Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Whatever happened to Jim Carmichael ?

Same here. I learned alot from both.

I operate the small recycle facility here in Juneau and had a fella come in a few years ago with a collection of Rifle magazine, from the first issue through 2006. The first thing I did was read the first issue cover to cover. Jim's article was on the back page, after that article, that was the first thing I read until he stoped writing for them. Great writer, and story teller.

I shot clays with him in 2009 at the Southern SxS. Good company.

Thanks for this priceless information fellows.

I have often wondered this very thing and now I know!

I think Jim is really a one of a kind guy. We are blessed to have had him during our time.

Jim is helping the widow of Terry Leonard in settling his estate. He was a premier BR stock maker. I was fortunate to purchase 4 of the stocks.

I think the last piece of his I read was in a Hodgdon Annual, all about him and a barrel of 4831. He used to shoot a lot of High Power matches I believe.

Good guy.

He never made the claim but he is also a very capable gunsmith and stockmaker. When I was a younger man, I would read an article and frequently, I would think, "This guy can't tell me anything". I realized, early on, this was not the case with Carmicheal and he can probably still tell me a lot I don't know. As I get older, I have come to realize, literally everyone knows something which I do not. I'm glad they take the time to write it down for me to read. I count myself among those wishing Carmicheal would write some more. GD

I loved his articles, I've used both the 338 and 280 because his information/use. I started handloading with the 280 in a Ruger 77..I bought 3 manuals, read them all first, then got one of the old LEE "hammer em in-hammer em out" load kits , ha. I did use a balance beam, scale and a LEE hand primer. It made exceptionally accurate ammo BTW! He also used a 4x scope on his 338. I wonder what he things about the big honking magnifier scopes many have gone to?

If I remember right he was/is a fan of the .220 Swift.

And the cHeetah too, no? I always thought he was a pretty fair replacement for Jack O'Conner in the magazine.

And the 6.5-08, I mean .260 Rem. He started the whole mess!

No, not really. Ken Waters developed what he called the .263 Express in the late 1950s. Same cartridge, different name.

I used to love reading his articles. He took a .280 to Africa and killed a bunch of plains game before it was in style. Used the 140 grain partition if I remember correctly.

Ron

I purchased a 22 Cheetah Mk II 9 years ago. It has a Ruger Mark II 243 action with a Remington 22-250 bull barrel. Trigger pull is 12 ounces. I learned a lot about this design reported to have been created by Jim Carmichael and Roy Huntington. Resizing 243 brass produced a lot of split necks. Thanks to following JB's advice in his books and articles, using Hornady brass and annealing....that problem went away! It is now a super accurate rifle with sub 1/2 accuracy. I only bought it because of its origin as I've been a fan of Carmichael since the mid 70's and JB since late 90's....plus its probably the only custom rifle I'll ever own. These guys give us a lot of useful info!

I was introduced to Jim Carmichel’s writing as a kid stuck at home on a sick day reading dad’s Outdoor Life, Field & Stream and Sports Afield. I was probably 10 or so, and was already a “gun kid”…and of the writers of the day, Carmichel in OL was the one that I searched for first. While his writing was accessible and enjoyable to a young me…the prose I am rediscovering still speaks to the aged, crusty me of today. Here’s a favorite sample;

How can a guy speak so eloquently about the genius of the creation of the bird dog, yet name his cartridge creations after cats? One of the mysteries of the man…

Jim's name is spelled Carmichel.

As I am constantly working on honing my standing as a curmudgeon, I have always gratefully looked to him for inspiration.

Because of the speed of the Cheetah and the cartridge

A cheetah is about half dog anyway.

So, it would seem that he is enjoying his life and retirement. Good for him!