Who has contributed the most to the sport we love...

The human mind has been and will always be the most powerful contributor to the sport we love. Some stand out as the leaders in innovation with shared knowledge for others to take benefit. For without them, the track toward self-improvement would be more difficult.
 
I agree the guys in Pennsylvania behind the Williamsport club were early influencers on the development of long range shooting, and many of the members were very hard core long range hunters.

I think we also need to credit Kenny Jarret and his "beanfield rifles". I saw a number of articles in the press through the 1990s with Kenny advocating for long range hunting. And this was back in the days of a shooting media that was generally very hostile to LRH. Kenny was prepared to go on record and buck the "conventional wisdom" of the day. And the beanfield rifle was really the forerunner to the Rem Sendaro line.

There were a number of early voices in Precision Shooter mag in the 1980s and 1990s . Probably the best of these was from Dan Lilja, and those articles are still available on his web site:Long Range Shooting & Hunting - Lilja and these are still worth a read today.
 
I believe Bushnell was the first one in the mid 90's, for the sportsman's market anyways. I still have mine and it works great. I used it for years now its backup to my Leica these days.

Before that I used a stereoscopic rangefinder....:rolleyes:

The first one I saw (I think) was at a dynamite shoot in Superior MT. Seems like it was a Swarovski. Kind of a cumbersome boxy looking thing.

Bushnell was the first I saw in the field, caused a bit of confusion. The guide said 400 yards, i Thought to the mule deer we were looking at. He actually said-this only goes to 400 yards.:Dgun)

Never got the hang of that periscope looking thing folks played with for awhile.

Elmer's been dead for years and people are still calling him a liar, that should count for something. The first I heard of a ballistic reticle was him.
 
I have to say for me it was Carlos Hathcock, when I read his book about the shots he made with very basic equipment I was amazed. That started my research and interest in long range shooting and that turned to hunting. I would also say precision shooting and varmint hunter magazine helped spread a ton of knowledge before this interwebs stuff caught on!!
 
Maybe Paul Mauser as probably the designer of most prolific bolt action rifle, with design features that many others followed. Granted not many Mausers are used for long range platforms today most of the platforms are bolt actions and pay some homage to Mauser.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 10 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Recent Posts

Top