Fred A Seegert
People seem interested in Fred, who he was and the stocks he made. The principal reason for the beauty and uniqueness of Fred’s stocks stems from the fact that he was a professor of fine arts, primarily working in bronzes and he was an avid hunter as well as a shooter of various pistols and rifles. He competed several times at the National Rifle & Pistol Championships at Camp Perry in the earlier part of the 20th Century. The pistol matches generally saw a small number of contestants rotating in the top levels; Fred was among them. He had a marvelous collection of fine rifles, mainly rare older match quality as well as numerous bird guns of exceptional quality. I remember sitting with him for extended times in his shop which was like a museum, as he would ruminate on his youth. He taught me to hunt and was my mentor. In his youth he was also an excellent tri athlete and played college football, raced cars, and was, according to the ladies, a very fine dresser and light on his feet on the dance floor. He wrote a pamphlet on the use of fencing blades and was an exceptional fencer, especially with the saber and epe. As to bedding the barrels and action, this was a very exact process for him that would take weeks as he would carve the wood, use carbon to see where the high-spots were, carve a bit more, leave the wood to settle, and then carve again. Thus he attained almost exact contact. His work in checkering was probably unequaled. People like Hemingway would come to him for fittings of their new stocks. He made me a custom a 257 Roberts and the gun was shipped to Iran in the mid-1950s while I was there touring. Unfortunately one of the local bureaucrats took a liking to the gun and soon thereafter I found that there was “something” wrong with my paperwork and the gun was confiscated. Fred was an exceptional, almost divinely gifted man who had a highly inquiring and inventive mind. The Gradle 7mm Express was really his bullet but because he worked for Gradle, it became known by that name. When he was old, somehow his shop caught fire and the whole of it burned, all his guns, treasures, and mementos with it. The fire department could not get near it as the ammunition was going off like a small war. He lost everything he loved and that stomped a very big hole into him emotionally.
Dr Edo McGowan
I finally found some references to FRED A. SEEGERT in some old 40's Rifleman, then on to WILDCATS by Simmons.