British/Australian Rifle Ranges

[gameswat]

Was talking to super collector Bob Klepner the other day and he tells me these rifles were operated and probably also manufactured by the Atlas Scale & Machine Co in Aust. He got the info many years ago from a surviving employee.

[pennymachines]

The rifle shooters I encountered were a little different from the above, although they operated on the same principle. The rifle bases were large and wooden, not metal, and although pyramid-shaped, somewhat longer than they were wide. The automata targets, as I described, were quite different.

The Electric Ray Rifle looks like an early example.

[sweetmeats]

Topic split moved & merged - Site Admin.

Some photos of Bollands machines that I don't think have come to light yet. If anyone knows better, I would love to know. I have seen the enamel cover only from the Electric Ray rifle.

[bob]

I used to have one of the pistols (see photo) and know of another one in Australia.

[gameswat]

Bob's old pistol is the same actual machine as photographed in the Bolland black and white photo posted by Sweatmeats! Small world. I discovered this years ago when looking through one of Bollands old scrap books. There are several reasons, Bob's machine has been altered in a particular way that matches up exactly. The cast iron bullseye target was originally mounted on the other side of a room attached by a thick cable loom. Each shot would show up as a lit globe simulating a bullet home in the target. It was later converted so they didn't need to run the messing wiring on this particular machine to the wall target, instead the target was bolted straight onto the pistol stand to still show your shot. And then they would just use a simple painted bullseye on the wall across from the machine. Bob's machine was just missing the little marquee topper on the remounted bullseye that obviously got lost in the last 80 years. I've seen another example of this pistol machine in the USA that is un-converted and original. So that would count at least 3 examples surviving of the pistol. Also the stunning original enamel sign Sweetmeat mentioned earlier is missing from both examples I've seen, but the artwork on Bob's former machine is hand painted and even though I'm sure it's been touched a few times in the last 80+ years it's a total match for the Bolland black and white photo!

There are Aussie made copies from the 1930's I guess that were based on the Electric Rifle models. Talked about on PM a few years ago. (Now merged above - Site Admin.)

[gameswat]

Awesome awesome awesome! While researching machines for other collectors just now I totally stumbled onto the Patent for this Aussie classic dating 1930, a rip off from the 1901 British Electric Pistol and Rifle. GB363373 (A)
Can't say how thrilled I am to find this as I own two of the machines and fill in a lot of blank history for me!

Mr PM, I think I proved my case and we can change this heading to "Aussie Electric Rifle Range"....please?

[pennymachines]

You're on a roll Gameswat.
If you don't mind, I'll change the title by quoting you: "a rip off from the 1901 British Electric Pistol and Rifle."
OK, let's compromise.

[bob]

The Electric Pistol that I had is as Rory says a version of the Electric Rifle/Pistol patent machine that was modified to show the result on a target mounted on the machine rather than the target mounted some distance away. This eliminated the need for expensive to replace multi stranded cables that were very vulnerable, a fault perpetuated years later by the Seeburg rifle machines. However the original patent is Thomas Linforth Jones British patent no 7733 of 11th May 1905 not 1901.

[gameswat]

Here is the link to partial patent for the 1905 Auto-Electric Rifle: GB190507733

And full patent attached.