My first trip to Africa was as much about rifles and cartridges as cape buffalo. Other game would fall, but cape buffalo inspired the big bores in my case. For sentimental reasons, my light rifle had to be a .375 H&H, so an old Mod 70 was re-barreled and stocked. The .416 Rem seemed a logical heavy (thanks Mr. Ross Seyfried), except for another gun writers infatuation with the .458 Lott. Champlin had a Ruger and delivered it with a heavier recoil pad and fine trigger. The gun writer again, NECG's EAW pivot mounts held a Leupold VXR. A wonderfully big bright picture at 1.25 power. Swift's ballistician responded to my call with fresh new data, 83 grains of R-15, and 500 grains at 2,200 fps. Two buffalo fell in Mozambique's Maromeu delta to the big Ruger. Big? Big enough to be a .500. The gun writer again. A reamer for the .495 A-Square and a few bucks later, I'm stuffing 570 grain A-Frames into big cases and planning another buffalo hunt. Thanks for the inspiration Mr. Terry Wieland.

I don't think you will find a lot of support for your choice of gun writer here on AR.

quote:

Mr. Ross Seyfried

Can't really top Ross as a writer and knowledgeable fellow in all things gun. Not to mention World Champion Pistol shooter.

quote:

Originally posted by Fury01:

quote:

Mr. Ross Seyfried

Can't really top Ross as a writer and knowledgeable fellow in all things gun. Not to mention World Champion Pistol shooter.

+1

Patrick,

I'm afraid I'm confused. Don't understand. I can agree that a .375 is an excellent choice for a light rifle. Carried one for several years as a light, but now carry a very light rifle since I found myself using the .416 for everything.

Ross is a good guy. He used to live about two hours west of me in Oregon. Now, I hear, that he is in Kentucky.

I would not put much stock in anyone except he or Craig Boddington told me.

Gun writers write for many reasons some good bad and other wise.

The most obvious is pushing a product advertised in the rag they are writing for.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Ross is a good guy. He lives about two hours west of me these days in Oregon.

I would not put much stock in anyone except he or Craig Boddington told me.

Rich,

Ross moved about two years ago after selling "Elk Song" ranch, he's now in Western Kentucky. Wish he hadn't moved, loved his place and valued his advice.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Gun writers write for many reasons some good bad and other wise.

The most obvious is pushing a product advertised in the rag they are writing for.

This is exactly why I like Boddington's older writings such as the original Safari Rifles. Now
CBs writings are designed around what he can sell for his sponsor. I treasure much of his old stuff and discard his newer works.
Cal

EH, thanks for the update on Ross. I had been curious where he moved after the sale. I visited him numerous times at the family ranch outside Roggen, CO before the move to Elk Song. I wonder why Kentucky??? as he is a westerner through and through, although it seldom comes out in his writings.

I began reading Rifle and Handloader about 20 years ago. Now I have half a dozen 45 colts. I've been shooting Mod 29's since the early '70's but the big colts are, for me, a better combination of weight and velocity. And, I have a phone relationship with that quality gentleman Hamilton Bowen all thanks to Seyfried. The Hollis 577/450 and nitro for black loading can also be blamed on Seyfried. A classic Mod 70 .416 Rem came after his two articles on his work in Africa carrying the .416. The Lott was directly inspired by a Wieland article in Rifle, and the .495 A-Square from his discussion of the cartridge in Any Shoot you Want.
I could go on. I thank these guys for the ride and the pleasure I've received from their writing and insight. And, Boddington's books are on the rack beside Taylor.

Elmer Keith and Bob Milek are the two gunwriters who has influenced me most. I still enjoy to pick up an ol´ G&A from the early 80s and read their articals.

sad to hear he moved east.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
sad to hear he moved east.

I feel your pain, ISS, but is it true that Ross Seyfried, most interesting living gunwriter in the world, is now a good 'ol boy in my neck of the woods?
Ross J. Seyfried age 64?
Salem, KY?

Terry Weiland is a complete tool. I am done reading anything he writes. I would love to be able to read Rifle and Handloader but I can't stand the thought of paying for a magazine that he writes for.

I liked Ross's writing. I never met him, and I don't know much about him.

Craig Boddington is a nice guy, he gets to live a wonderful life of hunting and guns mostly for free. His daughter Brittany is also a wonderful person. I would like to walk a mile in their moccasins.

Bob Milek and Elmer Keith were wonderful writers with great personalities. I have never met either one of them but my father was a under sheriff in Wyoming and knew Bob pretty well from pack-horse races and my father's work as an outfitter.

