A tired old BSA CF2 .222

[branxhunter]

My friend Brad inherited his dad's BSA .222 when his dad died 5 years ago. He's been using it for foxes and four legged crop raiders under the spotlight but results have been inconsistent. 

I suggested that unless completely shot out .222s are usually accurate enough for his intended use so something is probably amiss. I said bring it around and I'll have a look.

Sooooo....... it's an CF2, and is a typical cockies rifle that hasn't been coddled.

[branxhunter]

I haven't played with one of these before.

The bore was pretty ragged. Brad can't remember ever cleaning it, and apparently his dad wasn't big on gun maintenance. We ran quite a few patches through it a got some beautiful blue patches.

Shot some groups which were terrible.

Marcus

[branxhunter]

The crown looked a bit sad so took the barrelled action down to a clever fella to get an inch or so lopped off the end.

He took a look through it with the borescope and it was a waste of time, the barrel was completely stuffed.

Later he sectioned the barrel which tended to confirm his diagnosis

[branxhunter]

So rebarrelling would be the only way to resurrect the old girl, but was it worth spending money on? I asked if he had any take off barrels that might suit. 

The key constraint is the shank diameter on these BSAs - at 1.235" outer diameter, 1.115" outer thread diameter there are not many candidates. 

After some head scratching and searching he did manage to dredge up an ex-F-class .224 cal barrel on a SMLE No.4 action which had enough meat and length. For the princely sum of $100 fitted it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

It took a few weeks for the work to get done, primarily because I hadn't taken the bolt down with the barrelled action. In the meantime I stripped the stock.

[branxhunter]

After stripping the old finish back, steaming dents, a light sanding and two coats of Tru-oil

[branxhunter]

Got the rebarrelled action back, adjusted the trigger, and put it back together - looks good with the heavy barrel.

[branxhunter]

Tried it out with a variety of factory loads and reloads and it is shooting much better and showing potential for more load development.

Marcus

[Jamie.270]

Wow,...  That's a peach!

Well done sir.

Jamie