I was reading BT's "Ask The Expert" column titled "Moly-Coated Bullets Not Worthwhile" in the 090806 edition of THE GUN LIST and wondered if BT really IS 1 of the country's best-known gun writers? I lived within 50 miles of his home in North Clarendon, VT, for a number of years and never heard of BT, even though I must have trolled many of the same gun shops. I'm surprised that Bill Gilderdale, 1 of that area's best-known gun dealers, never mentioned him during our many hours of shooting conversations from 1984 to 1990.

Check BT out at www.brycetowsley.com.

Jeff

Well a gunwriter has to start from somewhere. I noted his articles in the VT. Sportsman for a while. He claimed to have .358 Win experiance like some other gun writers. Doubt he really ever used one much however.

I don't agree with some of what he writes.

I'm beginning to believe that if Jesus made the rounds and gave everyone here a premium Dave Miller or Dakota rifle for each recipient's chosen cartridge, some here would still find "reason" to complain, carp, and criticize.

Bryce Towsley appears in several magazines. He often writes about muzzleloaders for I think Petersens.

I really enjoyed his stuff on the Benoits.

He posts here (very rarely) under UMT. I believe that stands for Ultra Mag Towsley. IIRC he did some wildcatting off the RUM's when they came out and copywrote those as UMT's.

I believe he was going muley hunting or some such thing the last time he was on the 'fire.

Sounds like you're looking for opinions. Here's mine - I don't think so.

If there is an A,B and C list of writers, I would think of him as a B lister. Sorry Bryce, but despite having seen your work, I do not believe that the general public, editors or other writers (major or minor) think of you as one of the "country's best known writers".

The website is nice but it would be nice if all the links worked properly. The website will boost his visibility.

Coupla weeks ago, I was browsing around the gun section in our new Super WalMart, and on the book rack noticed a hard cover book titled "Gunsmithing Made Easy" by one Bryce M. Towsley. Published 2006 by Stoeger. After looking it over, and noticing the price, $9.86, I bought it. After I got it home, I noticed the bar code price was $24.95, so I got a good deal at Wally World. It is, of course, geared to the home gunsmith, and not to real gunsmiths. But it is a nice book, with lots of pictures, 160 pages, and I think, well worth the price to be in my library. Guess to me, his name was recognizable, but not someone I can recall anything specific about.

Speaking as a writer on the tail end of the "C" list, I'd opine that Bryce writes a helluva lot better than the posters who malign him.

He's published. He's known. And you?

I also really enjoyed Mr. Towsley's work on the Benoit family. I think he writes for at least five or six different magazines. Rifles, pistols, muzzloading, and bowhunting are his prime topics. He is not a just a "rifle" guy.

I have never met him but he is certainly one of the better writers in my opinion primarily because he writes on a variety of subjects. He certainly seems to have a lot of world-wide hunting experience as well. Judging from the way he handled the Benoit books, he seems like a down-to-earth fellow who enjoys hunting, shooting and tells it like he sees it. He's ok in my book.

Colin Matchett

I definitely have heard of Bryce Towsley and have read some of his work, but to me, "one of the country's best known" means one of the Top 5 or 10 in name recognition, and I'm quite sure he wouldn't be in the Top 5 in name recognition, and probably not in the Top 10 either. If "best known" was stretched to Top 25 or 30 in name recognition, then he would probably qualify. I think you can chalk "best known" up to marketing hype that may have been the result of somebody else writing the description of who he is.

From what I've read of his work, I have a favorable impression of BT.

Rocky, since you made reference to my A,B,C list, I must assume that, in part at least, your post was directed at me.

I did not malign him nor did anyone else. I did not say that he was a bad writer. I did not say that I disliked his work. In fact, I rendered no opinion about his work at all. I did post my opinion in response to Jeff's post.

As the posters that came after mine suggest, while he may be a name that is recognized, he's not in the top five or ten. He's not someone that one fellow said he "could recall anything specific about". No one said anything nasty however. Like me, they simply gave their opinions. There was one response that was more positive though. Ah, the vagaries of the internet!

With regard to the last bit about being published, I fail to see what that has to do with anything. Perhaps you asked the questions rhetorically or to stimulate self introspection.

I am published with 7 books (I just checked with Library and Archives Canada), although I don't see what that has to do with it. I am known within my field. A short bio is accessible if you click on my name. Email if you have any questions.

I'm not sure how he ranks as a writer but I like his stuff and I agree he seems down to earth . I have his books on the Benoits I think there great . Alot of people think the Benoit style is regional but I found the books and DVDs to be relievent where ever I hunt. I have alot of books on whitetail hunting and I feel some of the best info there is on mature bucks is in the Benoit books. You have to read between the lines but it's there. I bought his book on gunsmithing I think it is one of the best aimed at the "HOME" gunsmith. I hope he will stop by here more often. good hunting KH

Is there a requirement that a writer be "well-known" to be enjoyable?

When I read Jeff's post I saw curiosity and surprise. I don't think that he was commenting negatively about Towsley.

I don't believe that a writer has to be well known to be enjoyable. I like most unknown writers sauteed in butter and prepared with leeks and mushrooms. A freshly decanted Cabernet Sauvignon goes nice with most gun writers except the shotgunners. They should be served with a Riesling. Something fruity, leaning heavily towards sweet. A superb pairing that offsets their generally sour compositions.

I truly enjoy this forum and have learned a great deal from it. I also truly appreciate the gun writers taking the time to post here. Their knowledge and experience, far greater than mine will ever be, is priceless.

However, I must state that I am having difficulty understanding the thin skins here. I certainly don't condone personal attacks, but I also think this forum is a place to share experiences and OPINIONS. And just because someone doesn't agree with someone or doesn't like a particular writer's work doesn't mean he's a complainer. It also doesn't mean he's attacking the person's character. To me, he's just stating his opinion which is a main reason for this forum's existence.

Can't make up mind whether to post here or not, but what the heck!

No. 1 - "......one of the country's best known gun writers.", is obviously an OPINION. By who, and why?

No. 2 - I usually read his stuff,because IMO, he writes well, and to me he seems to known a lot more about what he writes about than I do. Hopefully, maybe I can learn something from him.

No. 3 - In my judgement, this Towsley came out of nowhere a few years ago, and seems to be looking for exposure to solidify a career. Nothing wrong with that, and you can't blame a guy (or gal) for trying to do what they feel they must.
I am put off somewhat by second hand claims as to "best-known" gunwriter, as the question then comes to mind, the types he associates with. I would much rather this type of promo come straight from the horse's mouth as, "It is my hope to become someday, one of the country's best-known gunwriters!".

No 4. Hype will only make you famous or notorious. It depends how you handle and back up the hype.

Enough of this crap, having a hard time getting hands to work this morning. And, still have No. 5, 6, ......7,......................................................................................................... through 110 to go. (That is JKH.........."just kiddin' here")

No, Steve, not directed at you at all. But it's hard to make pointed remarks without naming names, and that would be as rude as those who malign someone behind his back. Especially when they malign him for a talent that they themselves lack.

You (Steve) however, are a gentleman.

Steve - The recipe is FUNNY! Think there might an article there, LOL!

Edited: Had to to just add this: Can you give us a recipe for the "guru", KH?

And, Rocky, as us rednecks say, you ain't no C, that's too far down the ladder!

Geez, For the first time ever, I agree with you! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I had a rash of articles (30) on the outdoors published here
in the midwest during the 1980s. That doesn't make me a writer, and I'm certainly unknown!

D lister? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the response, Rocky. I have been called many things but rarely a gentleman. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
----------------------------------------------------------------
Now, this next thing. It certainly gets the mind working. I could see smoke coming out of my ears. (It reflected off the computer monitor.)

Ken Howell as a fancy, prepared meal? I could not do him justice. Where to start? Does one describe him as a succulent beef dish? A tender elk roast or a thick, juicy slab of moose steak perhaps? No, that wouldn't be fair. I think we all agree that he would be more than just a one course meal. He would have to be a number of courses - each being distinctive. A special preparation that tickles the palette from beginning to end.

You would have to start with hors d'�uvres. Then follow it up with a number of delicious and unusual courses, each inspired by game recipes from around the world. Each would have to build upon the last.

Much thought would have to be given to the beverages served with each course and what to prepare for dessert. He would make an interesting meal. Oh deer! (sic) Cannibals we are not! What I meant to say is that he would inspire a great meal...

I can see the cover of Cooking Magazine. Would it be the first time you were mentioned in that kind of publication, Ken?

Taste Ken Howell! His Life As Food. (prepared by the New Mexico Culinary Institute of Albuquerque)

Bryce is a staff writer for several shooting magazines. I would guess their total circulation is in the millions, since at least one (AMERICAN RIFLEMAN) has a circulation of well over a million, perhaps closer to two million. (I know this because I used to be a staffer there myself.) He has published a number of books aside from the Benoit and gunsmithing volumes, and supports himself (and family) as a full-time gun/hunting writer, something only a handful of people do in North America. So I would say he is one of the country's best-known gun writers, even if he doesn't show up a certain local gun stores regularly.

John Barsness

"I had a rash of articles (30) on the outdoors published here in the midwest during the 1980s."