I treasure the recently released sound bites of Elmer Keith on safari. It is pretty rough language wise and not for mixed company but I think it sheds light on how he was.

RIP,

sad, but apparently true...

we are agreed on Terry Wieland BWW. I heard a great story about him at SCI a few years back. Don't know if it was true, but it should be. He was allegedly living with some fairly hot lady artist, who dumped him and his stuff out on the front yard of her place to take up with Geoff Miller when he was Rigby.

I sent Wolfe Pub. a letter when my subs elapsed telling them he was the reason I was not renewing. Never heard back from them...

The only vote we can do anymore, is with our pocketbooks.

Patrick Stoll, glad you have taken the writings as inspiration and fueled a dream with them.
That is truly what writing should do for us.
I don't put any real stock in many writers these days but try to take something from everything I read, like separating the wheat from the chaff.
Most of them have something positive to say and like I said I'm happy for you that you got fired up by their writings to get out and live your own adventure.

Bless them, Elmer and Ross;
They gave me the bigboritis virus.

RIP-Last word Ross was near Salem, KY.. Ed

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
RIP,

sad, but apparently true...

we are agreed on Terry Wieland BWW. I heard a great story about him at SCI a few years back. Don't know if it was true, but it should be. He was allegedly living with some fairly hot lady artist, who dumped him and his stuff out on the front yard of her place to take up with Geoff Miller when he was Rigby.

I sent Wolfe Pub. a letter when my subs elapsed telling them he was the reason I was not renewing. Never heard back from them...

The only vote we can do anymore, is with our pocketbooks.

I agree Rich,

Geoff Miller was also a complete tool. So she didn't really upgrade. Saying that I knew two Geoff Millers. The first one was running his company fairly well and treated me kindly when I showed up to get the tour.

2nd one confused me with someone else when I asked about doing a copy of Boddington's 8mm on a M70, and got asinine really quickly.

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Gun writers write for many reasons some good bad and other wise.

The most obvious is pushing a product advertised in the rag they are writing for.

This is exactly why I like Boddington's older writings such as the original Safari Rifles. Now
CBs writings are designed around what he can sell for his sponsor. I treasure much of his old stuff and discard his newer works.
Cal

I agree with Cal. CB's writings are too tainted for me toward whoever is paying him. I tend to listen to the PH's I have hunted with and Saeed. I use a .375 for nearly everything and actually shot a lion with a 9.3x64 without issue. I cannot speak to elephant.

I liked Doctari's book on buffalo hunting and his comments on rifle choices. I also liked Boddington first book on safari rifles as it was not tainted by sponsors.

I also think we "over think" rifles and bullets. Pick a .375 or .416 or .458 and shoot what you can shoot well.

I consider Ross a personal friend and one of the most knowledgable gun cranks in the world, also was PH in AFrica for a number of years with a great reputation..

Phil Shoemaker, who posts here is another personal friend and extremely knowledgable on guns and ammo, and a Master Alaskan Guide with the best reputation in the business...

Boddington has a vast amount of hunting and shooting experience and his books are destined to greatness.

In my day Jack O'Connor was the premier gun scribe and still is today, he was knowledgable on all he wrote, he was honest, and was the best rifle shot I have ever seen.

Elmer Keith was great reading and had a head full of knowledge, hunted a lot, but was over the top most of the time and downright unbelievable at times. I love reading his stuff however.

Today many good gun writers exist, but many lack any real experience in the hunting field. In todays world, getting that kind of experience as those named above is probably impossible or near impossible.

Just my assessment of your post for what its worth.

I, too, was wondering where Ross landed after selling Elk Song. Hard to imagine him choosing Kentucky, not that there is a thing wrong with it.
I agree he is one of the most inspiring gunwriters alive, and I am always thankful when I find his byline.

Two reasons that a lot of Westerners retire to The area between big river and the east coast.

1. Property values are dirt poor compared to our typical property values in the west.
So a guy can own a big spread in retirement.

2. Guys who live on the West Coast and suffer draconian gun laws can own pretty much anything they want in Arkansas, Missouri, East Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

For me the best at writing were Jack O'Connor and Warren Page. They are the only two writers whereby I would read a hunting story/article. Normally with a hunting story/article I quickly scan it and just look for guns and ammo details.

The other two I liked and from the guns/ammo/reloading point of view were Elmer Keith and Robert Hutton who were both at Guns and Ammo.

Also liked Bob Hagel articles.

