The Bill Calfee I knew (part 7)

[tonykharper]

The Bill Calfee I knew (part 7)

Bill wrote many articles for Precision Shooting Magazine. In those articles he stated his thoughts on what it took to build RFBR rifles.

He also used the magazine to showcase his Remington XP conversions, his pistols.

Most of the readership of the magazine were centerfire shooters and smiths.

Bill believed, and I think proved wax lead bullets and lower velocities of the rimfires make them react differently from centerfire high velocity rounds.

As a result many of his ideas caused a lot of controversy and were largely dismissed out of hand.

Bill learned early on you can take a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.

Nonetheless Bill's articles were widely read and very popular.

Bill’s writing style was different from most to say the least.

I found it frustrating to read even though it contained information you could not find anywhere else.

I’m not sure why Bill wrote with that style but knowing Bill I’m sure he had his reasons.

Bill shared his knowledge and discoveries with anyone that would truly listen.

Not only in his articles and books, but on the phone and in person if you were able to gain his trust.

Many hobbyist and professional gunsmiths learned most of what they know about rimfire directly from Bill.

Bill had many students over the years. I was certainly one of them. I knew I could ask Bill anything and he would share.

Like all people, I didn’t always agree with Bill.

But when I found myself disagreeing, I would double, and triple check my reasoning before dismissing what he said.

Jeff Paterson is Bill’s last and probably most successful student. According to Bill, Jeff has taken his rifles to the next level. If you have ever seen one of Jeff’s SPEC rifles you know what I mean. They are done with all the care and attention to detail that Bill gave to his rifles.

While it is true there will never be another Bill Calfee, he left us with much of what he learned. But as always it is up to us to use it effectively.

When I started writing these posts, I was hoping others would share their stories of Bill. If you have something, please post it here.

I’m going to post a lot of pics of Bill’s doodles in no particular order. I hope you enjoy them. Comment on them if you like.

TKH