Does anyone know what happened to him?
What I heard was that he won a lawsuit against Winchester Cartridge Co. for patent infringement and was blackballed by the gunwritering industry because of it. Is this true?

pretty much. He made a case in court that the WSSM's were a copy of his line up. None of the gun companies would even take his calls from what I heard at the SHOT Show the following year, and none of the magazines wanted the association either.

Rich

LOL...maybe he's avoiding friends that like to borrow money.......jk

It is too bad; he did his reseach, load work, and presentations in a very professional manner unlike some of today's writer like John B. and Terry W.

Well, its a story of money, greed and one man standing up for his rights. Winchester stole Ricks idea so they can make lots of money on it, Rick asked for a royalty and Winchester thumbed their nose at him. Rick gets a lawyer, sues and wins. Rick gets a pile of money and Winchester goes away pissed off and uses their "might" and leverage with the writing industry to black-ball Rick, thus ending his career...in which Rick is quite good in.

A classic Davey and Goliath story....where the little man becomes the victor over the giant and everyone chants for him....except money comes into play here...big Winchester money and Davey gets beat up badly even though he was the victor and no-one is chanting for him....the big money allowed the giant to buy Daveys death so to speak.

The sad part is those very people that should have been chanting for the little guy that was getting ripped off, sat on the sidelines and kept quiet. Those people were us...yes the readers of the gun rags that never wrote to the magazine editors to tell them they were wrong to throw out such a talented gun rag writer.

Well, I guess Winchester got what they had coming to them anyway. That brand will never be the same ever again.

Woodrow is correct!

Rick is a friend of mine. He lives a few mile from me in Eugene. He did what was right and got screwed for it.
Winchester was unaware or simply didn't care that Rick had put a patent on his cartridges, and ran with them anyway.
Rick's is happy and let's just say: He's gone hunting.

Cheers!

Just confirms my opinion of most gun editors, IMO they're untalented and cowardly ignoramuses for the most part. One reason that I don't read their stuff is 'cause it's SO full of fluffy filler BS with very little real substance.

If their CONTENT was more interesting, like Precision Shooting for instance, then they wouldn't hafta depend upon their advertisers for their income and so they wouldn't hafta become whores for the bux.

Sure, there are some exceptions, but for the most part anyone who edits instead of writing is NOT someone to whom I'd give any serious attention. IOW those who CAN, write; those who CAN'T, edit. And editors with little talent and no backbone whore themselves to the highest bidder.

Some of those guys are so illiterate that they actually admit to using 'spell-check' as their proofreader! Like My Daddy used to say, "Apparently they went to school to eat their lunch, 'cause they sure didn't learn anything!"
End of rant, maybe later I'll tell how I REALLY feel(VBG), Joe

I will not argue that Jamison in fact got a patent on a short magnum Idea. However I will agrue until the cows come home that it wasn't his ORIGINAL Idea. There were any number of short magnums that had been around for 40-50+ years before Jamison got his patent. Heck a recent one just prior to the 300Jamison was the 7.82 Patriot and the full Lazzeroni line of short magnums.

I have no clue if Lazzeroni had a patent or not. To me they along with others would have had more of a right to sue Winchester than Jamison. Yep you snooze you loose.

Jamison used the 404 case. Winchester didn't. Rick argued that they copied his idea and won in court. I happen to disagree with that but my opinion and couple $$ will buy you coffee. Crap I quess Winchester missed the boat by not suing Rem over the 280Rem being to close to the 270. Or the 265Wmag, 7mag, 338wmag all being based on the 458 IDEA>

Rick took a postion that was different than most of the people before him. How many factory rounds were wildcats first. Did the person with the idea sue?? Were they all stupid? Maybe I missed reading about a lot of law suits. Only company that I know that takes that position is JDJ now days. Maybe I'm just slow and there are others.

Rick took others before him ideas. Made his 300 Jamison with little changes and filed a patent. That was his right as well as anyone before him. Then he proceeded to pi$$ in the company's that paid his salary mess kit. Again his right. Just like anyone can sue the company he works for for taking their idea making a change or two and making $$ from it. They have a chance to make big $$ but their are naive as he!! if they think they will still be working there.

