Thread: BSA 243

I have one of these in 7x57, How did you pull the bolt apart. I also have a Monarch in 30-06 and assume the procedure would be the same for that as well. Cheers. They work just fine but must be due for a good clean/inspection. I have looked up instructions but must be doing something wrong.??

Originally Posted by BSA

I have one of these in 7x57, How did you pull the bolt apart. I also have a Monarch in 30-06 and assume the procedure would be the same for that as well. Cheers. They work just fine but must be due for a good clean/inspection. I have looked up instructions but must be doing something wrong.??

I just Joogle searched it-
Put bolt in rifle
Close bolt
Lift bolt part way
Apply safety
Lift bolt and remove
Can now unscrew rear shroud with captive 2 piece firing pin/spring combo.
Need to compress the spring to then slider the front part of pin off of the rear part of pin

To remove the safety from shroud-
rotate the safety to whichever position will let the safety pin move sideways and out of the shroud
Have to be CAREFUL of the little safety plunger and spring- flying out- Theyre tiny!




Removing bolt from rifle
From cocked and closed.
Lift handle
Pull trigger and bolt "should" come out of action.

This is me 243 BSA that I got from @ryansonghurst.

Probably wouldn't hurt to finish that other project before those nails get to rusty

Whatdya mean? Them nails good for another 10 years outside




QUOTE=Bos;1265915]Probably wouldn't hurt to finish that other project before those nails get to rusty [/QUOTE]

Pro-Shot Zero Friction

The early BSA triggers were 3 lever, and the later model 2 lever. The relationship of the parts is critical and great care must be taken during disassembly to note the correct position of the bent wire spring. Remove the trigger assembly from the rifle (screw and cross pin) taking care not to lose the ejector coil spring when the trigger is withdrawn from the action. The upper tubular pin can be removed with a correct sized punch and a bench block. This will allow the sear and bent wire spring to be removed, taking care to note the exact position of the spring. The bottom pin allows removal of the trigger and small coil spring. The remaining pin allows removal of the third lever (if present). Clean and lightly oil all components and check for rust patches inside the housing plates. With a very fine Arkansas stone you can polish the mating surfaces, taking care to maintain the proper angles and not round off any edges. Reassemble in the reverse order. Some trigger weight adjustment is possible with the small screw in the trigger. Other adjustment requires some skill to safely adjust the sear bent angle with a the stone.

Originally Posted by gundoc

The early BSA triggers were 3 lever, and the later model 2 lever. The relationship of the parts is critical and great care must be taken during disassembly to note the correct position of the bent wire spring. Remove the trigger assembly from the rifle (screw and cross pin) taking care not to lose the ejector coil spring when the trigger is withdrawn from the action. The upper tubular pin can be removed with a correct sized punch and a bench block. This will allow the sear and bent wire spring to be removed, taking care to note the exact position of the spring. The bottom pin allows removal of the trigger and small coil spring. The remaining pin allows removal of the third lever (if present). Clean and lightly oil all components and check for rust patches inside the housing plates. With a very fine Arkansas stone you can polish the mating surfaces, taking care to maintain the proper angles and not round off any edges. Reassemble in the reverse order. Some trigger weight adjustment is possible with the small screw in the trigger. Other adjustment requires some skill to safely adjust the sear bent angle with a the stone.

Thankyou mate that's awesome. I can adjust the adj screw but that's probably where Id leave it.
Might be a job for Alan Carr up here or similar.

Next on the list is

Rings- strip and Duracote
Trigger remove polish and see about lightening.
Stock, Ill lightly recut the chequering , give a sand up and re oil, maybe a new red buttpad one day.
The action is bedded and barrel channel was relieved heavily decades ago.


Still deciding whether I Duracote the metalwork........ would be nice to have it blued, but, coting will be better in the wet, cheaper and easier.
Douglas prem Barrel seems to my buggered eyes to have a bit of pitting, but it'll still kill deers.

Weighs 3.2 from memory with the small scope on it, which is now going to another forumer @longshot

Ill post more updates as I go.

if it still shoots well,it would seem to be shame to rebarrel it...... the beauty of this as it is,is in it being semi origonal...if accuracy is gone,well then fair enough but I cant see point in trying to fix what aint broke if that makes sence??

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

if it still shoots well,it would seem to be shame to rebarrel it...... the beauty of this as it is,is in it being semi origonal...if accuracy is gone,well then fair enough but I cant see point in trying to fix what aint broke if that makes sence??

100% and not wanting to spend 800$ or more on a tube for no gain

I bought a near new BSA .243 Majestic when I was working at West Arm, Manapouri in 1967, the only .243 I have ever owned. I shot three deer in the first week, all chest shot in the bush at about 40-80 metres range, and never recovered one! The blood trails petered out in the wet bush fairly quickly. I promptly sold it on and got my father to put my old .30/06 Garand and a couple of packets of ammo on the Road Services bus for me (different attitudes in those days!). I never had a problem after that, and still use a .30/06 today. I had a hunting mate who swore by the .243 but he lost about 50% of the animals he shot. There is no doubt they would have died but a long way from where they were shot! The .243 was developed for shooting ground hogs and that it is the best use for it in my opinion!

Originally Posted by gundoc

I bought a near new BSA .243 Majestic when I was working at West Arm, Manapouri in 1967, the only .243 I have ever owned. I shot three deer in the first week, all chest shot in the bush at about 40-80 metres range, and never recovered one! The blood trails petered out in the wet bush fairly quickly. I promptly sold it on and got my father to put my old .30/06 Garand and a couple of packets of ammo on the Road Services bus for me (different attitudes in those days!). I never had a problem after that, and still use a .30/06 today. I had a hunting mate who swore by the .243 but he lost about 50% of the animals he shot. There is no doubt they would have died but a long way from where they were shot! The .243 was developed for shooting ground hogs and that it is the best use for it in my opinion!

hmmmm Ground hogs, you mean Labour MPs? bahahahahha just a little New Years joke.

Originally Posted by gundoc

I bought a near new BSA .243 Majestic when I was working at West Arm, Manapouri in 1967, the only .243 I have ever owned. I shot three deer in the first week, all chest shot in the bush at about 40-80 metres range, and never recovered one! The blood trails petered out in the wet bush fairly quickly. I promptly sold it on and got my father to put my old .30/06 Garand and a couple of packets of ammo on the Road Services bus for me (different attitudes in those days!). I never had a problem after that, and still use a .30/06 today. I had a hunting mate who swore by the .243 but he lost about 50% of the animals he shot. There is no doubt they would have died but a long way from where they were shot! The .243 was developed for shooting ground hogs and that it is the best use for it in my opinion!

yeah I hear ya- I have a 300wsm for the far things- cos I believe in bigger holes in things- and a 308 for close big things, and this one hopefully for Sika inside 100. Projectiles available now days would be worlds different to the 2 types available in 67 though?

Originally Posted by ANTSMAN

yeah I hear ya- I have a 300wsm for the far things- cos I believe in bigger holes in things- and a 308 for close big things, and this one hopefully for Sika inside 100. Projectiles available now days would be worlds different to the 2 types available in 67 though?

Yes, I am sure the projectiles were the problem. I was shooting factory Norma 100 grain ammo which had the tri-clad steel soft points and I am sure they were just zipping through with minimal expansion. My .30/06 ammo was Winchester 150 grain silvertips which gave much better expansion.