88 AIRGUN WORLD http://www.airgunshooting.co.uk
MILEWSKI
E
very manufacturer carries out research and
development work, but not every design
reaches the production stage because only
those deemed commercially viable are
provided with the required investment.
Designers create prototypes, ideas come to life
and are then tested, often to destruction, as
manufacturers determine what works and what
doesn’t. BSA are no different and I am
indebted to Tim Dyson for allowing me access
to an incredibly rare and possibly one-off
prototype dating from just before the outbreak
of WW1.
BSA enjoyed incredible success with the
Lincoln Jeffries-designed, underlever cocking
air rifle from 1905 until 1939. However, that
did not prevent the company from considering
other designs, such as their 1914 Patent Push/
Pull air rifle. BSA and George Norman, a BSA
employee submitted their patent application on
the 26th of January 1914 and were granted
Patent No. 1988 of 1914 on the 3rd of
December 1914. The patent was included in
the late Dennis Commins’ incredibly useful
series of articles on patents in Guns Review
during the 1980s, which remains a useful
reference.
HOW TO HANDLE
Even a cursory glance makes it apparent that
this is not an underlever cocking air rifle, whilst
a closer look reveals the rifle’s push/pullcocking nature, which is based on
Quackenbush’s 1881 U.S. patent. To cock the
rifle, the barrel is pressed against a soft but
firm surface, such as a plank of wood, until the
piston tail engages with the sear, indicated by
an audible click. As the sear engages, a
cylindrical breech block rises from the top of
the rifle’s air cylinder and remains held in place
by a sprung lever. A pellet can then be placed
inside the loading aperture of the breech block
and the block depressed by finger pressure. At
the same time, the barrel can be drawn
forward to its full extent in preparation for firing.
The loading aperture is not tapered, so I had to
hold the rifle horizontally level so as not to lose
the pellet during this rather clumsy process.
The rifle can be de-cocked by applying
pressure as though cocking the action,
depressing the breech block and pulling the
trigger. The barrel can then be drawn forwardJohn Milewski is honoured to handle an
exceedingly rare 1914 BSA Prototype
A PRIVILEGE
BEYOND PRICE
With a muzzle velocity of around
350 FPS with Excite flatheads,
the BSA was capable of
connecting with typical plinking
targets on the range.The BSA shown cocked with
the beech block raised for
loading.