Hi everyone!
Firstly, I would just like to express my sincere gratitude for the warm welcome I have received from you all here on the AR site. It is an honor to be here and I intend to stick around!
Secondly, I will be posting some pictures and information about a rifle belonging to my dad, which has quite a bit of history attached to it, within the next few days. I still haven’t figured out how to post a picture to the site, so will have to ask Baxter to help me out on that one – again!
Thanks again for making me feel so welcome here…
_Gail

This is a picture of my dad's .22 Browning FN. It was given to him when he was a young boy by his parents.He shot his first animal (thompson's gazelle) with it at about age 8. The stock was refurbished about 35 years ago due to it being broken in an accident on his parents' ox-cart! I shot my first animal (impala) with it, also at age 8. It now resides in my bedroom cupboard and is used for shooting snakes!

_Gail

PS: I still can't figure out how to post the picture...Baxter will kindly do it for me later on!

Here is the 22.



Cheers,

_BAxter

Gail,

Thank's so much for sharing with us.

As you must know there is great interest in your Dad's life and carrer. He is a living link to the great era of East African safari.

It would be a great shame if his story were never fully or accurately told.

I hope that your family can one day publish an account of his and your family's life and times.

Respectfully;
Brett Trimble

quote:

Originally posted by Gail Selby:
This is a picture of my dad's .22 Browning FN. It was given to him when he was a young boy by his parents. He shot his first animal (thompson's gazelle) with it at about age 8. The stock was refurbished about 35 years ago due to it being broken in an accident on his parents' ox-cart! I shot my first animal (impala) with it, also at age 8. It now resides in my bedroom cupboard and is used for shooting snakes!

_Gail

PS: I still can't figure out how to post the picture...Baxter will kindly do it for me later on!

This thread just keeps getting more interesting and entertaining! Thanks Gail for posting the pic of the .22 rifle and the story about it. Another rifle that has some memories attached to it. (Those are the best kind of rifles!) It's good to know that you still have it in the family... and that it still gets used!

Best regards,
-Bob F.

Gail, can you tell us about you elephant hunt with the Rigby here in question.Do you do any hunting still and how about your father.

quote:

Originally posted by TB577SS:
Gail, can you tell us about you elephant hunt with the Rigby here in question.Do you do any hunting still and how about your father.

Hi there!

I was 14 years old when I shot the elephant. I was at boarding school in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and flew home for a long weekend holiday. It was actually not an exciting elephant hunt… probably why I have not written a story about it before. It was exciting though, being 14, and about to shoot an elephant! We went to an area in the hunting concession, which we leased at that time, called Mababe. It was a very open area and full of plains with mainly scrub bush. We actually spotted the elephant from the vehicle from a long distance away and then left the vehicle and walked to the elephant. I gave it a shot in the shoulder with the .275 and then my dad and a friend also opened fire. It went down and then I gave it one more to finish it off. Later, my dad said that my first bullet would have killed it… We were not taking any chances as I was only home for 4 days before flying back to school. Also, the Mababe area bordered a national park – so if the elephant had been wounded and run into the park, we would have had a big problem on our hands as one cannot shoot anything in the park. The tusks were about 50 lbs. Some of the most exciting hunts I have been on have been with others who have held elephant licences. My most memorable one (and one of the most exciting) is on my website http://gabrimaun.tripod.com under “Campfire Stories†and then “End of Season Elephantâ€.

My dad is now retired after hunting for 50 years. I have not done any hunting for a long time… Things have changed here and it’s not as easy as it was back then, or even 12 years ago, for us to get out into the bush and to do any hunting. I have wonderful memories though and plan to do some writing about them all!

Cheers
Gail

I have been trying to post a reply, so here it goes again. Watch 3 replies show up. I own Bell's 318 Westley Richards by Thomas Bland and Sons,purchased by Bell in 1911. At that same time he purchased several other rifles from Westley Richards acording to the records.
Here is a picture of Bell' 318. the one he shot birds out of the air with to get rid of his supply of faulty ammo. I will give more on the split casing problems later.
Here is a picture of the rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by 470EDDY:
My friend also owns the Selous Fahrquarson, sideplates and all. It came in from Canada from a collection about 10 years ago now...

