trapped birds. In 1866 Charles Portlock, a young Boston, Massachusetts, gunsmith and wingshot enthusiast, saw trouble ahead for the new sport unless some sort of alternative target could be found. Portlock knew the glass balls being used in England had met with only limited success, but he saw them as the potential answer to the growing problem. In his spare time he worked on further development of the 2 1/2" glass spheres, and also built a throwing machine to launch the targets horizontally, rather than straight in the air as in England. The glass ball targets were far from perfect, and not too popular among trapshooters who had learned the game with live birds. However, the growing negative reaction of the public to live flyers did a great deal to enhance the enthusiasm toward glass balls.

TYPICAL GLASS TARGET — 1875 VINTAGE_ - BLUE GLASS WORKS MODEL.

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