Reply With QuoteHi Phil,
No actual examples are known but I would love to see if any have survived.
John
My mother was flexible,but couldn't do Thursdays
Hi,has anyone ever seen an example of the early Webley ‘Horseshoe’ target holder? I gather they came in two sizes,ten inch and a 6.5 inch square. I’ve only seen old adverts for these but never seen one in the flesh as it were,infact I can’t find anyone who has seen one. Has anyone here ever been lucky enough to have encountered one of these rarity’s? Were not many made,did they become damaged quickly,was the cost so high they didn’t sell? Must be a reason we don’t seem to encounter them today. Atb Phil
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Hi Phil,
No actual examples are known but I would love to see if any have survived.
John
Registered User
some may have for scrap metal for the war effort ? I think every Webley collector wold want one in the collection ,maybe some one will reproduce some soon? i for one will buy one and i don't like repro .
My mother was flexible,but couldn't do Thursdays
Hi John,wow so a real Holy grail. I’m sure if any had of survived and were in collectors hands you would have heard of it. Would be great if one turned up one day. What is your opinion as to colour? Later examples of Webley target holders appear to be green from what I’ve seen. Cheers,PhilOriginally Posted by Josie & John
My mother was flexible,but couldn't do Thursdays
War effort must certainly have accounted for some I should think. I can’t imagine they would be very cost effective to make to actually sell,I have toyed with the idea of making one though just to see if I can. They to my mind are the best looking target holder,hence the initial interest. Atb Phil
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Hi Phil,
Black and white according to the old Webley catalogues I have.
Sorry, I couldn't resist that quipI'd guess at green or black.
Kind regards,
John
My mother was flexible,but couldn't do Thursdays
Hi Phil,
Black and white according to the old Webley catalogues I have.
Sorry, I couldn't resist that quip
Kind regards,
JohnThanks John, I’m sure you are correct with Black or Green,it would be great if someone came along and said ‘yep I saw one and it was xxxx’ so that if I do cobble together a copy I could atleast have it in the correct colour.
You can't say muntjack without saying mmmmm
Did the "horse shoe" pattern actually exist, or was it just an artist's impression in a catalogue illustration? If they did exist it seems mighty strange that none have survived.
The South of England has 2 good things, the M1 and the A1. Both will take you to Yorkshire.
My mother was flexible,but couldn't do Thursdays
That is a good point, It hadn’t really crossed my mind that it might have just been an artists illustration and nothing more and that the actual item was minus the Horseshoe.
Politically Incorrect
Regarding the Webley 'Horseshoe' target holder, I received the following possible explanation from John Atkins, and John stresses it is only a possible explanation, posted with his permission.
20 years ago I asked around all Webley collectors I knew and none had ever seen this style of pellet catcher/target holder. The same situation exists to this day. John Mc., Chris, Bryan, Paul, Jeff and all others I know well, have neither seen nor heard of a surviving example.
Rightly or wrongly, my own theory on these target holders is that the part circular front may have been a casting with cast-in company name lettering. A casting would not have survived a barrage from a powerful air rifle and could have shattered and the rest then chucked away as scrap for the war effort.
That’s my only explanation as to why none have ever been seen. If I'm proved to be wrong over time and the front rim was, in fact, a pressing with pressed-in lettering, then I can’t come up with any explanation why at least a few of these attractive ‘horseshoe’ holders made for so many years in the 20s and 30s have never been seen among collectors.
I Like Gingers Best
Are there any known/existing examples of the Parker Hale 4" target holder shown on page 276 of Mr Hiller's excellent air rifles book? (enlarged 4th ed)...The write up for this target says that there were similar BSA branded targets too, apparently sold from the 1930's-1950's...this target looks to be similar in construction to the Webley horseshoe target and so was possibly made by the same company?
If the PH and BSA targets existed then surely it is more likely that the Webley horseshoe target did actually exist too
blah blah
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The horseshoe target holder is a bit like the SINGLE spring clip Mk.1 pistol. Both were well advertised by Webley, but no genuine examples of either have been encountered. A few spring clip Mk.1's may have been made but would have 'failed' immediately upon being tested and therefore straightaway discarded.
Similarly some of the cast horseshoe target holders may have been made, then tested, and as has been suggested, soon broke, and therefore the whole idea abandoned.
Webley were somewhat presumptious in their advertising, and in their printing of paperwork. Webley Mk.1 pistols still have instructions relating to the spring clip design, many thousands of pistols after the clip was replaced by the sliding catch.
So I believe would have been the case with the target holder. Knock out hundreds of leaflets/catalogues etc, only to find very early on that the thing is a non starter?
Therefore in short the answer to the question is that they are not and have never been seen because they were never produced in anything other than a tiny initial batch? Otherwise at least a handful would definitely have turned up by now.
My mother was flexible,but couldn't do Thursdays
Thankyou Gents, some interesting theory’s there. Never going into production would certainly explain things but I hope that isn’t the case as it would be great if one day one turned up.
So does that mean that for the 20’s & 30’s Webley didn’t sell any target holders or did they go to the next style earlier than adverts of the time would lead us to believe? If so,a believed mid to late 40’s target holder could infact be pre war perhaps.
I think it’s safe to say though that I won’t be adding one to my collection so I have made a start on creating a replica of my own. I have toyed with the idea for a while now but the realisation that I will never own one has kick started the project. I will let you know if successful if it’s of interest. Atb Phil
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Please keep us posted Phil - it would be interesting to see the end result.
Kind regards,
John
My mother was flexible,but couldn't do Thursdays
Thanks John I will. I will see if I can add photos once it’s done.
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