That explains the rash I got reading 'em... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I respectfully disagree with the premise that one is unqualified to judge someone's work if they themselves aren't as good. I certainly am no Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway, but professors with Ph.Ds thought enough of my opinion to ask me to critique their work in college. I have never been President of the United States nor elected to any public office, but feel I'm qualified to voice my opinions on the actions taken by those who have.

I don't think we should get into the habit of ignoring people's opinions because they aren't "as good as we are".

I don't have to be a hen to know what an egg is, or how to tell when it's rotten.

The reason that I posted this is because I never think of Bryce Towsley when I think of 1st tier writers whose stuff I generally like and read. I have read a fair number of BT's articles, books, and columns, but don't think that he is a particularly good storyteller or that he has many (any?) original thoughts. I find his skill as a writer being akin to Paris Hilton's skill as an entertainer, both being among the country's best known for what they do.

His column in GUN LIST is titled "Ask The Expert", which infers that BT has some shooting/hunting expertise, a point that I am not in a position to offer an informed opinion on, having never met or hunted with the man. The blurb at the end of the column reads as follows: "Bryce Towsley is one of the country's best-known gun writers. He hails from Vermont. Check out Towsley's books at www.brycetowsley.com.". I find it extremely unusual for a guy to be so well known across the Country, but not a legend in his own neighborhood. I'm sure that MD is a legend at the gun shops in his neighborhood.

Is there a requirement that a writer be "well-known" to be enjoyable? Nope, and I never said that there was. Heck, my favorite all-time gun writer was Larry Koller, a guy who wasn't nearly as well known as his peers, but he was a guy who could spin a story.

Jeff

I always enjoyed Norman Strung

That is very well done Steve R!

Too heck with the article, think you might have a series of recipe books going there, LOL!

re Ken Howell as food �

Once you clear the gut, there isn't much left � just skin 'n' bone.

Way back when, before computers were in place and I was quite young and naive I wrote BT a hand writen letter concerning a gun sight he had talked about in a particular magazine. I promptly forgot about it as soon as I mailed it only to be shocked back to reality about 5 weeks later when he took the time to personally call me with the information I requested.

My hat's off to a guy like that! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Well then, all that means is that you'd present a challenge to the cook!

What is unusual about it? I've lived the majority of my life within 8 miles of Layne Simpson and don't recall his name being brought up at a gun shop. What did you expect? For the gun shop to hang a sign stating, "Bryce Towsley was here." Have you asked any of the shop owners if Bryce ever shops there?

Arns, my point is that one may not be taken too credibly if one says, "That idjit, he cain't rite no way."

Steve, have you ever met Ken Howell? He's a sad beginning for an entree. More like a shish kebab, before adding the cubes of stuff.

Spicy, though!

Like the skewer, yes.
No meat, no taters, no onings, no peppers.

Nah �

Blah �

Pathologically, terminally, boringly blah.

I promise not to complain if I were to be so gifted. I want mine in .35 Whelen. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Actually, I think that the gun shop owner in question, Bill Gilderdale, is either in a nursing home or has passed away, and since I now live 1500+/- miles away from Stockbridge, VT, I can't ask him . Bill did admit to having a few "name" customers, but BT wasn't 1 that I ever recall him speaking of and I think that he would have if BT had made an impression on him 1 way or the other.

I guess that if Layne Simpson or his close personal buddy Clay Harvey were customers of mine, I probably wouldn't admit knowing either of them for fear of losing good customers.

Jeff

I can tell you from having hunted a lot with Layne and having been a guest in his home, he has far more class than you have demonstrated on this thread. Obviously, your only intent was to bash some gunwriters so I'll butt out and let you get back to it.

This must be the back and forth banter they warned us about at the Academy. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I believe the soft voice from the corner used to say, "Gentlemen, settle down please..."

I wonder, do they still use the expression "pull through" when speaking about skinny folks? You'd qualify, Ken.

Talking about skinny guys is almost the perfect sequay into a story inspired by a Neil Young song called Powderfinger. It's a folksy kind of tune which I always thought had something to do with the South, the Civil War or something. Apparently the lyrics are open to a number of interpretations. Regardless, one day I'll post Lard Boat, spun off from the song.

I hope that this small hijack eased the tension. Whose turn is it to buy?

I've read his articles and enjoyed them. Some of the staged photos seemed sorta phony, though.

Who died and made you Moderator of this forum?

I swear, some of you guys need to get laid.........

Testy, aren't we? Note the use of the smiley face in the above quote. I used a smiling smiley. In the internet world, this would indicate something light hearted. You decided to post something harsh and uncalled for. Now, my tone will change. You sir, need to be slapped. Repeatedly. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> (HINT: look for visual indications that the last sentence was said in a stronger, less friendly tone)

---> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <--- Note the use of a smiley. This smiley isn't smiling or laughing. He's angry. Your post has angered the smileys. Its use suggests an unhappy or disturbing event has happened. Posters use these little fellows to more clearly show how they feel about an opinion or event. They are used because you cannot see the poster's face.

Do you have any questions?

Try not to be such a negative Nelly.

Layne Simpson might be a great guy to hunt with and a congenial host with whom to have dinner, but I've never been invited, so I can�t offer an informed opinion on those 2 subjects. As a professional gun writer, I think that he is often rather lax in his research and has written at least a few articles that fell pretty far short on the quality and testing side. Hey, but I'm not a professional gun writer like yourself, so I can only offer a non-professional's learned opinion.

Simpson aside, let's get back to Bryce Towsley. Remember that being compared to Paris Hilton is not all bad. Paris Hilton sells a lot of copy just by being Paris, despite having no known talent, at least no known talent that can be shown here on Rick's family oriented site. OTOH, Bryce obviously has enough talent in his field to make a living at being good ol' Bryce, just not what I would subjectively grade as being 1st tier talent that would put him in the company of John Barness or a plethora of now deceased gun writers. Having grown up in northern New England, Hanover, NH, I think that it would be hard to be a gun writer based in Vermont, since the hunting opportunities in Vermont are so limited when compared to many other State in the USA or Provinces in Canada.

As an aside, are you a Tar Heels fan? If you are, I see that the Corn Husker's old QB, Joe Dailey, is doing about as well in Chapel Hill as he did in Lincoln, too bad that a change of programs didn't result in a change in outcomes for good ol' Joe.

Jeff

Obviously the point went over your head, hence your choice of ridicule for a response.

I'll simplify it for you: since when does someone need to be "well-known" in order to have a point of view of value?

And on a side note, you'd think a writer with a high opinion of himself would know the word for which he is attempting to use is "segue."

Of course you understand that this is merely constructive criticism. To improve the quality of your articles.

I've never had dinner with Layne Simpson either and I'd settle for a beer - than man flat knows 1911 pistols.

Readers often express their wish for more "Me and Joe" stories and I've noticed over the years that if someone like Layne Simpson writes one he gets flamed for not doing enough research. Go figure.

Steelhead might be on to something. Some of you folks really need to get more sleep or something.

Bricktop, you quoted 260remguy's post in its entirety and then asked, "Is there a requirement that a writer be "well-known" to be enjoyable?" My response was not ridiculing. It was written to lighten things up a bit. Sometimes threads like this turn ugly. I attempted to keep things light.

WRT the next part, I don't believe that anyone here thinks you have to be well known to have an opinion. A quick glance at the responses that came after should confirm that. Specifically, I refer you to Ken Howell's response - I don't have to be a hen to know what an egg is, or how to tell when it's rotten.

Spelling is important. So is grammar. This situation puts me in mind of people who live in glass houses.



I appreciate constructive criticism. I do not appreciate sarcastic BS.

" ... a writer ... themselves ... "

... and you're correcting spelling?

I corrected his spelling, not his grammar, and I never claimed to be a writer. Too bad the board doesn't operate in real time.

.


John 8:7

Yes, I did quote his entire post. And I asked a question. You're very perceptive.



Sure it was.


That's been the underlying theme of the discussion. I guess you missed that, too.



BS? Maybe. Sarcastic? It's all in your perception. Then again I'm not trying to impugn someone's reputation because he doesn't habit the same gun shops I've visited.

The only sin I've committed has been that of questionable grammar. Trying to deconstruct someone's reputation over their presence or absence in so-and-so's shop is another matter.

What Steelhead said! Sheesh, the guy is published, in a number of publications........enough said! I don't have to like all of his articles, but, that does not diminish their relevance for another rifle loon!

Should have mentioned that I have found a number of his articles to be quite excellent...

I think that my 1911 'smith is pretty darned good, actually he's a master at making 38 Super target pistols, so I doubt that there is much about the 1911 that I want to know and don't have an equal or better source.

Skeeter Skelton's "Me & Joe" stories were among my favorites in his life's body of work, but I honestly don't ever recall reading anything by Layne Simpson that was in the "Me & Joe" style. Perhaps I missed out somewhere along the line. Skeeter was a great story teller, but a pretty average technical sort of gun writer (at least IMO). I think that people read Skeeter because he was so easy to read, probably with the help of a good editor or 2, and because he would honestly tell you if he liked or disliked something. I can honestly say that Skeeter is the only gun writer (that I can think of) whose work directly influenced me to buy, or not buy, a particular firearm or firearm/cartridge combination. Skeeter influenced me to be a fan of the 5" S&W 27 revolver and a fan of the 44 Special cartridge. I even went so far as to have not 1, but 2, S&W 624s converted from 6.5" to 5" barrels as a means by which to cover both bases, a 5" N-frame Smith in 44 Special. I think that Skeeter would have approved.

