CarlsenHighway
(.300 member)
25/07/14 09:04 PM
Re: WDM Bell's .275 Rigby Mauser #4968

It wasn't roe deer that Mr Bell was shooting with his .220 Swift - it was red deer, and he considered the Swift as the tool that providence designed for lightning kills. Interesting to note that at this stage he had gravitated to using a scope for deer in Scotland. (He had not used a scope in Africa.)
He was also a keen proponent of the .22 Hi-power for red deer also. I think he covered this in
his article "The Neck Shot". (I have a pdf of it if anyone wants a copy.)
I believe he had a Winchester model 70 in .220 Swift, as he refers to it as having a 'speed lock' which was how Winchester marketed their new Model 70 at the time, as it had a faster lock time that the Model 54 or the Springfield '03.

I have seen some recent pictures taken at Corriemollie and there is still an old rusty steel plate riddled with bullet holes hanging out in the garden on a post. It seems he used to shoot at it from the house.

I have corresponded with the current owners of Corriemollie, who run it as a bed and breakfast type thing. Apparently there is nothing much left over from Mr and Mrs Bell, apart from a pair of horns and a picture. Walter Bell was a self-taught hobbyist painter. (I couldnt get what kind of horns they were, I imagine kudu for some reason, but it could be rhino for all I know.)
Walter of course died in 1954, and his wife Kate passed on in the 1980's. After that the house was run as a hunting lodge for a few years until the current owners bought it.
When I spoke to them, the Bell's old housekeeper was still alive and living nearby, but was in her nineties and wasn't up to talking much.




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