Hi,
I enjoy reading about smallbore rifle shooting here in the UK.The matches at Bisley in the 1930's-1950's have always intrigued me.I am a smallbore shooter and collector mostly Winchester 52,Anschutz & Anschutz Fortner,& High Standard 22 caliber rifles and pistols.
I took the name of Charles Hyde because I recently purchased his rifle at auction.A Winchester 52 single shot from the 1920's?This rifle looks to be very rare it looks to be very old with an "Eric Johnson" 5 Star barrel on it.Hyde I believe shot it at various competitions at Bisley.Hyde was on the 1952 Olympic team captained by AVM "Bull " Staton.I find this very interesting you don't find a rifle that you can link to a shooter like this very often.This is why I joined this forum to learn about Mr.Hyde of Salisbury Wiltshire and British shooting in the 1930's-1950's.Thank you for accepting me in this forum.
Hello Gary,
Welcome to the forum. Just in case you have not seen it have a look at http://www.rifleman.org.uk
I'd suggest you contact them directly as they may be able to put you in touch with those in the Brtish NRA museum who I have been told hold records of former British Olympic Teams.
Best of luck with your research.I trust you have suitable BSA rifle of the period?
Robert303 wrote:Hello Gary,
Welcome to the forum. Just in case you have not seen it have a look at http://www.rifleman.org.uk
I'd suggest you contact them directly as they may be able to put you in touch with those in the Brtish NRA museum who I have been told hold records of former British Olympic Teams.
Best of luck with your research.I trust you have suitable BSA rifle of the period?
Hi Robert,
Thank you . I have contacted the NRA Museum by email it's been a couple weeks and haven't heard back.In the US there is plenty of information on early Olympic shooters such as Art Jackson,Art Cooke and William Harding. I have contacted Terrance at smallbore.uk and he has responded but with no information on Hyde or the team. I did find an article on Hyde in the "The Marksman" magazine of 1950 which was helpful. My hope is to find information on his Olympic shoot regarding him and his rifle. There has to be an article about the team or him in the NRA Journal some time in the early 1950's.I just don't know who would have copies or those issues.
I purchased his rifle a few months ago and it is very rare Winchester 52 solid bottom receiver although some people think it is a copy. Hence my search for information and pictures. Here are some links to this interesting rifle. My goal is to find someone who has info on Hyde and his rifle , this forum being the largest in the UK.
Interesting research. Please remember that the NRA museum is staffed by volunteers and it's the peak holiday season here. Unfortunately all the big newspapers ditched their libraries and so the ability to look up cuttings is gone. Cutbacks to the public library service have and are taking a toll on the material available for research. Should you know where abouts in Surrey Mr Hyde lived you might get lucky by finding if there is any current local 'Newspaper' for that area and encouraging them to help you by publishing your request for info on Mr Hyde and any local 'Olympic' coverage. Unfortunately Mr Hyde was a shooter so in todays UK we cannot ask schools to help. If he'd been a ballroom dancer you could probably have signed up every local school on a research project for their history GSCEs!
Robert303 wrote:Interesting research. Please remember that the NRA museum is staffed by volunteers and it's the peak holiday season here. Unfortunately all the big newspapers ditched their libraries and so the ability to look up cuttings is gone. Cutbacks to the public library service have and are taking a toll on the material available for research. Should you know where abouts in Surrey Mr Hyde lived you might get lucky by finding if there is any current local 'Newspaper' for that area and encouraging them to help you by publishing your request for info on Mr Hyde and any local 'Olympic' coverage. Unfortunately Mr Hyde was a shooter so in todays UK we cannot ask schools to help. If he'd been a ballroom dancer you could probably have signed up every local school on a research project for their history GSCEs!
Robert it is the sign of the times here in the US we are in the same situation. All the libraries here have sold off there books. Anything older than 1980 is gone makes it extremely hard to research anything. Books are sold off to raise funds for some "Politically Correct " cause. Oh well the decline of the west.
Hyde lived in Salisbury Wiltshire on Old Castle Road at "Malvern House" the house has been torn down and the Estate has been sold. The acreage has been converted to a rugby field. I have contacted rifle clubs and dealers in the area to no avail. My quest marches on it is my hope that someone has copies from the NRA Journal circa 1945-1955 that might have the information although I am not hopeful...Thanks again.
Robert303 wrote:I have a friend who lives in Devizes in Wiltshire. No promises but I'll see what he can find out in the way of local newspapers museums etc
