Page Two of this thread.

I still have not gotten my eyes on either
The Handloader Magazine Number 1, May-June 1966
or
The Handloader Magazine Number 13, May-June 1968
They are still missing from this thread.
I have the cover images from pdf, but not the articles.
ISS recalled another with JRB pictured on the cover?
It is not #1 or #13.


I am now posting scans of the pdf I linked above to the classic book:
GUNS, May 1957
The excerpted article for book review purposes is presented below with some adjustments to brightness and contrast.
I never tried that before. Will see if it eases eye strain for legibility.
Book Review: It is a good book.
I have about 10 years of Guns classic PDFs to comb through for John R. Buhmiller mention, 1955-1966.
Stay tuned for additions.
I'll get to Handloader somehow, unless some kind soul has access and can beat me to it.

GUNS, May 1957

In the footsteps of Buhmiller, I have used a drill press and a bastard file to rebate some bullet bases.
Shades of the Bastard Bullet Works of Sam and Doc M!

In a more controlled lathe operation (or a custom bullet CNC run)
one might take off more uniformly about 10 to 15 grains of copper or brass to turn a .500-caliber bullet
into one with a .476-caliber heel. My filed ones are .475" to .477" in maximum diameters of the heel, with a file and a drill press.


John Bumiller made a .510-caliber/570-grainer into a 560-grainer with a heel of .487" diameter, IIRC, a lead-cored FMJ.

The length of the heel ought to be somewhere between 1/4"(minimum) to 1/2" long (maximum).
I'll aim for about .375" or 3/8" long.

Anyway, these crudities are good enough to start making some dummies by using 470 Capstick (2.85") and .458 WinMag (2.5") brass.
The only dies needed so far are 470 Capstick.














The 500-grain copper FN solid prototype has C.O.L. of 3.785".
The 400-grain brass HP soft prototype has C.O.L. of 3.758".



The CEB plastic tips can be loaded single-shot style on the long brass case, in a CZ 550 Magnum.
To run them through the magazine of a CZ 550 Magnum I can use the 2.5" brass case.
Now to see if I can get six of them into the box magazine, and see if they feed:

The .500 Buhmiller-Berry (above): 5 of them fit in the box of a CZ 550 Magnum, can close the bolt with a sixth round in the chamber.

A non-ribbed box of 3.8" inside length like on the standard .458 WinMag is needed, with the feed ramp on the .458 WinMag needing to be re-shaped for feeding of the longest and bluntest FN solids, though the shorter pointy loads feed well as is.
The 404 Jeffery CZ seems perfect as is, 5 + 1 and feeds well, just like with the 404 Jeffery.
But that bolt face might be a little loose, will see.
Switching bolts with rebarreling is of course a distinct possibility.
Several of my .338 Wildcats seem to be slick for this too, but would definitely need the bolt face switch.

GUNS magazine started having an "Annual Safari Issue" in January, starting with January 1963.
John Buhmiller did not make the cover of the January 1966 issue, but there's an article written by Uncle John:
"Tips for Safari-Bound Hunters" by John R. Buhmiller.

Excerpt for another book review, see below. Book Review: Good book.

The cover photo is of Ed Frecker of Columbus, Ohio, Tanganyika gun bearer, and buffalo.
Both Ed and Silent are carrying .458 WinMag Winchester M70's.
(The image is reversed, right-to-left "flopped." See little box on table of contents page.)

The above article started off like a general how-to-safari primer. But it quickly devolved into a "guns and calibers" talk, of course.
You can take Uncle John out of the barrels, but you can't take the barrels out of Uncle John.

The period from 1955 through 1965 is reflected in this talk. Uncle John said:
"One year I used a wildcat made by using the Kynoch .470 solids loaded into Norma .300 Magnum cylindrical brass -- by the way, this is a natural for this brass, which is merely necked down a trifle to hold the bullet tight. This gun was very good on elephant, which is particularly susceptible to a lung or shoulder shot from a large caliber. I had another wildcat using the .500 Nitro Express 570 grain bullet, but the .470 proved sufficient."

Sufficient? What does that have to do with anything? We know Uncle John just liked making barrels and new wildcats.
The wildcat is not a means to sufficiency. The wildcat is a means to a more-than-sufficient end in itself!

So in African exercise of his pet wildcats, Uncle John waffled from .458 caliber to .475 and on up to .510 caliber, and then back down to .423 caliber.
He even did a 6.5mm/300 H&H Improved amongst these, for plinking at home in Montana.

He was not the first or last on some of these wildcats, but on balance he did more than anyone else in a broader spectrum of ballistic machine building plus field testing.

Charlie O'Neil, the O.K.H. wildcatter (aided and abetted by Elmer Keith and Don Hopkins) was active with a spread from .250 O'Neil (.257/30 Newton) in the 1930's to .424 .O.K.H and .475 O.K.H. in the early 1950's.
They had the .285 O.K.H. (7mm/30-06) before it got renamed the 280 Remington. Ditto the .333 O.K.H. Belted (2.5") before the .338 WinMag.

But that was amongst three amigos starting up about the same time as Uncle John was developing fame as a magic barrel maker,
and tinkering with wildcats all by his lonesome.

