Bell is a highly regarded, if somewhat contrary figure in the modern history of hunting sportsmen. He was one of the most accomplished hunters of his era, and he did so with an unorthodox approach in his choice of arms. He also enjoyed poking fun at his contemporaries, especially those in the Double Barrel Big Bore camp, which he categorized as the DBBB1 gang. He clearly had fun with this, and generally shrugged off the advantages offered from big bores against the disadvantages they imposed on the hunter, particularly for his style of hunting.
Before his name became associated with the .275 Rigby, Bell bought, used, sold and traded a plethora of rifles and calibers. He went through an early period of trial and error that shaped his views on hunting as well as the rifle and caliber combinations most capable of the task at hand. These early days primed his quest for a reliable and easy shooting arm, that when matched with the available ammo, would perform as expected.
Born in 1880, Bell's formative years occurred during a period of heightened change in arms development. The patent houses were in a flurry of activity, and many of the lockup and extraction mechanisms that we enjoy today were established during this period before WW1. Black powder was being phased out, and advances in primers and smokeless propellants made ignition and burn rates more reliable. Powder pressures were still evolving, along with their stability in varying ambient temperatures. Cartridges developed in the temperate areas of Europe were being tested by traveling explorers, hunters, and military regiments in much hotter zones nearer the equator.
One Shot
When aged 16 and after much persuasion, Bell convinced his reluctant guardians to outfit him for East Africa in 1897 where, by sheer pluck, he talked his way into a paid position as hunter for an advance survey crew on the Kenya-Uganda rail line. He'd left Edinburgh with an elegant Fraser falling block .3032 that performed beautifully in the moderate temperatures of Scotland. His cartridges were filled with
