Hell, I'm Still Here! - Fifty Years a Gunwriter

Jon Sundra wrote his first article in 1966, and by the early 1970s had risen to prominence at a time when the golden era of American outdoor writers was in full swing. The next thirty-plus years was a time when he and his colleagues were routinely invited by Remington, Winchester, Weatherby, and Ruger--and by many foreign gun manufacturers as well--to all-expense-paid jaunts to hunt and visit factories all over the world. During this period Jon met all the greats of the shooting and hunting world, and this book gives us an unvarnished look at some of the characters of that regrettably gone era. Jon is still active today, after having undertaken over a hundred hunting trips on five continents, not counting those in the States. This book is primarily not a description of those hunts, but rather a funny, very descriptive picture of an era in which gunwriters were kings of their domain and had egos to match. Jon cavorted with Elmer Keith, Jack O'Connor, Warren Page, Slim Pickens, Charlie Askins, Bill Jordan, Skeeter Skelton, Bob Milek, John Wootters, George Nonte, Jack Lewis, and others, and he has amusing stories to tell of these giants of the gunwriting world. Today he still writes as field editor for Safari magazine, and is a regular contributor to Rifle Shooter, Gun Digest, and Ballistic magazines. If anyone has ever had a colorful life, surely it's Jon Sundra.

List of contents

Foreword by Lamar Underwood vii

The Seeds, an Introduction xi

Chapter 1: The Formative Years 1

Chapter 2: My Brief Flirtations with Honest Work 12

Chapter 3: On My Way 14

Chapter 4: My Criminal Past 22

Chapter 5: The New Kid and Jack Lewis 30

Chapter 6: Changing Times 39

Chapter 7: Elmer Keith 42

Chapter 8: Charlie Askins 48

Chapter 9: Jack O'Connor 52

Chapter 10: Bob Milek 55

Chapter 11: Bill Jordan and Cheval Blanc 60

Chapter 12: Consulting 65

Chapter 13: The Complete Rifleman 72

Chapter 14: It's an AR World 75

Chapter 15: Some Thoughts on Hunting 78

Photo Section 85

Chapter 16: I Get Mail 133

Chapter 17: The 7mm Guy 139

Chapter 18: Stupid Is as Stupid Does 145

Chapter 19: Blazing Saddles and My Longest Shot 151

Chapter 20: Me and the .22 157

Chapter 21: Bear with Me 163

Chapter 22: The Truth about Gun Tests 176

Chapter 23: The Car Nut 184

Chapter 24: South Africa: Then and Now 187

Chapter 25: One More Buffalo 193

Chapter 26: Guns I Wish I Still Had . . . and Those I'll Never Part With 199

Chapter 27: Fortunate Hits and Mysterious Misses 205

Chapter 28: Bucket List Check-Offs 210

Chapter 29: The Ever-Changing Perfect Rifle 228

Chapter 30: My Buffalo Baptismal 235

Chapter 31: What If? 243

About the author

Jon sold his first article in 1966 and has been a full-time professional firearms/hunting writer since 1970. He has served on the editorial staff of many national publications including Shooting Times, Petersen's Hunting, Guns & Ammo, Guns, Guns & Hunting, Rifle Firepower, Gun Digest, Shooting Industry, Shooting Illustrated, American Firearms Industry, Traveling Sportsman, Varmint Hunter, Rifle, and Handloader magazines. Currently, Jon serves as field editor for Safari Club International's Safari magazine; senior writer for GunHunter Magazine; contributing editor to Rifle Shooter; and a regular contributor to Ballistic and Gun Digest magazines. He was also the sole author and editor of The Complete Rifleman, a Harris annual that was published from 1989 to 2011. Jon's primary interest has always been in modern sporting rifles and cartridges, big-game hunting, and varminting, but he also knows his way around shotguns.

A graduate of the Ohio State University, Jon majored in English literature, with some graduate work in the same field. He has authored over 2,600 articles and columns, all for national publications, and has had over 30,000 photographs published. For the past forty-five years Jon has been continuously active as a press relations/advertising/marketing consultant to gun and optic manufacturers both here and abroad through his own company, Jon R. Sundra & Assoc. His knowledge of the firearms industry, therefore, is as deep as it is multifaceted.

Not counting the untold number of hunting trips he's made on U.S. soil, he has made more than one hundred foreign hunting trips on five continents, including twenty African safaris. His love of travel has taken him to Europe more than thirty times on nonhunting-related vacations.

Jon lives in the Charlotte area of North Carolina. He has two sons, Ian and Sean, with his late wife, Judith.

Product details

• Authors: Safari Press, Safari Press (COR), Jon R Sundra, Jon R. Sundra
• Publisher: Safari press, inc
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.10.2018
• EAN: 9781571575272
• ISBN: 978-1-57157-527-2
• No. of pages: 244
• Subject: Guides > Nature