Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Robert Gradous

Just read a post on Snipershide that Robert passed away......

RIP Robert

RIP Robert

please inform on what happened someone when you hear..horrible news and just shows you never know when your time will come..tremendous loss for his family and friends.his talent in gunsmithing was phenominal but not of importance in this context..

RIP, prayers for his family.

interesting..so few comments on his passing..no matter your opinion on issues that he had with his buisness a few years ago from what i understand he tried and made good on many of his backlog and communication lapses.granted buisness is buisness and i understand that.i do not worship at the altar of any gunsmith.all i know is human beings are human.they can have issues and maybe not handle things as well as others.his skills as a riflesmith were as good as any and better than most and he was humble.i remember the beating he took on this forum.i learned long ago not to judge until you walk in others shoes.i just wish others would express some comment on a decent persons passing.but alot wont.very sad.

sloone,

I ran across another thread on this forum that had more traction. Mid-summer gets kind of slow around here too so I'd take the lack of response with a grain of salt.

I'm glad Robert is finally at peace. And condolences to his family.

He had been very depressed for a good while. Over the last few months he was non-communicative with my other gunsmith buddies. He was in a very dark place and couldn't dig himself out of that hole. He took his own life per a friend of his.

thanks s kane and godogs.i lived with severe depression for a few years many years ago.it manifests in many different ways in different people..you cannot fully explain it as it is not just about feeling sadness.to much to try and explain in this brief text..medicine saved my life.i would not been able to continue with it and would not of survived my battle without the life saving meds.there are those who try many different meds and still suffer so deeply.he built a rifle for a close friend years ago.phenominal it was and is..god rest his soul..just horrible to the core.

Very sad to read this thread, even more so to hear a result of self harm. I never met him but sure enjoyed many a build threads on the Hide and enjoyed the heck out of a couple 2nd hand rifles he built. He could certainly build an accurate rifle for sure.

Any link to an obit?

DF

that is too bad. I did not know him or even have any of his work, but a good man has passed and he shared a lot of interests with us.

Never met him or even commissioned him. But a very sad story indeed. It’s amazing how the most talented often have demons that haunt them

Prayers for Robert. May God be with him. This is terribly tragic, especially for his family members.

Please if you know anyone suffering with depression, take it upon yourself to make sure they get treatment.

RIP Robert

There are a number of posts on this forum referring to the crap Campfire members dumped on him. I was not familiar with that aspect. What was the deal there?

Know one of the contributing factors to his depression was a $2500 monthly rental on his CNC outfit. He was in a vicious cycle of being so depressed he couldn’t work, much less communicate with others. No work——->$2500 a month due before other expenses...it just put the hole he had dug for himself deeper and deeper each month.

What a crying shame.

$2500 a month on a rental could cause some stress.it certainly wasnt a big contributor with this i dont believe.clinical severe depressionlike roberts is a severe chemical imbalance which can only be helped primarily thru medication.dont know all the issues he had with trying to overcome his battle.this illness can show a myriad of symptoms with different people.he obviously was getting no relief for years.been there and thru it and you cant explain it if you never experienced it.life altering and devastating and dibilitating is a understatement.

$2500 a month on a rental could cause some stress.it certainly wasnt a big contributor with this i dont believe.clinical severe depressionlike roberts is a severe chemical imbalance which can only be helped primarily thru medication.dont know all the issues he had with trying to overcome his battle.this illness can show a myriad of symptoms with different people.he obviously was getting no relief for years.been there and thru it and you cant explain it if you never experienced it.life altering and devastating and dibilitating is a understatement.

He was a very close friend. We always kept in touch after I attended his gunsmith class. We use to kid with each other how boring the two rifles that he built me. Money was not an object when they were built. Robert spent more time than usual on these two rifles and later admitted these were the most accurate rifles that he had ever built.

Would love to share some pictures but will need some help from a member

Can you text?

I couldn't find an obit, no family info, etc.

You'd think a man of his accomplishments would have more said about him than what I'm seeing.

DF

My memory was that he disappeared for an extended period of time and lots of people that had sent him money and parts were left wondering

I believe when he resurfaced, that’s when he hired the guy to help him manage customer service

I never met him nor have I seen much less shot one of his rifles but it sure seemed like he could build a good one. Hate to hear he had demons he couldn’t overcome