Dear Gentlemen: Thanks a lot for your time and efforts to respond to my post and your suggestions where I can locate the article about the .340 Weatherby Magnum by Mr. Seyfried. Your opinion on him as a gun writer and the tales back from the old tales are highly appreciated. If you have more to follow please do not hold back and share them. I love listening to good old stories.
I don't know whether you do agree, but in my opinion, "Guns & Ammo" was an outstanding magazine in the time frame 1990 to 1996 or so. Reading it was like sitting down with a bunch of experienced older gentlemen willing to share their vast knowledge with a then-young fellow like me.
At that time, I also started shooting, especially with handguns, so Mr. Seyfried's advice and hints were particularly useful. He belongs to the few most accomplished handgunners who turned to gun writing. Even though I am not of Mr. Seyfried's physique and size, up until year 1997, I even simulated his characteristic style of Weaver Stance, with bend elbows, head tilted down and finger curled around the trigger guard to eliminate recoil. I have since then turned to Isoceles Stance, as most people did (thank you, Mr. Todd Jarrett, for guiding me in that direction)… (It pains me to admit it, but adopting the Isoceles Stance has strongly improved my shooting…)
Back to G&A magazine, where else could you read from the likes of Mssrs like Dave Arnold, Wiley Clapp, Col. Jeff Cooper, Bob Forker, Jan Libourel, Bob Milek, Ross Seyfried, Phil Spangenberger, Gary Sitton, Kevin E. Steele, Mike Venturino and others in one magazine? To me, that's one of the most pleasant memories I have when I was a very young man. These folks were (and are) my heroes. More than anything, they provided for great inspiration and valuable guidance.
The late Mr. Bob Milek from Wyoming wrote quite a few times in a relatively short time frame about the .30-06 being the best centerfire rifle cartridge. When others are doing that, the topic in question quickly becomes repetitive and boring, but not in Mr. Milek's case! I still wonder how he did that! Each article was writtting in a capturing, fascinating, different and educational style that you just carried on reading and re-reading them! I was so sad, when I read about his death on Nov. 11th, 1993 in G&A issue February 1994. It was almost as if a good personal mentor passed away, which hurt me quite a bit. I am still re-reading his articles from time to time.
I am aware that Mr. Ross Seyfried slightly "adjusted" his opinion on certain topics. You could read that between the lines in his many articles over the years. However, unlike others in the gun writing community, he managed to do rather silently and elegant that without stirring up the pot and without damaging his reputation as an outstanding gun writers in the eyes of his readers.
As most who have followed is writings know, he started as a proponent of bigger bore calibers and very powerful cartridges, but as rifle bullet technology improved and progressed it was evident that he found standard cartridges quite acceptable. In fact, he was one of the gun authors who continuously wrote about the then-status of available bullet technology. I remember an article by him titled ""Bone Bashing Big-Game Bullets" as early as 1990 (see G&A, issue January 1990), where he wrote about bringing a .30-06 Springfield rifle and 165-grain Barnes "X" loads to Australia to hunt wild donkeys and other feral animals with. His then-guiding professional hunter Mr. Bod Penfold, who is one of the greatest fans of the .340 Weatherby Magnum cartridge in his own right, was sceptical and told him before the hunt that it takes a .338 250-grain minimum bullet weight to take these tough animals down with body shots. Mr. Penfold also was convinced that the needle-nosed "X" bullets won't work. After Mr. Seyfried put down three of those critters down in a row with his gun and ammo combination Mr. Penfold couldn't believe it and said: "This .30-06 thinks it's a .340 Weatherby!".
What I've also liked was that Mr. Seyfried was one of the few American gun writers who really considered "our" metric catridges as being worth testing and reporting about them. That was very couragous. Furthermore, he wrote fascinating articles on handgun hunting (which is forbidden in my country) and hunting handguns. I particularly liked his approach that a hunting handgun should be a sidearm, not unwieldy, long-barreled contraptions. Even his most powerful handgun developments like the .475 and .500 Maximum still could be carried as easily as an average S&W model 29. Mr. Seyfried even wrote about things few of us having heard of before. Anyone remember the article "Giant Stoppers!" in G&A, issue June 1993, where he wrote about the huge.577 Thomas Bland revolver and the 16 gauge J.D. Dougall double-barreled Howdah pistol? Extraordinary!
When Mr. Seyfried left G&A without further notice it was not quite the same for me anymore. Many good gun writers followed him. Nowadays, when a current G&A magazine falls into my lap I am rather unimpressed by it. Fortunately, I still have American Handgunner magazine which I subscribe to, which always makes for a good read.
I felt the same about G&A sister publication (Petersens) "Handguns" magazine under the head of Mr. Jan Libourel, with the late Mr. Dave Arnold as his supporting gunwriter. It used to be an entertaining, educational read at that time, especially since a lot of cool handguns were introduced during that time. I particularly liked the column "Handguns in Combat/Handguns in Service" by well-know shooting instructor Mr. Chuck Taylor, which ran for quite a few years. Mr. Kirby Smith who replaced Mr. Libourel in the late 1990s was not a bad editor either. As more and more of my favourite gun writers "disappeared " I chose not to renew my subscription.
I have a good gun dealer friend living close nearby who can rightfully be categorized as a pioneer in practical pistol shooting in my country. He was active in IPSC shooting in the early days 1970 to early 1980 and he is still heading a Bavarian State practical shooting association. Once, he said to me that he trained in Oberdachstetten near Ansbach under the wathful eye of the late Col. Jeff Cooper . Of course, I didn't believe that and made fun out of him. He (rightfully) felt affronted by me and immediately digged for an old, stusty photographic album. I couldn't believe me eyes when I say a still very young and lean Col. Cooper standing by the side of the trainees using a stop watch (timers have not yet been invended)! Lesson learned: Never underestimate and ridicule an guy who has seen much, much more than myself.
He participated at IPSC World Shoot V at Johannesburg, South Africa, in year 1981. There, he competed more or less successful against shooting legends like Jimmy von Sorgenfrei and Ross Seyfried who captured the world title back in that year - the last man do to so with a truly practical 1911 pistol in cal. .45 Auto without compensator and many gimmicks (electronic red dot sights came later). My buddy told me that Mr. Jimmy Von Sorgenfrei a.k.a. "Warthog", whom he knows particularly well, was an outstanding shot, and that Mr. Seyfried was an very affluent Colorado ranger who could affort to shoot tons of ammunition. What a fascinating time it must have been to shoot and compete in practical pistol circuit.
If somebody still has the .340 Weatherby Magnum article from Mr. Ross Seyfried quickly on hand, please PM me.
Thanks a lot.
She was not only World Champion lady in IPSC shooting in one year, but was a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. She also wrote briefly for G&A, and holds a degree in Journalism. She impressed me as being quite bright. I'm glad that the poster above got to see her shoot.