I used to like to read Rick. I thought he did a good job. I happen to disagree with what he did. If his 300 Jamison hadn't been based on others work I might feel different. His case was no more different from others work than the WSM were from his.

My opinion and not worth much but now time for

He was smart enough to get a patent and no one else did. That is not the first time that happened.

The funny thing about it all, he did not invent anything. He took an existing Winchester cartridge and modified it. He caused no grief at Winchester, they took the costs off their taxes. What he did actually accomplish was to create a space between the firearms companies and the rest of the shooting world that no one will ever be able to bridge.
He may be enjoying the money he got, but he has been forcibly rejected by the entire firearms community. A lifetime's work and contributions to an industry all for naught.

Rich

Gun magazines are in the business to make money, money comes from advertizing, gun and ammo companies buy advertizing. Not nice and certainly not the Hollywood ending but that's the way business is conducted. The stock holders couldn't care less.
Bye Bye Rick

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Woodrow S:
Well, I guess Winchester got what they had coming to them anyway. That brand will never be the same ever again.

No doubt the Bolt Action Rifles currently being manufactured under the Winchester banner are the very finest ones that have ever carried the name.
-----

When I first started "buying" Gun Rags, jamison was writing for Shooting Times. Most of us back them called him 300Mag. His articles were virtually FULL of HIGH praise for the 300WinMag back then. Nothing... absolutely NOTHING matched the 300WinMag for it's great performance, balance, ease of handling, efficiency, accuracy, you name it, the 300WinMag over-shadowed EVERYTHING in one way or another.

jamison would run comparisons between cartridges to illustrate it's HUGE superiority. Surely you all remember those days of old.

Only problem was, when I'd flip through the Reloading Manuals of that era, there was not the HUGE difference that jamison proclaimed in 6/12 Shooting Times during a year.

So, what was I missing??? I was reluctant to ask my Elders who had taught me, because I felt sure there had to be a reasonable answer. So, I didn't ask and more Reloading Manuals were released which showed there just wasn't the HUGE difference that jamison claimed.

Finally figured out what was happening and it always made me feel as if I'd been PT Barnumed by reading his praise of the 300WinMag. Now, there is no doubt that it is a great Cartridge. I've always enjoyed the ones I had and "probably" got my original interest in them from reading ole 300Mag.

But..., they are just what they are. They are nowhere near as far ahead of the other Cartridges that his comparisons originally lead me to believe. Excellent Cartridge, but the Comparisons should have been Truthful. Once I fully realized the amount of pure I'd read and originally believed, I really resented it - still do!
-----

As for the WSM Cartridges, they are nothing new. Just flip through Ackley's Handbooks For Shooters & Reloaders and you will see it has all been done long ago. Only thing different is that more Powders are available today which better utilize that size Case Capacity and Caliber Range.

I really like the WSM concept, but I prefer Belted Cases.

quote:

Nothing... absolutely NOTHING matched the 300WinMag for it's great performance, balance, ease of handling, efficiency, accuracy, you name it, the 300WinMag over-shadowed EVERYTHING in one way or another.

Crap I read the same line of Simpson BS just before I built the first of 3 7STWs.

Who cares?

What does this have to do with "Reloading"?

Barstooler

Why do people read gunrags today anyways? I stopped subscribing over a decade ago. I don't even look at them when I wander through Barnes & Noble. And I shoot more now.

Yo ; Don't lay the wreath on Rick just yet ! , He's up and Running fine

Handguns & Hunting Via Shooting Times !. http://www.shootingtimes.com/ammunition/hunt_121305/

I have always admired his writing style and articles expertise , I unlike some DID voice my displeasure at his dismissal !.

A stand up person who was wronged and sought justice an the Courts decided in his favor !. I personally see no fault with Rick .

Here's an Idea why don't all of you put your names on a half dozen petitions or on collective E Mails ,Then TELL the Gun Rags how YOU

felt about him being vaulted . Support in Numbers carries far more weight than a lone voice !.

Dwight:

Every time I am Eugene, I come by your store. My mom likes to shop at Valley River, so it gives me a chance to look at some guns. You have a very nice shop, and I sure as hell wish I'd bought that Martini you had in 222 R.