Here is my short list of tier 1 gun writers, in no particular order:

Living:

John Barsness
Edit: John Wooters (retired?)

Deceased:

Jack O'Connor
Elmer Keith
Larry Koller
Francis Sells
Bob Milek
Harvey Donaldson
Warren Page
Ned Roberts
Townsend Whelen
Skeeter Skelton

There must be more in the deceased category, but I'm in my bedroom getting ready to go coach 6 hours of 10 year old girls' softball and can't look at the walls of books in my gun room to pick out a few more of the past greats.

Edit: I now remember that John Wooters influenced me to buy a Colt Woodsman .22 semi-automatic pistol and Skeeter/Bill Jordan influenced me to push my Father into buying me a 4" S&W 19 when I was 13. I still have both handguns buried somewhere in the vault.

Jeff

Anybody please:

Some info if you will? Who or what can you recall, or tell that BT wrote for, or published previous to ten years or so back?

I can not recall ever seeing the Towsley by-line until roughly several years previous.

Then again, there is a lot I don't recall anymore.

The main one that I can think of is American Rifleman. The thing I've noticed is that his writing tends to lean more towards the "sanitary," technical stuff vice that of a raconteur. In other words it doesn't tend to stand out, he just gets to the point.

At any rate, here's a blog from Dave Petzal that may be of some interest. I just hope he's hanging out in the right gun shops.

http://fieldandstream.blogs.com/gunnut/2006/02/are_good_gun_wr.html

I simply thought it odd that someone who has expressed so many opinions on this thread would feel qualified to hush the opinions of others. Nonetheless, there was no malice behind my simple question: �Who died and made you moderator?� It was just a short, simple way to get my point across. But then short and simple may be a concept you are unfamiliar with. If a smiley makes you feel better though, here it is: <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Perhaps not. But you sir, have no manners.

I didn't like him much in Miami Vice either........

Perhaps not. But I will point out that I have not sent any personal insults your way. I have not said you need to be slapped, repeatedly or otherwise. I have not questioned your manners or used schoolyard taunts like �negative Nelly� in regards to you. Nor have I felt myself qualified to grade any aspect of your persona on an A,B,C scale. I asked you one satirical question and followed up with a civil explanation.

So perhaps it is not I that is �testy�.

SH
That's not fair. It was his brother DON that you don't like.

But didn't you like it when Don said "You might not even twitch."

t <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The origin and heading of this thread remind me of so many of my former colleagues in several English departments � who couldn't independently evaluate writings or writers but had to rely on the consensus of others' evaluations.

Thanks Bricktop! I remember his writings in articles in Rifleman. But aren't they recent of a few years?

I think (not sure) the first I can remember is some FFG articles of a few years ago. I know he has a lot of recent articles, and good exposure for his writing and name in different publishing as of the last few years. I like his stuff, though he does a lot of things I'll probably never get around too. Usually seems to be informative, and like to get a perspective on different things, though not my favorite kind of hunting or shooting.

I read MD's post to mean he has been published for some number years. Maybe I better go back and read MD's post again.

Thanks again!

Oh Dan, I will not rise to the bait. You're not worth it. I suspect that you like to twist words around. Leave mine alone. No one needs your help to read them. Good night.

If that was aimed at me, I didn't need a consensus of the crew to form an opinion of the author who I cited, I was merely poling the crew to see what they thought about the allegation that BT is �one of the country�s best-known gun writers� (page 48 of the 09/08/06 edition of GUN LIST), since alone I am too small a sample with which to estimate the population as a whole. I also mused that I found it odd that as the Alpha gun writer in his geographic area, I was surprised that I�d never heard of him when I lived in the same general area and surely would have expected him to be �well known�, or at least �known�, at what was generally considered the Alpha gun shop in that geographic area after Bill DeVaux in Norwich, VT, passed away in the early 1990s.

Jeff

The reason the Rifleman pieces stand out is that it's really the only magazine to which I still subscribe. However, I went back and looked at some of my old F-F-Gs and there it is:

"Texas Style Coyote Calling"

By Bryce Towsley

November 1995, page 8.

I have other things, but they're in my attic.

I like Bruce and his writting enough. Flipped thru the gunsmithing book at Sportsman's Warehouse.

These days - I take it article by article. I don't look for a specific writer much. Then again if I consistantly see crap - I reserve the right to call it as I see it - XYZ is a crap writer. I don't care how much he has writen or who his friends are.

YMMV....

Neither the worth nor the skill of a writer usually has any connection to whether he's known or unknown to his neighbors, including the owners of local gun shops. Many writers understandably cultivate local anonymity, in the same way and for the same reasons that so many of my former Hollywood-star and rock-star neighbors crave the privacy and the near-anonymity of their homes in the Bitterroot Valley � they simply don't want their time wasted or themselves assailed in exactly the same ways that (a) are so unfortunately prevalent here and (b) smart-asses love to mouth-off and take swings at big sports stars. When they go to the store for groceries, for example, they want to get groceries � not confrontations either gooey or peppery.

Like the Hollywood and rock stars, writers depend on a wider community for their success and recognition.

More often than not, locals tend to disparage celebrities in their communities � whether they know 'em or not. Gossip is more intense in local communities, and malicious gossip has an especially appealing flavor for many locals, so local reports about a writer or a celebrity generally aren't worth much.

Bob Milek was well-liked in and around Thermopolis, Wyoming. Can't say the same for another prolific gun/outdoor writer based nearby. Then again the thread author seems to measure success with a different yardstick.

I promised myself I wouldn�t do this, but gee whiz guys, this is getting ridiculous.

Here are the facts, you decide.

The statement you are all so worked up about is a tag line the editor added to the column, not something I wrote. However, I was rather pleased by it and based on the numbers I think it�s accurate.

I am currently on the masthead of and published in most issues of The American Hunter, The American Rifleman, Shooting Illustrated, Petersen�s Hunting, Buckmasters and Gun List. I also publish regularly in several other magazines. I have written five books and have contributed to several more. I also do television for the American Rifleman. Over the years I have published something in most of the major magazines and a lot of minor ones. At the risk of bragging, I think I am reaching more readers each month than any other working gun or hunting writer.

I published my first article in 1981 and have been active ever since. I started working full time at this in 1993 and have done nothing else in those years. I am not rich, but I am not starving. I buy a few new guns every year, take some hunting trips I want to take and live in a nice house. My wife and I drive new 4X4 vehicles and I have a kid in college. I think that any gun writer who can honestly make those statements is doing OK. If he is freelance, as I am, then he is working his ass off. Frankly, I wouldn�t work this hard at anything else.

I usually publish 125 to 150 articles and columns per year and about 600 � 800 photos. Lately I do a book about every other year.

I write on rifles, handguns, muzzleloaders and shotguns. I also cover some competitive shooting (I compete at CAS and IPSC). I do two monthly columns on handloading, one on hobby gunsmithing, two on guns, one on muzzle loading and a bunch of features every year on those topics. I write a lot about hunting and have been lucky enough to travel the world shooting at stuff. (Although there are still a few places I want to see.) I also write some humor, adventure, a little fiction and political commentary. I used to write about bow hunting and fishing, but they have faded away in recent years.

Sometimes we must write what the editors want, not necessarily what we would like to write. Things have changed in the time since O�Connor and Keith were doing this. While I would prefer to write a lot of the same kind of things they wrote about, this is a business and I need to pay the bills. So, I write mostly what the editors think will sell the magazines and keep the advertisers happy. I have always believed that my first obligation is to the readers. Markets come and go, but credibility is a one time deal and I have tried to stay true to the principle. Everybody makes mistakes now and then, and as we grow and learn our opinions change, but I don�t think I have ever intentionally lied in print. Trust me when I say, sticking to that principle has caused me some serious problems over the years.

I am most proud of some of my adventure big game writing, mood pieces and the humor articles, and I would ask that you take a look at a few of those before you judge me too harshly on my writing ability. Much of the technical gun writing is limited by the low word counts required today and with so much information to convey it�s hard to give much more than �just the facts.�

I recognize that I have some critics who will never like anything I do and that some of them are regulars here at the campfire. If you are in the public arena people are going to take shots at you and if you are going to survive you need to be able to take a punch. But, I wish that the criticism would be fair and that they would be a lot more accurate about what I do and why they don�t like me.

As John will tell you, this is a tough business and to maintain a decent income level a freelancer has to hustle. As a result I don�t have a lot of time to post on forums like this. So, I guess I�ll just have to take the punches that will be coming after I post this without responding. Besides, I am getting ready for an elk hunt in a few days and simply don�t have the time.

FYI, the last time I posted I was heading out for Dall sheep in the Yukon and I am happy to report that I took a nice ram. My aging, abused and overweight body survived the stresses of a backpacking hunt in some of the toughest terrain in North America. It�s just part of the job.

Guys, we gunwriters are not the enemy and we are not bad people. In fact, most of us are pretty good fellas. Lighten up, we just like to hunt and shoot just like you do and are lucky enough, or driven enough, to have found a way to make a living at it.

Bryce

Good to hear from you, my friend!

All the best to you 'n' yourn, now 'n' ever!

So, uh, you're just going to leave us hanging with no pictures?

I would be happy to post a photo or two, if somebody would tell me how.

