarat]

I was scared for a second!
When I saw the thread title that said BSA. I was thinking of the yucky scopes.:eek:

Whew... whata relife. Than is a good looking rifle.