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Our brother Jeff Quinn passed
away in July 2020, finally succumbing to a systemic infection that
his body had fought for years. As a founder of Gunblast.com, the
first Online Gun Magazine, Jeff was a pioneer in the firearms
industry. But more than that, Jeff was a beloved brother to me, our
oldest brother Greg, and our little brother Anthony; a devoted son,
whose earthy father went on to his Heavenly reward in 2011, and
whose dear mother passed shortly after Jeff's passing; a husband to
a faithful wife of 40 years; a father to a loving daughter; a
grandfather to an adoring grandson and granddaughter; a disciple of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, serving as a Deacon in his local
Baptist church for 40 years; a dependable kinsman to many aunts,
uncles, and cousins; a respected member of the firearms community; a
member of the Shootists,
where he served on the Shootists Board of Directors for many years;
a proud Biker and long-time member of his local charitable Biker
organization, Bikers
Who Care; and a dependable friend to thousands around the
world.
Jeff lived his life as a full-grown child,
whose home was
in the woods next to a national wildlife refuge in Tennessee. He always loved guns and shooting, and really
enjoyed writing
about the things he loved. Born in 1959, Jeff was a Benefactor Life
Member of
the NRA, a Shootist,
a conservative, and a Baptist. You may not have agreed with his opinions
on guns, politics, or life in general, but he would still have
given them
freely to all who would listen, and extend the hand of friendship
with equal enthusiasm to those who agreed or respectfully disagreed.
I miss my brother Jeff. I looked
up to him my entire life, and I never thought I would ever have to
face the world without his love, his friendship, his guidance, and
his humor. We will carry on with Gunblast as Jeff wished, and honor
his legacy, but the world is a much, much darker and sadder place
without him.
Jeff
Quinn's Memorial Service - August 1st, 2020
- Boge Quinn
Boge Quinn
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E-mail
Greg
Contributing Writers
(Listed Alphabetically)
William Bell
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Born in 1954, William Bell, a.k.a. La Vista
Bill (SASS #11869), has been writing about guns since
1983. He is a veteran
of almost 29 years in law enforcement and presently works for the Bureau of Customs & Border Protection, Dept. of Homeland
Security. A firearms instructor
for some 15 years, Bill has also written articles for Combat
Handguns, Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement, Guns of the Old
West, Glock Auto Pistols, Police, The Backup (CD-ROM magazine), Wild West, and Police Marksman.
Bill has been honored by membership in the
Shootists and the Western Writers of America. He is an NRA Life Member and a member of the Masonic
Lodge, plus an avid reader, book collector and student of the
Old West. He also does
a passable job singing A Boy Named Sue when accompanied
by Boge on the guitar. We are proud to welcome Bill as a contributing writer here
at Gunblast.com!
R. K. Campbell
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We are proud to welcome R. K. Campbell to the Gunblast.com
family.
An established and well-respected outdoors writer,
Bob writes for Shotgun News, Handguns, SWAT Magazine, American
Gunsmith, Knifeworld, Police, Women and Guns, and GunWeek,
among others. He is Contributing Editor of Women and Guns
and Executive Editor of Boar Hunter. Bob has also published
occasionally in Tactical Knives, American Handgunner
and Guns, and he is a regular at Krause Publications' Gun
Digest and Handguns. He also wrote a significant
portion of the 4th and 5th Editions of Assault Weapons.
Bob has also authored three books: Holsters For
Combat and Concealed Carry (Paladin Press), The
1911 Semi Auto (Stoeger Publishing), and The Handgun
In Personal Defense (The Second Amendment Foundation).
Bill Hamm
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Bill was born in 1945 and grew up in rural Alabama.
As with many good Southern boys, he learned to handle guns, shoot, and
hunt at a very early age. His interest and love for guns has always
remained steadfast. Bill traded $10 and a good bicycle for his
first, very own, handgun when he about 14 years old. That gun happened
to be a Ruger Single-Six
"Flatgate" 22, and he has had a thing for Rugers ever since.
While he has owned many different makes and models
of guns over the years, Bill began to really focus on collecting
Ruger single action revolvers in the early 1980s. He was honored
by the Ruger Collectors Association (RCA) in 1995 when he
was asked to represent them with his collection of
Ruger .44 Magnum "Flattops" and
Super Blackhawks at the NRA Annual Convention in
Phoenix, AZ.
Bill is a Field Representative for RCA, Life
Member of the NRA, a member of various gun collectors associations...and
our friend.
Jesse L. "Wolf"
Hardin
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A fine writer, a wonderful illustrator, photographer,
poet, musician, historian, hunter, outdoorsman...Jess is a man who
wears many hats, and wears each with aplomb. A Renaissance man in
the truest sense of the word, Jess is nevertheless a plain-spoken
and down-to-Earth guy. He has written four published books, along
with hundreds of articles in publications as diverse as Shoot!
Magazine, Guns, Gun Digest, International Militaria Collector, Gray's
Journal, Wilderness Way, and Mother Earth News. He lives
in a remote area of the mountainous Southwest, where he can live
the life of a true Mountain Man. He looks the part; he walks the
walk; and he has the ability as a writer, storyteller and illustrator
to take us on his adventures with him, and to truly make history
"come alive".