Havea good one.

Jerry Eden
Mesa Arizona

Rick should start a blog if he wants to write.

If you recall, before Winchester began it's long association with Browning, they tried to break his patent. So, I guess it wasn't anything new.
I've liked Rick's articles and writing. He's no Finn Aagard but he's head and shoulders above most of the contempory guys that are making a living by publishing computer generated graphs and charts and calling it writing.
FWIW, where would the .270 be w/o Jack O? What about Warren Page and the .243? And several more had a "signature" cartridges that they reported to be lightning in a bottle.

I've known Rick for 20+ years. Rick is one of the nicest, most unassuming gentlemen you will ever meet. He doesn't have an arrogant bone in his body. He is willing to discuss guns and shooting with anyone who approaches him.

Obviously he was granted a patent on his line of cartridges, which means that they were sufficiently enough different than other cartridge designs to warrant the patent.

Winchester infringed on it, and he sued them. Now they've sought revenge by pressuring the gun rags to black list him. IMHO, it's their loss. Good for Rick!!!

Pooooor Winchester...

the poblem come in the fact that he was working with winchester to develop the wsm's.
they then tried to screw him over.
glad he won.
winchester isn't winchester anymore it is however a big corporation, and deals accordingly.

Like I said no doubt Rick had a patent was it his original Idea or a copy of years of work done by others. In looking at the difference between the 300Jamison case and the WSM there ae more differences in them than many other LIKE cases on the market. Heck maybe Lazzeroni didn't have a patent. Maybe it wasn't worth making an issue to them if they did. They can only answer that. Yes a MO court found in Ricks favor. Right or wrong it did. Did Rick do anything against the law. Not that I can see. Are the gun rags within their right to not use his articles. Yep no law saying who they have to use.

This article pretty much sums up my feelings.

The Death of Short Magnums?

By Randy Wakeman



As covered extensively by Chuck Hawks throughout Guns & Shooting Online, the many "Short Magnums" that have proliferated are hardly new at all, and many create more problems than they claim to solve. The general hunting and shooting "benefits" are dubious at best.

As reported by retailer surveys, the short magnum genre has failed to capture the hoped for sales, with the future of several "short" and "short-short" magnums currently in jeopardy. Added to the mess is a situation reported by several sources around the time of the SHOT Show.

The Outdoor Wire of February 2, 2006, reported a situation of well-known gun writer Rick Jamison (John R. Jamison) which reads, in part:

"Jamison's offering a legal settlement in avoidance of a lawsuit. According to these letters, Winchester purloined Jamison's intellectual property in their short magnums. He sued, winning a decision in a Missouri court (his state of residence). Winchester, the letter states, settled the claim as has fellow short-magnum rifle manufacturer Browning and Olin Winchester ammunition. In the heretofore unreported letters, Jamison is reportedly seeking a monetary "cure" from each manufacturer, in addition to an ongoing royalty for the sale of each rifle in the contested calibers."

Sources indicate that there was a confidential, out of court settlement. Apparently, the tiff arises from a string of patents issued to Mr. Jamison, the first patent #5,826,361 granted on October 27, 1998 from application #818440 of March 17, 1997.

Prior art is any body of knowledge that relates to your invention. Prior art would include previous patents, trade journal articles, publications (including data books and catalogs), public discussions, trade shows, or public use or sales anywhere in the world. Another necessity for a patent is novelty or "newness."

Your invention is not new, as defined by U.S. patent law, if:

An identical (or too similar) invention was known or used by others in this country, or patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country, before your invention was; or
Your invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country more than one year prior to your application for a patent in the United States.
The short magnum concept is quite old. Commercially Roy Weatherby offered them back in the 1940's for his 257, .270 and 7mm Weatherby Magnums. Later, 1964's .350 Remington Magnum was apparently the first "mainstream" short magnum, giving performance equating to 1922's .35 Whelen in a case designed for short actions.

