Vill du ha nått udda så köp min BSA 240 som är i nyskick. Se info nedan.
Later I found several oblique references to the BSA 240 Magnum. In Cardews' "The Airgun from Trigger to Target" 1995, page 33, about spring gun cylinders, they state "BSA have recently followed suite" (after the Webley Eclipse) "by using aluminium for the cylinder and body of their 240 Magnum pistol." That intrigued me, for the Webley and P1 pistols use a steel cylinder inside an alloy body. Later, specifications for the BSA 240 became available on the Web. The most outstanding (and intriguing) features are:
light weight (2lbs)
compact size
510
fps muzzle velocity
fixed barrel
spring damper
scope rail with shock absorbing mounting system
adjustable 2 stage trigger
low noise silencing system
patented transfer port
Walnut grip
Besides which, it looks different, definitely cute in fact!
After a few months of trying to ignore the itch, I finally bought one.
The BSA 240 may look a little like a trimmed down Beeman P1, but that's where the similarity ends. Under the hood it is a more modern and less pretentious beast.
Just opening the 240 is a different experience. On the P1, the "hammer" is pulled and back and down with some force to release the latch. I usually resort to a thumb and forefinger squeeze to open the P1. BSA on the other hand reasoned why pull back on the "hammer", when really it is latch and does not need to be "cocked", so pushing up on it makes more sense since the thumb can naturally extend upwards easier than pull downwards. The 240 is delightfully simple to open and gives the first hint that here is a pistol that has snubbed "conventional wisdom".
The next thing to note is that the barrel is fixed to the body which forms the air cylinder. Open the pistol and the rear of the barrel is in front of you at the obliquely cut rear of the transfer port. Loading a pellet is very easy, no fiddling with a barrel obscured by a frame, or at the other end of the open gun. There is a smoothness to the opening cocking and closing strokes that my other pistols simply do not have.
Like the Beeman P1, the BSA 240 has the inherent capability of great accuracy. Whether the fixed barrel design on the 240 is "better" than the pivoting barrel on the P1 is probably debatable since in practice, any sighting devices on the 240 are attached to the top frame which pivots relative to the barrel, whereas on the P1 the sights are attached to the same part of the frame as the barrel, but that then pivots relative to the lower frame and grip... 6 of one, half dozen of the other perhaps.
When it comes to shooting, the BSA 240 is a delight. The trigger is two stage and breaks with a light, even pull which is almost subliminal, just think "squeeze" and it fires. The Beeman P1 is noted for its' excellent trigger, the BSA 240 is every bit as good, both contrast markedly against the Webley's heavy single stage trigger. The differences between inherent accuracy and that that can be achieved are often related to just how light and predictable the trigger is on a pistol. BSA definitely have a winner with this trigger!
The light weight of the 240 does however have one slight drawback. Spring air guns have an infamous "double recoil" that is caused by firstly the action / reaction of the initial piston movement as the spring is released, followed by the bounce as the piston rebounds against the air as it compresses in the cylinder, then followed by the piston resuming it motion to the end of the cylinder. The pellet begins movement sometime around the moment the piston rebounds, then leaves the barrel sometime around when the piston stops moving. Trying to hold a spring pistol steady during this violent piston surge forms the challenge in shooting spring pistols accurately with some consistency. The less the pistol weighs and the more neutral the balance, the more there is a tendency for a barrel kick during discharge. This is a factor that makes the Webley Tempest challenging to shoot (it bucks a lot unless you keep your thumb down on the sculpted rest on the left grip). The P1 is easy to shoot at full power setting, probably because the lock time is short enough to get the pellet clear of the barrel before the rebound has reversed, but at it's low power setting (there are two stages in the cocking stroke), the P1 always shoots high in my hands, probably because the full piston rebound has occurred and tossed the barrel upwards. The BSA 240 is approximately midway between the Tempest and the P1 in power, and the sensitivity to being correctly held is likewise about midway. This may seem like a disadvantage, but it is really an advantage in disguise!
The open sights on the Tempest are adjustable, but primitive none the less. The Beeman P1 has good but only adequate open sights. The BSA 240 has arguably the best of the open sights..... but in these high tech days, the hankering is always for something a little better than open sights. It is impossible to fit any scope or similar sight to the Tempest (the Hurricane comes with a plastic scope mount that replaces the rear sight - a bit clumsy and dubious). The P1 is dovetailed for a scope to be fitted over the barrel, forward of the trigger. The 204 has a dovetailed mount centered over the trigger. I may be wrong, but, the P1 is already half a pound heavier than the 240, and to mount several ounces of sighting device ahead of the trigger could be prone to making the pistol barrel heavy, not to mention heavy overall. The 240 on the other hand could easily take 6 to 8 ounces of sighting device without seriously affecting the balance, while the overall weight would match that of a bare P1. Adding a little weight to the BSA 240 could make it easier to shoot consistently. An interesting speculation?
Now for some comparisons. Firstly my own subjective assessments, then more objective stuff. If asked which was pistol was my favorite, I could only respond "favorite for what?". I like them all, but then I own them all. If I had to buy only one pistol, I would definitely favor the BSA 240 Magnum!