BSA Scorpion SE

[rkr]

Last summer BSA introduced a new version of their Scorpion rifle called Scorpion SE. It is advertised as having 30% less air consupmtion due to the redesigned valve system. It also has a nice new wood stock design by Minelli. In addition to that the magazine is also the newest trouble free design. I had been looking for a medium to high end .177 12 fpe PCP for target shooting, plinking and pest control and the SE caught my attention. My original plan was to get a BSA Ultra but the increased shotcount of SE and the bolt action loading convinced me to try SE eventually. Another gun I considered was Air Arms S410/510, but for for the money BSA provides more shots, flatter power curve and better magazine + thicker free floating barrel.

So I decided to order one and it seems I was not the only one as the one UK dealer who ships abroad was out of stock. Eventually BSA made more guns and I received mine early november. The price was 549£ which is the same as AAS410 carbine or classic version.

Now let's get to the gun. The Minelli made stock is quite beautiful, it shoulders nicely and is ambidextrous which was a bonus as one of my daughters is left handed. If I compare the blueing to my Feinwerkbau it's not as deep or shiny but still even and perfectly acceptable. The gun is quite short being 85 cm from butt to the end of the barrel. The end of the barrel has 1/2" UNF thread and the gun came equipped with quite nice looking end piece that protects the thread. The gun is equipped with pressure gauge and it seems to quite accurate once you get the hang of which line means what. Stock has ventilated rubber piece and the fill cap is of screw off type. The fill probe is push in type with two o-rings. The good thing about a 12 fpe version is that it takes about a pump / shot with my hill pump to fill it up, a perfect balance of exercise and fun

The operation of the gun is simple, turn the bolt upwards and pull it back untill you hear a click. Then push the magazine lock slide forward and pull the magazine out. Loading the magazine is simple, rotate a new open slot with your thumb, drop in a pellet and rotate a new slot. No indexing, the pellet keeps the magazine from rotating. Then push the bolt forward and down and you are ready to go.These magazines have been around since spring and I've heard zero complaints so far. They even have numbering in the colored part so you know what number of shot is going on.

The trigger in this gun is a nice adjustable two stage unit. You can adjust the first stage and second separately as well as the sear engagement (second stage length). It took me a bit of a fiddling to get it just right but after that it was as good as my Anschutz and Feinwerkbau match rifles - at least to me.

The power in the chrony was 11.9 fpe on average using gamo match pellets which means that I got 815 fps +- 2fps for those few shots I tried. I didn't shoot any long strings due to lightning conditions but the tests posted in BSAOG show very flat strings http://bsaog.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=33380.0 I get 50 shots when shooting from about 200 bar down to 105 bars. If I were to fill to 232 bar as suggested by BSA I'm sure I would get that 65 shots they promise, so overall a very good shotcount for a carbine of this size that does not have a bottle. The lock time of the gun is very short when compared to my Evanix, which sure helps the accuracy. According to sources from BSAOG this gun has stiffer spring and lighter hammer than it's predecessor which shows positive effect on the locktime and air consumption.

Now to start with I didn't have any good pellets in store so I had to place an order. BSA barrels in general like oversize pellets so I ordered some JSB exacts at 4.52 and H&N FTTs at 4.52. While waiting for those to arrive I checked the pellets I had on hand. Gamo match were loose fit in the magazine and did quite horribly. RWS meisterkugelns were small as well but they managed to do some 8mm groups (edge to edge from now on in this article) at 10 yards, not very impressive. I then found an old tin of Gamo Pro Magnums which were tighter fit and made this gun actually group. The best I managed was 5.5mm 5 shot group but the quality of the pellets is uneven and most groups had one or two fliers. While trying to figure that out I noticed that I actually had a problem with the gun. The distance in between the barrel and the airtube was reducing towards the end of the barrel. Further inspection revealed that the tip of the stock was pointing sligthly upwards and left so it bent the airtube some 1.5-2mm at the far end. I didn't like that at all so I made a wooden shim piece that in practise made the airtube free floating and removed the problem. This was not something I was expecting from a gun at this price range, I suppose BSA is pushing things to meet the demand

Another thing that interested me was the noice level. Since I'll be using this gun in an urban enviroment I need it to be quiet. The original ornamentary muzzle brake did nothing for the noice really. It was less than a healthy springer but still a bit uncomfortable to shoot indoors without ear protection. So I tried the moderators I had. For indoors shooting AU and SAK rimfire moderators worked just fine but outdoors you could hear the airblast. I then bought a Weichrauch airgun moderator that has done very well in independent test and the results were really excellent. All you can hear is a small tap from the muzzle and the hammer hitting the valve. As a real life test I had a squirrel and some birds in a bush some 7 yards away, I took a shot over their heads and none even flinched - good enough for hunting I'd say. The sound of the pellet hitting a target way overpowers the gun report as heard by the shooter.       