P.O. Ackley's 1962 Copyrighted Handbook for Shooter and Reloaders, Vol. 1 details a wide spectrum of short magnums. The .30 Howell was built for the old pattern 14 Lee-Enfield; the list continues including the ".30 Short Magnum No. 1 and No 2 by Ackley, the .300 Mashburn Short Magnum, and the .30-.378 Arch. The idea of short magnums and variations are quite obvious to anyone skilled in the art, as well you would think with a production short magnum readily available from Remington over 40 years ago.

You would think that the owner of the Winchester name, Olin Corporation, with annual sales exceeding that of all the firearms and ammunition in the United States (some $3.4 Billion), would save themselves the embarrassment by doing their homework. What they actually did or did not do remains a mystery.

More to the point, the non-belted, non-rebated rim short magnum has been in commercial production since well before the first of the several continued and linked Jamison patents were so much as applied for.

John Lazzeroni's "Patriot" is a non-rebated rim, beltless short magnum designed to work in short actions. After wading through the claims, my opinion is that the Lazzeroni Patriot embodies every single claim in the elongated, legalese-filled patent string.

Holt Boddington wrote in Guns Magazine:

"In 1995, I started hunting with the commercial cartridge that really started the short magnum ball rolling--John Lazzeroni's 7.82 (.308) Patriot. In fact, the New Mexico mule deer I took that fall was the first head of big game ever taken with the Patriot. With an overall case length of 2.050 inches, a 30-degree shoulder, and a head size of .580 inch, the Patriot looks ever so much like a blown-out PPC case formed on a 416 Rigby body.

The Patriot ranks as the hottest .30-caliber shorty going and easily pushes a 180-grain bullet along at 3,184 fps. Building on the success of the Patriot, Lazzeroni has expanded his short magnum line to include the .243, 6.5mm, 7mm, .338, and .416 calibers. In terms of sheer velocity and performance, the Lazzeroni short magnums lead the pack."

The Lazzeroni Patriot not only existed, but was successfully being hunted with long before any Jamison patent application was filed. You would think that things could be invented only once? I always thought so. Someone is greatly confused. Perhaps the parties with standing can figure it out, before more people discover the super short magnums aren't so super.


Like I said before in my opinion Rick didn't come up with a new idea and I disagree with the court. But like I also said my opinion and a couple $$ will buy you a

quote:

Originally posted by ramrod340:
... Yes a MO court found in Ricks favor. Right or wrong it did. ...

A Court found OJ Innocent and that Coffee was too HOT when the klutz dumped it onto her own lap.

Soooo, it may not be right, but that is the way it goes.

quote:

A Court found OJ Innocent and that Coffee was too HOT when the klutz dumped it onto her own lap.

Soooo, it may not be right, but that is the way it goes.

that's a fact.

I've also wondered about this for a very long time. Do any of you remember the Hero Shots of 300Mag holding his 300WinMag in one hand, Jack Rabbits in the other and the desert in the background?

How is it those Rabbits didn't have HUGE Holes in them? FMJs? Barked them? Or maybe I just don't remember the Holes and they were there.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jerry Eden:
Dwight:

Every time I am Eugene, I come by your store. My mom likes to shop at Valley River, so it gives me a chance to look at some guns. You have a very nice shop, and I sure as hell wish I'd bought that Martini you had in 222 R.
_________________________________________________
Thanks. . . when was the last time you were in the store? The Martini was a loooong way back if I remember. Back when we were in the smaller store local. Lot's have changed since then. But ya, we get some pretty nice stuff in there at times.
Next time your in there, say hello.
Dennis

Here is a link to Jamisons patent. http://www.google.com/patents?...%20cartridge&f=false

My understanding is he didn`t patent a cartridge but roughly the best ratio of length to diameter in a cartridge or an "idea" in designing a cartridge. He didn`t design beer or the shape of the bottle, but an idea on how high and wide the bottle should be. He admits in his patent he studied other cartridges by Ackley, Mashburn, Palmisano, and Pindell.
He offered USRAC and Olin his line of cartridges that followed the ratio and also had pressure tested loads already developed that were entirely built on Jamisons own dime. They turned him down and used his cartridges anyway.
Winchester could have designed their own round with a slight difference in the length/diameter ratio and been home free but choose not to.
I don`t blame Rick one bit for sueing

John Ricco...9x23. Very familiar story.

