Bell likely killed just as much game with his .256 bores as he did with his .275 bores.
but people have a lock-on obsession with his Rigby whenever his name comes up.
His long barrelled George Gibbs of Bristol .256 was his dedicated do-all workhorse plains game gun.
and the thing got a regular solid workout...at times when he didn't see elephant for periods sometimes
a month, his Gibbs was still working hard collecting large piles of hides for trading currency.- Suffice to say,
he killed more plains game in his career than he did DG.
Then for a good time, his Daniel Frazer .256 carbine was his DG rifle.
" That Gibbs certainly had a full time job to do....It was a round-the-clock rifle"
-Karamojo Safari -(page 12 of prologue)
Bell states he acquired his Gibbs .256 and Rigby .275 at about the same time, the Rigby being the first rifle
he had specially made for himself, with the purchase of the Dan Frazer .256 some time after those. -Prior to
all that, he had invested in two Daniel Frazer sporterised Lee .303s used for everything from DG to PG on his
first ivory safari.
- He did peruse the fancy literature of the bespoke English makers promoting their big calibre rifles before
deciding on the .303 pair, but based his rifle & calibre decision on past field experience hunting lion for British Rail
with a Lee Metford .303 and solids and his Boer War .303 experience, rather than such sales material.
