BSA Martini 22 Jet

Frank Hodges

August 19, 2003 10:24

I have come across A BSA martini in 22 Rem.jet, A friend showed up with this weapon at my house .It is of fine condition,and has 2 boxes of factory load. It is extremely accurate,Question is is it valuble( I have not seen anything on this cal.) and can factory loads still be purchased, I would be grateful for any info.........Thanks

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  rufe-snow

  August 19, 2003 10:56

  What you probably have is a Australian "Cadet Rifle" that has been rebarreled ( they were originally chambered for the .310 Cadet cartridge) with a .22 caliber barrel, that has been chambered for the 22 Remington Jet.
  Because it has been rebarreled/sporterized it has no collectors value as a military trainer.
  The 22 Remington Jet is a obsolescent cartridge, to my knowledge no currently produced firearms are chambered for it. I'm not even sure, if it's still available commercially?

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  11echo

  August 19, 2003 11:34

  BUT...the martini action is becoming extremely popular for custom rifle work. I myself paid $250 just for a .310 reciever ...and that was a deal! I'd been looking for a look time. A complete rifle in good shape would probably bring $400-$550 (even in the jet caliber). Check out the gun auctions and see. My 2 cents ...Mark
  
  "FEAR the Goverment, that fears your ARMS"

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  Hangfire

  August 19, 2003 11:58

  Hi Frank- Martini actions are too cool. I've got several. Check with a gunsmith and consider having him cut the bbl at the chamber end and rechambering for a 22Hornet. If you reload, shoot the Jet and those 2 boxes will last for many, many reloadings. -Bob
  
  Gun control is a steady hand

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  v35

  August 19, 2003 13:41

  The Jet properly uses a 223 bullet as does the Hornet. Since it's a custom job the barrel likely has a 224 barrel. It might be worthwhile finding out which it is and what the rifling pitch is. That would determine which options you have for future conversion.
  The Jet was formed from 357 brass and you could probably get a set of forming dies from RCBS and roll your own. If it is an accurate shooter
  I'd use the barrel up. I suspect that from a rifle, ballistics of the Jet are superior to the Hornet.
  There is a wildcat called the 22 Ackley Improved Jet that equals the 222 Remington performance. Conversion would just involve rechambering with no loss of barrel length.
  There is also a 222 Rimmed with cases from Australia.

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  roysha

  August 20, 2003 05:42

  Actually, v35, the JET uses a .222 bullet. I believe S&W designed it this way so it would shoot the 22LR with some degree of accuracy (?). Remington ran a big batch of JET brass a while back and it still is not too hard to find. I agree with your comment on the probable bore diameter, but would check it to be sure someone didn't use a RF barrel. I have shot all three diameters through my S&W JET and can't see any difference in accuracy. All BAD! Oh well!! If you reload, set the shoulder back only the smallest amount possible to get easy chambering. I have found that this extremely tapered case stretches very badly if the shoulder is moved back and forth very much in the full lenght size-shoot, sequence.
  
  BEER IS PROOF THAT GOD LOVES US AND WANTS US TO BE HAPPY!

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  Frank Hodges

  August 20, 2003 13:51

  Thanks , your info is great .We got some scuttlebutt,from previous owner that this came from down under.Reports said that thousands of martini types. where shiped there Pre WW2.Also I'm Not positive but I think this little baby is a necked down .357 .I will do some research on this Most gratful for all the info you guys gave .
  Tanks

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