Yes, you mean this Selous? I handled it this spring. The current owner is a friend of mine...we're obviously talking about the same person.



The same friend (as you probably know) is well aware of the Bell Rigby...and that's all I'm going to say about that.

Imagine Bells rifles and Selous's Rifles on the same web page. This is monumental moment.
Yes I have documentation on Bell's rifle,from Thomas Bland and Sons, and the owner of Thomas Bland and Sons Glenn Baker, handled the gun this summer and confirmed the provinance. I am still working on more provinance (you can' have too much)
Gail is a wonderful person. Best wishes to her and her family.
Another Pic.

Yes, I've seen copies of the provenance...there is actually quite a bit of it but more never hurts as you say. It's a neat rifle to have been owned by Rigby, Ruark (if I recall correctly), Selby, etc.

I do not know how the 318 Westley Richards sign keeps coming up, This is a picture of Bells 275. The Double Rifle is Bells 318.

quote:

Reply

another veiw. I can't get 2 pictures on one listing.

one more pic

gunsmithing, you really have me scratching my head.

So, the double is a Westley Richards in .318 owned by Bell, and the bolt rifle is a Thos. Bland in .275 also owned by Bell?

Appreciate you posting these, BTW.

WOW!!!!!! that is awesome!!! having just finished reading Peter Capstick's story about him in Death in the Silent Places, actually seeing these rifles, albeit photos, is absolutely amazing!! thanks again for sharing

quote:

gunsmithing, you really have me scratching my head.

So, the double is a Westley Richards in .318 owned by Bell, and the bolt rifle is a Thos. Bland in .275 also owned by Bell?

Appreciate you posting these, BTW.

I believe the Double is a Bland in 318 WR caliber and the 275 i a Rigby. I have seen the receipt for the Rigby with the instructions for the plate to MArk.

_Baxter

Elephant with a 7x57, Bells .318, and many of the guns that the old timers used, imagine that. Now that should wake some folks up, that a well placed shot with a properly constructed bullet will kill about anything on this planet.

The one and only elephant I have seen killed with a 7x57 was a double heart shot and that bull ran about 75 yards and fell..I have never seen that much blood in my life and it spewed out 5 or more feet each time it pumped..It was impressive.

Gail,
Give Mark my best, have not seen him in a few years, or since he quit coming to Dallas SCI and the merger took place and the new outfit dismissed all its booking agents and went out strictly on there own, probably a good move..

no, the bolt action rifle is Bells 275 Rigby, and the Double is Bells 318 made by Thomas Bland and Sons in 1911.

The reason that his shells were splitting on the rear, was not a fault of the ammo. It was a weakness in the action of the Double rifle. Remember smokless powder was new, high pressure cartridges were just being made commercially. THe 318 WR was out for only 1 year, and already Thomas Bland was making them,(taking the cartidge diamentions from Westley Richards, probebly without there consent.) The action has a Purdey 3rd lockup point, on the rear, but not sufficiant for a cartridge developing 36000 to 38000 units of pressure at 70 degrees. When it got to Africa. the pressures would have been much higher, as it would have arrived in Oct 1911 or there abouts.The hot time in Africa is beginning. Bell fires a few, and it works fine, until later in the hunt, when it begins to split cases. He figures faulty ammo, and shoots it up at birds to get rid of the stuff. He said that he had misfires and split casings, the same problem I had with the gun almost 100 years later. I checked the headspacing, and found it off. I place a peice of paper .006 thick between the hinge pin and the barrel piviot, and amazing, this gun tightened up, no more split cases, and no more misfires. Hits dead on with 180 grain bullets, and is marked under neath 318 Westley Richards Accel. Exp. This was a fantastic cartrige, that W.R.pushed as a penetrating SOB at the time. So Bell wanted one, and Thomas Bland delivered. Just a little history.

some history on Bells 275 and 318. This comes from a website http://www.africanoutfitter.com/backissues/2007/october...er/mrrigbymauser.php

During their time as the Mauser agents, Rigby's built a wide variety of rifles on Mauser actions, most notably a great many in .275 (7x57) calibre. One of Rigby's best-known clients during this period included a Scottish big-game hunter by the name of Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell – the world would bestow upon him the name "Karamoja", named for the area in North-Eastern Uganda he favoured as a hunting ground for heavy-tusked elephants. Bell was somewhat of an individualist when it came to rifles and calibres for dangerous game. Instead of the .450-class of large bores favoured by most hunters of the day, Bell preferred smaller calibres, such as the .256 Mannlicher,.275 Rigby, the .303 and the .318 Westley Richards Accelerated Express as his weapons of choice when hunting the big fellows.

