Letters from Readers

 Upon reading Issue 125, Spring 2024 of the BPC News, I was sorry to hear of Miles Gilbert’s passing. It’s great that you remember him in your publication. I never met him in person but have talked with him by phone. After reading Miles Gilbert’s book Getting a Stand, I read his biography on the inside back cover. I discovered that he had written a book on the dendrochronology of bones. I thought that no one would ever write about dendrochronology, unless he was an archeologist. So, I decided to give him a call. I found him at home in Arizona and he was indeed involved in archeology as a professor. He became interested in the field from examining buffalo bones (Bison bison for the purists) at a buffalo jump that he discovered during his youth in his home state of Texas.
We discussed the great photograph that he had published in a magazine that he had written for (BPC News) of a buffalo hunter’s camp of well-armed and dangerous hombres. He asked me where I lived, and I said, “Nevada.” He told me of a story where he was summoned to do an archeological forensic examination of a corpse that was found near Las Vegas, Nevada, while excavating for a new freeway. He described the body as a man buried face-up with a .44 or .45 caliber hole to the center of his forehead (from close range) and a circa 1855 nickel strategically placed in his front shirt pocket (for later discovery of the intended killing). Now, let your inquisitive mind work on this find! The man needed killing or was “Wanted, Dead or Alive.” A .44 or .45 caliber handgun in 1855, would have likely been a Colt Walker or Dragoon, meaning he was taken by law enforcement from either Arizona or Texas. An 1855 coin proves the corpse was taken on that date (or later) for future discovery should it be needed.

In the printed copy of Issue 125, Spring 2024, of the Black Powder Cartridge News, contains an error in the tables in my article on “Shooting the Remington-Type Revolving Carbine.” The table of muzzle velocities for the revolving carbine is a duplicate of the table for the lever action carbine. Here is correct table for the revolving carbine.

– William Curry

 I was really pleased to see my story “Adding to Perfection” in the Spring 2024 issue, and John Taylor is still doing very good work. However, I should have updated things for contacting him because he has moved since that story was written. He’s now located at Taylor Machine, 3530 13th Street C, Lewiston, Idaho 83501 – and better still – probably closer to more readers now he’s in Lewistown. Phone number: (253) 777-7793. Please email him at John@JohnTaylorMachine.com for the best response.

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 I’d like to say, “Thank You,” to the Davenport Shooting Association for hosting the 2024 Winter League Gallery Postal match. It is a great way for those of us who aren’t within easy distance of an organized indoor shooting range to have a match to shoot during the winter months. Practice with a .22 is a great way to keep in shape for other shooting disciplines, including hunting. I am already looking forward to the Winter League for 2025!

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 In the past, I have been blessed with excellent vision, which came in quite handy hunting deer and antelope in the Red Desert of Wyoming. I have always been partial to open country hunting, even though I am quite envious of real hunters that hunt the heavy timber for elk. The only time I ever see elk, in heavy timber, is when I get so fed up with falling over snow-covered logs and slapped in the face by a snow laden branch, that I just decide to barge through to the nearest road. Right at that point is when I spook a bunch of elk and see their cream-colored butts blasting through the timber.
Recently, I entered a long-range gong shoot in Billings, Montana. I’ve lately had trouble with what is termed “dry eyes”. This is a real oxymoron, because your eyes absolutely flood tears. I set myself up to shoot the furthest gong at 692 yards – everything was blurry – I wiped my eyes, and adjusted my Hadley eyepiece, and then two identical targets appeared stacked one on top of the other! That ended the shoot for me and consequently, I went to see my doctor the next day. He told me to stop taking a particular eye drop that had been prescribed for dry eyes and get in to see an ophthalmologist – ASAP. Interestingly, the doctor put me through a rigorous evaluation and also proclaimed that the eye drops were the problem. Overall, my eyes were in good shape, and I was told to take an over-the-counter eye drop whenever I needed; also “don’t knock yourself out too bad, as you still have 20/10 vision!” She went on to say, I have some very minor cataracts forming on my left eye that were a long way from needing attention. Somewhat relieved, I asked her, “Why was everything blurry?” She said, “I can fix that,” and pulled out some machine, put a couple of lenses in, and everything turned magically crystal clear! Mystified, I ask her if this clarity was good from the front sight of my rifle to infinity? She said “Yup!” and she’d write me a prescription. Since I could read the eye chart, they would not be mandatory for driving. I commented about needing “cheaters” to read, and she included bifocals in the prescription, adjusted to my cheaters. Hot damn, I was going to be able to see the Vernier scale on my rear sight, as well as, a housefly at 1000 yards! Her firm did not provide optician services, therefore I needed to go to a reputable optical vendor.
We are blessed in Billings to have a very reputable optician that is an old shooter. Dr. Syl Schidd (Barnett Opticians) sold the business to his daughter, who sometimes comes into work just to escape the boredom of retirement. Syl was at the eye clinic the day I brought my prescription in to get filled. I told him I needed some shooting glasses, and so the process began. He said the first thing was to find frames tall enough to provide optical clarity when I was down on the gun, so as to not look over the frames. (I never thought of that.) The second thing was to get lenses with the old “Bausch & Lomb Yellow” made specifically for shooting. This color eliminated blue light and was invaluable, especially on overcast days. Lastly, the frames had to fit, so they would stay in place during the heat of battle. So, we finally found a set of frames that fit Syl’s recommendations. They are exactly the same glasses that the driver of the assassin team used while Steve McQueen chased them through the streets of San Francisco in the movie “Bullet”. When I showed the glasses to my wife, Trish, she broke out laughing, proclaiming that nobody under the age of 65 would be caught dead with them!
Well, sports fans, these things work! I prefer to shoot iron sights and these glasses have given me a new lease on life.