BSA Defiant

BSA are a pro-active and forwardthinking airgun manufacturer and although late to the Bullpup party have now arrived in spades with their Defiant, a design that is certainly worth serious consideration. And, in a world where this back to front design is now well established, with the likes of Air Arms, FX and others, let’s see if this PCP can live up to its name? The furniture is from Minelli of Italy and available in three, ambidextrous options - Soft Touch, Black Pepper Laminate and here on test, quality Walnut. The design is undeniably square set, especially at the rear, which is pretty much par for the course when you consider the generic Bullpup. The initial feel of which is it’s unashamedly chunky and solid, which transfers over to it being very easy to shoulder, handling and general hold.

Big hole!

The Defiant shows a large, angular thumbhole aperture, height-adjustable rubber butt pad and steeply angled pistol grip. BSA includes a head/cheek rest which encases the top rear section of the set-back action. Much better than laying your cheek up against cold metal; especially in the winter.

Weight has been saved by recessing the wood inwards around the thumbhole section, resulting in the gun’s chunky upper and slimmer angular lower ‘leg’ in this area. The latter has a generous palm swell and drops down from the rear of the metal trigger guard. This layout helps it sit naturally into the shoulder, while your head is positioned on the cheek rest. With shoulder fit aided by the height- adjustable pad.

The forend shows as an ergonomic and well-crafted design that ends in an angled back tip. The underside is well-rounded and trim but, as it progresses up the sides of the stock, it flares out and provides a solid leading hand hold. To further aid grip, large, multiple panels of stippling are positioned in the usual places to do the business.

Another nice touch is the fitted QD sling studs, something not always found on air rifles, especially Bullpups! Good thinking by BSA, as weighing in at over 9lbs scoped up, the Defiant is no lightweight and you’ll be glad to be able to sling it as required, especially on a walkabout.

Improved reg

The rifle has a large air gauge (manometer), deeply recessed into the front of the air reservoir; set behind this, is the fill point, protected by a rotating collar. Using the fill probe supplied, a recommended fill of 232bar gives 110-shots in .177 and 120 in .22 as per the rifle on test. That’s a hell of a shot count, especially when you consider the BSA Ultra gives less than half that, aided no doubt by what BSA describes as an ‘Improved Regulator’, which is near mandatory on any quality PCP.

The Defiant’s action is side-cocking, a first for BSA, who opted for a Biathlon-style with drop-down handle and I reckon it’s possibly the best currently fitted to any production air rifle. Add to this the facts that it’s a spring-assisted mechanism and fitted with a rotary handle that offers a secure operating feel. Very cool and full marks for a nifty piece of design and engineering!

Staying true to the bullpup template, the Defiant has a raised scope rail for optic fitting and although the rail isn’t overly long (or too elevated) it’s ideally positioned to accommodate most sensible scopes of choice. I opted to fit a Hawke 4-12 x 40AO Airmax AMX reticle optic in a set of BSA compatible (13mm) medium height, two-piece mounts from Sportsmatch UK.

Familiar features

From here on in, we begin to see familiar Beeza units but, obviously due to the rifle format, they’re in specific and non-traditional areas of the chassis. The magazine housing is positioned towards the top rear and further back, almost hidden by the soft touch cheekpiece is the manual trigger safety at the top right.

Once the side-lever has been pulled/ flicked to the rearward position, the magazine can be lifted from its housing, which is set deep within the soft touch cheek rest. The magazine exits the stock from the left-hand side of the action and is the familiar, time-tested and trusted 10-shot removable self-actuating unit. This consists of a high impact polymer inner rotor, which is numbered, and colour- coded to denote calibre, all of which is encased in a full metal jacket. The magazine sits deep in its well and, on first use, it becomes very apparent just how useful the finger recess in the forward face of the outer body is for removal. Once all chambers are filled, it slips very neatly and is almost sucked back into the housing, where it’s held securely by a magnet.

Linked in

The trigger arrangement of any Bullpup is an aspect that needs careful consideration by the manufacturer, due to the fact that the lever you pull is merely an extension, as the actual hammer and release mechanism is located under the action at the rear of the rifle. This necessarily mechanical linkage, if not designed properly, can give a very mushy feel to the operation. The blade in this instance has a nicely curved profile and, in use, breaks the sears crisply and cleanly, once again showcasing the level of engineering that’s gone into this rifle. The safety is a manual lever design and, as mentioned earlier, it’s almost shrouded by the cheek rest, but this doesn’t mean operation is hindered or obscured, rather it’s protected from accidental disengagement. Pushing it forward puts the rifle into live fire mode – vice versa for safe and the letters ‘S’ and ‘F’ are etched in white on the action block directly above and behind the lever’s, finger-friendly dome headed top lug.

The thing I like least about the safety catch is its position, which is a mistake many manufacturers of side lever Bullpups seems to have made. Located at the rear of the action, it’s not that easy to operate and, as you can’t see it, you have to feel for it. You’d think that as they made the rifle from scratch they could have incorporated a simple and more practical, cross-bolt design into the trigger lever; especially as there are so many existing designs to look at, see the problem and get it right.

The rifle is fitted with what at first looks like a scaled down take on their own CCS unit but is actually a fully integrated shroud and silencer. This is proportionately ‘sized down’ to suit the compact dimensions of the Defiant, which is most noticeable by the look of the stubby silencer at the front. Incidentally, this is a shortened and modified version of their acclaimed VC can, and also worthy of note is that both shroud and silencer appear to have been beadblasted, which also has a matt black anti-glare finish. Cosmetically very pleasing but for the hunter equally practical, as it eliminates the possibility of quarry alerting shine. It also does an admirable job of taming muzzle report. The barrel it shrouds is what is termed ECHF denoting the manufacturing process which is the now highly respected method that BSA use for all their rifle’s – this being Enhanced Cold Hammer Forging.

Keeping it tight

As you’d expect, accuracy doesn’t disappoint and, after setting a 30yd zero for the .22 calibre test rifle, all quality ammo produced tight, pellet-size clusters at this range which open up to sub ½” groupings even when pushing out to 40yds. While accuracy is certainly due to the high-quality tube and precise operation of the 2-stage fully adjustable trigger, the impressive shot to shot consistency is due to the Defiant’s ‘special’ air reg.

The BSA Defiant stands out from the pack, not only due to it being a very well-considered design but due to the many top-class operating features it holds. The stock manages to be easy to handle and hold, plus its hefty proportions help it remain solid on aim. It’s highly accurate, quiet and has a superior spring assisted side-lever action that drives one of the most reliable magazine units available.

Considering the price, and of course features, the Defiant can in many ways now be looked upon as the company’s flagship PCP. In some respect, that’s a rather strange thing to say, because it’s also the most specialist ‘niche’ rifle they’ve ever produced. However, and although it might be seen as being a late comer to the fray, I’m in no doubt it’ll win over an army of admirers, as this is certainly a rifle you could say is Defiant by name and nature.