Bryce

Your pictures first need to be hosted in some sort of online album, then you copy the url for each individual photo and bracket it in board code and post. (Click on the "Image" link under the "Instant UBB Code" heading on the page you see when you post messages; it explains it better.)

You also have the option of uploading photos via the attachment button when you're posting messages.

Bryce, one of the popular photo-hosting sites that Bricktop referred-to is Photobucket.com (click here).

I guess I am a bit of a computer illiterate. I don�t post much on forums and have little working knowledge of how they operate. I have digital photos in jpeg format, but I need step by step instructions on how to get them on here. For example, I have no idea how to put them in an online album or add them as an attachment. But, with step by step instructions I�ll figure it out.
Sorry, I�ll talk guns or hunting with any of you and hold my own, but when it comes to this stuff it�s like my man Clint said, �A man�s got to know his limitations.�
That said, it will probably be tomorrow. I have been at this since eight this morning, which is coming up on a 16 hour day. I am going to back up, grab a shot of Woodford Reserve and a good book and turn off this dominatrix machine. I have done enough of her bidding for one day.

Bryce

UMT
Well and clearly written. I didn't have to look up any big words.
t <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Had that possibility sorted out early on, figured someone would've stumbled onto it eventually, but I was wrong. Did generate a fair amount of discourse though, didn't it?

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Liked your recent piece on the origins of the 30-06 in American Rifleman. Ain't much new to say about it, already knew most of the lore, but it's like reading back over some old personal hunting journals and smiling at the good parts. Gotta be careful about mentioning that cartridge around here though, often brings out the worst in some people.

The mention of the K4 Weaver brought a smile. Many years ago I received an older custom built on a US Rem '03 action and figured it needed to have the minty, steel K4 sitting on it that I'd had idling in a cupboard for some time.

Something about a "Springfield" action in '06 and that old Weaver K4 that looks just about right. Don't hunt with it much now, but still like to get it out and look it over. Kinda partial to hunting with another former military rifle in 8x57, of late.

Only thing I might could hold again ya, is that warm'n fuzzy piece in the August 2004 American Rifleman, on the Ruger 204.

Sometime during that summer, I had stopped at the gunshop near my hunting camp, for the customary drool session around the racks of firearms out on the floor. One of the clerks called me over to the counter, said he wanted to show me something.

He had a 204 round between his fingers, asked if I'd seen one yet. Told him so far I had only read about 'em, so he handed me the cartridge. We looked at it for a few minutes, he asked me what I thought. Asked him what he thought it might do to a woodchuck, that we both hadn't already been doing to them for the past 45 years with Hornets, Swifts, 222s, 223s and 22-250s.

He said "You ain't gonna want one, are you?"

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Bryce, you lasted much longer than I thought you would before taking the bait!
On the picture posting deal, if you use a photo-host site, read the fine print. There are several of these sites, and some may have liberties with the rights after you use their services. That was a nice ram.
Back to the original post--I wasn't going to post either, but since Bryce bit, I'll go ahead and convey a personal Bryce story.
He and I were hunitng deer at the Nail Ranch years ago. I think it was a handgun hunt with the then-new .480 Ruger. There was one writer there who is a heck of a nice fella who everyone here would say is one of the best-known writers around (No, it wasn't MD). He had been writing for years. I remember reading his articles when I was a kid and he was celebrating that he had just published his 500th article.
That evening in the bunk house Bryce and I were recapping the events of the day and the 500 article subject came up. Bryce mentioned (in a very humble way, I want to add) that he could appreciate that 500 article benchmark. He had published about 300 so far that year, and the year wasn't over.

Scott,

I had more energy in those days.

With some help from Dan Johnson I am giving this photo thing a try.

Bryce

This was taken by the guide from where I shot. It�s my last few steps before getting ready to shoot. We had just climbed from the valley floor and this was the second time that morning that we have been to the top. Needless to say I had to catch my breath a bit before pulling the trigger.

Bryce

Hey....which one is the goat? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> From one old goat to another...

Yes, I know it's a sheep, but I still see a goat.

Having spent some time in Vermont, I realize there are so many ex-hippies and New York City folks up there and you could be a combination of all the gunwriters in the business and no one would know...and if they did, they'd probably picket your house.

This "ranking" of gunwriters is, to me, an index without a purpose. There are some who are very good writers, some who are good writers, some who aren't so good. But ranking them is an entirely individualistic judgement.

Some of the writers on this board I have never even heard of, and it's my loss. There are some areas of shooting that just don't interest me, the 1911 is one of them, bird hunting is another. Hence I skip through, or don't read the articles.

Dan defends gun writers like I defend cops, instinctively and perhaps over-zealously sometimes. But I understand his motivation.

I was an archery writer and former editor of Primitive Archer magazine. I was known among primitive archers, but those archers and bowhunters who had no interest in bows of all-natural materials never heard of me. We have an international distribution, but our numbers are no where like even the smaller gun magazines. Like me with the 1911 articles, or magaziens dedicated to the 1911, most people pass us by. A niche publication.

All the nitpicking about words like "segue" and misspelling is characteristic of someone looking hard for somethng to complain about. I can't spell very well, which means only that I can't spell...it doesn't mean I can't write. If it wasn't for spellcheck, I'd be screwed. You'd be surprised at how many quite well known writers can't spell.

At any rate, it's the proof reader's job to catch spelling errors. And if you've never tried to proof ten or twelve thousand words with a deadline kicking your butt, don't tell me about perfection. In fact, if you're that good, you can probably get a job proof reading. I seriously doubt there's a magazine (except maybe the New Yorker or now, after the scandal, The New Republic that doesn't have spelling errors. The New Yorker has an entire staff that checks every fact in the magazine, and their word is final, despite the author's proof of the contrary.

But gun magazines can't afford that (I think they can't) and some mistakes get through. Venturino reported that the Long Branch arsenal which made No 4 Enfields was in England, and it's in Canada, as most people know. He also reported that it was a "pecularity" of the 98 Mauser that you had to load it from the magazine. That's not a pecularity, it's the basis of the Masuer loading action.

So, keep it up, writers. Most of the ones I read do pretty well at the rhetorical task to which they're assigned. There's the occasional one who's just filling up space, and you can tell them and ignore them.

Just don't read the ones you don't like.

I do believe Bryce may be right about his byline appearing more places, with more readers, than just about any other gun writer working today. Personally, I have just never been able to work as hard as he does!

A few stories about how local fame is not necessarily indicative of anything:

My wife and I have eaten at a local pizza parlor at least once every week or two since moving to our small town (about 2000) 16 years ago. Three years ago the outdoor columnist of the area paper (published in the "big city" of 25,000 32 miles down the road) asked if he could do a feature on us. We said OK, since it seemed like a good way to sell some books on our website, and it came out a week or two later on the front page of the "Outdoors" section, along with a photo of both of us.

The next time we went down to the pizza place, the couple who own it were pretty excited. "Now we know what you do!"
This was after living over a dozen years in a small town.

The town we lived in before was even smaller, about 250 people. Instead of asking, many of its citizens guessed at what we did (something we found out just before moving here). Since we had no visible means of support, and hunted and fished a lot, many figured we either dealt drugs, were on welfare, or both.

One of the local gun stores, in the town I grew up in about an hour from here, only stocks RIFLE and HANDLOADER as gun magazines. This is not because of me, because they have never once recognized me in all the years I have traded there, since about 1965. Once in a while an older clerk recognizes the name on my credit card, because he was a student of my father's at MSU in the 1960's, or because of my uncle, who ran a live summer theater in a Montana tourist town until the 1970's. Other than that I can slip in and out anonymously, which is just fine.

John Barsness

Mule Deer,

Ken's post re-christened you in my book. I'll never see a photo of you again without thinking:

John Barsness - Rock Star

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

One point, then I really need to get some deadlines met.

Don�t always assume that mistakes are the writer�s. As often as not they happen at the magazine. For example a recent column of mine (one that�s been mentioned here) has a mistake. The name of a cartridge was changed by the magazine to another, better known cartridge with a similar name. I didn�t find out until I started getting letters telling me that I was a dumass and unfit to write about guns. My manuscript was correct when it was submitted, but that�s lost on the reading public as they have no way of knowing what happened.
I don�t know what happened with Mike�s articles. It could be his mistake and it could be something that was changed in the editing process. Once a writer turns loose of the manuscript he has little control over what happens.

I think it was Mark Twain who said he would never trust a man who couldn�t spell a word at least two different ways. Or something likes that. He was one of the best writers in history and a poor speller.

You nailed it about Vermont. It was a great place when I was a kid, but we have been invaded by the whacko left. We are about to elect a socialist, extreme left-wing whack job as U.S. Senator. It�s a lonely existence up here for a conservative, heterosexual, gun loving, pickup driving, white man who believes in personal responsibility and working for what you want. I think there were two of us left in the state and I heard the other guy just moved.

Bryce

That's why I got out of the magazine business, such as it was. I hated deadlines, waited until they were due and then began working on them. I was always late, and I found it didn't really matter. The magazine always got out on time, even a week or two before the target date.

The thing about a deadline is, it isn't YOUR deadline, it's someone else's. I vowed to never again be at the whim of someone whose main weapon was a word processing program.

