I had the priviledge of hunting deer with Jerry Fisher this week at a private ranch in the Roundup, MT area. Jerry's rifle was sporting a new 4x Leupold with three dot reticle, but otherwise is the same 7mag, M-70 brld action in a Fisher stock that he has hunted with for decades. The checkering is worn almost flat and Jim said the large gouge in the stock above the floorplate was from a sheep hunt in B.C. Jim, Jerry's hunting buddy for some 35 years was shooting a custom M-70 in .270 and I had my Ruger sidelever .30-40.

Jerry shot this over-the-hill three point mulie.

Jim got a nice three point and I shot an old broken tine whitetail on the bank of the Musselshell River.

With all the class rifle options Jerry has before him, that 7mmRm must mean somethin special to him.
Speaking with Him in Reno,I was to go up to his place,but didnt . Please send him my regards next you speak with him (Gabe,Sydney Australia)

Looks like a great time hunting with good company and fine rifles.

I see you guys waited for a nice day so you wouldn't destroy those safe-queens.

SDH

Great short version. I hope that you somewhere recorded the whole story for posterity.

SDH,

Sounds likes a very memorable hunt.....Thanks for posting!

I love the dark horns on those mulies. I have got to get out West and chase them again!

Any word regarding future articles in Sports Afield on Custom Guns & Gun Makers? I sure hope you are moving forward in this area! I'd like to see at least one article per month and or some sort of indepth column... As 22WRF said this hunt may not be a bad place to start.

I remember an article a couple years back in I believe Outdoor Life(?) interviewing Mr. Fisher with a few pics of his shop in Big Timber as well as the rifles he makes. The author does mentioned his 'well used' 7mm Mag but, overal the article just seemed to gloss over Mr. Fisher & his work.

Regards,
Dave

Glad you guys like the pix, believe me, it was a memorable adventure!
You're right Forrest, it snowed the day after I got home, we'd never have taken those safe queens out in the snow.

Jerry's rifle really isn't much to look at and would never pass an editor's muster as a centerfold photo. The story would be about his hunts with the 7 mag. I'd love to write it but.....The first Custom Hunting Rifles column will be out in the Jan '07 issue of Sports Afield, unfortunately, it will be only 1200 words every other month rather than 2500 in every issue as I had hoped for.

A bit of judicious reader responce is the only thing that might influence the powers-that-be that larger, more frequent pieces are warrented. I've got about ten stories proposed, and ideas for many more.

That piece on Fisher was in Field & Stream I believe, and one of the more memorable quotes was when they asked him about the game he had killed with that rifle; sheep, elk whitetail, etc, "and a whole herd of mule deer," he replied.
And he lives in Bigfork, not Big Timber as the article stated.
SDH

Steve, what is that around the butt of Jerry's rifle? Almost looks like a part of an innertube.

I was wondering what that was on the butt too.

Section of inner tube he uses as a scope cover if I'm not mistaken.

I had a nice visit with Jerry just before he left for the mulie hunt when he was down my way chasing elk. Here's a couple more pics of the rifle if folks are interested:

Jay is probably right about the inner tube, I can't seem to remember!?!

SDH,

I'd really like to see you comparing all the custom single shot actions that are available.

Miller, Model 10, Hagn, and what ever else you can come up with.

Have you ever seen a Heeren action, the old Swiss design? I know a frenchie that makes rifles on that action, and I talked to his source in Germany but he told me he wouldn't sell one outside of Europe. Was kind of a asshole about it.

I completed an extensive story with photos of most available single shot actions for a magazine called Accurate Rifle - an offshoot of Precision Shooting. Unfortunately, they shut down a few years ago and left the story unpublished. I don't know any current magazine that would be interested, do you?
I have seen many Heeren action and rifles over the years, one of my hunting buddies has one by T. Bland (I believe a 7x57R) and Hartmann & Weiss (Hamburg) show them at SCI every once in a while. They don't do much for me, largely because they don't have much extraction power, and theat lower tang determines a grotesque pistol grip curve. Martin Hagn invented his action because of his dissatisfaction with the Heeren.

BTW I drew a mule deer buck tag for the unit Fisher shot that buck in!!!!
(Your photo didn't come up?)

Sounds like an article made to order for Rifle magazine, they'll need some more decent articles now that John Barsness is no longer writing for them. Personally I'd love to see it.

SDH, that wasn't at the Knapp's place on Horse Thief Creek Road was it?
Butch

Charlie, RIFLE doesn't seem to have much interest in technical, nor custom gun articles these days. I'll think about it?!?!
Butch, Nope different ranch.

Steve:

You're right there, looks like they prefer stories about shooting old military clunkers and shooting black powder. Nothing wrong with either but that doesn't exactly cover the whole spectrum alluded to in their name, does it?

JMHO, but since Scovill took over as editor, the magazine had headed on a rapidly increasing downslope. Looks like they're their own grave.
Paul B.

quote:

Originally posted by SDH:
I don't know any current magazine that would be interested, do you?

Steve,

Have you had a chat with anyone at the Double Gun & Single Shot Journal? I know their specialty is older rifles and guns. However I hope they would consider publishing an article such as yours.

