ANY ONE REMEMBER MAJ GEORGE C. NONTE

[galena]

This young shooter doesn't, but she is learning. This last Sunday I had the honor of providing the first shooting lesson to my beautiful twelve year old Grand-daughter.............who, by the way is Major George C. Nonte's Great-granddaughter. Some of you younger folks may not be familiar with him but he was a respected firearms expert and writer, but many of us old guys know who he was. He led an eventful life and authored several books and articles. My Daughter-in-law is his Grand-daughter and an expert shooter in her own right. I don't think GGD Bella will ever be a gun nut but she enjoyed her first lesson and recognizes the importance of the 2nd Amendment and the ability to defend one's self. We started with Safety lessons and progressed to shooting my Browning .22RF and her Mom's Beretta .22RF, which she preferred. She paid attention and before we were through she was putting her shots where they needed to be. I also have three Grand-sons, two of which will be gun nuts like their Pa, but getting Miss Bella interested in learning to shoot was great. Get the youngsters involved in our sport.

 

[D Brown]

George C. Nonte was a handgun hunter a looong time before it was a popular pastime. I had a book he had authored on that very subject some time in the late seventies or early eighties.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Very nice, Galena! Beautiful day with a beautiful young lady.

 

[vonn]

She will always remember the day.

 

[UncleEd]

I remember reading some of Maj. Nonte's
articles. And I remember his moustache!

Sadly, he died much too early.

 

[bulletslap]

I certainly remember looking forward to his articles, and I have his book on handgun hunting that I bought in 1975.

He would be very proud of his lovely descendant.

 

[M29since14]

Sure I remember him! "Just like it was yesterday!" I always enjoyed reading his stuff when I was a young lad. Time flies...

 

[s&wchad]

Bella has an excellent pedigree!

I remember the articles by Major Nonte well from my youth and have at least one of his reloading books. I know she would make him proud!

 

[Warren Sear]

This is probably my favorite gun book, which I have read many, many times. I think it was his last book, published in 1978, shortly after he died. I bought it in 1981 IIRC.

He was a very intelligent and informed writer.

 

[AJ]

I have at least one of his books in my library.

 

[Golddollar]

I certainly remember looking forward to his articles, and I have his book on handgun hunting that I bought in 1975.

He would be very proud of his lovely descendant.

I have that book "Handgun Hunting" that he co-wrote with Lee Jurras. I remember him well.

 

[drgbike]

I have his Pistolsmithing from 1974, have worn it out. Got me started smithing, probably read it 500 times , really. Still very relevant. In fact lent it to a friend just a few months ago!

 

[k22fan]

During the early 1970s I bought Nonte's books mail order from Ray Rilling Arms Books. Most of them were hard bound. I still have one of his books on gunsmithing. The other author that I liked who is not so famous was Dean Grennell. They both wrote on reloading as a hobby rather than a production job worked to get bulk ammo.

I suggest you try to get your grand daughter out shooting as many times as you can before she is distracted by boy fever. In my area .22 LR rifle position matches are a varsity team sport. If that's done in your area you might gradually introduce her to that type of shooting. Since the teams are co-ed that kills two birds with one stone. Also, expensive universities and even some ivy league colleges give full scholarships to get the best shooters on their teams. There are a lot less students trying to win those scholarships than those for better known sports so she it is more likely that she'd get one. In the mean time have fun plinking. Her grand dad would have proudly put pictures of her in his books.

 

[Rudi]

Go Bella! Good on ya.

 

[1MoreFord]

I remember somehow he converted a Smith M39 from 9mm to .38 Super and another time I heard he bought a Bunch of unknown milsurp powder, toted it out to the parking long, set it on fire and seriously singed a car or two.

Quite the character and one of my favorite writers.

 

[Muley Gil]

I always enjoyed his articles. I too have his pistol smithing book.

 

[Jellybean]

I've read several of his books and have been looking for a copy of his book on cartridge conversions, that would still allow me to keep both arms and legs, for a long time.

Best of luck to your granddaughter, having a famous ancestor can be both a blessing and a curse if everyone thinks you need to live up to their name.

My GD is thirteen now, she starting shooting rifles at ten with a fear of recoil, thanks to Hollywood. She got to shooting my old varmint rifle chambered in .221 Fireball and loved it. My wife decided she needed to learn how to shoot a 9mm pistol, (long story), but since I didn't have a good .22 semi auto pistol we had to buy one, and it had to be cheap, so we found a Walther P-11 which just happens to throw brass right at the shooters face. She is now shooting revolvers and has worked her way up to .38 mid-range loads.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Nonte's book on cartridge conversions started me on the understanding of making one cartridge out of another. The latest conversion I did was 300 Blackout from 223. But he went into how to make long obsolete rounds from current/common ones!