John Barsness is supposed to be hunting Kentucky deer in the next county over from me about now.
He is the new kid on the block for me, another among the living to have recently reached Guru status.
New book by him, a reloading and trivia compendium: The Big Book of Gun Gack

Title says a lot: "Terry Wieland don't take yourself so seriously."





The Big Book of Gun Gack:

The Hunter’s Guide to Handloading Smokeless Rifle Cartridges

John Barsness
8x11, soft cover, 437 pages, $32.50 Order here or call Eileen @ 406-521-0273 or send the price of the book/s you want to order--US Media rate shipping is free--to her Paypal account: eileen@riflesandrecipes.com with your name and shipping address.) For our Canadian customers, this book is over 2 pounds so exceeds our usual estimate of $11 for shipping, costing $18 a copy instead. When you order, I will add that for you.
GGFrontCover

It may have started out as the Hunter’s Guide to Handloading Smokeless Rifle Cartridges, but it became so much more. Four hundred thirty-seven pages, in fact, of loads (yes), but also the people, the guns, the decisions that doom one cartridge to failure and another to rock star status. All in one place, finally, John on handloading. Who knew he had so many opinions?

On sorting brass for consistent neck thickness, for instance:
You may need to anneal case necks, even on new brass. Yet another difference between top-notch brass and common brass is consistent annealing. Not long ago my gunsmith friend Charlie Sisk called me on his smart phone, asking what could possibly be wrong with some 7mm Remington Magnum cases he’d purchased.

Charlie normally buys big batches of new brass, loads them once, then sells the fired brass, saving him time that’s more profitably used by actually making rifles, rather than resizing and trimming fired brass. But none of the 7mm Remington Magnum rifles he’d made shot worth a hoot with the new batch of brass, yet the necks were pretty darn uniform.

After we’d talked for a while, I came up with a SWAG (Scientific Wild-Assed Guess) and asked, “Have you tried annealing them?”

“I’ve never annealed any brass. Why would I?”

“Well, it might not have been annealed right at the factory, so bullet pull varies.”

After I described Fred Barker’s easy candle method of annealing, we hung up. (Well, we didn’t actually hang up, a term left over from land-line days.) A couple days later Charlie called again, saying he’d annealed a few cases and loaded them up. Loads that formerly shot 2-inch groups now went around ½ inch. So sorting brass for consistent neck thickness may not be enough.






Add to Cart




John and Eileen Welcome You to RiflesandRecipes.com

I bought a 4-bore and a 220 swift thanks to Ross and Bob Milek, so that speaks to how much I liked their writing.

Never cared for Terry W's stuff at all, and his latest article in RIFLE attempting to use the coriolis effect to explain projectile drift and the choice of RH vs LH rifling had me howling. Uhhh.....no.

Elmer was the first real gun writer I read a lot of. In fact I am sure I have read it all. I never found any of his stuff unbelievable. Treasured his story of a month in the Wrangle Mountains with his red setter. Inspiring to a young man who shared his love for the West and guns, shooting, hunting. I do find a lot of people nowadays narrow minded but liberally equipped in the vocal cavity in the current crop of writers, both formal and casual on the internet.

Bob, more than 30 years ago Milek convinced me I had to have a Contender with Leupold 2X EER on a 10-inch barrel in .30 Herrett. It was my first wildcat. He was a convincing writer.

Bodington is still a good ambasador for hunting, I think.
But, back in the day I enjoyied reading Francis Sell who talked about weight-forward gun balance and nice little cartridges like the 358 win. He snuck around in the woods alone and hunted deer mostly.

Keith's stories about the hunting here were a big part of me moving to Idaho back in 1978.
Jimmah Cahtah was the rest.

My .505 is the direct results of gunwriter's and authors. The rest pretty much made sense and I knew they would work. .375 came from African books too, before I really could afford Africa. It's nice when fantasy and reality interconnect eventually

Brian, welcome! Francis Sell lived near the tiny Oregon coastal town of Coquille. Our friend Alberta Canuck, who often used to post here, knew him.
I am having John Taylor of Taylor Machine in Washington build me a wildcat lever gun on an early Marlin 336 in .25-35 Tomcat, which Sell designed with help from his friends P.O. Ackley and Chick Donnelly of Siskiyou Barrel Works.

A couple of others I liked but they were books were:

Hatchers Notebook

Earl Naramore Principles and Practices of Reloading

PO Ackley and his two books.

Ross picked a good part of the country.
That area has good Whitetail genetics, access to great waterfowl hunting, reasonable weather, reasonable cost of living, and good neighbors to boot.
I've coon hunted and squirrel hunted around that part of the Kentucky a good bit and found there is a lot to like about it.

