secretagentmole 1,701 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Well having had my trusty Super 10 for two years it was time for it to get cleaned out serviced, replace the o rings etc, now you can pay the average gun smith about £75 plus vat for this, or you can pay a little more and get a full blueprint from the man who designed it! We went the whole hog and settled for a blueprint (actually the whole hog and apple sauce as we had the shroud baffles replaced as well). The barrel is removed, recrowned, the transfer port cleaned up and the breech sorted out to aid loading and firing. The bolt is polished and reshaped.. Upshot is it loads so smoothly! He also sorts out the magazines, slicker than warm oil! The valve on the buddy bottle comes in for some attention, it does seem to be easier to fill! The valve in the regulator gets replaced (from high to low pressure), the regulator piston is then shaped to suit the gun and the regulator pressure set to suit the gun. This means more shots per fill (allegedly I have not tried running it down off of a full fill yet)! There is some trigger work done as well as other bits I have not listed. The O rings in the gun are replaced with ones originally specified by Mr B. These last longer! So after all this work is done what is it like? A new gun, seriously, it is so different. 1) Noise, or lack of it. The gun becomes quiet! It is now as quiet as it was with a twink without one and with a Twink on it is really really quiet! I will be doing a noise meter test on all my guns sometime. This will be 50cm from muzzle, with and without silencers! 2) Smoothness of reloading, it really makes the old operation seem graunchy, this is so smooth! 3) Improvement to trigger. The original S10 trigger was good, this is better, much better! 4) Shots per fill, I should get more, I will find out one day of immense boredom! 5) Accuracy, it is now more accurate than it was. 30, 40 and 50 metre groups, 30 and 40 metre 10 shot, 50 metre 5 shot (I was in some nettles), cross wind approx 10 mph right to left). So do I think it was worth it? Yes, undoubtedly! The gun is now so much better than it was and it was good before! If you are considering selling a Bowkett designed gun (Hornet, Scorpion, Ultra, S 10, R 10 or Spitfire), might I suggest you have a blueprint done first? It would well be a way of getting a new gun out of an old one! Quote Link to post
the big chief 3,099 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Very good write up and so true I got a r10 already blue printed but the grouping was poor for some reason so it went back to John and he gave me an up grade plue print and some other work to it not that expensive eather now it shoots like a dream 50 yard groups the size of a 5p coin mine is a stayer this will never go and it is a totaly different gun when you get it back I would suggest a blue print and it is worth every penny.atb kev Quote Link to post
secretagentmole 1,701 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 I also forgot another advantage. John Bowkett's work carries a lifetime warranty! Quote Link to post
Wildling 520 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 How old do you think John is ? When I last went up to see him with a Super 10 for a service I was struck with how sad it was that a great inventor of BSA lived in such a messy and damp house ! Quote Link to post
secretagentmole 1,701 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 House was not messy or damp when I was there! I would say he is in his late 50s? But I am appalling at guessing ages. Quote Link to post
Wildling 520 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 House was not messy or damp when I was there! I would say he is in his late 50s? But I am appalling at guessing ages. It reminded me of my old mans flat, messy to me but tidy to him or as my mum would say " its man tidy " ! Shame that him and BSA didn't get on, the rifles they made together were brilliant ! Quote Link to post
Miikee-L 72 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Glad to see the new lease of life now in your Super 10! Thinking of getting my Scorpion tuned by him at some point myself, reading this makes me want it that little bit more! Does anyone know if he would fit a shroud to a Scorpion SE? Atb Mike Quote Link to post
the big chief 3,099 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 yes i think he will fit a shroud pal there was a gun for sale not so long ago a combo of ultra and scorpion that had a shroud on it but bowkett didn't do the work but i carnt see why he wouldn't be able to do it to be honest with you ring him up leave a msg and he phones you back normaly within 10 to 20 mins nice bloke to talk to Quote Link to post
optelic2 48 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 I own a Bowkett blueprintedr10 mk1 and its probably the best pcp ive owned. Quote Link to post
AR177 588 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 im saving up for a fac blueprint on my s10 1 Quote Link to post
secretagentmole 1,701 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Glad to see the new lease of life now in your Super 10! Thinking of getting my Scorpion tuned by him at some point myself, reading this makes me want it that little bit more! Does anyone know if he would fit a shroud to a Scorpion SE? Atb Mike He would do! He would shorten the barrel, then fit the shroud and his baffles! Quote Link to post
zini 1,939 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Great post Mike. I think Johns work on BSAs is spot on. Si. Quote Link to post
Miikee-L 72 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 yes i think he will fit a shroud pal there was a gun for sale not so long ago a combo of ultra and scorpion that had a shroud on it but bowkett didn't do the work but i carnt see why he wouldn't be able to do it to be honest with you ring him up leave a msg and he phones you back normaly within 10 to 20 mins nice bloke to talk to Glad to see the new lease of life now in your Super 10! Thinking of getting my Scorpion tuned by him at some point myself, reading this makes me want it that little bit more! Does anyone know if he would fit a shroud to a Scorpion SE? Atb Mike He would do! He would shorten the barrel, then fit the shroud and his baffles! Cheers lads! ill leave him a message when i get paid because I've got a bit of overtime coming my way this month! Quote Link to post
secretagentmole 1,701 Posted June 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 One thing I forgot to mention, the lifetime warranty on the parts he has fitted, you read that right, a lifetime warranty! That demonstrates his faith in his work! Quote Link to post
AirgunGuy 362 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 If I can just add...while there is no doubt about JB's knowledge and craftmanship when it comes to pcp's I feel that these rifles should never have needed such extra work carried out in order to perform like this...they should've left the factory like this. I bought my mk3 BBK for 400 quid. It shoots well but should be better. I think a blueprint costs around 125 + vat + 50 postage both ways if you live a bit away. So based on that I would say a blueprint isn't really worth the money as you could buy a very good theoben or HW100 for the cost of an older rifle + blueprint costs. I spoke to John about getting mine done though decided against it because of the cost involved. I'm in no way havin a pop at JB or his work as I've read more than enough to know what he can do with these rifles...more a dig at BSA for not puttin them out as he designed them. These were flagship rifles at the time with a 700 quid price tag. Just my opinion troops...no offence to anyone ;-) 2 Quote Link to post
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