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BSA Ralock

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3.5K views 26 replies 8 participants last post by  Sid Webster  
#1 · (Edited)
Hi,
I got this BSA Ralock off GB years ago. I know there were not too many produced and was wondering if anyone else on the forum has one? It’s a fun gun to shoot, accurate, quiet and very unique. The barrel comes off like a cannon breech. Not sure of the values these day either. Let me know if anyone has any further history on these unique guns.
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#2 ·
Well, your pictures don't show the loading type, so I googled the gun (note - no "y" in Ralock). Interesting gun, the action is not like the Browning SA:



You can even get a copy of the flyer:


There's even a thread from 2013 on this forum:

 
#5 ·
These are very rare little rifles. It’s one of my favorites to hand to someone and see the blank look on their face when they realize there isn’t any ejection port or a charging handle.
They are a machining nightmare for manufacturing them. I can see why they never found a place in the market in that time.
theynwere built in 22 short only as well as 22LR. I have examples where the venting slots in the case capture box wasn’t done yet.
Neat rifles for sure. I’ve only seen a few in the wild and bought every one of them.
 
#7 ·
I have one in 22 Short. It's similar to a Browning SA22 in some ways and very different in others. The general shape is similar, the magazine and feeding is similar. The fire control is completely different. The Ralock fires from an open bolt. The bolt is like a huge hammer that pivots from the bottom. It's a take down like an SA22, but the mechanism is different, there's a lever on the top of the receiver that is lifted and the barrel comes out. Fired casings are ejected out the bottom, but are captured in a steel cup in front of the trigger guard.

It's not surprising that the Ralock is rare. It has some significant issues. Because the shell catcher cup covers the breech, there's no way to tell if a round is chambered, which is a safety issue. Like most open bolt guns the trigger pull is heavy because the trigger is under the pressure of a spring stiff enough to handle recoil forces, not a much lighter trigger spring as is the case with closed bolt rifles. BSA can't possibly have made money on them; there is a TON of machining on the bolt alone. There is no adjustment mechanism on the takedown. When it wears, you're out of luck. Finally, on early models the fired casings are trapped in the cup with no ventilation, so the gun gets dirty in a hurry.

All that said, it's a neat little gun even if it does make you scratch your head why it's made the way it is. Mine's not for sale.

Here's a video about them, there's pictures of the fire control and bolt at 2:30