Dean Grinnell

[223tenx]

A quote was mentioned on Paw Paws blog--That if it's plumbous, I'm apt to make bullets out of it. I think Dean Grinnell (sp?) was the quote source and I got to thinking about him. Does anyone know if he's still alive and if he is, what he's up to. I don't recall seeing anything written by him since he retired from, what was it, Gunworld? I used to really enjoy his written words.

[versifier]

I have been wondering about that myself. My personal favorite quote of his goes something like: "It had been said that alcohol and black powder don't mix. In fact they do mix, but the taste is truly horrendous." :mrgreen:

[Pawpaw]

Thanks. I couldn't remember who said that. I think it was originally quoted by Elmer Keith and is sometimes attributed to him. It's been attributed to a lot of folks, and I couldn't remember when making the blog entry. Thanks again.

[Abert Rim]

I heard thought I heard Dean developed Alzheimer's years ago -- a curse I would not wish on any soul.

[Dale53]

Dean Grinnell was a good writer who freely shared his experiences with the shooting community. He was a practical guy and I also miss him. I think that he is now gone to that range up in the sky.

Dale53

[floodgate]

Dean Grinnell was a good writer who freely shared his experiences with the shooting community. He was a practical guy and I also miss him. I think that he is now gone to that range up in the sky.

Dale53

He was a good sport, too. I once wrote him a note about the photo they used to head his column in "Gun Dreck" (or whatever the mag was) back in the '60's; it showed him with a pipe clenched in his grin, while loading something in the press on his bench - DON'T SMOKE WHILE LOADING! - and he wrote back that the Editor thought the pipe added to the "sportsman" image the rag was trying to project (remember the old Mark Trail comic strip?). They did change the photo a few issues later, though.

He had a wicked sense of humor, and I NEVER caught him shovelling the usual BS, like some other writers.

floodgate

I think "Grennell" was how he spelled it.

[Bret4207]

Mark Trail had to give up his pipe in 1993. Google is a wonderful thing! I also found out Mark Trail was based on Charley Elliot, who later became editor of Outdoor life. There's whole websites devoted to Mark Trail. One of my favorites along with Rick O'Shay (the western hero), Dick Tracy, Bettle Bailey and Monty (he's new). My new favorite is Big Nate, he's just like my kid.

As for Mr Grennell. I miss his writing. Sometimes they're gone before we realize their value.

[Scrounger]

Mark Trail had to give up his pipe in 1993. Google is a wonderful thing! I also found out Mark Trail was based on Charley Elliot, who later became editor of Outdoor life. There's whole websites devoted to Mark Trail. One of my favorites along with Rick O'Shay (the western hero), Dick Tracy, Bettle Bailey and Monty (he's new). My new favorite is Big Nate, he's just like my kid.

As for Mr Grennell. I miss his writing. Sometimes they're gone before we realize their value.

You have my list of favorites. Add Sky King, Sgt Preston, The Katzenjammer Kids, The Phantom, and Terry and the Pirates. Is Rick O'shay still in print? I'd love to read it again. My favorite character in it was Hipshot Percussion, the 'gun for hire' who had a heart of gold.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Bret, did you know that Lois of "Hi and Lois" is Beetle bailey's sister?

Scrounger, you and I have similar tastes, though I remember Sky King and Sgt. Preston as radio shows only. I couldn't wait to get home from school to turn on my radio.

[Buckshot]

.................Dean Grennel was my favorite writer for many reason. Perhaps the main one was that he didn't take himself too seriously. Another which goes along with that was he just seemed a regular guy who liked to tinker and mess around. I have all his ABC's of Reloading, and in a couple it shows portions of his reloading area (garage) and it is a total wreck.

Brass in tomato paste cans, and junk stacked on junk and hanging off shelves and in one a cat walking around on his reloading bench amidst all the clutter. Different size boxes stacked all crazy. Just general flotsam and jetsom. They way a real USER's gets from time to time. I also enjoyed the ho-made stuff he built and used in reloading. He was prone to the colorfull use of speech. If you were upset or disappointed you were dis-gruntled. Once he did something and said he was totally 'gruntled' with it, which follows that he was happy with it.

He was an experimental reloader par excellance and said he seldom reloaded more then 40 rounds of any one thing in initial work. A reader had written once about why he showed loads for a round he was working with like 8.3, 8.8. 9.2. 9.6 etc. Dean said it took too long fiddling with the measure and scales so he was prone to just twist the knob on the measure, scale it and use it. He admitted it wasn't as tidy as 1/2gr increments but it still seemed to get the job done.

Several photo's I've seen showed the front of his refrigerator litterally layered in notes, comics, and cards. He also had a bulletin board that must have been 2" thick with stuff stuck up on it. Plus a couple photo's of him clowing around with some freinds that had stopped by.

So besides Dean's good information and his interesting writting style, I think I was attracted to the fact that he seemed just like a regular ole down to earth guy who liked to have a good time, and he enjoyed what he was doing. What you saw, was what you got. Dean didn't wear 2 faces.

................Buckshot

[Ron]

I started pistol shooting about 1975 and reloading shortly after that. I had a need for some reloading information to refer to so had a look about and came up with The ABC's of Reloading by Dean Grennell, edited by Bob Springer. It cost me a whole AUD$3.95.
This book has always been my first port of call whenever I had a problem with reloading and usually the answer was in the book and easily explained. Mr. Grennell certainly knew how to communicate with others.

Regards,

[floodgate]

NV curmudgeon:

Talk about trivia! A neighbor informed me many years ago that the "Green Hornet" started life as the Lone Ranger's nephew. (Comix characters in those days didn't kave children; just nieces and nephews.)

floodgate

[Bucks Owin]

Besides Dean Grennel, another of my favorites was (is?) George C. Nonte Jr. Haven't read anything of his in ages....
Is he still around?

Dennis
(who will always miss Jack O'Connor and Skeeter Skelton...) :(

[Swagerman]

Dean Grennel past on more than 10 years ago I think.

I've had the pleasure of talking with him many times over the land line, but fear I had alienated him on the last call he made to me.

This was a time he was nearing retirement, and he told me about mixing pistol powders to achieave some kind of load. I flat warned him that he should know better than to mix powders and if he printed it his readers would come down on him like a wall of bricks. Needless to say the phone conversation didn't last long after that.

Perhaps Dean was just getting old, and his age was playing tricks on him...like mine is doing to me now...at 70.

He was a great guy, and no one can take that away from him. He was once a tail gunner on a B-24 Liberator, but never went overseas to fight. He was more valubable teaching rookies gunners to shoot the big 50 calibers stateside.

He was also a cop for a short period in Milwaukee Wisconsin, then he was a salesman and finally an excellent gun writer and editor at Gun World magazine.

God bless you, Dean Grennel, may the saints preserve yee.


Jim

[Bret4207]

Maj George Nonte died sometime in the early '80's I think. Another good writer gone to his reward.