William Faulkner used to work in a post office in Oxfor, Mississippi. He was rather lackidasical, him and his drinking buddies reading all the magazines before the delivered them. He finally quit, or was fired, and he said something profound: He said, "I realize that all my life I'll be financially dependant on rich people, but never again will I be at the beck and call of any sonofabitch who can afford a three-cent stamp."

UMT - Funny here, if you are only one left there, maybe can sue rest of populace for "punitive" damages.

Then buy Vermont for YOURSELF!!!

Keep on, keepin' on!

Bryce,
I'm thinking "gel coat." I know you are, too! That was a good one. Too bad it had your name on someone else's misinformation. LOL!

Nice ram.
t

Too true.

One "editor" (now well known as a gun writer and photographer) changed my correct physics term for acceleration (feet per second per second) to the entirely incorrect feet per second because, he said, it'd be easier for the reader to understand. Ever since, I've wondered why he didn't also change my loooooong biochemical terms for the compounds used in primers to table salt (for the same "reason"). That stupid change from all those years ago is still out there, in a DBI book, under my name, not his.

Another "editor" (in an outdoor writers' magazine, no less!) omitted him from this sentence about Charlie O'Neil and Warren Page, changing the meaning entirely � "Charlie ran him off so fast that his shoes smoked."

A writer friend of mine had just submitted manuscripts for his regular articles and columns, when his Editor called him with two questions:
"What is a 'flash hole'?'
"What do you mean by 'keyholing'?"

At least he asked. Too many nutless wonders just change things from right to wrong, without checking or solid reason, and the stupidly erroneous results appear under the writer's name.

It's not hard to sympathize with Benjamin Franklin's rejection of the invitation to write the Declaration of Independence because he refused to subject his carefully wrought prose to another person's anonymous manipulation.

As an editor, I made one erroneous change and caught it, by checking with the writer, before I submitted the copy for publication. His original sentence was completely ambiguous, and each side of the ambiguity could've been what he meant. I guessed wrong. Boy! Was that a lesson!

Acceleration also means the rate at which an object changes velocity. It doesn't necesarily mean speed.

So, an object slowing down is also accelerating.

Go figure.

My reference was to increasing speed � the acceleration of a falling object as a result of gravity's vertical downward pull on it � from zero feet per second to x feet per second in y seconds.

The only people who recognize John Barsness at his local gun emporium are generally travelling foreigners and their pregnant wives. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Bryce, fabulous ram!

Chuck

�One "editor" (now well known as a gun writer and photographer) changed my correct physics term for acceleration (feet per second per second) to the entirely incorrect feet per second because, he said, it'd be easier for the reader to understand.�

-------------------------------------------------------------------------


I couldn�t resist, (somehow I have been sucked into this forum!).

I had exactly the same thing happen a while back. The editor even had one of his munchkin underlings call me under false pretences to question the statement. Then they changed it anyway, claimining it was �redundant.�
When I protested rather loudly they said I was unreasonable. The editor went to the publisher (who happened to be his daddy) and told him I was �mean� to him and demanded I be fired. He called, I told him I would write a letter of resignation, but that he had to ask me for it first. He didn�t and I still write the column. That editor just quit to go be a social worker overseas.

Another time I wrote about Beretta shotguns and how I had watched Russell Mark win Olympic gold with one in 1996. The editor changed it to �American shooter Russell Mark. . .
He told me he thought it �read better.� I pointed out that Mark was from Australia and his response was, �who cares, nobody reads this sh*t anyway!�

That time I did quit.

See guys, being a gun writer is not all roses and honey!

Bryce

Yeah, I know. That's how accelertion is viewed, generally, and why the "accelerator" makes a car go faster. The other use is only important in math.

Gravity's affect...unrelated to mass. 32 fps/per second.

32 feet in the first second, 64 in the second second, and 320 in ten seconds.

Terminal velocity depends on shape rather than mass....a baseball's terminal velocity is about 94 mph. A styrofoam ball the size of a baseball will fall slower because its mass is less and it's more easily affected by wind...in other words, it doesn't have enough mass to overcome the force of the wind resisting it.

Other objects have a higher terminal velocity because of less wind resistance...I think a human's TV is about 120 mph.

I think it was Gene Fowler who wrote that "An editor should have a pimp for a brother so he'd have somebody to look up to." <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

IIRC, my description of the phenomenon included an explanation of why an increase in velocity from (a) zero feet per second to (b) x feet per second in (c) y seconds was an increase of so many feet per second per second.

Not good enough.

My, oh my! Evidently high-tech and editors have NOT improved the problem much in the last 30 years or so!

One of the bigest mistakes we used to have was with the word Fort. It got so bad the proofreaders and typesetters got into ongoing war on who was doing who. Finally put stop to that with an edict that the word henceforth would be printed as Ft.

Always figured something Freudian with that one, as the mistake can only happen at opposite ends of the keyboard. Was one of the easiest for proofers to miss also, especially when under time constraints.

Chuck--

The biggest stir I ever caused even that gun emporium (the only one where the clerks know me) was when Eileen and I visited with a famous country singer and Mike Venturino. The singer and Mike got all the attention. The co-owner of the store gave the singer a free baseball cap, but the singer also had to sign quite a few autographs. I got to browse for guns.

Personally, I would rather be rich than famous.

John Barsness

UMT

Nice job on a beautiful stone sheep. Beautiful pic's too but I'm wondering in the one looking down on the drainage...where is the elevator? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Edited to say, sorry, at first blush I thought it was a Stone and as usual read your post later to find it to be a Dall. It's still nice.

George DV

No kidding!

Chuck

From what little I know of him, I understand that the �famous country singer� in question usually does a pretty good job of circulating among his fan base without being obvious about it. Of course, it would be hard for anyone to circulate when accompanied by a guy the size of Mike V. and not be noticed.

Since the polls show that I was wrong about BT being "one of the country�s best-known gun writers", I cheerfully accept the sample size presented as being a reasonably accurate reflection of the population as a whole.

I remain surprised by BT�s anonymity at the Alpha gun shops in central VT back in the middle to late 1990s, but it's good to be surprised once in a while.

I would agree that being financially comfortable is a good thing, if you do good things with your good fortune and remember that you, in many cases, had nothing to do with amassing the fortune in the 1st place. My Father always told me that people of means had a responsibility to challenge things that were wrong, since they could afford to lose a job or make an enemy and not have to worry about where their next meal, warm bed, or mortgage payment was coming from.

Jeff

I don't recall reading anything by Scott E Meyer, are you a gun writer?

Jeff

Just read your last reply to KH.

IMO, of course, but you do it much better than your editor did!

Please inform him, and tell him to forget the d&*m word count (I bet, he will, not).

It's also good to relinquish stupid assumptions.

I'm not well known, by face, in any of the gun shops that I visit fairly regularly. Guess I'm just too obscure, huh? Haven't been doing this long enough? Don't publish enough in "the right places?"

One reason is, of course, that with my own FFL, I seldom buy anything, across a counter, that requires a bunch of paper-work. And apparently, the name on my checks is less important than the numbers.

When friends with me introduce me to gun-shop clerks, my name means nothing to most of 'em, but some � a few � say that they've read some of my stuff. So � does this indicate that I'm a nobody, or that gun-shop clerks don't read enough?

Rhetorical questions all � I don't really give a hoot one way or the other.

Recognition by gun-shop clerks is no kind of meaningful measure of a writer unless he has made himself locally infamous.

260, you just made my evening. lol!
Here's a quick copy and paste from the "Gun Writer Background" post.
1993 was hired by Pete Dickey as "Firearms Specialist" on NRA Technical Staff. They taught me the ropes and what were good references and what were not. Made Assistant Technical Editor in 1994 after Dickey retired, and Associate a few years after that when Bob Hunnicutt left. Was named NRA's first "Shooting Editor" in 2001.
Left NRA in 2003 to work for SCI (not as a writer). Kept my pen in the well as a field editor for Shooting Times until asked to be the publisher of same this past Feb.
You can Google my name with "Shooting Times," "American Hunter," "American Rifleman," or "Shooting Illustrated" to see some past articles. More details are in the archives here somewhere.
Some articles from my past that stand out in my mind include the one showing with a statistically significant confidence level that cryo accurizing probably doesn't work. There was another one about the benefits of moly being dubious in general though there are specific applications where it does help. There was also a pretty thorough comparison of hevishot to lead and steel that took a couple of days at HP White labs. I think I was the first to report on the Knight DISC rifles when they first came out.
My best work was when I was Field Editor for Shooting Times where I covered in my "Firing Line" column subjects such as wind deflection, cant, optimum barrel length for the 17 HM2 (read expansion ratio), etc. My favorite article is one about a mountain goat hunt I took that combines story telling with firearms technical info (not an easy thing to do).

I don't think that it was a stupid assumption, but I do think that it was rather rude and disrespectful of you to suggest that it was. I must say that I am both surprised and disappointed that you would "speak" to me in such a manner.

I think that gun shop owners, at least small rural New England gun shop owners, tend to know very well whom they deal with. It may be different in other parts of the World, it certainly is in Nebraska were there is only 1 good small gun shop in the whole damned state, but VT and NH are not very large pieces of ground and the "who's who" is pretty well known among those who are in the know. I have an FFL and like to have UPS bring my purchases right to my door, but I occasionally troll the gun shops and pawnshop, 'cause you never know when a nugget of gold might appear in a pan of gravel. I bought a nice Remington 700 BDL in 6mm Rem the other day because the pawnshop owner said that "foreign" calibers didn't sell, so it could be mine for $175.