Ivan

 

[max]

Like others, I always enjoyed his articles. I think I might have his autograph on a Gun Digest.

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

My very first firearm purchase was a Hopkins and Allen Minuteman flintlock, made from a kit when I was in high school. Major Nonte's Black Powder Guide told me all I needed to know about shooting it.

 

[redlevel]

Seems like there's a bunch of us old folks here!
Yep. I have a couple of the Major's books around somewhere.

 

[Ray]

Here´s a pic of him along with other notables - Barry Goldwater, Peter Capstick and P.O. Ackley in my cherished special issue # 500 of Guns&Ammo magazine.
Regards, Ray

 

[NYlakesider]

I read much of Nontes work He also wrote using about 5 different "nom de plume's" way back then. Only one I can remember was C, George Charles

One of my favorite articles he wrote was on converting a 1911 frame to fire about 12 different cartridges.

 

[Farmer17]

I remember somehow he converted a Smith M39 from 9mm to .38 Super and another time I heard he bought a Bunch of unknown milsurp powder, toted it out to the parking long, set it on fire and seriously singed a car or two.

Quite the character and one of my favorite writers.

Nonte loved the S&W M-39 and he and Bill Jordan both said it would be the ideal handgun for the U.S. military. Nonte rechambered one of his to take .223 rifle cases with a 90 grain 9m/m hollow point and seems like he got 1500-1600 fps. I think he liked small, fast bullets better than big and slow like most other writers of the day and I just got his Pistol and Revolver guide in the mail a few months ago and really enjoy reading it.

 

[galena]

I read much of Nontes work He also wrote using about 5 different "nom de plume's" way back then. Only one I can remember was C, George Charles

One of my favorite articles he wrote was on converting a 1911 frame to fire about 12 different cartridges.

I remember that article, made a big impression on me. I had a Colt Gov't in .38 Super and based on that article I had a .45ACP slide and barrel fitted and then added a .22RF Conversion unit. Three calibers was as far as I got, nowhere as many as the Major.

 

[DWalt]

Nonte's book on cartridge conversions started me on the understanding of making one cartridge out of another. The latest conversion I did was 300 Blackout from 223. But he went into how to make long obsolete rounds from current/common ones!

Ivan

I also have Nonte's book on cartridge conversions. However, the most comprehensive book by far on that topic is Donnelly's Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions. Nonte's book doesn't come close to Donnelly's level of detail. I guarantee that for about half the cartridges in it, most shooters have never heard of. It contains very comprehensive 'How to" instructions and even some (limited) reloading data.

 

[DWalt]

I remember that article, made a big impression on me. I had a Colt Gov't in .38 Super and based on that article I had a .45ACP slide and barrel fitted and then added a .22RF Conversion unit. Three calibers was as far as I got, nowhere as many as the Major.

I have a M1911 frame that will handle six different calibers - 9x19 mm, 7.65 Luger, .38 Super/9x23 Win/9mm Largo/9mm Steyr, 45 ACP, .400 Cor-Bon, and .22 LR. Haven't yet added .40 S&W or 10mm, don't really need them as the .400 Cor-Bon is better than either.

 

[rockquarry]

As for cartridge conversion books, I'd rate Ken Howell's book, "Designing and Forming Custom Cartridges For Rifles and Handguns" as the best, followed by Donnelly's book. I read somewhere years ago that there were numerous mistakes in the Donnelly book, but have no idea if this is true. I bought a copy not long after they were available. Perhaps there has been an updated, corrected version published.

The Nonte book is a distant third, but in defense of that book, there was very little published material available on the subject when his book came out. It may have been the best at the time.

 

[rockquarry]

George Nonte was never among my favorite gun writers, but he did participate in a very interesting project that was published as a two-part series written up in HANDLOADER magazine (#26 and #27) in 1970. Also involved in the project was Neal Knox (HANDLOADER editor at the time) and Super Vel's Lee Jurras. The three tested a bunch of factory .38 Special ammo and measured velocities and pressures. They used a good assortment of revolvers with different barrel lengths.

They also duplicated some of the factory loads with handloads. This was all well before the +P designation and it's pretty in-depth and very interesting reading.

It might particularly benefit the many who have an obsession with +P to see what was available before +P. I haven't read the article in a while and don't remember if they quoted FBI statistics, shot through jello, jugs of water, or did anything else of questionable worth. Regardless, I think it's probably among the very best gun / handloading articles I've ever read and I've been reading them for a while.

 

[Texas Star]

I never met Nonte but read a lot of his articles.

I once handled a S&W M-58 that he'd converted to fire .45 Colt ammo.

I heard that Lee Jurras was his BIL, but don't know if that's true. Does anyone here know for sure?

One of my favorite articles by him told how he shot a black bear out of a tree with a Colt .45 auto using 190 grain Super Vel ammo.