Opinion on Britarms 2000 MK2

I purchased a like new Britarms 2000 MK2 yesterday and was wondering if anyone here had one and how they compared accuracy wise to the modern target guns. I realize they were made in the early 80s and were not made too long. I really liked the feel and trigger but have not shot it yet.

Here is some information from Target Talk:

http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php?t=8097

And from Pilkington Competition 10P files:

http://www.pilkguns.com/tenp/spba2000.htm

Thank you CR10X..also if anyone has any first hand experience please chime in

Have a one page flyer on it.

Shootgood wrote:I purchased a like new Britarms 2000 MK2 yesterday and was wondering if anyone here had one and how they compared accuracy wise to the modern target guns. I realize they were made in the early 80s and were not made too long. I really liked the feel and trigger but have not shot it yet.

Shootgood, I have not actually shot the Britarms extensively. I did know Alan Westlake the man who made these pistols. I visited his workshop in Salisbury many times. My own, personal impression was that the Pistol is an excellent match gun. Alan did not have the clout of marketing of the other makers so the pistol was not very successful.

I thought the pistol handled well and was accurate with Eley pistol match (I am talking of 22 years ago)

Enjoy the shooting.

Thank you,it has a great feel..hopefully I can test it out tues.

I left the UK before Britarms began production - they would have been out of my price range back then anyhow! But the name Westlake somehow rings a bell with me - unless I am thinking of the Weslake that produced racing engines?

Anyhow. I would very much like to own one of these pieces of UK pistol technology. So if anyone has one in good condition and would like to sell - please let me know.

radjag wrote:I left the UK before Britarms began production - they would have been out of my price range back then anyhow! But the name Westlake somehow rings a bell with me - unless I am thinking of the Weslake that produced racing engines?

Anyhow. I would very much like to own one of these pieces of UK pistol technology. So if anyone has one in good condition and would like to sell - please let me know.

Radjag I think Alan Westlake is still around. Why not call him. He may have some spares to sell in case you do find a good Britarms pistol.
Talking about nostalgia, Saxhoj made a copy of the Hammerli 208 in Stainless steel and I think at one time Beeman imported them into the USA.

Enjoy

Having read this thread and particularly the very informative links added by CR10X, I did a bit of googling. Came across this advert being offered on GB.

Dave Foreman started a thread recently accusing a vendor on GB of mis-representing the "rarity" of a Pardini SP22 (in a light hearted manner, of course). Dave's point was fair enough, but the vendor managed to achieve a very high price for his item, so what to say?

This Britarms 32 must surely be a seriously rare beast in the USA. I wonder whether any forum member has one?

I owned a Britarms 2000 MK II in the days it was being produced.  I bought mine new from a small-time importer in Canada.  The ejection /  loading didn't function well for a while (about six months).  I never dreamt that such a gun would not function correctly from the factory, but that was the case with mine.  I strongly suspect that I was not the only one to find themselves in this situation with a Britarms 2000 pistol.  Eventually I replaced the return spring with a somewhat longer one and softer one, then presto; it functioned properly.  The slide didn't go all the way forward if there was any resistance to loading, so the hammer expended considerable motion closing the slide before striking the firing pin, resulting with a misfire very often.  The screws which hold the grip in place have a thread which is too small, screwing into soft steel.  The grips can be removed a very limited number of times before the holes need to be rethreaded.  The gun was designed to be an all-steel equivalent to the Domino standard pistol.  This pistol had the potential to be good target pistol, but the frustration I had, after buying it, resulted in me replacing it very quickly.  If you want one as a collectable, it would be quite interesting.  I would never dream of using one in competition ever again.  These guns are quite rare due of the meagre demand for them in light of the excellent Domino, Hammerli, Walther, and Vostok pistols available.  As well, before long, most handguns were banned in the UK (along with their production).  I should add, that Westlake Engineering was not the original maker of Britarms pistols.  He (if memory serves me) acquired the company later.  Guns made during his tenure would have been first rate.

I was able to go to the range today. I was pleased with the accuracy and after getting it sited in I was able to get 15 shot groups about the size of a dime at 25 yards. The only negative I feel is the magazine,the way the spring is separate makes it more time consuming to load compared to most other semi autos. The grips were nice (I like them as well as the rink on my model 41 but they are bigger). After shooting i disassembled to clean and found the take down not much more difficult than a model 41. The gun seems robustly built and the only thing I would change as far as design as I stated is the magazine.