Despite your impressive credentials and your life's body of work, in this day and age, I wouldn't expect many people to recognize your name, since it isn't out in the public forum (except for here) where it would get any sort of high volume exposure. Being an acknowledged expert on many gun related topics doesn�t necessarily equate to being well known, or visa versa.

Jeff

Yep! Thanks for saving me some money on the cryo "accurizing". Was very popular here, not much of it now, exept for trapshooters. I think the predomionant reason for trapshooters these days, is improves patterns, duh, OK.

Also you saved a lot of MY time, with your moly article. Played with it a little, and due to your insights, found out that getting the stuff out of my barrel, and refouling for POA or grouping , just resulted in too much work for any gain for my benefit.

As for the HeviShot info, bought so much of that stuff after reading and seeing articles like yours, that won't need to buy anymore for awhile. Besides, they keep improving the shot density situation so much, I can't keep up with it anymore. It is also getting confusing as to claims, and noticed the ads of the manufactuers seem to be confusuing theirselves also as to claims. So will shoot the Hevi-Shot up, while the manufacturers get over their improvements and confusion. So imagine you have saved me time and money there.

Probably should apoligize here for never hearing of you, or recognizing your name, or wondering why you are not popular in your local gunshop, he, he, he!

Actually turning this into reverse rant I think.

Real reason for post: Thanks to guys like you, MD, Rocky, Bryce, Dogzapper, KH, just too many of you "gooder" writers here to name all. Thanks to all who have saved this idiot a lot of wasted time, and DA efforts over the years!!!

Well, I think it's a stupid assumption.

As for "rather rude and disrespectful," I guess you and I are now brothers under the skin, as the old saying goes, Jeff. I get a lot of "rather rude and disrespectful" flak here with dependable regularity, and I've been made to understand that that's simply the Campfire norm � to be expected, to "come with the territory," not something to put a wad of pepper in anybody's twat.

UMT- Congrats on a great looking ram!!! For me is a someday... sorta thing but still looking forward to it.

BTW, I'd like to know the details on the shootin' iron?

The reason Bill Gilderdale didn�t mention me to you back in the eighties (the dates you first mentioned, before the revision) is because he didn�t know me then. I have had my own FFL since 1978 and, in the eighties I was busy starting a family and working at four different jobs, one of which was running my own local gun shop. I didn�t have the time or money to troll gunshops and buy a lot of used guns, and those I did buy back then were usually trades at my shop.

If you had bothered to check with Bill in the last few years he was in business he would have told you that I stopped in now and then and have bought a few guns from him. He would also have told you that he always bought an ad in the catalog for my booking agency, The Outside Connection, Inc. and that he knew me from my writing in the Vermont Sportsman.

Further, if you checked in with Vermont Field Sports in Middlebury, Carl would have told you he knows me well. Or ask around at Dattilio�s in South Burlington, where Jimmy has sold me a bunch of guns. Gerry King in Rutland knows me, as does Justin Lindholm, Mike Pratico, Wayne Johnston, Bill Valentine, Craigin�s, Otter Valley Supply and just about all the other local gun dealers in the Rutland area. They are closer to where I live than Gilderdale�s place and usually the prices were better.

Funny thing, though, none of them ever mentioned you to me.

Now will you please give up this ridiculous accusation and go find some other new and more creative reason to bad mouth me?

Bryce

UMT- Congrats on a great looking ram!!! For me is a someday... sorta thing but still looking forward to it.

BTW, I'd like to know the details on the shootin' iron?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Thanks.

The gun is one that the Remington Custom Shop will introduce at the 2007 SHOT Show. It�s the 40X Titanium hunting rifle and mine is the first one ever made. It�s in .280 Remington, weighs six pounds and will shoot handloads into groups as small as two-tenths. That load averages .45-inch for six three shot groups. Most factory loads are sub M.O.A. Glass is a Swarovski 2.5-10X42 TDS. It�s a titanium action and a 40X barrel. The stock is graphite.
You might note the odd triangle shaped barrel, although I am not sure you can see it in the photos. It was an experimental way to reduce weight while maintaining stiffness. It�s funny looking at first, but tends to grow on you, particularly after demonstrating how well it can shoot.
On the side of the barrel it�s engraved, �The first Remington Custom Shop 40Xti presented to Bryce M. Towsley.

Not so bad for a guy nobody ever heard of don�t you think?

Bryce

Bryce, while the rifle is nice and all, I'm particularily interested in that ram. Is he extremely dirty, or just the cheapest stone sheep to be had? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Fabulous head BTW.

Chuck

Bryce,
Is that a Fannin or Stone ram? Looks like a Fannin or a dirty Dall, but I'm not any kind of expert on Stones, either. Whatever it is, it is outstanding.

UMT- Thanks for the details! Sounds like something I'm looking for. At first glance I thought it was a Ti, then noticed the 'misshapen' barrel, so I asked. If you need someone to help 'walk' the rifle around a bit, I'm usually available... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

There are some Fannin in that area of the Yukon and we thought he might be one when I shot him. But, it turned out he was just a dirty Dall.

Bryce

UMT: Just North of St. Johnsbury is the Caledonia Field and Stream Gun Club. They host regular BR centerfire matches there and are as 'gunny' a group as you'll ever find. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Vermont is also home to the incredible Euber family (Allie and Lee) whose list of shooting accomplishments would fill many pages. Always good to know you're not alone, right? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Always enjoy your articles..keep up the good work, sir. -Al

I especially appreciate the simple, straight-forward honesty of the photograph � no wide-angle
foreshortening to make the horn spread look like it's ten feet across.

Good for you, my friend!

Thank you Ken and everybody else. As I pointed out to John Barsness in an email last night I seem to have been sucked into this forum. I asked him if there is a 12 step program for recovery.

I am heading to the range for a final check on the zero for some handloads. Only a true Gun Guy would swap scopes and change the handload the day before the airplane flies to the hunt, right?

I am shooting my .358 UMT wildcat. I designed the gun with elk hunting in mind back in 2000, but have never used it on an elk hunt. It�s been to Africa a few times, to Alaska for brown bear and on a few whitetail hunts in Canada and the U. S. It�s been to Montana for mule deer, but the gun has never been on an elk hunt. My current load is a 225-grain TSX at 3,160 ft/s. I made a one grain reduction in powder hoping for slightly better accuracy. Past experience has shown that to be true with other Barnes bullets and with the right load this Bansner rifle is a one-ragged-hole shooter.

I need to pack and try to get one more column out the door, and then I�ll be elk hunting in one of the wilderness areas of Montana for the next ten days. I hope the withdrawal symptoms from the �Campfire addiction� are not too painful.

Catch you on the flip side.

Bryce

I have managed to find some fellow shooters here. Also New Hampshire still has some active shooting. My competition tastes now run a bit different than the people you mention (if memory serves I think they are benchrest or long rang shooters is that correct?)

My son and I shoot a lot of Cowboy Action and a little action pistol. The lefties shut down the best CAS range in Vermont, although the club has now started shooting at a different range in St. J. We allso travel to five different ranges in New Hampshire to compete and once in a while to N.Y. New York is a problem because my son is only seventeen and they will not allow him to even touch a handgun. He shoots CAS with just the rifle and shotgun and IPSC with a Beretta Storm. (Not for score of course.) But, it�s not much fun for a kid who is damn good with the handguns and loves to shoot them.

I will brag on him a little and tell you he won the junior division of the first Vermont CAS state championship in 2005, by a very wide margin. This year he had to shoot with the adults because of his age and still turned in a good showing.

Shooting is not dead yet in the Northeast. That said I am off to my range to check the zero on a rifle and try some new loads in my .454 Casull. (Yes, I like the big stuff, but more important, I am heading into grizzly country tomorrow!)

Bryce

Well, I�m glad that I made somebody�s evening. To me, you were a complete unknown.

I gave up on Shooting Times years ago, too much Layne Simpson, don't recall ever having had a subscription to Shooting Illustrated, and only get American Hunter/Rifleman because I'm an NRA life member.

Jeff

Dude, you're thicker than a brick...

UMT, what a beautiful Ram... congrat's!

I think that if you look around, you'll find that being a public figure is a 2-edged sword. Some subset of the whole will think that you're really good; some subset will think that you're really not so good, and the vast majority won't know enough to care. If you were working under the assumption that you, or almost any public figure, are adored and/or acclaimed by the majority of the whole, you are probably mistaken.

Since I don't know you and have never met or communicated with you, other than via this thread, I don't think that I've said anything bad about you as a person. You might be a great guy, salt of the earth, fun to be with, kind to dogs and small children, etc. Maybe if we knew each other, we might even like each other. Who knows????

What difference does my opinion of your work make to you? It's not like I'm writing letters to the editors where you write, complaining about your work. I'm just 1 small consumer who spends too much time on-line at a particular Internet chat room and there are obvious a lot of people who are happy to spend their $$ to buy the magazines that you write for and the books that you have written.

BTW, I own your book �Big Bucks The Benoit Way�. Among the deer-hunting book in my library that fall into a similar category are the Benoit/Miller book �How To Bag The Biggest Buck Of Your Life�, and the 2 Bernier books, �The Deer Trackers� and �On The Track�.

