The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Big Bores Where are they now?Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I don't post much these days but was going through some old gun notes I had pre-internet( back when you had to really investigate to get info on bigbores to wildcat- collecting books, calling numbers in old magazines, attending shows etc) Just recalling some of the bigbore developers of the last 30 years that influenced my own bigbore interest and wondered which of these are living and if so what they are doing now? Ross Seyfried, the guy who started it all in bolt action ultrbores. Col Art Alphin, sometimes maligned later on, but wrote a great book and did a lot for bigbore developement in his times. JD Jones, is he still running SSK? Lazzeroni Ken Waters Shorb the October muzzleloader guy Others? Ive omitted a lot of the wildcatters here who I am assuming are still kicking  | ||
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Well, I'm pretty sure I read that Ken Waters died recently. | |||
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JD is still running SSK. George  | |||
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Ross Seyfried was last spotted at Double Gun And Single Shot Journal. Legendary "World Class" he is. He was smart enough to leave his native Colorado, gone to the potheads as it is, despite his ancestors being pioneers there. Those ancestors and relations must have haunted him into selling out of the Oregon ranch, Elk Song. He apparently likes his privacy nowadays. Rumors have placed his whereabouts in Oklahoma and even Kentucky. I don't know, where he is, but he writes a great piece whenever he wants to. A 2017 DGJ piece, a blurry copy of some advertising on their website:   Rip ... | |||
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I forget the date, but Ken Waters did pass away several months ago. He was one of the few that I actually believed what he wrote. He dealt with barrel maker CP Donnelly to have some work done and CP was very impressed because Mr Waters insisted on paying for the work that was done. Other "authors" would want CP to do something and expect that by mentioning CP's name in their article, that paid the bill. Mr Waters' method and the Powley Computer are still my go to sources when developing a load. | |||
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Great update thanks Ron. Also sad to hear about Waters Ray At least JD is still kicking anyway. | |||
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Karl, Ross may be back in Lagrande, Oregon too. He is hard to track. If anyone spots him somewhere, please do let us know. If I could ask him one question, it would be "How do you REALLY feel about the .458 Winchester?" Hopefully he is not a drooling, shellshock case from all the recoil he has absorbed. Bouncing handcannons off your noggin can get tedious. Rip ... | |||
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How about Neal Shirley? http://www.custombrassandbullets.com has been down for over a year and I haven’t seen any references to Neal in quite some time. Talk about customer service, he used to call every now and then and ask how I liked my rifle and he’d leave messages whenever they got any new .550 bullets in. It’s been years since his last call, but that left quite an impression, even if it was just good salesmanship.  | |||
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Yes I'd be interested to know as well Ron. I was thinking the other day about the first 585 owners here inspired by his calibre. I had my version in about 2000, the former members Rune Bakke( norway), Joakim Grahn( Sweden) I think already had theirs running by then, Paul Carter(Australia) built his a year or so later. Brad Rolston the African hunt guy had his version too. | |||
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Well I just found out what happened to Art Alphin, he died in 2014. A-square were a pretty big deal for a decade or so, back before the internet in particular, also they were a voting member of SAAMI. Can't recall the story of how it went wrong for them in the end. | |||
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Hello Karl, Where did you find that Art Alphin died? I found this article that would show that he was still alive in 2015, and still going. His Facebook page is still active. " ... In 2011, this all came to a screeching halt. Col. Alphin’s beloved, Elaine Marie Alphin, an award winning author of children’s books, suffered a hemorrhagic stroke .... After her passage (August, 2014), Alphin had his own health problems which resulted in a pacemaker and some one year of intensive treatments. Alphin is now back in condition for active duty and he embarks on a third career of Firearms, Ammunition and Ballistics Expert. ..." " .... you never pay too much for something, you only buy it too early .... " How to Hunt Wisconsin Whitetail Deer with a Cannon How to Hunt Feral Cats with a Mortar | |||
