Nobody has seen or done it all, but Jon Sundra has come as close as anyone. He wrote his first article in 1966, and by the early 1970s had risen to prominence at a time when the Golden Era of American outdoor writers was in full swing. The next thirty-plus years was a time he and his colleagues were routinely invited by Remington, Winchester, Weatherby, and Ruger—and by many foreign gun manufacturers as well—to all-expense-paid jaunts to hunt and visit factories all over the world. It was a time long before the Internet, cable TV, and blogging drastically diluted what had been a very exclusive world, a time when a select handful of men—characters, actually—gathered in venues where little business was accomplished but a helluva lot of good food was consumed and adult beverages quaffed. Sometimes even a few gun-related things were discussed!During this period Jon met all the greats of the shooting and hunting world, and this book gives us an unvarnished look at some of the characters of that regrettably gone era.
Jon is still active today, after having undertaken over a hundred hunting trips on five continents, not counting those in the States. This book is primarily not a description of those hunts, but rather a funny, very descriptive picture of an era in which gunwriters were kings of their domain and had egos to match. Jon cavorted with Elmer Keith, Jack O'Connor, Warren Page, Slim Pickens, Charlie Askins, Bill Jordan, Skeeter Skelton, Bob Milek, John Wooters, George Nonte, Jack Lewis, and others, and he has amusing stories to tell of these giants of the gunwriting world. Many of these men got to see Europe, South America, or Africa for the first time because Jon invited them on behalf of his consulting clients.
Some of Jon's exploits found him in South America where he discovered some long-forgotten bottles of priceless French wine in an out-of-the-way cantina. He even reveals his criminal past, and how, along with Bob Milek, was almost thrown off a train in Finland. Jon is surely the only gunwriter who owns and drives Lamborghinis, and there's even a chapter on his sporting cars and his sports car races. He travels to Europe two or three times a year on his own nickel on trips having nothing to do with guns or hunting. Today he still writes as field editor for Safari magazine, and is a regular contributor to Rifle Shooter, Gun Digest, and Ballistic magazines. If anyone has ever had a colorful life, surely it's Jon Sundra.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Foreword by Lamar Underwood vii
The Seeds, an Introduction xi
Chapter 1: The Formative Years 1
Chapter 2: My Brief Flirtations with Honest Work 12
Chapter 3: On My Way 14
Chapter 4: My Criminal Past 22
Chapter 5: The New Kid and Jack Lewis 30
Chapter 6: Changing Times 39
Chapter 7: Elmer Keith 42
Chapter 8: Charlie Askins 48
Chapter 9: Jack O'Connor 52
Chapter 10: Bob Milek 55
Chapter 11: Bill Jordan and Cheval Blanc 60
Chapter 12: Consulting 65
Chapter 13: The Complete Rifleman 72
Chapter 14: It's an AR World 75
Chapter 15: Some Thoughts on Hunting 78
Photo Section 85
Chapter 16: I Get Mail 133
Chapter 17: The 7mm Guy 139
Chapter 18: Stupid Is as Stupid Does 145
Chapter 19: Blazing Saddles and My Longest Shot 151
Chapter 20: Me and the .22 157
Chapter 21: Bear with Me 163
Chapter 22: The Truth about Gun Tests 176
Chapter 23: The Car Nut 184
Chapter 24: South Africa: Then and Now 187
Chapter 25: One More Buffalo 193
Chapter 26: Guns I Wish I Still Had . . . and Those I'll Never Part With 199
Chapter 27: Fortunate Hits and Mysterious Misses 205
Chapter 28: Bucket List Check-Offs 210
Chapter 29: The Ever-Changing Perfect Rifle 228
Chapter 30: My Buffalo Baptismal 235
Chapter 31: What If? 243
