Rick Jamison article in Handloader

[Patrick L]

Rick Jamison penned an article about wildcats in the current Handloader. I was glad to see that, he was one of the writers I cut my teeth on back in the early 80s, then he sort of disappeared from the scene.

He always struck me as very knowledgeable, and I'm glad to see him writing again.

Now if we could only find what ever happened to Clay Harvey!

[Texas by God]

Mr Jamison never mentioned in this article that he is the father of the WSMs. He has forgotten more than most will ever know about reloading. I too miss Clay Harvey and Jon Sundra and Ross Seyfreid. Best, Thomas.

[CHeatermk3]

Ditto Jim Carmichael.

[MT Gianni]

He successfully sued Rem and Winch. for creating the Short/Super mags and as part of the settlement agreed not to be published for X # of years and not to discuss terms, IIRC.

[tim338]

Ross Seyfreid, I loved his writing. What happened to him? Anyone know?

[44man]

Many are gone now and old stories are told again. Some just retire but many are gone. Anything might be a repeat from years ago. Gun rags do not have the greats anymore.

[RPRNY]

I liked the article. I thought it was great that he started by saying that there is absolutely no sense in developing a wildcat today - and then immediately dismissed that balderdash :-) Great article. Well written and plenty of technical data.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I recall what he said in his first column after taking Jack O`Connors place. "I`ll probably never be able to fill those shoes".Robert

[telebasher]

I always read Bob Milek's articles with much anticipation.

[HABCAN]

I met Rick in Prescott, AZ, when on a holiday trip I called in at the Rifle offices in the early 70's. Thereafter I used to kid him when we corresponded about shooting coyotes: I told him he should come up here where the fur was thicker, LOL.

[Yodogsandman]

Hope Jamison is back as a regular writer. Have hated the gun rags since he "left".

I miss many others that are no longer with us, too. I always liked the ones with hunting stories like Jack O'Conner or Finn Aggard the best
.

[Patrick L]

Agree, Finn was also one of the greats.

My all time favorite was Dean Grennel.

[MT Gianni]

Ross Seyfreid, I loved his writing. What happened to him? Anyone know?
Rumored disagreement with the editors of Handloader/Rifle he wrote for several single shot specialty mags for a while.

[Nueces]

Last I heard, Seyfried had gone to one of the northwest mountain states and opened an elk hunting ranch. That was some time ago, though.

[Loudenboomer]

Seyfried wrote a good article on the flat top 44 special a while back. Can't recall where though. I think he even did some firelaping in the article.

[lotech]

Rick Jamison may have been the best of the SHOOTING TIMES writers, long before the publication suffered the deterioration into what it is today. I certainly hope he continues to do work for HANDLOADER or RIFLE as he did in the early 'seventies. His articles have always provided useful information based on actual work and research.

[bruce drake]

Agree, Finn was also one of the greats.

My all time favorite was Dean Grennel.

Dean Grennell had already passed away when I first read one of his books (ABCs of Reloading). I think he's one of the reasons why I started the quest to learn more than just stuffing powder and primer and a jacketed bullet into a shell and calling it done. He got me thinking about the "why" behind the reload. Now if I can ever find a 38-45ACP 1911 barrel, I'd like to try to replicate his work with his 38-45 Hardhead loads for Bullseye Pistol matches.

I read the Wildcat article that the OP refers to in the Rifle Magazine. I found it pretty good read as well. The author is head and shoulders above many other "writers" in the gun report trade.

[GooseGestapo]

Yes I too am glad to see him back!
He's still active in benchrest competition and often at ar near the top. Hopefully he'll include some boolit casting articles.

[fourarmed]

I think Clay Harvey wrote a couple of thrillers. I read one of them, and thought it was pretty good. I have heard that he was not liked in the gun writing game because of his habit of keeping all the demos sent him to write about.

[jem102]

I always read Bob Milek's articles with much anticipation.

His work with Contenders & XP's was great!

[waco]

Rick Jamison used to live just a few miles down the road from me. I'd see him from time to time at the local Bi-mart store.

[elk hunter]

Rumored disagreement with the editors of Handloader/Rifle he wrote for several single shot specialty mags for a while.

He still writes for the "Double gun and Single Shot Journal".

For several years he lived in North East Oregon on a 7000 acre ranch called "Elk Song". He sold the ranch a few years ago and moved to Western Kentucky.

[alamogunr]

I have a book by Rick Jamison(Rifleman's Handbook). One of the best I have ever read. Not that I'm all that qualified to rate it but I learned a lot from it. I too hope he stays around at Handloader.

I agree with most comments about other writer's too.

[Patrick L]

This thread has turned into a fun one.

I guess we all have a sort of "golden era" in our memories, which I suspect for most of us is our formative years, ie teens /early adult hood. That's certainly what mine is. Most of these people we are talking about I first encountered via their magazine articles written in the early 80s (and just to put the perspective in, I was born in '66, so that made me 14-15.) And I think we all suffer from the "my child hood was the best childhood, kids these days..." sort of mentality, but it just goes to show what an impact these guys had on us, and contributed to our passion for this sport. I sort of understand what the older guys are talking about when they venerate O'Connor, although I missed him by a few years.

That said, I do think this bunch we're focusing on were a pretty special bunch. I look at Shooting Times and Guns and Ammo now and I see comic books. I wonder if that's really true, or if I'm just turning into an old man??

