Taking a cue from a conversation in another thread, it goes without saying that we stand on the shoulders of giants, though I'm not sure that would be how they might see themselves. Somewhere between the mid 1990's and just after the Heller decision, handgunning as I've known it took a turn. Very rarely now does one see articles on handgun hunting, or new cartridges developed for hunting or long range shooting. I don't remember the last time I saw an article solely on either of these subjects. Perhaps I was lucky to come along when I did, while Skeeter was still writing, Ross Seyfreid was a regular, Mike Venturino was coming into his own, Bob Milek was still living and writing, Dean Grennell was publishing, Elmer Keith had recently passed but his work was widely referenced, J.D Jones was bringing out something new for Contenders every year it seemed. Now days I go to the range, drag our my Contender and someone will ask me what it is. Then there is a generation before them many of us know at least by name, men like Phil Sharp, Elmer Keith and Ken Waters who shaped not only handgunning as we know it, but shaped cartridge development and ballistics (internal, external and terminal) and shared with us their knowledge and experience and raised us up to a higher level.
I don't want this to come off as some old fart waxing nostalgic and wishing for the old days. Those days are gone and won't return. But every one of those writers and shooters gave me something, even if I can't say directly what it was. I've no doubt that Mike Venturino and Ross Seyfreid influenced my early learning about casting, probably laid the ground work that made me think I could do it too. And when I bought a Navy 36 cap and ball revolver that came with a round ball mould, what do you think the first thing I did was. Bob Milek wrote a short series of articles on beginning reloading/how to reload that shifted my thinking from "I'm not too sure about reloading" to "I'm buying a press". (bought a manual first, at his suggestion no less) One of the best guns/shooting/life books I've ever read is Elmer Keith's "Hell, I Was There"
Certainly the biggest influence was my Dad and the Saturday mornings we would spend shooting the 22 rifle (Springfield Model 120A) I was given for my 12th Christmas when we'd take off the tin and glass trash. All these years later those days are with me.
So, who were the shooters, writers, experimenters who influenced the paths you've taken in your shooting/reloading?