Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Heimo vs. Remington Bob

Today, I decided to throw out a long term battle that happens up in Squarebanks that has existed as long as people have hunted with small bows and arrows vs. large spears. We have two older fellers that have developed very deep levels of experience and both are almost reticent to get going but once they getting going they really go. Both individuals never go online. Both individuals are not into chassis rifles or the 6.5 creedmoor. I believe that I know both of them and that they would let this discussion play out. Why I am writing it here is to see what people think and to understand some of the different notions held by two extremely reasonable individuals.

Heimo Korth is very famous. Not so much amongst a lot of readers of gun magazines but he makes enough money from being a reality television star to continue to fly out to his trapline on the Coleen river. He is able to fly back and forth much more often because his producers and film crew need to get their groceries. He comes through SW and gets his 22-250, 44Rem mag, 22lr and 12 gauge ammo and maybe socks. He has everything else that he could need so he doesn't buy much for stuff. He does buy fishing lures and fishing combos which seem to need replacing faster than other things.
Heimo does make it a point to go to the guncounter and discuss with the young guys who arguably don't know much about guns other than mbrs(black rifles-ar15clones) which they know some things about that all you need for the backcountry is a 22-250 with a reasonable scope. Heimo and his wife Edna take caribou, moose and bear with their rifles. They live in country where there are opportunities for good open shots and unless its a bear DLP situation where they use 12 gauge and 44 mag they really don't see the need for bigger rifles. They place the bullets right in the right spot from a pretty close range and will do a quick followup shot if necessary. They really are never trophy hunting but hunt for meat. Living in the high Arctic many times animals seem to go down quickly from hydrostatic shock. Much more than in more temperate areas. However, sometimes if the animal doesn't go down quickly its a real S*&^^Show. Heimo's experience seems to provide info for him that bullet placement is key and he uses almost force of violence putting as much lead into problem bears that might pose a threat.

Bob Bowman is an old retired bear guide/gunsmith who lives on an old homestead outside of Fairbanks. He is not very famous now but he used to be a decent gunsmith and worked as an advisor to Kimber of Oregon. He loves Pre-64 Winchesters and hates Remingtons of all sorts. He even will push out mossberg shotguns just in general principle. Because it bothers him many call Bob Remington Bob behind his back. Bob comes in daily and spends probably two to three hours looking at the same guns reading all of the magazines in the store without purchasing a thing. We once had a celebration when we convinced Bob to buy a Mora Companion knife for 12.00 because it was the only thing we ever saw him buy in 5 years of working part time at the store.

Bob is a very agreeable guy. He has bad eyes and very strongly believes that rust bluing rifles contributed to his loss of vision. Bob likes big 1886 Winchesters as well as Pre-64 Model 70s. His mantra is always functionality. A rifle has to be able to function in any situation. The Pre-64s had coned breeching that he felt made them accurate and a bolt that could be fixed in the fly. He believes that the 338 Win Mag and the 375 HH in Pre64 Model 70s were the best guns ever made and completely necessary for work in the backcountry. A strong proponent of Elmer Keith, Bob believes that good placement and functionality are pivotal. Bob hunted in more riparian environments where a moose or bear could be easily lost if its not dead right there. He doesn't use that language but talks of animals taking a "dirt nap" In Bob's environment its often very much a snap shot taken quickly and Bob believes that scopes bigger than 4X are worthless. Bob believes that if you don't develop the shooting ability to handle one of the bigger calibers that you probably shouldn't go out into the backcountry.

Bob has shot many Grizzly's at his old homestead, shot a lot of moose up different sloughs and figures that he guided north of 100 grizzly hunts. Bob likes old double rifles and Belgian shotguns. Bob supposedly has an incredible collection of Pre64 Winchesters and has deep insight into the different Model 70 dealers and the collectors from various areas. Bob also knows a tremendous amount about mauser rifles and european drillings. One of the funniest things to see is when you hand bob a Tikka Chassis rifle. He looks it over closely and visibly is nauseated. Bob is generally always in the store when Heimo comes in. They acknowledge each other for about 5 minutes and then go to war.

Bob tells Heimo that he will eventually get whats coming to him. Heimo tells Bob that he is a dimestore cowboy. They really like their adversarial relationship and I believe that Heimo comes in to the store not to really buy anything but to look for Bob to argue with. Bob I believe hangs around the store with hopes that Heimo will be coming through.

So in looking at this discussion, I really am looking for more of these types of campfire chatter. These are the debates that I feel were interesting growing up and they aren't as common now. I know I am throwing bombs. But realistically, I miss this type of discussion. I figure that it might be interesting to Gunwriters. I miss Phil's articles. He was always into these discussions. Of course, Phil pops up into this conversation. Probably more on the side of Heimo than on Bob. Just wondering if other folks have stories of long winded disagreements that never devolve into swearing, or name calling but can occupy more useful study than a lot of junk that goes into magazines today.

Sincerely,
Thomas