Lee E. Jurras passed away.

[Leadmelter]

The title says it all, Mr Jurras passed away this month.
There are several obits on line.
Last of the Legends
Leadmelter
MI

[JSnover]

Wow. There's a name I haven't heard in 40 years.
"Super-Vel" right?

[Blackwater]

Most of the younger folks won't even recognize the name, unless they're dyed in the wool "gun guys" with a bit of a flair for and interest in the history of our sport. For those who don't know the name, Lee was the primary original mover and shaker in the development of the JHP's we take so much for granted these days. His efforts are what has made the 9mm a viable self defense round, for one thing! The 9mm largely depends on expansion for it to be effective for self defense. It took a LOT of experimenting, theorizing and a lot of on-going analysis and revising of approaches to get really good JHP's, PLUS the development of really good technology to make today's exceptional JHP and JSP bullets, and Lee was the original impetus who put a lot of money and his heart and mind and labors into making them work. Lee more than earned his place in the annals of the history of the American handun and handgunners. Sorry to see him go. He'll hardly be missed by most, who don't know what he did, or how diligently he remained until he got what he thought was possible, and what he wanted, so that we now, can take it all for granted. Hope he's safe in the Lord's loving arms now.

[baogongmeo]

Wow. There's a name I haven't heard in 40 years.
"Super-Vel" right?

I think that he had something to do with the Automag pistols too.

[country gent]

His super Vel ammo was part of the lighter bullet high velocity theroies being proposed at the time. 110-125 grn 38b at 1100+ and 357 mags 1400+. Along with the same on other cartridges and combos.

[murf205]

Lee Jurras and Maj. George Nonte are the two men who started me handgun hunting. What an innovator he was, not afraid to push the envelope for safe high performance ammo and handguns. RIP brother, we will never forget what you did for us.

[Leadmelter]

If people don't know the history of Lee E. Jurras and Col. George Nonte, stick to 22 LR!

[Tracy]

Didn't he build a line of Contender barrels chambered in some truly big bore wildcat cartridges, too? Maybe up to .58 caliber.

[ubetcha]

Didn't he build a line of Contender barrels chambered in some truly big bore wildcat cartridges, too? Maybe up to .58 caliber.

I'm wonder if may be thinking of JD Jones . JD had or still has a line of wildcat round chambered in TC barrels known as JDJ hand cannon's

[ubetcha]

Didn't he build a line of Contender barrels chambered in some truly big bore wildcat cartridges, too? Maybe up to .58 caliber.

I'm wonder if may be thinking of JD Jones . JD had or still has a line of wildcat round chambered in TC barrels known as JDJ hand cannon's
Lee Jurras was also well known in the early IHMSA silhouette game.

[woodbutcher]

:-( Another great one gone.God bless ya sir.
Leo

[Tracy]

No, I'm pretty sure it was Lee Jurras. He called them Howdah pistols and named the cartridges after himself.
Of course I'm aware of JD Jones, too.

ETA: Here it is. http://www.cartridgecollector.net/577-howdah-jurras
He made others too, but I think the .577 was the largest.

[minmax]

I saw they re-released super vel, at my LGS, maybe a year ago. I wasn't sure if Mr. Jurras was involved with that or not. Anybody know?

[44MAG#1]

JD Jones posted on Facebook about the death of Lee Jurras on the 24th of last month.

[bruce drake]

And my NRA monthly Rifleman Mag had an add for the new Super-Vel ammunition line now being available. The ad displayed 9x19 ammo with 90gr and 115gr loads.
https://www.supervelammunition.com/
9mm, 38 Special, 45ACP and 223Rem to start it seems.
They are offering sub-sonic as well as high-velocity loadings.

[Char-Gar]

The fact that we have good reliable expanding JHP bullets for handgun defense can be traced directly back to Lee. He first started using lighter than nominal weight JHP pushed to higher than normal velocities. These worked so well, he sold them under the Super-Vel name by the millions. He was so successful the major ammo companies got together and put him out of business. The major ammo companies, then took his concept and that is where we are today. That was when he moved to the Auto-Mag pistols and rounds.

Many fine LEOs and civilians are alive today due to Lee's forward thinking. He received the 1st. American Handgunner Award and in fact it is him image that is on the award. He moved to New Mexico a few years back where he concentrated on his latest passion, building and shooting 1,000 yard bench rest rifles.

He was a fine human being as well as a landmark shooter and firearms developer.

[lotech]

Regarding Lee Jurras...some of you older guys will remember a classic piece of gunwriting that appeared in HANDLOADER in 1970. Neal Knox, the editor, and George Nonte put together an article where they took the hottest factory .38 Special ammo at the time and Jurras pressure-tested the ammo in the Super Vel shop. As I recall, Norma had the hottest .38 Special ammo available at that time.

In a subsequent issue of HANDLOADER, they duplicated the factory offerings with handloads. A couple of very interesting articles. I was never a fan of George Nonte's gunwriting, but had to make an exception in this case. These articles were a credit to all three men.

[Char-Gar]

Regarding Lee Jurras...some of you older guys will remember a classic piece of gunwriting that appeared in HANDLOADER in 1970. Neal Knox, the editor, and George Nonte put together an article where they took the hottest factory .38 Special ammo at the time and Jurras pressure-tested the ammo in the Super Vel shop. As I recall, Norma had the hottest .38 Special ammo available at that time.

In a subsequent issue of HANDLOADER, they duplicated the factory offerings with handloads. A couple of very interesting articles. I was never a fan of George Nonte's gunwriting, but had to make an exception in this case. These articles were a credit to all three men.

Nonte wrote a book on pistolsmithing and Lee Jurris had a couple of chapters in that book. Nonte inscribed a copy of the book to Lee Jurris and I got that book when he moved to New Mexico. I also have Lee's copy of Hatcher's notebook. Needless to say they are treasures of mine.

[Leadmelter]

Lee and George wrote a book on Handgun Hunting. Lee hosted the first IMHSA match. The featured pistols were mostly Auto mags. George Nonte wrote several books on pistolsmithing and reloading.
Great guys and friends.
Leadmelter
MI

[guicksylver]

Sorry to hear about Lee's passing....every time I go into my reloading room I look over in the direction where I have eight or so yellow and red boxes that are labeled Super Vel..inside are primed nickle 357 cases...Lee set them to me after I tried some of his first loading he made for LE..I had fired them out of a Highway Patrolman..I only got to try the first five because the cases stuck in the cylinders...after giving him a call he sent along ten boxes of the nickled stuff that they started using....guess I'll cherish them even more now...thanks for letting us know.

[Shiloh]

The Auto-Mag guy.

Shiloh

[John Ross]

Here's a photo from the summer of 1974 at the Shelbyville plant, printed in the Auto Mag newsletter. Lee took this photo of us at a gathering of a few International Auto Mag Club members that met there for the weekend. I was member number 48 and the Club's youngest member as I was 17 at the time. When Lee later sold off the assets of Super Vel after it closed, I bought the company's ballistics lab and pressure gun, as well as about a half ton of various powders and other components.

197827

Good times.

JR

[osteodoc08]

Seems to be a much different time back then. Sorry to hear of his passing. I knew some of the history but not all the connections.

Thanks for sharing everyone.