Bell Target

[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

[WebleyWombler]

@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

If you read through the link I provided, you will see a photo of the Kendrick brothers taken in 1904 (before production of the L/J-BSA started) and they appear in my eyes to be holding Militias . I will search for other photos but don't hold your breath.

[Jimlad]

Here's a photo of the Bridgend ( South Wales ) Air Rifle Team 1905, the Bridgend an District Air Rifle League . ( badarl.com ) formed in 1907/08, with a couple of breaks for the two world wars, still in existence today ( Six teams ) anxiously awaiting the lockdown to end to be able to start shooting again
https://imgur.com/ddJOMlo
And another of one of the teams ( Ffordd-y-Gyfraith ) today
https://imgur.com/9IrGADp

[perlin]

Good to see..Got to love the old bowler hats and flat caps . looks like a club with a healthy membership.
John

[Unframed Dave]

A few photographs from my collection.

Guernsey air rifle clubs between the wars https://imgur.com/gallery/VKbd94c

Not great quality, taken with my phone.

Dave