Jeff

Do gunwriters get groupies?

If 'Stick can have groupies, I don't see why not. I think that may be why Eileen goes everywhere with John, to keep back the groupies with her personalized 32" wine colored (since she is a grub hustler of some note) H&B. You can get 1 for yourself at www.slugger.com.

Jeff

I don't know, but almost anyone can get gropies. Just take a leak in a mall restroom in San Francisco.

Is this hunt something we'll see in print in the not-so-distant future?

Since you've become a "full-time" writer, what percentage of your hunts are the subjects of articles?

Are you just frustrated that you're not published?

Not in the shooting sports venue. Working toward an editor's deadline and within an editor's parameters would not be a good fit for me. It would drive me nuts if I had to write in such as way as to not offend any of a magazine's advertisers.

I am much happier being a work at home husband and father, managing our investment portfolio, coaching my kids' ball teams, and offering an occasional opinion in my areas of interest. Since I have a little free time, I have been working on a storyboard for a detective novel, but it is a beginning work in progress. If you're really interested, I'll let you know if the effort bears fruit.

Jeff

I really don�t care if you like me or not. As you pointed out that comes with the territory. But, you seemed to have this rabid obsession with why Bill Gilderdale didn�t mention my name when you visited his gunshop twenty years ago and that kind of stress can wear a man down. I was worried about your health and I didn�t want it making you sick this close to hunting season, so I thought I would answer the question. I sure hope you can get some sleep now.

Glad to hear you have my first Benoit book. I hope you enjoyed it. You really should have a copy of the newer �Benoit Bucks� to go with it. It�s got a lot of new information on how they hunt and has been updated to include some new thinking on tactics and gear. If you order off my web site (www.brycetowsley.com) I�ll be happy to sign it for you. I�ll also make sure that at least two of the Benoits sign it too.

Bryce

I'll take your kind offer into consideration. Do you offer a "friend of the writer" discount?

Jeff

You bet. Anybody who mentions they saw my post on the campfire can take 10% off the price.

Bryce

"Drive?"

Putt.

Kenneth.............!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ha,ha,ha, Towsleys addicted already!!! Great to have you here..... 721

All right.

I stand corrected.

I apologize.

Short putt.

Yep and he got me to buy one of his books.

And I'll even go so far as to apologize a second time �

I'm sorry that it'd be a short putt.

Every time I go hunting it influences my writing and it�s impossible to separate the two. I think that just about every hunt I do has some element that will wind up in my writing.

However if you are asking if I will write a narrative story about this elk hunt I don�t know yet. I depends on how the hunt goes and what I can talk the editors into buying. I can say that I have no doubt some part of the hunt will show up in an article or column at some time. But, I rarely know what, when or where until after the hunt. If it�s a great hunt with lots of adventure I would hope to sell a narrative feature. But, I honestly don�t know at this point.

I will say that it�s unusual for me to do a hunt on horseback without an adventure or humor piece resulting. I am sure also that I will write about the guns, ammo and optics used on the hunt.

I just got in from the range and am happy to report that my .358 UMT likes this new load better. The average of three, three-shot groups is .7-inch and the last one was sub-half inch. I thought that would be a good place to quit.

My plan is for it to really suck to be an elk in the Bob Marshall next week.

On the other hand, my luck with elk hunting usually is what sucks and it often turns into camping with firearms.

Bryce

Camping with bear protection is still camping!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> 721

+1
t

Well, good luck on your elk hunt. Any horseback camping in the Bob Marshall Wilderness would have to be a story in itself, regardless of shooting game or not.

Been several years since I was on a similar hunt in the Leupold Wilderness in New Mex., but I can recall almost every minute of the hunt. Came up dry on that one, too. Was worth every penny spent.

That settles it then. (no joke)

Though, I not sure I wanna be a gunwriter if the standard for making the "A-List" is: "He can feed his family."

Jeez . . . .

That's a tough industry . . . . <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" />

Thanx John,

BMT

Got two things worthwhile in this thread.


Helluva nice ram UMT, nice horns, classic Dall face, but about the dirtiest coat I've ever seen on one (seen a few of them) only adds to his value as a trophy though IMO. Congrats.


and oh yeah the other thing, Steelhead is a good moral compass, everyone needs to get laid more. Helps keep the insignificant stuff well insignificant.


YMMV, but I'd like to think the campfire is a place where we can all escape our day to day businesses, occupations(including gun scribes) and let our hair hang down and such and talk about significant things like hunting, who makes a good 4 wheel drive rig and why I'll never be able to see anything through one of those dim Leupies!

Bryce, I am disappointed. When I looked at that photo after you finally figured out how to post it, I thought, Wow, at last a gun writer who isn't too weak to haul a bull barrel rifle around the hills. Now you tell us it is a mamby pamby featherweight. Bah.

Haven't climbed many sheep mountains have ya. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Chuck

Bryce, not to hijack the thread, but please give me your thoughts on the .41 magnum as a hunting handgun for hogs, black bear, and white tails. From reading some of your stuff in the past, I know you prefer the bigger bore heavier stuff, but the 41 mag with Winchester 240 grain Platinum tips or Federal 210 cast lead factory loads are as big bore as I am going to get for the time being...

thanks in advance

Better idea:

Start a new thread.

Bryce is gone huntin'. He flew out this morning for a back-country elk hunt in Montana, so he will beyond the Internet for a while.

John B.

Well I'll say this for him, he's in a way better place right now than any of use sitting behind a puter!

JB-I found "the" barry patch the other day, get your double rifle and head on over. We can get out and see if we can call in a big bruin and you can adjust its attitude with you double.

Make it your best day!

Mark D

I saw your topic and had to read through it as I'd no recollection of the name. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Mark--

Thanks for the offer, but the upland bird hatch has been so good this year that my dog and I are otherwise occupied. Best of luck in finding one for yourself, though!

John

You're spot on about the birds, there is a ton load of them out there.

I went out checking for bruins and made the mistake of not taking my bb gun. Wouldn't you know it, I saw a ton load of birds!

This day is killing me, it is colder and I want to be on the hill and can't leave town until later in the day.

Mark D

Now we know what puts a writer on the A-List; the writer can support his family and he is proud of the free stuff from the big companies.

"It�s the 40X Titanium hunting rifle and mine is the first one ever made. It�s in .280 Remington, weighs six pounds and will shoot handloads into groups as small as two-tenths. That load averages .45-inch for six three shot groups. Most factory loads are sub M.O.A. Glass is a Swarovski 2.5-10X42 TDS. It�s a titanium action and a 40X barrel. The stock is graphite.
You might note the odd triangle shaped barrel, although I am not sure you can see it in the photos. It was an experimental way to reduce weight while maintaining stiffness. It�s funny looking at first, but tends to grow on you, particularly after demonstrating how well it can shoot.
On the side of the barrel it�s engraved, �The first Remington Custom Shop 40Xti presented to Bryce M. Towsley.

Not so bad for a guy nobody ever heard of don�t you think?

Bryce "


I can relate, so I'm going to crow a little, also: want you guys to know that I just received a very nice *hand written* $100 check last week for an article I wrote for a (non-firearms) magazine back in January 2005. Not so bad, Bryce! Not bad at all...

After reading this through a couple of times, I think Steelhead was about spot on.

It makes me wonder... if I were a masochist lurking around here, what better way to be happy is available than to announce myself as a gunwriter?

I am just back in from a terrible elk hunting trip. I didn�t even see a fresh elk track, let alone an elk. Due to a big mistake by the guy riding in front of me my horse was hit in the face, very hard, by a tree branch about an inch and a half in diameter. In the resulting rodeo I was tossed off and stepped on. As a result I am pretty much laid up with a back injury. (I will note that the fifteen plus mile trip out of the camp was no picnic. I walked most of the way because it was too painful to ride for more than a few minutes at a time.) But, I did want to check in to see how this was going.

(Please excuse any mistakes. I have been answering emails for the past two hours and right now am in a lot of pain. In spite of the arrival while I was gone of a new gun (that I bought!) that I want very much to shoot I am heading back to bed after I post this.)

My only question to you here is where did I ever say this rifle was free? Don�t jump to conclusions unless you have all the facts. Writers do sometimes pay for guns. Sometimes we also trade our services in consulting with gun companies for product (or money) and, yes, sometimes, but very rarely, they give us the guns. Not because they like us, but because we have a symbiotic relationship where we need the guns to test and write about and they need fair and honest promotion of their firearms. Most test guns are returned. Because of some very unusual circumstances this one is mine to keep.

I don�t ever recall stating which of these scenarios caused this gun to come into my possession. You are simply assuming things of which you have no knowledge.

Bryce

I have some experience with the .41 Magnum on all three of the critters you mentioned. I don�t keep track (although I should) so I can�t give you exact numbers. My guess is half a dozen deer and maybe that many hogs. I have not personally shot a bear with the .41 Magnum, but I have watched it done twice. I know some on the forum will say it�s not enough experience, but it�s what I have and from it I have formed some opinions. I�ll leave it to you to judge if they are valid.