My order of good pellets finally arrived and it was time to test things properly. Both JSBs and H&Ns were a snug fit to the magazine and had to be slightly pushed in, a good sign. I then proceeded to do some 5 shot groups and instead of quoting group sizes you can have a look at the photo. I'd say both were equally accurate and the gun sure was more accurate than I was. Unfortunately I did not have a chance to test longer than 10 yards, but if I were to install a match stock I could very well use this gun for 10M match competitions which IMO is good enough accuracy wise. Some people with SE claim they can do 10mm 50 yard groups in good weather which I find completely believable based on my experiences so far.

Slainte, Riku

[twigstoy]

Great review & results.. I have been looking at those rifles myself..

[amb5500c]

Very nice rifle, and seems to shoot good too.
Richard

[gamo2hammerli]

Great report.  I've the BSA Scorpion T-10 (Full power)....and she's an air hog!!!!  Gives me 28 ft. lb. for the first 20 shots though....so no complaints when hunting and shooting long range.

[rkr]

Thanks guys! The original T10 got 50 shots (vs. 65 shots in SE) at 12 fpe so 20 shots at 28 fpe is more or less in line with the efficiency. One thing I forgot to mention is that you can get these guns regulated as well, that gives completely flat powercurve and around 100 shots at 12 fpe.

[hendrick]

Thanks for this nice report.
In my 12 fpe single shot Ultra in 177, I got 8 mm groups at 50 meters indoors with JSB Exacts. People advised me to stay below 200 bars of fill pressure for a flatter curve, so that's what I did. Lower pressure than BSA suggests is also advised for the Scorp. See my extensive write-up elsewhere on this forum.
I plan to have my Ultra regulated which would increase shot count from 35 to 60 with an ultra flat velocity curve.
Will come back on that later.

 BTW: I understood they also upgraded the Scorp SE trigger.
How doe you like that new trigger ?
TIA,

Hendrick

[rkr]

Are you considering Tench or Audrius regulator? Tench increases the shotcount but you need to buy it installed and shipping might be an issue unless you live in UK. Audrius one you can buy and install yourself but I don't know what it does to shotcount as it fits partially inside the air reservoir (http://www.altaros.cz/). I also fill only to 200 bar, partly due to power curve and partly due to the pumping effort.

The trigger is very nice indeed. I have Anschutz 54 and FWB 300 to compare to and the only slight downside in SE is somewhat heavier first stage. I could probably fix that by shortening the spring but it doesn't really bother me, it's really good enough to shoot matches with.

[rkr]

A short update since I've been working with the gun. It's now tuned for H&N FTTs at 12 fpe and does shoot like this:



The middle 30 shots are about as good as regulated guns get, only this one is unregged. Good enough for HFT matches I'd say.

Then the gun received a shroud. It's almost as silent as the HW "moderator" while being 4cm shorter. Here are some winter photos:







Oversized bolt handle is also a very usefull mod.

[rkr]

One more update showing the difference from a stock gun to slightly tuned one. I had a small leak on the valve so I took the gun apart and polished the valve passage a bit while cleaning it. Also replaced a nicked transfer port o-ring (it was nicked in factory assembly it seems). The gun was doing 15 fpe after operation so I had to turn the power down again. One shot string from the gun as it came from the factory and one string as it does now. It's much more hand pump friendly as I no longer have to pump it to 230 bar to get a flat power curve, rather 180 bars is fine for a flat string of 40 shots. The air usage is increasing after 120 bars so I could probably sqeeze out another 10 shots with a blast tamer but it's not worth the increase in cocking effort.

[rkr]

Let's update this a bit. I installed a HDD to the gun, a copy of John Bowket's "blast tamer". Here are the results:



130 shots from 10 fpe to 11.2 fpe and back. With JSB Exacts the gun does 11.8 fpe so this is a typical UK legal tune. Not bad for a handy .177 carbine.

[wasatch]

Let's update this a bit. I installed a HDD to the gun, a copy of John Bowket's "blast tamer".

I've been googling for the blast tamer and came up with lots of reading but no product links.  Might you have any links to stores where a US person could order one for a Scorpion?

[rkr]

It's doesn't seem to be available for purchase but if you follow these instructions http://bsaog.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=49501.0 you can easily DIY one for your Scorpion. It might require registration to BSAOG but if you are serious about getting a BSA it's a good idea anyway.

[jcruz]

rkr what regulator would you suggest for my  BSA Ultra SE? Thank you.