Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Australia Nick Harvey

Tell me about the guy. Picked up a first edition of his reloading manual,at a used book store. Good stuff /bad stuff?

Nick Harvey has been around a hell of a long time and done a lot of shooting and hunting, in Aus and OS. He has written a number of books, loading manuals and untold magazine articles. He was a friend of a number of well known US hunters and attended trade shoots etc.

I think he may have been my first source for reloading information in 1980, and he is probably still fitter than me today.

Some of his early Reloading data was pretty hot and has toned down over the years. I have seen him but never met him. I think he has the constitution of a mountain goat given where he lives (Hill End NSW - an old and current gold mining district).

Don’t think you would get a better source of reloading data for general shooting in Aus, and for older nitro rifles and big bore you have Woodleigh and Graeme Wright for double rifles. We have it made together with Woodleigh and Bertram reloading components.

I live in the same area as Nick and chat to him at a few gun shows. It was Nick's writings that got me to buy my first 257 Roberts as Nick was a big fan. However, I don't use his data as it can be a bit hot, or just plain too hot. I guess it was worked up by the long time method of adding more powder until hard extraction and then backing off 1/4 of a grain. A local gunsmith told me once that he fixes about four to five of Nick's rifles a year. They have the bolts frozen shut by excessive pressure. He must be very old now but has spent his life doing what he loves.

He was a Brit who came to Australia to work and stayed. Quite knowledgeable fella, particularly the pre-internet era when you didnt have all the info at your fingertips. You could write into Nick and get answers. I got load data from him on 416 taylor, 460 wby and opinions on boito shotguns in the 90's. Generally the advantage of Australian based hunters or writers is the sheer volume of hunting experience available. An American or Euro hunter makes an opinion on a bullet if it works on 4 or 6 hunts. An aussie will shoot 50 things with two bullet types and still isnt sure which one he likes most harveys reloading data I think includes data from other sources, its not all his own concoctions. He lost favour with some gunowners when he came out saying he didnt support use of semi-autos when we were getting them banned in 1996. More than a few gun writers, shooting bigwigs etc towed the same line.

He's practically the Aussie Jack O'connor.

Nick is a living legend here in Oz. In Australia, more handloaders would use his reloading manual than all others combined, although the ADI / Hodgdon manual would probably be a very close second. handloaders that complain about locked bolts and hot loads obviously never read the chapter about load development - starting low and working up.

I met Nick working at a Deer Show about 8 years back... Hell of a nice fella and spelt a couple of hours talking with him. He loves Mauser X's, control round feed Model 70's and Leupold's like the old VX2 2-7x33's and Var-X 2.5-8x36's. Favorite cals are the 284Win, 7x57, 338WM, his trusty old Brno Model 2 .22LR...to name a few

CAN you give me the name of this gunsmith.He is a liar.I have known Nick over 40 years.I have never seen any of his rifles with the bolt seized.I have brought many of Nick's rifles off him.

RIP Nick Harvey has passed away today 92yo

That's sad. I started reading his articles in sporting shooter when I was twelve. RIP Nick Harvey.

RIP Nick Harvey

Not a bad innings, 92. Evidently he was still writing until very recently too.

I met him a few times - he was mates with Heimo Petzl, the Sydney gunsmith, for whom I worked for a while in the late 70s. I remember him coming into the shop to get things done, or chew the fat. I also met him at a couple of SHOT shows in Sydney, and I have books he signed for me. I always found him to be a friendly bloke, and down to earth.

I'll continue to value his reloading manuals, several editions of which I have (with detailed notes in the flyleaves). I think he'll be well-remembered.

Dan_oz I used to love going into Heimo’s shop in Quay St. like an Aladdin’s cave! Much better ambience than George St. Bought a few rifles and a shotgun or two off him.

Yes, it was a bit of an Aladdin's cave. A bit out of the way too, down that lane off Quay St. It backed onto Mick Smith's, and there was a bit of traffic back and forth between the two shops.

Heimo wanted to be upstairs working on customer guns, so a part of my role was to be in the shop making coffee for and conversation with the walk-ins. He'd also let me do some of the simpler work. For a gun-nut schoolboy it was damn near an ideal job.

Sorry to see him go.
RIP Nick.