Although he invested in a few larger bore rifles in later life (on his last trip to Africa during the 1920s, for instance, he used a double .450/400 NE by WJ Jeffery & Co) Bell will forever be associated with the .275 Rigby and the fact that he hunted in the region of 800 elephants with a series of these little rifles, made especially for him by Rigby. The famous American author Robert Ruark once owned one of Bell's original .275's and, in a nostalgic trip down memory lane, took it on safari to Uganda's Karamoja region during the late 1950s under the guidance of the famous Harry Selby.

Bell owned and used no less than six .275 Rigby's during his lifetime (some of the later ones were even fitted with early telescopes), a .416 or two, as well as a .22 Savage Hi-Power, also built on a Mauser action for him by Rigby and delivered on 31 May 1929. In hindsight, and considering the amount of elephant hunting that he did with small-calibre rifles without the benefit of professional backup of any kind, Walter Bell probably owed John Rigby a large amount of gratitude for ensuring that his favourite ‘small bores' worked as reliably as they did in the face of the big ones.

Another well-known hunter of years gone by who entrusted his life to a Rigby rifle in the face of dangerous game was that famous hunter of man-eaters, Colonel Jim Corbett. Just like Walter Bell, Corbett owned a Rigby .275 and used it very successfully on at least one tiger bent on making mincemeat out of him when he could not bring his .450/400 NE double to bear in time. Corbett also commented favourably on his little Rigby's superb handling. John "Pondoro" Taylor, the famous Irish elephant hunter, poacher and author, owned a number of Rigby rifles throughout his long career and had nothing but praise for them.

More info on Bells rifle is becoming available. The one that is pictured, was featured in a 2004 issue of the American Rifleman Magazine. I have not yet got the month, I have to go though my collection to find it.(I have every one from 1956 to the present). It was used in a movie,African Adventure,by RKO. The original was in color, but a b+w is available sometimes.The Robert Ruark Foundation has a copy on DVD. He shoots Elephant, Cape Buffalo,ect in the movie, guided by Harry Selby. Ted Turner has the original Color version on film, but I do not know how to reach him. Maybe some of you guys are freinds with him?
There ia another thread on this forum that has pictures of the 275 also. I found it by accident.

I have seen and have the Africa Adventure and I do not remember seeing the 275. As a matter of fact I do believe Ruark purchased the 275 after the movie was made as it has the plate for Mark Selby. Mark Selby was not born when the Africa Adventure movie was made which was I believe in 1954 or so and the safari earlier.

Update... **According to the article by Coogan Mark was 2 when Ruark bought these rifles. That would make it around 1957, well after the movie.**

Bell died in 1951, and his wife put the guns on consignment with Westlwy Richards soon after. His ship Trenchemer was also sold about this time. Ruark shows a 450-400 in the movie( I can tell by the length and design of the shells in stop motion) and I can only assume that it was Bells 450-400 that was used. Also a magazine rifle, that looks a lot like the Rigby, with a different scope is used by Ruark on the leopard.
The movie was made in 1953, according to the intro. in the movie.

Ruark's 450/400 an the 275 were bought at the same time and ha the same plate put on them. The invoice for the 275 also has the 450/400 on it. Damn my eyes for not recording the date as I just saw that document two weeks ago.

According to one who knows, the double used on the safari was one of KEr and Downey's.

** Just found some old notes... the date on the invoice for the 275 and the 450/400 is 10/30/1956*** HE bought the 275 for 65 pounds.

Here's a grab of Ruark's rifle he used on the leopard. You can see the difference between the relation of bolt to trigger guard versus the 275.

