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Guns Of The Greats

The gunwriters of the mid-20th century have become heroes and legends to generations of American outdoorsmen and -women. Their published voices influenced cartridge and firearm design, and their exploits entertained and inspired legions of hunters and shooters.

Guns Of The Greats
Elmer Keith, like so many of the great gunwriters, influenced ballistic design and was instrumental in the development of arms and ammunition. (Guns & Ammo)

As a teenager, my heroes were the great old gunwriters. I read them avidly in the pages of Guns & Ammo, and every other gun or outdoor magazine I could get my hands on. We have good gunwriters today, but those were different times. No internet, no outdoor television, no YouTube. Print media was King and the great gunwriters were knights of the round table. None of my peers or colleagues can even imagine the audience, reach, and power enjoyed by great gunwriters of the previous generation.

I was lucky, I came into this business young, met my childhood heroes, and even hunted with several. I’m not alone. Other still-writing geezers who knew them almost certainly include Lane Pearce, Dave Petzal, Layne Simpson, and Jim Zumbo. Most of the old-timers are best-remembered for a certain type of firearm. This is not always accurate. They had favorites, but most were equally adept with a wide range of firearms. My little list is not intended to slight anyone’s legacy. I will include only career gunwriters who have passed, in order of their passing, and who I knew. Starting and ending with two exceptions.

COL. TOWNSEND WHELEN (1877-1961)

Col. Townsend Whelen
Col. Whelen, dean of American riflemen, shooting his 7mm rifle on assignment for accuracy and trajectory. (Guns & Ammo)

I didn’t know “Townie,” but no list of great gunwriters could be complete without him. Career Army officer, at one time commanding officer of the Frankford Arsenal, Whelen was a prolific writer for most of his life, writing full-time after he retired from the Army in 1936. He left us more than 2000 articles and eight books, with some of his last work appearing in Guns & Ammo. He was an active and successful competitive rifleman and passionate hunter, spending weeks “do-it-yourself” hunting in the wilderness.

The .35 Whelen cartridge bears his name, and he was also involved in wildcatting the .25-06 and .400 Whelen. He was a bolt-action man and a staunch believer in the .30-06. His most famous quote is probably, “Only accurate rifles are interesting.” He also wrote, “The .30-06 is never a mistake.” In his younger days there was debate regarding speed of operation between the bolt and lever-action. Using a 1903 Springfield, legend has it that, on demand, Whelen could fire six shots in ten seconds, all hitting a silhouette target at 200 yards.

WARREN KEMPTON PAGE (1910-1977)

Warren Page
Warren Page hunted this heavy-horned Persian ibex in the Elburz range in northern Iran close to the Russian border. As with most of his hunts, Page carried "Old Betsy," a 7mm Mashburn Super Magnum scoped with a Redfield 4X and fed a 175-grain Nosler semi-spitzer bullet. (Guns & Ammo)

Warren Page passed away before I came into the business, but I did meet him when I was young at a Kansas Rifle Association meeting. He was Shooting Editor of Field & Stream for 24 years, spending his final six years as president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). A passionate rifleman fascinated by accuracy, he founded the National Rifle Benchrest Championships. His 1973 book The Accurate Rifle remains a classic.

In 1958 he was the third recipient of the Weatherby Hunting and Conservation Award. Although he did less mountain hunting than O’Connor, Page had more international experience and much more in Africa. He was probably the second person (after Elgin Gates) to take all nine of Africa’s principal spiral-horned antelopes. And, except for yours truly much later, the only other gunwriter to pull that off.

Although Page shot and wrote about a wide variety of firearms, he did almost all his hunting with a wildcat 7mm Mashburn Super Magnum. An outspoken proponent of the fast 7mm, he deserves much credit for the creation of the 7mm Remington Magnum in 1962.

