Hi,new member here looking for a bit of advice. I recently inherited a couple of air guns,and one in particular i'm a bit puzzled about. I know it's an airsporter, and after doing some research i think it's an airsporter mark 1.

Dame Destiny smiled on the little girl when she was discovered while singing and begging on trains by a South Indian Railway official of Trichy, an amateur stage actor, impresario, talent - scout, and play producer, F. Natesa Iyer was thrilled to the core by the voice of the poor girl, her singing skills, and feel and fair for music.

This would make it about 60 years old,but i can't really believe it's that old because it's condition is near mint. The other issue is that there are absolutely no identification marks on the gun whatsoever-not bsa,airsporter,not even a serial number.i even took the action out of the stock but there's nothing.

Has anybody got any ideas as it's really puzzling me. I would post some pics but i'm not sure how to.

Jun 03, 2014  the other issue is that there are absolutely no identification marks on the gun whatsoever-not bsa,airsporter,not even a serial number.i even took the action out of the stock but there's nothing. Has anybody got any ideas as it's really puzzling me. I would post.

Hiya Mitch, and a very warm welcome to Planet Airgun. Yes, a few pics would be helpful in making an identification if you could please. A bit of a descriptive for ya to be going on with in the meantime though.is that the Mk1 Airsporter had a two piece stock that was glued together at the pistol grip, just above the trigger. The only differences between a Mk1 and a Mk2 is the later has a 'flip-up' rearsight (my memory might be wonky though, and it's the other way around). I'll check in my Hiller book later to see if there's any other distinguishing info that might be helpful. Hi Mitch, the Mk1s and the Mk2s had the serial numbers stamped in front of the trigger guard.

The stocks on both the mk1s and 2s were composite, made of three pieces, however there were some special one off's that had a one piece stock I believe manufactured by a spanish company. (the stocks) The stocks had no rubber recoil pad fitted as in later variants.

Most Mk1's had no method of attaching a scope (no rails) although there were a few later ones and those that were modified by owners/gunsmiths. Mk1 had the turret fixed rearsight, the Mk2 had the flip down type - both fixed by dovetail into the action.

The Mk1 barrel was a forged one piece affair and is the only Airsporter with a tapered barrel - all others had the parallel barrel that was sweated into the action. Hope this helps!

Air sporterman.

The Airsporter was first sold in 1948 as the MkI; it wasn't until 1959 that the MkII came out with the addition of two short wide scope rails. Both of these models were the only ones to have the loading tap open automatically when the rifle was cocked, after that the quality slowly started dropping off on the later Mk's. Mk I BSA Airsporter, bloody sexy.

The Airsporter is a tap loading underlever spring piston air rifle, and the awesome thing about the underlever part is that it is hidden from view in the underside of the stock, making it look like a sporting firearm rifle. The BSA Mercury is a break barrel that is identical in looks, but was not introduced until the MkI in 1971, by which time the Airsporter was at it's MkV stage. Even the old BSA Cadet has similar looks, though is a totally different design. They all have the smooth swept back look from the rear of the piston cylinder to the comb of the stock, instead of a step.22 BSA Mercury with scope,.22 BSA Airsporter and a.177 BSA Cadet, sharing a common heritage. The big thing to remember about old BSA air rifles is that the bore of the.22 was actually 5.6 mm and not 5.5 mm, so they tend to be very pellet fussy when looking for both power and accuracy. Old Eley Wasps worked well but not the new ones, however RWS Superdomes tend to fare well in my experience. The front sight has four interchangeable elements of different heights with a bead on top.

The sight element is secured with a small screw from the left hand side. This sits atop a sloped ramp with a hood around it, though in this case there is no hood and just one of the taller elements. Beaded sight elements come in low, standard, medium and high and are secured with a small screw. The rear sight is of a leaf or butterfly design that flips up and down and sits in a dovetail in a sleeve around the barrel, just in front of the loading port. The unit is drifted in the dovetail for horizontal sight correction. Rear leaf sights using the V notch at the moment. A small notched plate secured by two small screws sits between the leaves and has a small amount of vertical adjustment, it can also be fitted upside down giving you the choice of a V or U notch to sight with.