My opinion, and I stress it�s simply my opinion, is that with the right bullets (and that is an important factor) it�s a decent whitetail gun in most hunting situations. It will work OK on bears and hogs, but I prefer something bigger. They can be tough and at times dangerous. Both times I saw the .41 Mag used on bears was while hunting with dogs. In that situation, to protect the dogs, I like a bigger gun to end problems faster. Also, in a bait or spot and stalk situation a bigger gun makes sense. Bears can be hard to track and I like a cartridge that punches clean through for a better chance of a blood trail. The .41 Magnum did not do that with any of the multiple hits on those two black bears. (Although it might have with better bullets.)

For the bears and hogs I would pick 250 grain, flat nose, hard cast, bullets in the .41 Magnum. I have used that bullet in handloads on hogs and deer. (The same bullet that Federal loads, from the same supplier.) I have not shot any cast bullets at bears, but that�s what I would load if I were planning to hunt bears with a .41 Mag. They also work well for deer, and I have had some good results with the Winchester 240-grain Supreme Platinum Tip ammo on Texas whitetails.

Bryce

My friend Bryce won't tell you this � though he knows it � so I will �

The value to a manufacturer of a favorable mention of his product by a writer with the stature of Bryce Towsley is far greater than even a fancy firearm would cost. From this standpoint, the manufacturer is far ahead if he never gets his product back. The returned product can also be something of a liability to the manufacturer, since it can not be sold as new and must be inspected and possibly refurbished before the manufacturer can sell it at a lower price as used.

Even casual mention of the product in an article or column has more positive influence on sales of the product than an ad of any size. And even small ads now cost a pile of money. In fact, the mention of a certain rifle, say, in an article about a hunt is more likely to inspire sales of that rifle than a review article devoted to it.

The problem is the ever-increasing vast number of writers, all of whom would expect free rifles but very few of whom would boost sales as much as the top writers do. That number would increase even faster if "free" rifles were the norm.

Even negative reports boost sales if the writer or the magazine is highly respected. I once ran a piece (had to) by Bob Hagel that had nothing good to say about the product. The maker was happy, though � in-coming orders citing the Hagel piece were so numerous that he didn't care that the piece was totally negative. Evidently, a number of those readers hadn't read the review but were assuming that it was positive simply because our magazine had run it. My predecessor, Neal Knox, told me that he'd had the same thing happen with a "don't buy it" review.

UMT - "I am just back in from a terrible elk hunting trip. I didn�t even see a fresh elk track, let alone an elk. "

Mr. Towsley, sorry to hear you hurt your back in that horse wreck. I've suffered back problems for years so know you must be in pain.

Just wondering in which State you hunted where you didn't see an elk?? Idaho at the moment, has suffered some bad fires, plus wolf depredation. I'm hearing from some early hunters that they're not seeing many elk in several (once) good areas.

As for .41 Magnum, Black bears and exit shots, in no way, shape, or form, is this scientific, and I've only done it once, but I shot a 400 pound Black bear with my S&W 57, 6" bbl., using my handload of 210 grains Sierra JHP and 19.0 grains 2400. It was a through-'n-through shot.

This bear was treed by dogs, and I was about 20 yards beneath it. Frontal shot, up through the heart, clipped a lung, and broke a rib. The bear was dead about the time it hit the ground.

This was several years ago, in Peppermint Canyon of Tulare County, Calif., in the southern Sierra. As I said, one time only.

Best of luck with your back recovery.

L.W.

The assumption that Bryce got his custom rifle from Remington free reminds me of my own challange to another poste ron here recently. He told a story about visiting a Gun writer (didn't say who) and noticing a whole lineup of "test rifles" in the guy's house. He didn't ask, but just assumed these were all "free."

I can attest to the accuracy of Bryce's statements about "free" guns and gun writers. In the years I have been doing this (about 25 since I started doing any gun articles, and about 15 since I started doing a lot of them) I have received maybe 8 free guns from manufacturers. One I didn't even ask for as a test gun, it just appeared one day, I suspect because they couldn't sell them. Another was a shotgun that EVERY gun writer who attended a big event received. One was a cheap .22 that might have cost the maker $35 to manufacture. Maybe 3-4 others were rifles or shotguns that I requested for testing, and they didn't want back.

All the rest of the "test rifles" from major manufacturers I have received I either returned or paid for. As I explained elsewhere, the "writer's discount" in such cases is normally just about wholesale, the price the manufacturer would get from a gun store anyway. I can get most firearms for about the same price because I hold a Federal Firearms License and receive a dozen fliers each month from distributors.

I have done some consulting for various custom riflemakers, mostly on how to imrpove their product and get the public to notice it. I have done this because I found the rifles involved deserved to be noticed. Sometimes the company involved has seen fit to trade thsi consulting for some gunsmithing, perhaps even the work done to make an entire rifle. But almost never have I gotten a "free" rifle even then, becaiuse I provided the action, stock or barrel (or all three). Sometimes I have paid a cash discount fee, along with whatever consulting I did.

But I don't know anybody in the business who has safes full of the free guns that companies supposedly send gun writers.

John Barsness

But I don't know anybody in the business who has safes full of the free guns that companies supposedly send gun writers.

John Barsness

--------------

Dang. That shoots down one idea I had about a real beauty I had my eye on. It was a .270, too.

For some reason or other this thread hasn't caught my eye until today. I would like to say thanks to all of the writers, industry insiders, etc., wether I know them or not, who put up with all the chit yet stick around and give of their knowledge. Your better men than I. Thanks.

Bryce-

I just read this recent post of yours and wanted to let you see this item from the NYS Rifle and Pistol Assoc. website:

"TROY, NY -- (8/1/2006)(EIS) -- In a huge victory for New York shooters, Governor Pataki today signed into law State Assembly and Senate companion bills which for the first time allow New Yorkers as young as 14, and up to the age of 20, to learn to shoot handguns. This means that New York will now be able to begin training future Olympians and national champions far sooner than before, and will be able to field junior pistol teams at the USA Shooting National Championships and NRA National Championships each summer. To ensure safety, these "junior shooters" may "possess and use" pistols only at accredited shooting ranges, and under the supervision of a military officer, a military- or NRA-certified small arms instructor, or an adult certified in responsible hunting practices by the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation."

Hopefully, your son will now be allowed to shoot pistol in NY.

Welcome Bryce I enjoy your writing very much. Now on to the job at hand i have read 260 thread from start to finish and this guy does not get it Bryce is most assurredly one of this most well know gun writers of his day. I am wondering if we have a little penis envy opps did i say little. I mostly lurk here but this cat makes me tired. Darren

Stick around. Some of the stuff that shows-up here will make your teeth hurt.

Oh thats what that is? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

This reminds me of one of my most favorite gun stories!

Several years ago, Mule Deer wrote a tongue-in-cheek article on the "B-29" custom rifle he made. Went into all sorts of technical details and how a certain die manufacturer made the dies for his creation.

Often chuckled when I wondered how many readers flooded the die makers with inquiries for the cartridge!

AK - Well worded!!! +1

Bryce, The knowledge base the campfire has gained through the writers participating continues to amaze me. Thanks for spending a bit of your time here at the campfire.

-Dan (an old guy)

We "gun scribes" would like nothing better than to be allowed to "let our hair down" and simply share significant things (in both directions) man-to-men without being assailed for what a few anuses erroneously think are our methods, motives, and personal liabilities. So far, not even this mainly wonderful crowd of guys has allowed such a serene fellowship to exist unrippled.

We're just guys, too � not making fortunes at what we do but having enough fun at it to make the ankle-nibblers tolerable.

But don't nibble too deep or too often � at me or at my buddies.

Please.

I don't have enough hair left to let much down. The thing that stopped falling hair for me, long ago, was the floor. So now I have to regard the phrase "letting my hair down" as purely figurative.

kdub--

Actually, as far as I know, only one guy asked about dies. He called Redding one day, maybe 2-3 years AFTER the article came out. They of course called me immediately afterward!

Did find out that at least one guy wrote to one of the addresses I made up for the article, I believe to Ned Nobody, Nowhere Lane, etc.

Apparently there were quite a few readers who believed that the B-29 would field-dress animals at 400 yards, or that the bullets shot absolutely flat, and that Monica Lewinsky ground the chamber reamer.

JB

LOL! Monica grinding a chamber reamer......Democrat chamber reamer.

Leanwolf, thanks for the post. It reminded me of Ross Seyfried's comments many years ago about a fellow in Maine, I think, who was in game control and used a Ruger .41 Magnum for the killing of black bear. The guy used Remington's 210 grain JSP and as Ross put it, it just dribbled them (a dead bounce to the finish). He also said the number of bear the fellow had shot was "considerable."

As to you, Mr. Towsley <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />, look on the bright side, Sport. Any publicity is good, some say, however it runs. You got a good deal with this thread, friend, if that's true. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I thought you might want to know that Bill Gilderdale passed away on November 20th. He was 87 years old. I know you were friends with him in years past.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=OBITUARIES



Bryce

That was very kind of you Bryce, thank you very much!

I knew Bill from when I lived in Hanover, NH, and would run up to his place a couple of time each month to see what was new. I doubt that he would have consider us to be "friends", as I was just a customer who bought/sold/traded with him and stopped in to shoot the bull on a regular basis. He used to make me laught when he would always get pizzed if I had spent my gun buying budget at the Snowsville Store, instead of at his place.

By any chance, do you know if Rutland Plywood will sell stock blanks directly to the public? I used to get them directly from Bill Carris, but I understand that he isn't involved in that portion of the business any longer.

Jeff