JOHN WOOLF “JACK” O’CONNOR (1902-1978)

Jack O'Connor
Jack O’Connor with a nice Coues whitetail, probably late 1930s. The rifle is believed to be a .257 Roberts. Note he’s using open sights! (Author Photo)

Although O’Connor was a lifelong friend of my uncle, I admit that I barely met him. An English professor by trade, Jack O’Connor could have been a successful writer in any genre. We are fortunate he chose ours. He wrote three novels, a dozen books, and some 1200 magazine articles on firearms, hunting, and shooting. Perhaps best-known as Shooting Editor of Outdoor Life for 31 years, he was Executive Editor of Petersen’s Hunting from the magazine’s inception in 1973 until his death. He hunted extensively throughout North America, made numerous safaris to Africa, and shikars to both India and Iran. In 1957 he was the second recipient of the Weatherby Hunting and Conservation Award. Although better known as a “rifle writer,” he was also an avid shotgunner and wingshooter. In addition to classics such as Game in the Desert (1939), The Rifle Book (1949), Sheep and Sheep Hunting (1974), his books also include The Complete Book of Rifles and Shotguns (1961) and The Shotgun Book (1965).

He is best-remembered for championing the .270 Winchester. No doubt that it was a favorite cartridge, almost a personal talisman. However, the 7x57 Mauser and .30-06 were also lifelong favorites. I have a huge stack of O’Connor letters. In one, circa 1971, he lists all the firearms he currently owned. In addition to multiples of those three, he also had a 7mm Remington Magnum, a .300 Weatherby Magnum, a .375 H&H, and a .416 Rigby.

ELMER MERRIFIELD KEITH (1899-1984)

Elmer Keith .44 Mag
Elmer Keith, left, is unquestionably considered the father of the .44 Remington Magnum. He's shown here testing the Ruger Model 44 carbine. (Guns & Ammo)

I served as one of Keith’s last editors. Tough job and, like most writers, Keith hated editors. Especially “new, kid” editors. Payton Miller and I worried that Elmer would ride down from Idaho and shoot us with his .44. Only a joke. We hoped. In truth, Elmer loved people and was wonderful to his fans at the last trade shows he was able to attend.

Keith started writing in the 1920s, contributing widely to sporting publications, eventually writing ten books between 1936 and 1979. In 1957 he found a home with Robert E. Petersen’s new Guns & Ammo magazine, contributing almost exclusively to G&A until the end of his life, penning what would be his signature “Gun Notes” column.

According to Guns & Ammo’s first editor, Tom Siatos, Keith was the anomaly among gunwriters, equally skilled with and knowledgeable of rifles, shotguns, and handguns. (Siatos would know: He was also one of those gifted guys.)

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In the 1930s he was instrumental in development of the .357 Magnum. Twenty years later, he was the father of the .44 Rem. Mag., based on his experiments with heavy loads for the .44 Special. His “Keith-style” hard-cast, deep-penetrating semi-wadcutter bullets remain popular among hunters for both heavy revolvers and lever-action rifles.

As a youngster, hunting and guiding in his native Idaho’s black timber, he saw multiple failures with early expanding bullets at then-new smokeless powder velocities. For the rest of his life, he believed in heavy-for-caliber bullets at moderate velocities. In the 1940s, he teamed up with Charlie O’Neil and Don Hopkins to create the wildcat .333 OKH, using .333 Jeffery bullets. Although Winchester never offered much credit, his experiments — and writing — greatly influenced 1958’s .338 Winchester Magnum. His several later .33-caliber wildcats used the more-available .338-inch bullets.

Keith made several lengthy African safaris, primarily using his .33s for plains game and English double rifles for thick-skinned game. In a time when ammunition was unavailable for the old Nitro Express cartridges, Keith was uniquely responsible for keeping the double rifle alive and developing loads for American handloaders.

During WWII Keith served as an inspector at the Ogden, Utah, arsenal. Just last year I shot a friend’s 1917 Enfield with Elmer Keith’s cartouche on the stock. Short of stature with a big heart, Keith was recognizable by his Stetson hat, big cigar, and large-caliber revolvers.

BOB MILEK (1934-1993)

Bob Milek
Bob Milek probably liked hunting in his native Wyoming the most. The rifle is most likely a .25-06, and of course he has a handgun on his hip. (Author Photo)

Gunwriting has no retirement plan, no incentive to ride off into the sunset. Most of us enjoy long careers. Sadly, Bob Milek’s career was cut short by cancer. The “Wyoming Cowboy” was a wonderful guy, loved life, and was always fun to be around. He was an important mentor when I was a new kid editor. To me, he was, if not a “writer’s writer,” for sure an “editor’s writer.” His stories came in on time, letter-perfect, painstakingly and lavishly illustrated.