You are truely a gentleman. I stand corrected. As far as my info on the date of Bell's death, it may have been in 1954. The more I dig for info for the book, the more that comes up.
The fine people at Corriemoillie, that live there now, told me that his ashes were spread over the garden at his home. Little bit of unknown info.
Yes that is not the Rigby 275. Now I wonder what gun it was?
How did you come up with the figures of sale to Ruark? I have been asking Westley Richards for some time on information on that sale. Good job finding it. Katherine sold his guns shortly after he passed, or so it is speculated at this time. Any new information is wonderful.

quote:

Originally posted by gunsmithing:
You are truely a gentleman. I stand corrected. As far as my info on the date of Bell's death, it may have been in 1954. The more I dig for info for the book, the more that comes up.
The fine people at Corriemoillie, that live there now, told me that his ashes were spread over the garden at his home. Little bit of unknown info.
Yes that is not the Rigby 275. Now I wonder what gun it was?
How did you come up with the figures of sale to Ruark? I have been asking Westley Richards for some time on information on that sale. Good job finding it. Katherine sold his guns shortly after he passed, or so it is speculated at this time. Any new information is wonderful.

In case you don't know Bell's Rigby .22 High Power (sn 5395) was offered for auction by Pardy and Sons, London on 21/06/07. The pre auction estimate was 5-7000 pounds (+17.5% vat). I do not what the realized price was. The lot included original canvas and leather case, photo of Bell in later life, original illustrations on aiming points, extracts from his safaris and a collection of his 3 books.

In their catalogue Pardy's say that Bell died in 1957 at Corriemoillie, his Ross-Shire estate. My understanding is that he died in 1951, and I believe that to be correct.

http://www.firinglineonline.com/about_us.php

And here is Pondoro's .450 #2. I've held this rifle on many occasions. Len actively hunts with it to this day. He just got back from a buff and elephant hunt with it in Zimbabwe.

Sorry but I don't have any better pictures.



Living relics of Bell, Selous and Taylor all on the same thread this is truly historical.

Wow.

I had forgotten about the Firing Line.

I shot there when I lived in Denver in the early/mid 90's. Started reloading then too. I would reload 50 or 100 rds per month and shoot there once a month. I remember taking a libtard friend there to teach her how to shoot her shotgun she had purchased before her PCS to Fairbanks.

It sure wasn't a fancy gunshop back then.

Cool pic and link. Thanks for bringing back fond memories. I have spent the last 10 minutes on Google Earth looking at some old haunts.....

thanks

surestrike. I understand you killed a Cape with it, while hunting Taylors old haunt. Good Show. I hope that boyo did not give you any problems. I would love to see a good picture of that gun, so I can print it and frame it.

Ok, I just have to say it. What an incredibly cool thread!

Gail, thank you so much for being a part of this wonderful little space of the Web. I too hope to hear many of your stories!

Not a famous rifle yet, but we all need some eye candy now and then

I guess no one is interested in this thread anymore. What a shame.

quote:

Originally posted by gunsmithing:
another veiw. I can't get 2 pictures on one listing.

I love the history on this thread. Very cool guns.

I also can't get enough of that red finish. Any ideas how to duplicate it? I have been working over an old Winchester stock with Warthog oil (Alkanet root) and it just isn't getting that red.

Thanks,

John

Some of these pictures look familiar. I think I posted them for another member over a year ago.

There are larger versions available.

Yes, I got them from another post. I thought I had made that clear, but looking back, I guess I omitted that. Sorry, Thirty lashes are ordered.

Congratulations on a wonderfurl adventure in Nambia. Someday I may get to the Greatest Hunting Land.

HOW COOL it is to have a member of the Great Harry Selby's family on AR !

I cannot express my excitement. Much like I felt when I got to talk to Fletcher Christian's relative Esmerilda on Pitcarin Island on my ham radio after reading "Mutiny on the Bounty" & "Pitcarin Island"

I hold Harry & Robert Ruark responsible for my life long lust to hunt Africa. I bought a .416 Rigby because that's what Harry used in "Horn of the Hunter". Harry, Ruark, & Bell have been my heroes.

I had JUST heard this story last week and now I get to see the photos.

Those pictures are so good they could be refered to as gun porn.

A picture by Bell.
4 Elephants in the moonlight, by W.D.M.Bell