Let's keep this one rolling! Who else really moved you? How about Skeeter!?

[lotech]

There are different styles of gunwriting. Rick Jamison or Ken Waters material is close to 100% information including technical aspects and a good bit of testing / evaluation. Skeeter Skelton material usually contained some of the same, but in considerably lesser amounts. He relied on stories and experiences to fill some space, some of it maybe pertinent to the article, some not. However, there were and are readers who like that kind of mix as opposed to those interested in factual information only.

[Geezer in NH]

His book on Coyote hunting taught me lot's

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[Bent Ramrod]

There's also the issue that there are few niches for experimentation any more. The gun and ammunition factories have created cartridges whose minimal practicality and longevity have beaten the ideas of the looniest wildcatters of the 1930's. There's little that is new in the experimental area to really write about any more. Do we really need another article on "Hot Defense Loads For the .357 Magnum?"

Most of the guns produced are indistinguishable in function, and even looks, from most other guns. This year's "Gun of the Year" looks like last year's "Gun of the Year." It's beginning to resemble the situation of automobile models, most of which are designed in wind tunnels for gas mileage, and have the same standard and optional features. You have to be a fan to notice anything exciting in one car (or gun) over the other. So what's to write about?

Look how fast even "lost technology" came back to standard routine. In the late '80's, few people could load a black powder cartridge with any semblance of accuracy. By the mid-90's, calibers from .40 to .50 with 70-gr. charges were well enough worked out so bullet weights and powder charges could be recommended for new rifles, like smokeless loadings were. The longer cases, 90 grains, 100 grains and 110 grains, were still "Terra Incognita" in the late '90's, not recommended for new shooters, but gradually, one after another, the parameters for success were worked out. Now the experts can recommend loadings to newbies who just got their "Big .50" rifles and the newbies report almost instant success. Paper patch boolits are going the same way and even the extreme ..38 and .40 calibers are being worked out. On the smokeless front, the .25 caliber cartridge has developed from a novelty interest (the "Quarter-Bore Corps") to something that wins bench rest matches with 250's. Is there anything new here to read any more, at least strictly information-wise?

I like reading about all this stuff, but I'm a print junkie of the most incurable sort. Anybody writing just for me would starve to death in a week; not enough others out there to form a "market."

There is left for the mass market only the stylistic content of the writing and the ability of the writer to project his own interest to the reader. That was Seyfried's long suit, and Venturino's as well. They could get me to read about guns I had absolutely no interest in, and make them interesting to me regardless. Elmer Keith could put enough real-life experiences into his writing to hold my interest, even though he was basically repeating all his stuff from the 1920's to 1960 throughout his later career. The average reportarial writer can't do this, and only attracts the few that are interested in the subject matter.

And even the good ones must eventually run out of steam. I remember reading somewhere that George Bernard Shaw was approached at a party by a fan who went on at length on how much he enjoyed Shaw's plays and asked him why he wasn't writing any new stuff. Shaw fixed the fan with a steely glare and a big, false grin, and said, "Got any ideas?"

[oldblinddog]

...asked him why he wasn't writing any new stuff. Shaw fixed the fan with a steely glare and a big, false grin, and said, "Got any ideas?"

All that illustrates is Shaw's gross lack of imagination. He was a most vile racist and bigot from the Progressive movement, now epitomized by Hillary/Schumer/Pelosi, that was all about eugenics (i.e., Planned Parenthood) and fascism, which was once popular in this country before it was "bad". He was an advocate of "mercy" killings of below average intelligence adults.

As for new writing, all of these "great" writers were rank amateurs before they were good. Try reading Venturino's early stuff. I could hardly finish some of those articles as I knew enough to know when he was not quite right. What is old hat for us is brand new for the young up and comers that we so badly need to continue our sport. They need their set of "great" writers just like we had.

As for Shaw, I hope that he is spinning in his grave over the last election. Maybe they are using him as a fan down in hell. I, for one, will gladly forego his earthly works.

[Geezer in NH]

All that illustrates is Shaw's gross lack of imagination. He was a most vile racist and bigot from the Progressive movement, now epitomized by Hillary/Schumer/Pelosi, that was all about eugenics (i.e., Planned Parenthood) and fascism, which was once popular in this country before it was "bad". He was an advocate of "mercy" killings of below average intelligence adults.

As for new writing, all of these "great" writers were rank amateurs before they were good. Try reading Venturino's early stuff. I could hardly finish some of those articles as I knew enough to know when he was not quite right. What is old hat for us is brand new for the young up and comers that we so badly need to continue our sport. They need their set of "great" writers just like we had.

As for Shaw, I hope that he is spinning in his grave over the last election. Maybe they are using him as a fan down in hell. I, for one, will gladly forego his earthly works.
And Shaw was wrong?? [sarcasm/off]

[alamogunr]

He still writes for the "Double gun and Single Shot Journal".

For several years he lived in North East Oregon on a 7000 acre ranch called "Elk Song". He sold the ranch a few years ago and moved to Western Kentucky.

Any idea where in Western Kentucky. I live in West Tennessee

[oldblinddog]

And Shaw was wrong?? [sarcasm/off]

Sarcastic socialists are NOT clever, and yes he was wrong. My opinion. YMMV

[elk hunter]

Any idea where in Western Kentucky. I live in West Tennessee

I didn't ask as I didn't think I would be visiting him there. Knowing Ross he wont be living in town.