Nosler Founder Passes Away

Bend, Ore-October, 2010-At the age of 97, John Amos Nosler, the tall, stately and beloved founder of Nosler, Inc., passed away of natural causes at his home on October 10, 2010. He leaves a legacy that will be remembered, not only by his family, but by hunters and shooters around the world.

Born on April 4, 1913 in Brawley California, John was one of America's true success stories. He founded his bullet company in 1948, and was considered to be one of the great generational icons whose designs literally created the premium bullet category and influenced ammunition and bullet manufacturers worldwide.

After experiencing a bullet failure on the hide of a mud-caked bull moose, John began a pursuit of the product design that would become his life's work. Armed with perseverance, discipline and determination, he created a concept that was uniquely different-he called it the Partition bullet, because of the barrier that separated the bullet into two sections. One year later, John and a friend traveled back to British Columbia loaded with his new Partition bullets. The results were two moose with two shots, and the rest is history.

In recognition of his contribution to the shooting sports industry, John was the unanimous choice for the inaugural 2007 NRA Golden Bullseye Pioneer Award. The award was the highlight of a long and fruitful career. Even though he officially retired in 1988 when his son and daughter-in-law, Bob and Joan Nosler purchased the company, John still managed to come to the office on a daily basis. He always had a smile on his face, and enjoyed passing out candy to employees as he made his rounds in the plant. There was always a twinkle in his eye when talking about new ideas for products, new machinery, solving a problem and of course hunting. Only when his health started to decline did his visits become less frequent.

Today, John's son Bob Nosler still presides over the company as president and CEO. Other family officers include Bob's son John R. Nosler, who serves as the company's vice president and general manager, along with Bob's wife Joan who also serves as a vice president. Other family members in the business include John's granddaughters and their husbands, Jill (Nosler) Bailey and Jeff Bailey, and Christie (Nosler) Darcy and Mike Darcy.

John Nosler always envisioned his company to be a family business. Today, the second and third generations share the responsibilities for guiding the business and, while the fourth generation is still quite young, it is large enough that prospects for continued family ownership and management look very good.

In lieu of sending flowers, the Nosler family encourages a donation to the National Rifle Association Foundation-John A. Nosler Endowment.

Checks may be submitted to: (make sure John A. Nosler's name is in the Memo)
The NRA Foundation, Inc./ John A. Nosler Endowment
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030

Thank you for the news Vapo.

I think that a goodly percentage of people on this board have killed a lot of game animals, and vermin with Mr. Nosler's bullets.

As they say over in Precision Shooting magazine, "we are diminished".

IMHO, Nosler is the absolute best bullet manufacturer in the industry...at least they are my favorite.

quote:

Originally posted by scottfromdallas:
IMHO, Nosler is the absolute best bullet manufacturer in the industry...at least they are my favorite.

If we were to do without Mr. Nosler's ideas and Joyce Hornady's ideas, we'd be still in the stone age using a sling. Giants, both of them!

quote:

Originally posted by lawndart:

I think that a goodly percentage of people on this board have killed a lot of game animals, and vermin with Mr. Nosler's bullets.

Yep, I haven't hunted big game in many years, but I'm sure 90% plus of the game I killed fell to either a Partition or Ballistic Tip. I still use the BT's for varmint shooting.

Goodspeed, John.

A loss to all of the hunting world....he had a good life and made major contributions to our shooting and hunting. His partition bullets have long been a favorite of mine. Several years ago I had the pleasure of getting a tour of the Nosler plant in Bend, Oregon. What a treat that was.

I have a signed copy of his book for sale on my book list:

John Nosler, GOING BALLISTIC
John Nosler with Gary Lewis
Gary Lewis Outdoors, 1st edition, 2005
Signed and inscribed by both 50.00
shipping included in CONUS