Ross's writing influenced me to find pleasures in unconventional and unusual arms through resurrection, rediscovery and tinkering.

Jack O'Connor and Bob Milek inspired me to think of ballistics in a different way.

Elmer Keith inspired me about the possibilities in life from humble beginnings.

Col. Cooper inspired me to burn through hundreds of thousands of rounds in my rifles in a never ending quest to be a better marksman.

Parker Ackley, Finn Aagaard,Charles Askins, Jr. , Craig Boddington, Bob Brister,Peter Capstick, Jeff Cooper, Paul Curtis,Sam Fadala, Julian Hatcher, Bill Jordan, Elmer Keith, Michael McIntosh, Bob Milek, George Nonte, Warren Page, Mike petrov, Dave Petzal, Jack O'Connor, Francis sell,Ross Seyfried, Skeeter Skelton, Pondoro Taylor, Bryce Towsley, Tom Turpin, Townsed Whelen, John Wooters , Wayne Van Zwoll

Funny, I can't find a Wieland listed in "The Best"

(Side note--I have had the privilege to meet and discuss with many of the above-- including the "excepted one")

quote:

Originally posted by Clan_Colla:
Parker Ackley, Finn Aagaard,Charles Askins, Jr. , Craig Boddington, Bob Brister,Peter Capstick, Jeff Cooper, Paul Curtis,Sam Fadala, Julian Hatcher, Bill Jordan, Elmer Keith, Michael McIntosh, Bob Milek, George Nonte, Warren Page, Mike petrov, Dave Petzal, Jack O'Connor, Francis sell,Ross Seyfried, Skeeter Skelton, Pondoro Taylor, Bryce Towsley, Tom Turpin, Townsed Whelen, John Wooters , Wayne Van Zwoll

Funny, I can't find a Wieland listed in "The Best"

(Side note--I have had the privilege to meet and discuss with many of the above-- including the "excepted one")

Nice list! I'd probably put Wayne Van Zwoll first, then Aagaaard, Warren Page and Bob Milek followed by Elmer Keith. That self important bastard that wrote about the 270 was a good writer, but I have heard multiple stories of how upper crust he thought he was and it has tainted the man for me forever. Roy Rogers was a movie star, and one of the biggest stars of all time and he treated people like a gentleman. Some folks just don't do that.

Agreed Wieland sucks!

quote:

I bought a 4-bore…..thanks to Ross and Bob Milek, so that speaks to how much I liked their writing.

That hurt…a lot.
Cal

I would not put Van Zwoll on a list personally

Fury,
Well Elmer, in his book, said he rode a bronc until he was bleeding out is ears and his nose, that's just BS, it doesn't happen.

He talked of his dad hammering his broken hand flat and tieing it to board, that's questionable.

Buying a Bison at a local sale, then dumping it at the City dump and killing it with his pistol stirred up quite a few of the locals around Salmon..

Lots of stuff like that I question his sanity, but like I said I loved reading it!

I don't have the books anymore, they were loaners but I think I remember both stories:
Fairly easy to bleed from Nose and Ears when one's head is being beaten from the inside with sudden impact or sudden stops. Elmer was deaf as stone, maybe he had ruptured ear drums and this was part of that? I had a mule buck me off once after what seemed like 10 minutes of bucking, probably 1 minute, but after he bucked the saddle blanket out the front of the saddle, I knew I could not be far behind with another inch of slack in the cinch to provide whiplash. I landed quite softly all things considered but the next day, I was black and blue from knees to crotch and sore as heck in my back / kidneys. I have also had Bronc's hit me in the head with their head leaving me wanting off and bleeding.

His hand was not hammered flat, it was slowly pressed back flat and tied to the board. My memory remembers him saying he passed out during that process. Said he could see the Joint fluid too as the fingers broke back over toward flat. Who knows what he actually saw, including Joint fluid but the scars all over his hands proves the point of the Fire that did the damage. He also says that it saved his hand and was glad it was done.
The Bison story is not too far afield for me to believe either but Bison cost too much nowadays. The ultimate High fence hunt...
I neither question his sanity. He was a rough and ready man of the last America who survived with his wits, wire and vigor. Nothing but admiration from my corner. A bit of envy too for Elmer's life, though my son envy's my youth I must say...
Maybe I am just the overlooking kind but I figure that Elmer and Bell etc. have the right to recollect their own lives better than I do from many years hence.
Best regards Sir,