After college, Milek freelanced widely, then contributed regularly to Shooting Times. From the late 1970s, during my time at Petersen Publishing, Milek’s work appeared monthly in both Guns & Ammo and Petersen’s Hunting. Good with shotguns, skilled with rifles, handgun hunting was Milek’s passion. He teamed up with Steve Herrett to create the .30 and .357 Herrett cartridges in T/C Contenders. Later, he worked with Remington to expand offerings in the XP-100 bolt-action pistol. I think of him as the father of long-range handgun hunting. Some of the greatest days I’ve had afield were shooting prairie dogs with Bob Milek.

As a rifleman, Milek was a .25-caliber guy, staunchly believing his .257 Roberts or .25-06 were plenty of gun to put elk meat in his freezer. In his hands, they always did.

COL. WILLIAM HENRY JORDAN (1911-1997)

Bill Jordan
Bill Jordan was a revolver man, through and through, and another example of the excellent shootists and writers with strong ties to the Border Patrol.

Bill Jordan retired as a bird colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve. He served in combat in WWII and Korea and had a celebrated 30-year career with the Border Patrol. Most of his writing came after retirement, so he wasn’t as prolific a gunwriter as most on this list. He wrote three books. His 1965 classic, No Second Place Winner, remains a must-read.

I met Bill Jordan as a youngster when he gave a shooting demonstration at the grand opening of Hodgdon’s Bullet Hole indoor shooting range in Kansas City. Using wax bullets, he would draw and fire, working his way down progressively smaller targets, from tennis ball to golf ball to aspirin. I was impressed. Later, his Louisiana drawl became a familiar sound at industry events. I remained impressed.

Jordan was a double-action revolver guy, developing the Jordan or “Border Patrol” holster and the Jordan Trooper grips for double-action revolvers. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan.

COL. CHARLES ASKINS JR. (1907-1999)

Charles Askins
Colonel Charles Askins loved his 8mms, wildcatting numerous cases to .323-inch. He took this Cape buffalo in Zambia with a wildcat 8mm on the .404 Jeffery case. (Author Photo)

Colonel “Charlie” Askins (never “Charlie” to his face) was famous for being an irascible old scoundrel. To me, he was a friend. He started with the United States Forest Service, served in the Border Patrol through the 1930s, then was a US Army officer from 1940 to 1971. His father, Major Charles Askins, was also a prolific gunwriter, specializing in wingshooting. Askins Jr. started gunwriting in 1929 and wrote until his death 70 years later, likely a record.

Col. Askins’ body of work includes a dozen books and over 1000 articles. A serious competitive shooter, Askins participated in a wide array of disciplines with rifle, pistol, and shotgun. In his later years he was scary at the demanding game of Metallic Silhouette, deadly at live pigeons, and was twice National Pistol Champion. Doesn’t matter what he was shooting, the man was born to run a gun.

Obviously, he could write about any type of firearm, but he was a serious hunter with extensive experience in Africa. We hunted muskox together in the Arctic when Askins was deep in his 80s. Tough as nails, he rolled a fine bull with a brilliant running shot. If he had a “gimmick,” it was a penchant for the unloved 8mm. Askins experimented with wildcat 8mms on numerous cases but even he couldn’t spark much American interest in .323-inch bullets.

BOB BRISTER (1928-2005)

Bob Brister
While many of the greats were skilled shotgunners, few contributed as much to the sporting scattergun and general shotgun knowledge than Bob Brister.

Bob Brister was Outdoors Editor of the Houston Chronicle for 40 years, also Shooting Editor of Field & Stream following Warren Page. More than just an outdoor writer, in 1976 he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Hurricane Carla. Although perfectly skilled and literate with rifles and handguns, Brister was a shotgun specialist. He was instrumental in bringing Sporting Clays from Europe to the US. A painstaking experimenter, Brister contributed immensely to our knowledge of shotshells and chokes. His 1977 book, Shotgunning: The Art and Science, is still a master work on the subject. Good guy, good fun in camp. Considering my own interests, the Brister tale I remember best is when he took a Cape buffalo in Botswana using a Brenneke slug from his Perazzi sporting clays shotgun. 

