BSA GOLDSTAR Review

Overall Rating

Nice finish.
Very accurate.

The magazine is awful.
It's one of the heaviest rifle's I've used.
Expensive.

I bought the BSA Goldstar primarily for it's repeating function- the 10-shot magazine. Now I wish I hadn't. Quite simply, the magazine is the worst-designed piece of cr*p that I have ever had the misfortune to encounter.

Everything else about the rifle is fine- it looks gorgeous, and is incredibly accurate. It's plenty powerful enough to deal death to rabbits and other assorted small vermin at up to 40 yards.

However, the magazine lets the rifle down. Basically, it's a slot-in rotary magazine which holds 10 pelelts. A 'heavy duty' elastic band holds the pellets inside their holes in the clip. The trouble begins when this band snaps, as has happened with BOTH my magazines The pellet can now fall back out of the loading port, which is disasterous when you cock it. The whole piston head and air transfer tube move back to compress the spring, and the pellet falls back out of the hole into the spring chamber! Not an ideal scenario. Also, the magazine sometimes fails to 'click' onto the next shot, with the result of a 'dry-fire', which is also bad news. It's also all too easy for the air transfer tube to hit the magazine and leave a whacking great dent in it if you haven't located the magazine properly. Though to be fair, it's your fault if you don't follow BSA's instructions as to fitting the magazine in properly.

Overall though, I'm not impressed. Does the malfunctioning magazine really justify the £400 price tag? After trying a magazine, I feel I prefer loading each shot individually. That way, you know the pellet is loaded properly, and you can also choose what pellet to load on the spur of the moment- pointed for a pigeon, wadcutter for rats, etc, I'm going back to my Webley Stingray.

Members' Comments onDoobin.'s Review

• ggg. on 11th Jul 2003

  BSA ain`t what they were,a great shame,such potential,very sad.

• bully. on 15th Jul 2003

  i agree,BSA are faultering,a terrible shame,like all things British.BSA were making guns for the nepolionic wars right through to the Korean war,such a quality company going slowly down the drain,so sad,it really is.

• Old Bill on 6th Dec 2003

  Join a Club, Try before you buy, that way you wont waste your pocket money...

• Fastfood on 6th Jan 2004

  'Join a Club and try before you buy', is the best advice i've ever seen on this web-site. As a Club member, you get to try as many rifles and pistols as there are members. You also get hundreds of years experience free of charge without some sales staff trying to get rid of old stock. You can form long lasting friendships, and even learn to shoot something other than the neighbours cat.

• chris rockcar on 13th Jun 2005

  i totally disagree,i bought my gold star back in 1993 and even though i use other air rifles for quite alot of vermin control the gold star takes some beating,if you use the magazine correctly it works a dream,the power,accuracy and quality bar from the trigger blade are top class.even the firing cycle is up there, i have also have had 3 weihrauchs and all 3 suffered from spring twang,stay loyal and support the british economy instead of being brainwashed with so called elite german engineering.

• Lightning22 on 12th Jul 2005

  Have you tried contacting BSA?
  
  I think you'll find they will replace or repair the magazines for little or nothing.
  
  Might have been worth trying this before writing such a negative article.

• derick on 9th Mar 2006

  Have to aggree with Chris and Lightning, Dont blame the tools if you are not treating them with the respect they deserve. One should examine their equipment both before a shoot and after a shoot. The magazines need regular inspection to watch for deteriation as they are not made to the engineering standards of full blown military fire arms. I speak with 45 years of experience in re building, Tuning, maintaining and using many brands. Let me say this. I have owned the best Falcon/TItan could offer and while beautiful rifles the magazine loading sequence can drive you spare if you dont do it correctly, The same applies for the Air Arms although better, The Theoben Rapid 7 has many wear problems with the magazine all causing meyhem in the field if not used with caution. And the list goes on. We could pick fault with all of them. Dont single BSA out and knock them...Support them and suggest a fix to the problem. they have always been good listeners. As Chris says too if you stopped knocking Britain and backed it up the country would be in a better position in many other fields. Stop selling it out. Have you looked at the new BSA Lightning XL. Not too expensive, beautiful to handle, breath on it a little with a good tune up to get rid of some of the recoil and then show me a springer to better it. The Hw80 were big and brutish, people went power crazy with them, they were easily pushed up to 28ft lbs for the FAC boys. But for the 12 ft lb brigade what the hell did you need all that bulk and weight for. Even back then I have seen good lads with an old Airsporter or a tuned Challenger bring home the goods. So come on lads dont go giving negative reports without the full assesment of the situation. Do you ever blow out your mags with compreseed air canisters?. Do you ever do any thing about the Swarf which occurs in many tins of pellets and often ends up on the inside of your mags? Do you ever examine the plastic inner faces on many magazines? Do you ever consider if you could use a Sliplube to keep things smooth? Do you check to see if lines are occuring on the plastic faces of the mags?. If you dont then you should not knock the Gun. One of the lads at our local has a Goldstar and he makes some of the precharged brigade feel sick often outshooting them with his OLD SPRINGER as they call it. Dont blame the gun before you examine yourself. I have maintained and repaired some Air Rifles for the local Hunting group and I would not treat a mad dog like some of those are treated. Left wet after rain with rust spots developing, No Silicon rubs, No protective Lube, Stocks scratched until they have their own brand of stippling, dirt, Swarf, and in some cases animal deposits stuck in the most inaccessable places, Air intake valve covers plastered with mud, scopes missaligned through knocks on the shoot and a dozen other things. I have heard frequent comments of Oh I dont rate this and I don't rate that gun, I wonder how the Gun would rate the user if it could speak. Again I say come on lads treat them as they should be treated and I am sure we would not have so many complaints. I bet you would not go out in the boat on a days fishing without making sure she was protected from water ingress. I bet you would not let the kneck of the fuel filler be cover in dirt which might get into the Tank. I bet you would make sure the mainshaft and piston was Lubed well before you went. And once again give some genuine support to the country that birthed you, Your fathers did and so did your Grandfathers. We have watched our car and shipping industries given away, we have seen the demise of some Air rifle makers. I have seen a half inch grouping at 20 yards free standing from a BSA Meteor tuned up and used by a real airgunner. Your Air rifle should be Carressed, Nurtured and cared for in the same as you would your woman. Dont knock it if you dont look after every aspect of it.

• becton1963 on 5th Oct 2006

  If I rubbed my woman down with a lightly oiled rag after using her, do you think she would work better next time?