So the 470 Capstick was thoroughly tested by O.K.H. and Buhmiller, long before Art Alphin renamed it.

By everything seen here of the last 20 years of his life, based on his comments from 1955 to 1975, Uncle John probably would have recommended any of the .458's for practicality, from Watts to Lott.

At age 82, if he had made it back to Africa one more time,
I think he would have carried his thoroughly proven .450 Buhmiller Magnum,
and it would have fired 6 or 7 shots before requiring reloading of the magazine.
But he would have had another of his more exotic wildcats along for a lark in Africa, no doubt.


There is a factory or proprietary cartridge for just about all the niches now, thanks to the pioneers.
We have useful SAAMI and CIP cartridges galore.
There is just one yawning gap in the lineup.
That is a .500 based on the .375 H&H, with a rebated-base bullet,
that will fire 6 times before reloading,
in a handy sporting rifle.

A toast to Uncle John:
He shot straight AND he shot often.

I am still looking through the newly acquired CD-ROM's of Handloader, only first 3 years so far:

Number 1 "Vol. 1 - No.1" issue, May-June 1966:
"Africa: My Favorite Loads" starts on page 34.
Not much of note from the foregoing postings except this photo, with caption, of a young John R. Buhmiller in 1937, age 44 or 45 years:



After that they banned the use of bullpups?
And the Buhmiller barrel-making business took off ...

Number 13 "Vol. 3 - No.3" issue, May-June 1968:
"That Big .458" starts on page 30.
Pretty good quality photo of John R. Buhmiller at the mill "several years" before 1968.

In the April 1963 issue of GUNS magazine, on page 9, there was that one paragraph notice, already posted previously:

"Buhmiller Barrels
John Buhmiller, the barrel maker from Kalispell, Montana, was bitten by the Africa bug some years ago. John tells us that he jas just about cleaned out his barrel making shop and that he does not accept any more orders for custom jobs. Last we heard from him, he did have some barrels left that were sold on the first come, first served basis."



If that photo above was about 1965, he would have been about 72 years old, 10 years after his first of many African safaris.
Maybe working on another of his wildcat rifles, or building a 600 Nitro Express on his patented single-shot action?
He still looks mighty fit, safari life and work were good to him.

An internet source claims that a Mr. Hall Sharon, a machinist and gunsmith from California, moved to Montana,
where he "purchased the gunsmithing and barrel making business of John Buhmiller in Kalispell, Montana in 1970."
The rest, as they say, is history. Uncle John went downhill pretty fast after that.

By 1973, age 80 y.o., Uncle John was suffering from Africa Withdrawal Syndrome, the dreaded AWS:



He knew he needed another trip to Africa for a sip from the fountain of youth.
I wish he could have made it one more time.

RIP

I had about half of the GUN DIGEST ANNUAL's in hard copy.
Now I have 1944-2015 on CD-ROM also.

They had a stuttering start:
1944 FIRST ANNUAL EDITION
1945-1946 2nd ANNUAL EDITION (lot of repetition of previous year)
1947-1948 3rd ANNUAL EDITION
1949-1950 4th ANNUAL EDITION
1951 Fifth Edition: John T. Amber became The Editor and things got truly ANNUAL, and mo' better by 1951 ...
A veritable treasure trove.

1949-1950 4th ed. opens with first article starting on page 4 entitled "Rifle Roundup" by Dick Simmons.
Top of the first page of that article has a picture of a Bull Pup rifle.
At bottom of that first page is this:

"FOOTNOTE: J. R. Buhmiller, famous barrel maker of Eureka, Montana writes:"

"I made the first Bull Pup rifle in 1937 for personal use as a 1000 yard Wimbledon match gun. It had a 30-inch barrel, which was about 1-1/8 inches in diameter at the muzzle, and that ought to be enough to explain its good shooting qualities, as a heavy barrel will outshoot a lighter one, other things being equal. It was chambered for the 300 H & H Magnum cartridge. With it I won the Montana Wimbledon in 1937 and 1938. In another shooter's hands, this gun won the Northwest Wimbledon, and also second place, in 1938. In the hands of Tom Krall of Missoula it scored 100 in the Wimbledon and 100 in the Herrick matches at Perry in 1937 -- 40 shots at 1000 yards."

(author Simmons continues in the footnote)

"Therefore, it has been amply demonstrated that the Bull Pup idea is sound for a 1000-yard target rifle. Its short but heavy weight barrel furnishes the shooter with a rifle that is easy to handle, yet very accurate. For those who specialize in shooting at vermin out of car windows, this is the handiest gun ever made. Such shooting is unlawful in most states, but out in the wide open spaces of the West, many riflemen still enjoy this type of shooting."

And on page 18 of this 4th ed., copyrighted 1948, for the 1949-1950 "Annual," there is a full page roundup/ad for "Weatherby Bolt Action Magnum Rifles:"

"220 Weatherby Rocket" ("built on a military Mauser action")

"257 Weatherby Magnum" ("Model 70 Winchester action")

"270 Magnum" (action not specified)

"Improved 300 H & H Magnum" ("commercial Mauser action").

Wow! Did not even mention the .375 Weatherby Magnum! Or would that have been an "Improved 375 H & H Magnum in 1949?"


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