Please join us in welcoming Jess Hardin to Gunblast.com!
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Frank "Paco"
Kelly
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Paco was born in New York during the 1930s.
He went into the military in the mid-1950s and was transferred to
Africa in 1957. He trained military units in small arms -
a service the US was providing for some African countries during
that time. Over a two-year period in Africa while providing
training, Paco was also able to hunt and do ballistic testing.
He did two short tours in Southeast Asia and then
was discharged. He entered the New York School of Technology
and graduated in 1965. He entered Federal service with the Dept. of Treasury in 1966 as criminal investigator. In 1968
he was transferred to Virginia. In two years he made so many
criminal cases on Federal drug violations that the Governor of Virginia
appointed him Director of the then-new Virginia Division of Drug
Abuse Control in 1970. He was the youngest State Commissioner
appointed in Virginia and the first New Yorker to hold the rank.
During his 5 years of service, the drug abuse statistics for the
State of Virginia fell from 3rd place in 1970 to 47th in 1975.
Paco returned to Federal Service in 1975 and worked
for the Dept. of Justice until he retired in 1984. He now
lives in Tucson with his wife Barbara.
In the 1990's Paco began studying for the Ministry
and today is Associate Pastor of a Church in Tucson.
He is also a past President of The
Shootists, a gathering of writers, firearms manufacturers
and enthusiasts from across the country. Their annual meeting,
called "The Shootists Holiday" is a week-long affair
that brings some of the top "gun" talent in the country
together.
A prolific writer, Paco has written thousands of
articles and several books over the years. For a number of
years he was Technical Editor of The Fouling Shot, the publication
of the The Cast Bullet Association. He was a Field
Editor for The Sixgunner, the publication of J.D. Jones
and Handgun Hunters International. A book that he wrote
in the 1980's - LEVERGUNS, AN AMERICAN HERITAGE (now long
out of print) is sought after by collectors and shooters.
Paco has invented a number of tools for reloaders/experimenters
over the year and is currently producing tools to increase the accuracy
and efficiency of the .22 Rimfire.
Paco continues writing. His articles can be found
on the Internet on Gunblast.Com,
Sixgunner.Com and
his own web site, Leverguns.Com.
We are honored to have the legendary Paco Kelly
as a member of the Gunblast.com team.
Charles "Butch"
Kent
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The
photo of Butch Kent shows him in action, or reaction, as he fires
some of Jeff's handloads in a Ruger No 1 in 45-70.
Butch loves almost all shooting sports but most of all, he
loves the challenge of working with a fine firearm and getting the
most out of it with home brewed ammo. He has been reloading since
1968 when he acquired his first centerfire rifle. Since then, Butch's
handloads have kept him shooting his collection of rifles and handguns.
Whether its on paper or in the field after game of any size, he
has perfected a load that ensures the best accuracy and performance
of the firearm in use.
His
recent retirement from a career in the nuclear power industry provides
more leisure time and new opportunities for hunting and shooting
adventures. Now that he has joined the Gunblast staff of contributors,
he will be sharing some of his pet loads and experiences at the range
and in the woods.
Please
join us in welcoming Butch Kent to the Gunblast.com team!
Terry Murbach
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Our
dear friend Terry Murbach passed away December 22nd, 2018. He is,
and always will be, deeply missed.
We
were proud to have Terry Murbach to our staff at Gunblast.com. A
handgunner since 1951 and an Endowment Member of the NRA, Terry was one of our closest friends and
brother Shootists:
Terry had been a Shootist since 1990, and was honored as the 2010
Shootist of the Year.
Terry
was a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Miss Healey's 4th-grade
class of 1954, Church Street School, Bowling Green, Ohio. In 1955 he
borrowed Elmer Keith's then-new, seminal "Sixguns
by Keith" from the school library, and kept it the
entire school year. It was FAR more interesting than Miss
Anderson's 5th-grade class; he says she didn't like him much
anyway, probably because he knew far more about sixguns than she
did!
In
his former career as one of our country's most respected gun writers
(he was on staff at "Handgunning" and "Peterson's
Handguns" magazines) and as a ballistician for two
different ammunition manufacturers, Terry established himself as
one of the foremost authorities on handguns and metallic cartridge
loading; at last count, he loaded for 135 different cartridges. Terry
was not the least bit dogmatic about cartridges, as they all have
their place in the scheme of things: each does what it can do, and
no more.
We
were gratified that Terry agreed to emerge from his retirement to
pen a few articles for us. He was a hard man to get to know; a
complicated (some would mistakenly say misanthropic) genius; and a
sweet, generous, loyal, and loving friend. His passing leaves a void
in my heart that will never be filled, until I see him again
someday.
-
Boge Quinn
Matt Olivier
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Matt
is an avid handgunner, a Shootist,
an NRA Endowment Life Member, a Ruger collector, and a custom 1911
collector. He has loved guns and shooting since before he can
remember! Matt is a 1993 graduate of Penn State University, and a
2000 graduate of Lehigh University. He is also one of our closest
friends, and we are proud to welcome him as a contributing writer to
Gunblast.com.
Nick Rukavina
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