A Not Forgotten Gunwriter
When I was just getting interested in the outdoors and hunting and shooting I read all the magazines I could find that had any articles related to the outdoors and especially the shooting sports. I read Boy’s Life, Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Sports Afield along with The American Rifleman (when I could find one at my neighbor’s house), True, Argosy and probably a few more. Finally I discovered real shooting magazines like Guns, Guns and Ammo, Shooting Times, and Gun World. Along with Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton I also read articles from guys like Nonte, Askins, Crossman, Milek, Sundra, Aagard, Weatherby and one of my favorites, Tommy L. Bish.
Tommy Bish wrote articles for Gun World magazine if I remember correctly but he also put out at least one gunsmithing book, “The Home Gunsmithing Digest”, I have the 3rd edition in paperback. His articles were usually geared towards projects ranging from making your own handgun grips to making your rifle a true custom work of art. He seemed very knowledgeable and his articles guided many of my home ‘smithing’ projects and I even kept his book as a reference in my shop.
One of the first custom touches on my 1903 Springfield was a floorplate push button that Tommy described in one of his articles and I used his article on how to build a cartridge trap for a rifle stock and installed one on my “03” as well. I followed his tips when I put a schnobble cap on my 22 rifle when I restocked it with a mannlicher stock. He wrote about things like how to fit a gun to a holster or how to do gold or silver pegging to inlay stocks or grips. Some of his articles were about repairs and some of them were about remodeling things to make a gun have that custom feel. He wrote about how to do things that a regular gun tinkerer like me could do and he spelled things out simply and clearly.
I think the variety of his projects contributed to his mystique. Whether the article was about a simple task such as replacing a sight blade or a complete series on how to make a custom Martini sporting rifle he made it seem doable. He obviously was a skilled smith and he made things that were practical, often using common materials to complete a job. His first cartridge trap was made from iron pipe hack sawed to shape and filed and fitted to look like a work of art. I saw custom traps made by famous makers that didn’t look any better than his homemade one. Perhaps that was the reason I liked his articles and I do know that as I read over the ones I saved it brings back a lot of memories of time well spent working on my guns.
I don’t know what ever happened to Tommy Bish; sometime in the past his articles just stopped and I never noticed. I let subscriptions lapse and when I did get another magazine issue he was absent from the pages. I looked for him on-line but there is little information other than his book so he is just like that “Old Soldier” who just faded away. In today’s world of digital data and fast paced living there is a bit of that old “do it yourself” hands on drive missing. We seem not to be able to appreciate the things that our predecessors learned to do the hard way, by trial and error or by apprenticeship to learn the tricks of fine craftsmanship. I have probably a dozen or more old Tommy Bish articles that I saved over the years and I intend to read them all again just for the heck of it!
Chris