Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ross Seyfried

Ross was also the first (that I recollect) to extol mono bullets like the Triple Shock and to state that they punched way above their weight.

He was of the "Elmer" school when it came to elk rifles, but later recanted and said that the proletarian 270/30/06 with good bullets was just as effective.

He was the first to tout the use of a laser rangefinder, before they were even available to the public. He used a three-foot long Swiss Wild optical rangefinder to shoot rocks for fun. John Burns got his start as a young man watching his neighboor, who happened to be Ross.

He was the last IPSC World Champ before the dot sights took over in open class, and before "The Great One" (Leatham) came onto the scene. He was also the last man to do so shooting from a Weaver stance.

He wrote that a few times he'd limited on doves with as many shells. Jeff Cooper used to comment that the average competent rifleman or pistolero usually couldn't hit a bull in the butt with a shotgun . Maybe so but not Ross.

Opinionated or not, few if any gunwriters have near his resume.

FWIW, Ross was one of my favorite writers, and when he left the mags he wrote for, I let my subscription lapse. I still pick one up occasionally on the news stands, but a lot of what I subscribed for went away with Ross.

As to his being opinionated, who among us with a real wealth of experience DOESN'T get opinionated after a while? His opinions weren't based on just an occsional kill, either, but on a pattern of performance over time. This is one thing among the many that made his writing valuable to those of us who still prefer Truth over style. He was the real deal, no matter how you measured him. He just wasn't PC and had no intentions of EVER being so. This too endeared him to me, personally, but that's not so much related to shooting or hunting as to his personal ethics, and he valued Truth above all else, and had little patience about "opinion," and had little patience with it. Some today call that a fault. I like it. This country worked better when more people were like that, but that's a whole 'nother thread, I guess.

I too wish him well, and I suspect that while I'm sure he hated leaving the west, because it was "home" to him, and the land of the big elk, but so much of the wsst is now owned by the US Gov't that may have had a part in his decision, at least possibly. I think I could see that in his overall outlook, but that's just a projection. All I know for sure is that I miss him, and I for one think we are diminished by his absence in print. My 2 cents' worth, anyway.

Ross wrote one time about, "The poor man's Linebaugh" although I forget the title of the article. He said that for those who could not afford a Linebaugh gun, get a Ruger BlackHawk Bisley .45 Colt with 5.5" barrel and load for it. He said, again IIRC, you could go to Linebaugh's web site and get Ruger friendly pressure tested loads. I did find a 5.5" Bisley at a gun show and they sure are hell for stout. It feels a lot heavier than my 7.5" Bisley .44 Mag.
Paul B.

fwiw & imho,
Nice to see some professional courtesy extended where y'all don't sling dirt on one another on the internet... In person maybe. The internet? I would not have expected that of you in a month of Sundays. Even our idols have feet made of clay...

Have heard a few behind the scenes stories, humorous more than sour grapes, ill will, or whatever, on a sacred cow or two but would bet the ranch it will not wind up here in a gun writer fess up...

Regards, Matt.

I did too after reading that article. Found a 5.5" SS Bisley and they are stout.

Yep, it's been a well kept secret about how much gun writers actually get paid. Not only from writing but endorsements as well. Good gun writers are compensated better than stars in the NFL.

This.

Dink

The rest of the story...

Sharpnel

Don't we all wish.

I recall that article, which IIRC was around 2000. Don't remember in what magazine. Interestingly, John Linebaugh tells a good story about driving to Seyfried's house to demonstrate his "heavy" 45 Colt loads, and Seyfried's skepticism. It might still be up on John's website.

As for Ross being "first" with the big flat meplat, I'm not sure if he truly was first, or just first to write about it. Veral Smith and John Linebaugh, among others, were working with such matters a looooong time ago.

This is a major feather in Ross' cap, IMHO. Not taking anything away from Leatham, mind you.



I don't know many guys who are world class with all of them. Our own ltppowell is one, I know... man can he hit doves!

No question that Seyfried's shooting resume was/is superb.

Veral Smith and Ross Seyfried contributed to the Cast bullets Association magazine, The Fouling Shot in the 1980's. They wrote several informative articles on cast bullets.
Seyfried probably wrote the first mainstream media article about LBT bullets for the September 1988 issue of Guns and Ammo titled "The Best New Handgun Bullet Design." A very informative article.

Another good article was "Rifle Handgun Combo for the '80's" in the August '87' issue of Guns and Ammo. This one about the interesting possibilities of the high pressure .32 H&R Magnum cartridge in the Ruger No. 3 and the SSX Bisley. 115-grain cast bullets at 2,000 fps from rifle.

I have never met Ross Seyfried but in print he is able to write interesting articles which occasionally, separate me from modest amounts of money.

Completely false statement. I remember that article and Ross said nothing of the sort.