COL. JEFF COOPER (1920-2006)

Jeff Cooper
From the Modern Technique of the Pistol to the Scout Rifle concept, Col. Jeff Cooper advanced the study of combat and firearms. His center for learning, Gunsite Academy, continue to grow and remains the preeminent firearms training facility in the United States. (Guns & Ammo)

Cooper commissioned in the Marines in 1941, served in World War II and the Korean War, and retired from the Marine Corps Reserve as a Lt. Col. He is essentially the “father of modern handgunning.” The two-handed Weaver stance he advocated eventually replaced one-handed pistol shooting prevalent for centuries. In a time when high-capacity double-action semiautos were taking over, he revived interest in the Colt 1911. His “numbered” conditions regarding the disposition of a handgun are primarily 1911-centric, whereas his color-coded “conditions of readiness” (white through red) speak to combat mindset with any firearm.

In 1976, Cooper founded the American Pistol Institute in Paulden, Arizona, later Gunsite Academy, still one of America’s great training facilities for rifle, pistol, and shotgun. Writing from 1947 to his death, Cooper’s many books and countless articles stray far from pure gunwriting, including short stories, essays, reminiscences, and historical vignettes. He was a tireless and outspoken Second Amendment advocate. Although clearly a Colt 1911 guy, he was instrumental in developing the Bren 10 and 10mm pistol cartridge. In the rifle world, he is best-known for the “Scout Rifle” concept.

JOHN HENRY WOOTTERS (1928-2013)

John Wootters
From left, Gary Sitton, Boddington, and John Wootters with a fine South Texas whitetail taken on Wootters’ Dos Cuernos Ranch. (Author Photo)

Along with Bob Milek, I was lucky to also have John Wootters as a mentor. Typical of his wry sense of humor, Wootters often reminded me: “Them’s as can, writes. Them’s as can’t, edits.” John was a US Army combat correspondent during the Korean conflict, and turned to writing when he returned to his native Houston. John contributed to just about every sporting publication of his time, at peak producing some 100,000 words per month, on a manual typewriter, no less. In my time, he contributed monthly to Guns & Ammo and Petersen’s Hunting. Unlike most gunwriters, John retired, spending his last days with wife Jeannie on their Hill Country Ranch, and having a ball writing a column for West Ker Current, their local newspaper.

Of John’s six books, two were on handloading while the rest mostly focused on hunting his beloved whitetails. Hunting Trophy Deer (1977) was not only a runaway best-seller; it sparked the massive cult and culture of hunting whitetail deer that dominates American sporting culture to this day.

I hunted and shot with John many times and can attest that he was equally knowledgeable and skilled with rifle, shotgun, and handgun. However, he is best remembered for his scientific approach to deer hunting. His full-stocked Sako .308 is probably his most famous firearm, but the one I admired most was a gorgeous lever-action M88 .308 by Joe Balickie. His use of a wildcat .416 Taylor in Africa in the 1970s and ’80s had much to do with the revival of the .416. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKER

George W. Parker
George W. Parker took this dwarf forest buffalo in northern Angola on a long safari in 1954. He used his pet pre-’64 Winchester M70 in .30-06 Improved. (Author Photo)

George Parker of Amado, Arizona is the other anomaly. George wasn’t a gunwriter. Rather, an influential figure in American hunting who lived and died pre-Internet, leaving few details. He deserves to be better-remembered, and I admired him too much to not include him. Border Patrolman, rancher, decorated veteran of the European Theater in WWII, Parker was Charlie Askins’ lifelong buddy, also a good friend to Jack O’Connor and Bill Jordan (and all the other great characters from the Border Patrol). Parker is best-known for having the most Coues whitetails in Boone & Crockett’s records, an astonishing seven monster bucks, taken between 1926 and 1969. Among several African safaris, he hunted in Angola in 1954, becoming one of just a handful to take the legendary giant sable. In 1958, when his pal Charlie Askins was stationed in Saigon, Parker joined him for several months, hunting widely throughout Southeast Asia.

A pre-’64 Winchester Model 70 guy, Parker did much of his hunting with a wildcat .30-06 Improved and handled the largest game mostly with .375 H&H. Admittedly not fond of recoil, he was also keen on the .25-06, clearly a great choice for the Coues deer he loved.

SOUND OFF

Did we cover your favorite writers? Is there anyone you think we missed? Who are your favorite writers, today? Let us know by emailing gaeditor@outdoorsg.com using "Sound Off" in the subject line.

Cooper .45
Many gunwriters had their favorite guns and ammo, but few are as inextricably linked as Jeff Cooper and the 1911 in .45 ACP. (Guns & Ammo)



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