I wonder what these corporate lawyers do? research? obviously not

Every one makes sport of the lady that spilled
the hot coffee. They neglect to say that she
required reconstructive surgery, OUCH!
We never get the full story.
Take care!

quote:

Originally posted by hawkins:
Every one makes sport of the lady that spilled
the hot coffee. They neglect to say that she
required reconstructive surgery, OUCH!
We never get the full story.
Take care!

True but as I recall, the way in which she spilled it was paticularly stupid.

quote:

True but as I recall, the way in which she spilled it was paticularly stupid.

Doesn't everyone stick a cup of HOT coffee between their legs? I'm surprised they havn't added do not use finger to stir.

quote:

Originally posted by Ol` Joe:
Here is a link to Jamisons patent. http://www.google.com/patents?...%20cartridge&f=false

My understanding is he didn`t patent a cartridge but roughly the best ratio of length to diameter in a cartridge or an "idea" in designing a cartridge. He didn`t design beer or the shape of the bottle, but an idea on how high and wide the bottle should be. He admits in his patent he studied other cartridges by Ackley, Mashburn, Palmisano, and Pindell.
He offered USRAC and Olin his line of cartridges that followed the ratio and also had pressure tested loads already developed that were entirely built on Jamisons own dime. They turned him down and used his cartridges anyway.
Winchester could have designed their own round with a slight difference in the length/diameter ratio and been home free but choose not to.
I don`t blame Rick one bit for sueing

That is essentially correct. It is my understanding that a "settlement" was reached. Thus the court did not rule. I could be wrong but that's what I understand, please correct me if so. The law suit was that the corporations had violated the patent. I don't think the court would have ruled on the validity of the patent, only whether or not it was violated.

I also understand that Rick was contracted by Winchester to develop the cartridges which he did. They at first did nothing with them so he then patented the "idea" of the short magnum. Winchester then announced the WSM line and ignored Rick's patents. I think he did the right thing. Sad to say the blacklisted him but I'll bet he expected that and laughed all the way to the bank.

I do hope he is published again in the future as I too enjoyed his writings.

Larry Gibson

The fact that he was blacklisted in the first place tells me that the gun editors are incompetent cowards. As for Winchester, down here our word for their behavior is 'chickenshit'.
Regards, Joe

quote:

Originally posted by hawkins:
Every one makes sport of the lady that spilled
the hot coffee. They neglect to say that she
required reconstructive surgery, OUCH!

We don't hear about the folks she could have killed nor the wreaks she could have perpetrated while exercising her American right to be totally stupid and expect someone else to pay the tarriff.

Dwight: Last time I was in your shop, was June of 09. The Martini, was when you guys were in the smaller shop. If you remember, and I know it's kinda difficult, you had a Model 21 Winchester 12gauge, and my son Geoff darn near bought it. He didn't, because his Winchester guru, couldn't give his blessing, without looking at the shotgun. That was 5 years ago last March, we were up there for my mom's 80th B'day. See you next time.

Jerry

quote:

A lifetime's work and contributions to an industry all for naught.

Weeelll, maybe not quite for 'naught'?

Most folks work to make a living. If the numbers floating around are even close, ol' Rick can work for fun/free now and still take pretty good care of his family.

I suspect if WW's lawyers had even attempted to make things right Rick would have taken less and not gone all out in court.

The clumsy old gal that parboiled her own twat by pouring McD's coffee over it shouldn't have needed "reconstructive" surgery, burn blisters generally heal without a lot of help, IF they are kept clean.

quote:

Originally posted by Jerry Eden:
Dwight: Last time I was in your shop, was June of 09. The Martini, was when you guys were in the smaller shop. If you remember, and I know it's kinda difficult, you had a Model 21 Winchester 12gauge, and my son Geoff darn near bought it. He didn't, because his Winchester guru, couldn't give his blessing, without looking at the shotgun. That was 5 years ago last March, we were up there for my mom's 80th B'day. See you next time.

Jerry

Sounds good Jim, looking forward to it. Met one of the other AR members here at the shop a while back: "Capoward", and we went shooting a couple of "Michael 458s" rifles that he sent me to try out; had a great time.

Cheers! Dennis