Neck Turning History

[Steve Blair]

For those who remember; here is a blast from the past. I still have two of these. I ordered them from Paul back in the early Eighties. He introduced me to Atkinson barrels. Both Paul Marquart and Bill Atkinson were professionals and produced quality products.

 

[Cbashooter]

back in the 80's it wasn't easy to get benchrest stuff and it wasn't written about much in mainstream gun rags.The nice part was you called and Talked to Walt or Eunice when you orfered Berger bullets or Fred Sinclair would be available on the phone.
it was much better times pre YouTube/Google days and it was a smaller tighter community of shooters.

Now the mainstream industry has big game hunters Talked into needing a custom action,stock,$2000 scope and expensive reloading equipment to kill a $100 deer ..

 

[Steve Blair]

it was much better times pre YouTube/Google days and it was a smaller tighter community of shooters.

You're right about that. It was mostly word of mouth from fellow shooters. One of my simple pleasures was driving down to National City and Weisser Sporting Goods. They had nearly everything and what they didn't have, they would get for you within a week. The salespeople were all shooters and knew their business.
It's convenient to order from your PC but not nearly the same. I still remember what it felt like to uncover some hidden knowledge gem that improved my shooting.

 

[Cbashooter]

I was buying bullets from Bob C. of GTB bullets out of his house. I was shooting them in a very accurate Remington 788 when I was about 18 years old. He mentioned George Fulmer out of Oakland California and I went and talked to him all proud of my 788 .222 and that I was shooting groups under a 1/2 inch. I asked what I could do to improve it. he said something like "throw everything away but the action and he would build me a real BR rifle" And that I was wasting good bullets in some c***** factory barrel.
It was very rude but true. he just didn't have time for some young kid but I learned a lot from those old guys even the crusty ones.

What that experience did was make me gravitate towards the cast bullet BRand schuetzen crowd which seemed to be a little more casual and interested in what everybody was doing not so much just the winners. In the end it all worked out because I have stuck with cast bullets and target rifles ever since.

 

[358WCF]

I remember seeing these advertised in the back of gun magazines & thinking, "Gee, I need one of those." Never did get around to buying one. For just a few $$ more, a new Leupold Vari-X III 1.5-5 was $65, while the 2.5-8s or 3.5-10s were a few more $$. Priorities, you know. It seemed that a good scope or new set of dies would do more for the growing rifle collection than a neck turning tool. But the fascination was still there. It was always "Maybe next month."

My shooting buddy & I had adventures most every weekend, usually to the range for most of a Saturday or Sunday. One Saturday we took a ride up to Nescopeck, PA to see what this Hart's place was all about. Just this side of the river from Berwick down a side street a few blocks from PA-93 was an older building. The storefront said Hart & Son Truck Bodies. Was this the right place? We went inside & met a pleasant older fellow with a white beard. He spent quite a while with us that morning & well after lunchtime, we left with a few copies of Precision Shooting Magazine, some J. Dewey cleaning stuff, & all manner of weird & wonderful tools that we didn't even dream existed before that day. It wouldn't be the last time we visited.