Bell Target

[perlin]

In its heyday what would have been the gun choices ? Was BSA the more popular gun of choice or maybe Gem, Britannia or German imports?
Anybody have copies of records of guns used?
Fascinating history but not a lot of information about..
John

[Scott.]

Bell target has always fascinated me, I enjoy the challenge and the thought of the history behind it all
it was and I suppose to some lesser degree it still is quite big in England but for some reason it's almost non existent in Scotland...
Was it only an English pastime?

[ptdunk]

While researching my Britannia video, which also covers some of the history of early bell target, I found a record that said in the National Air rifle championships of 1908, out of 940 competitors 936 used a Lincoln Jeffries BSA underlver.
https://youtu.be/hVYnb4fDzU4
I think BSA had the market pretty much tied up.

Still prefer my Britannia though.

Matt

[perlin]

Not a lot of information out there that I can find. www.belltarget.com is a useful site that has a pdf file of a very interesting book "ring my bell" by Frank Spittle (apparently no longer available).
Couldn`t find any mention of bell target in the north of England or Scotland, seems to be mostly around Birmingham/midlands area .

Matt`s video on you tube is an excellent piece of work and well worth a watch if you haven`t seen it already. Can`t be that many Britannias kicking about now and probably more expensive now


Seems to be a bit of a resurgence going on at the moment with a few new clubs starting up, good to see ,especially if the old vintage rifles get an "airing".

John

[WebleyWombler]

http://www.belltarget.com/resources/...rget_Story.pdf


Bell target was well established before BSA began production of the Lincoln Jeffries type. I have seen a couple of photos from around 1900 where the participants appear to be using a mixture of Militias and Gems but I can't locate the photos now. Last week, someone on the other forum sold a militia that was marked up as a Lincoln Jeffries so I presume he sold them for target use before his own design came into fruition.

[perlin]

@WebleyWombler would love to see any old photos if you ever find them.
Looks like I need more time on the vintage airgun gallery, excellent site with an awful lot of information.
John