- stu

Yes I have Stu, Mr. Cote doesn't deal with anyone associated with Shooting Sportsman, and was beyond rude in avoiding my query.
Thanks for the suggestion.
This is a really technical piece, I imagined it in two parts, with lots of photos, tough to place. Maybe I should give it to Gunmaker?

http://www.vapentidningen.se/

This Swedish magazine will very likely be interessted in an article about singleshot rifles.

They have manty kinds of weapons portrayed and it would be nice to see some pure article there about single shots.

http://www.jvv.dk/

Or this Danish magazine also,

Steven, Have you considered trying to get Precision Shooting to publish it? They publish a lot of articles about other types of rifles including single shots.
I for one would love to read it.....Ian

The Australian and New Zealand hunting magazines are pretty good too.

Originaly posted by SDH
[quote]"That's Jerry, Jim and me with our dead deer heads. Mine measured 18" outside just as a comparison to Fisher's monster. Was a great hunt and great experience."

Is there a way to differentiate between a "dead" deer head and a live one in those pictures?

Thanks for the suggestions, the editor of PS was the editor at the failed AR that returned it. I can't imagine any hunting mag would be interested because it is a very technical American rifle action only piece.
Jim, you and I have never understood each others sense of humor, have we? After all these years?!?!
Best,
Steve

SDH is right about feeble extraction with Heerens. Many decades back the long defunct Centre Firearms in NYC had a gorgeous matched pair of Heerens, .220 Swift and .30'06, by Glaser of Zurich. They were trusting enough to let me try them out. I had to kick the levers with my shoed foot to get the empties out. Wonder where they are today. If the current owner never shoots them, he will be happy - quite lovely, utterly useless.

quote:

Originally posted by Paul B:
JMHO, but since Scovill took over as editor, the magazine had headed on a rapidly increasing downslope. Paul B.

Paul - Generally I pretty much agree with your views. This is one place where yours and mine apparently vary. That is no criticism of you, for sure, just an observation.

I have one of every issue of both Rifle and Handloader ever published, all bought new when published. In my view the two best Editors Dave Wolfe or Mark Harris have ever had between them were/are the late Neal Knox and Dave Scovill. I won't comment on who I think was the poorest.

Anyway, the thing I like the most about Dave Scovill is he is not hung up on current fads. I dropped my subscription to another acclaimed "technical" rifle publication because it seems to uncritically end up bought into every quasi-technical fad that comes down the pike.

Dave's knowledge is also remarkably deep compared to most gun mag editors these days. He is the only editor I am aware of, for instance, who actually knows a lot about cast bullets, how, and why they work.

He is almost at the opposite pole of, say, Dave Petzal. Petzal seems to grab and throw about on his magzine's pages almost every trite, shallow, only partially correct, urban myth about shooting, rifles, or hunting. As a result, when my current subscription to F&S expires, it will not renew.

The only criticism I have of Dave Scovill's editing is his placement of ads on the same pages as articles which may positively mention or evaluate those items. All magazines seem to be doing that these days, apparently to keep the advertisers happy, but in the old days it was considered highly unethical.

Anyway, Rifle & Handloader are publications I will renew indefinitely, so long as they keep up at least the quality they have now. Some folks may not be interested in the things they cover, but I am.

I also have every issue of Rifle magazine and a goodly number of the Handloader; but not for long! Some of the crap that comes out along with the articles is so elementary it makes me want to throw down the thing. I originaly ordered those mags because of some technical articals written. Now all we get are comments from such as Trzoniec who post pictures of "...it has a very nice safety..."

Sorry Steve, didn't intend to hijack this. I owe you abeer at the Legacy bar in January.

No worries Jim, this post is ancient history and I'm always curious what folks think of the current gun magazines. I really can't voice a public opinion as it can be unhealthy for a writer to do so, but I certainly have one. I have written for most of the magazines mentioned.

Truth is, as much as some of us love techincal articles, out of mainstream topics, photos that show how things go together, and who think a fine rifle worthy of a story unto itself, few editors feel that way and if they have had any financial success with "their" magazine the publishers (who often know little or nothing of guns) give them free reign to present what they deam of interest. During economic slow times (such as we are experiencing currently) magazine subscriptions dry up, there is more competition for less editorial space and successful editors (make $ for the corp) have even more influence on what gets published and what doesn't.

I've often said, I don't write for readers, I write to please editors. If it doesn't get past the editor, the readers will never see it. Unfortunately, I think that's why the "two part, with extensive photos single shot rifle action story" will languish.

I'll take you up on that beer at the piano bar in Reno. I'll have a story to tell of this season's mule deer hunt!

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Kobe:
Some of the crap that comes out along with the articles is so elementary it makes me want to throw down the thing. ."

I understand your frustration with that, and I too wish there were more quality articles in ALL gun magazines. Unfortunately, editors have to publish what writers deliver, and there are danged few technically knowledgeable writers these days who seem capable of writing a blend which both the majority and the most knowledgeable of the readers can mutually enjoy.

One of these days maybe the publishing world will be perfect, but I ain't holding my breath waiting for that day.