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Art Alphin has been moving around too. Still active in 2018 as a "firearms and ballistics expert for hire." https://arthuralphin.com/curriculum-vitae/ A-Square got started in Kentucky, oddly enough. I heard Art was in South Dakota a while back. Seems to be in Bozeman, Montana now. Ross Seyfried was writing up the .585 Nyati in GUNS & AMMO/December 1991. He must have started on it about 1989? The 577 Tyrannosaur was reportedly designed in 1993 by Art Alphin, just another copycat, eh? But what a name for a cartridge! Art won that beauty contest! And he put together one great book, ANY SHOT YOU WANT. Art's CV troubles me a bit because he claims a BS from West Point, class of 1970, in "Weapons Systems Engineering" or some such nonsense. "Bachelor of Science: Weapons Systems Engineering, US Military Academy, West Point, 1970 *Concentration on the stabilization of projectiles in free flight and the design of automatic function small arms" Yep, I think his BS is BS. IMHO, West Point did not offer such specialization in education in 1970. They offered a "BS from West Point" no majors or minors, when I was there from 1972-1973. Other service academies offered majors, West Point might do so now, but I doubt any institution in the world could do "weapons systems engineering" as a 4-year BS, especially on a "Plebe to Firstie Track." The Army would let graduates go on to advanced training for extra Active Duty commitment, if they did not get fragged in their first four years of AD. Rip ... | |||
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I always enjoyed Ross Seyfried's articles. Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
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Thanks for the correction , just realised where I erred. Bizarrely a search on google for "Col Art Alphin" shows his wiki preview on the right with his wifes name at the top( which I missed) his picture, his blurb, and his wifes date of death! | |||
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Sounds like he had a case of the old pre-internet embellishment then, it will get you everytime. Just checked my old emails, was in contact with Alphin last in 2010. I was looking to get a hannibal with customisations but then it came to a halt, it must have been when A-square was folding or transferring. Have to agree about the 577 tyrannosaur and Any shot you want too. That book was a good resource or at least primer for bigbore fever back in the day. And I didn't know you were a west point graduate Ron, a man of many parts. | |||
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John Shorb sold October Country some years ago and retired to Morro Bay, California. He and his wife Linda had Powderhorns and More and sold it to a retired Army vetern, Gerry Messmer, in 2014. Ross Seyfried is probably my favorite gunwriter, as he writes with such passion about so many wonderfully obscure firearms. Chick Donnelly of Siskiyou Barrel Works in Applegate, Oregon, died of prostate cancer several years ago. I loved spending time in his shop. I have been to his grave. There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t. – John Green, author | |||
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Karl! Please get unconfused! I am a West Point dropout! I went there as a 17 y.o. plebe in July 1972 on a Presidential Appointment from Richard Nixon, rubberstamped because my Pop was a USAF retiree and I scored high on the PSAT/NMSQT. It was a free ride that was not free.  Petreus and McCrystal were one year ahead of me. They loved The Army, I did not! The institution failed to housebreak me. I had a 3.5 GPA and was one of only two plebes to make varsity cross-country and track. If I had not been allowed to eat at the varsity training table, instead of "square meals" like the rest of the plebes, I would not have lasted as long as I did. When it came down from Tricky Dick that we were just going to quit Viet Nam, tying half our hands and brains behind our backs, I decided it was time to fly the Army coop, for the USAF, to get above it all. The USAF did not hold West Point against me. I have "Honorable Discharges" from both the USA and USAF. Rip ... | |||
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Best cartridge name of all time goes to Art Alphin's .577 Tyrannosaur. Naming of Hannibal rifle also suits its styling, like a fence post.  Rip ... | |||
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Saeed has one of those and lots of 'testers". Nearly all end up in a pose quite similar to this one. George "Gun Control is NOT about Guns' "It's about Control!!" Join the NRA today!" LM: NRA, DAV, George L. Dwight | |||
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No harm then Ron, I didn't like the army much either, it just took 13 years for me to do something about it I remember Mcrystal not being too popular in Afghanistan when I was contracting there. Nothing to do with his operational ability, but he tried to close all the coffee and clothes shops on the big bases as he felt they were polluting soldiers operational capabilities. It was taken less well than a years worth of bombings. I think they used to call him 'The Pope'. He was probably right of course. And back on subject, the stock on the Hannibal is one reason I couldn't pull the trigger on one so to speak earlier in the 2000's. | |||
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I couldn't agree more. Mr Seyfried was one of my absolute favorites! His articles on the Linebaugh handguns and the 4 & 8 bore really stuck out to me. The only downside is he seemed to not be fond of the .458 Win Mag, which was the first big bore I fired and have loved ever since. If I'm wrong about that, please correct me. Either way he is as much to blame as any author for my addiction to big bore rifles and handguns. It's a sickness I've learned to live with. | |||
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RIP, I must agree about the .577 Tyrannosaur name too. I just recently purchased a .585 HE from Mr Hubel, and while I feel I've definitely got the better cartridge, Art Alphin came up with the perfect name. There's nothing in the world wrong with the Hubel name but I'll bet even Grampa Ed would have liked to coin the name .577 T-Rex/Tyrannosaur!!!  | |||
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