I've been curious about the British Boys rifle.  Once upon a time a gun store in San Diego had one for sale.  They were asking $1,750 I believe.  Sadly, I was in my Chronically Sub-Rich phase of life and had no hope of raising anywhere near that much.

Who has one, who has fired one, did it kick your butt, where do you find ammo, etc.?

BTW I should mention that the Boys is Caliban-approved for civilian ownership.  A rifle has to be over .60 to qualify as a destructive device here. [CORRECTION:  But it is a federal DD.  Thanks to all who pointed that out. - CK]

And I found a weird site that has ballistics data.  Here's the Boys page: motiondigital.com/pccs/Boys55atr.htm - The index pages seem to be FUBAR.  It's weird, looks kind of like a gamer's site.

hey,
   i don't own one but always kinda liked it...
here's some info about it:
TYPE: .55 in boys MK.1 anti tank rifle
MANUFACTURER: Enfield
DATE IN USE: 1939
COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: UK
OPERATION: Bolt action
FEED: 5 round mags
LENGTH: 63.25in/1,606mm
WEIGHT: 38lb/17.25kg
EFECTIVE RANGE: Not applicable against tanks

The boys anti takn rifle was mainly the result of the design work carried out by Capt Boys-assistan Superintendent of desing at Enfield in the 1930s. This rifle was developed to satisfy a requirement for an anti-armour weapon.
Two main variants of the Boys anti tank rifle were constructed-the Mk1&Mk1*- although some sub-variants were also built.
Nearly 100.000 Boys were built by BSA in the UK together with US and canadian production.
This type of weapond depends on high velocity combined with hardened bullet to achieve penetration. Improvements in armour rendered most anti tank rifles ineffective including the Boys. Explosive and in particular, hollow charge missiles took over this role.
i hope that helped, AND the do K I C K.
HUNTER FROM ARGENTINA
OUT.

I don't mean to pee in your punchbowl, but even though the Cali-ban defines a Destructive Device as anything over .60, federal law defines it as anything over .50  Thus, the .55 Boyes still has to transfer as a DD under the NFA (along with the $200 transfer tax, paperwork, fingerprints, CLEO signoff, etc) and it can only be purchased by an individual through an in-state DD dealer.

You want to lay odds on finding a DD dealer and getting a CLEO signoff in Cali?

Then how does one purchase a .600 or .700 NE?

Quoted: Then how does one purchase a .600 or .700 NE?

26 USC 5845(f) provides the Secretary of the Treasury with discretion to exempt calibers, which would otherwise be DD's, which he finds to be unlikely to be used as a weapon or to have a sporting purpose.  The Boyes was a military issue weapon, and while I am not 100% sure about the status of the Boyes, similar type military weapons such as the Lahti have been ruled to be DD's.

can some one post a picture of the rifle and ammo?

 Shaggy,

 You are 100% on target. The boyes in .55 calibre is classified as a DD by the ATF.
 The large bore Nitro Express cartridges fall under the old catch all of Legitimate Sporting Purpose.
 Once again we are at the mercy of an interpretation of the law.
 If interpreted literally, then certain shotgun slugs would be illegal also.
 Who knows what their reasoning is when they decide such stuff.

 As an added bonus, you were also the only one to spell the weapons name correctly.

 Chuck

Boyes are BIG rifles.  There were two Boyes rifles at this year's Fifty Caliber World Champs.  They were fired for demonstration only.  I believe at least one had been rebarreled to .50 BMG to make it more easily legal.

Both were mounted on raised tripods.  Both had the original iron sight mounted on the left side of the receiver and one also had a scope mounted on top.

Neither was terribly accurate at 1000 yards but they looked like fun to shoot.  Good show.

My father owned 2 of them had one converted to 50. So as a young lad I got to play with them.
The 55 uses cordite and I can tell you it is the hardest hitting, recoil wise, of any weapon I have ever fired. Shot it once. It was miserable. A real snot knocker.

I have no knowledge about the Boys, but the Mauser anti tank rifle was also military issue (there are precious few non military anti tank rifles around :-) but has been exempted and declared C&R by the ATF. In part no doubt, to the rarity, value attached to them, and lack of ammunition (which itself would be collectible).

TriD...yeah they look to be real recoil bears.  

The pistol grip angle is reverse of what we're used to.  The bottom angles FORWARD.

And one of the Boyes at Raton had TWO pistol grips; one for the trigger and one on the bottom of the buttstock.  Both grips angled bottom-forward.

Funny looking and I'll bet they were to ensure you got that rifle FIRMLY into your shoulder.

I looked it up. The ATF considers the Boys .55 Anti-tank rifle a DD, but it is a C&R. Some states only allow C&R NFA items in. NC is one, but I'm not sure about DD's in NC - it may be mg's only and even then many (most?) sheriffs won't sign.

Quoted: I looked it up. The ATF considers the Boys .55 Anti-tank rifle a DD, but it is a C&R. Some states only allow C&R NFA items in. NC is one, but I'm not sure about DD's in NC - it may be mg's only and even then many (most?) sheriffs won't sign.

NC has no such C&R restriction... some sherrifs may self impose one, but I know lots of guys here with non C&R FA's.

Quoted: NC has no such C&R restriction... some sherrifs may self impose one, but I know lots of guys here with non C&R FA's.

WAaaaaaHOOOO! Is it permissible to post Houses in the "For Sale" forums? Sherrif Hege Ima comin'

 Almost every "shooter" example of the Boys I've seen has been converted to .50BMG, sorry I don't have a pic of that one, but I do have some Lahti pics :)

I remember a friend of my fathers had one of these in his living room when I was a little kid. (live one too)