A notable happening at the IBS Nationals

JerrySharrett

JerrySharrett

Senile Member
If you were not at the 2009 IBS Nationals you missed a really historic event. I suspect some that were there missed it too.

Mike Walker, now 97 years old, came up from his home in North Carolina with his wife and shot the HV 100 and HV 200. Is that not amazing or what. It tells a lot about this shooting sport. Mr. Walker had a grin on his face a mile wide as he rotated benches. He was one of the major spark plugs in getting benchrest underway as we know it now.

He was Remington Arms principal designer for decades. Items like the 222 Remington cartridge and the Remington M700 series action were some of the most notable of his designs.
 
Jerry, I am glad you posted this. Some of us thought he was in his early 90's, but he put "97" on his registration sheet. His family later commented that he will have his 98th birthday later this year. Most of the shooters were thrilled that he was there. Comments about "a living legend" were heard quite a bit. My son Eric was at the shoot for a couple of days. I pointed Mike out to him, and said "this won't mean anything to you right now, but if you get into shooting, someday you will be able to say that you saw Mike Walker".

Mike shot three benches down from me and shot fairly well. I know that his first 2 groups at 200 yards were a .480 and .540. He had a problem on his 3rd target, but overall he did fine. Who knows how many times that man has fired a benchrest rifle.

I am an admitted benchrest history junkie. On Sunday morning I asked him to sign my copy of "Modern Accuracy" by Bob Wallack. For those that have not seen this volume, it was printed in 1950 and the subtitle is "history of benchrest shooting". Mike is IN the book on page 49 shown in a group photo smoking his pipe. At that time he was in his late 30s (sheesh). I was like a kid getting an autograph from Babe Ruth (or,er, A-Rod).

Besides the innovations that Jerry mentioned (.222 and M700), he invented button rifling and also designed the Remington 20x scope.

I had my girlfriend take of picture of Mike and me-see attachment

(Note on the book, "Modern Accuracy". It is, by far, the most interesting of the vintage benchrest books. Two are on eBay right now. I would recommend it over the various "Ultimate in Rifle Precision" yearbooks that were put out from about 1949 to the late 50s)

Jeff
 

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Mr Walker did great,,,,,,

,,,,got all 5 shots on all his record targets 'fore the bear tooted his horn,,,,,,never crossed-fired (which that happen with youngsters quite often),,,,,,never double with me but if so might of helped my groups,,,,and always showed his bolt to the bear!!!!!! Yep,,,,,,Southpaw Mike did good!!!!

Shootin next to Mr. Walker,,,,,,,crack open an Old Milwalkee,,,,,,cause it don't get any better then that!!!!!!!!!
 
Nader

I wasn't being critical, Just wondered how he did. Granted, just attending at his age is a great accomplishment, and competing is a greater one. He deserves a big pat on the back!
BA
 
bryan said:
I wasn't being critical, Just wondered how he did. Granted, just attending at his age is a great accomplishment, and competing is a greater one. He deserves a big pat on the back!
BA
Click to expand...

I think a lot of us were interested without being critical.
 
Not to mention....

JerrySharrett said:
If you were not at the 2009 IBS Nationals you missed a really historic event. I suspect some that were there missed it too.

Mike Walker, now 97 years old, came up from his home in North Carolina with his wife and shot the HV 100 and HV 200. Is that not amazing or what. It tells a lot about this shooting sport. Mr. Walker had a grin on his face a mile wide as he rotated benches. He was one of the major spark plugs in getting benchrest underway as we know it now.

He was Remington Arms principal designer for decades. Items like the 222 Remington cartridge and the Remington M700 series action were some of the most notable of his designs.
Click to expand...

Some of the finest .22 caliber competition Remington bullets ever produced by ANY manufacturer. And...Remington has no excuse for still not making them.;)

virg
 
Amazing

I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Walker in Canastota NY in 2002 at the IBS Nationals. I felt like I was in the presence of Royalty.

We should all hope that we live and enjoy such a long and productive life.

Thanks for sharing...........jackie
 
Nice post, Jeff...

and the picture was worth 1000 words as well. Mike looks great. I'm not so sure about that other guy though (he looks like he's up to something)...
 
Virg - yep, I forgot about those bullets! I memory serves-which it doesn't too often anymore-Mike and Remington set an extraordinarily high specification for the gilding metal used to make the jackets. If you recall the "look" of the bullet jacket material, it was decidedly different than the jackets seen either before or since. They were more of a bronze color and less coppery.

They also made a 6mm 68 grain bullet that was among the best too. Didn't Dick Wright have an article a couple of years ago comparing available .22 bullets which included the vaunted Remington's? Seems to me they were as good as any in comparison to today's best.

I have heard rumors that the dies used to make them were destroyed. That could be mere myth, but very consistent with the corporate mindset that invaded Remington and its subsequent owners. Guess the benchrest bullets did not make them much money and were a lot of trouble to manufacture.

During Mike's tenure, Remington was the undisputed king of the rifle business. Sadly, that has long since changed. As Remington faded, new companies, such as Savage, have taken their place. For Savage it took a leader, such as their CEO Ron Coburn, to pilot their rise from relative obscurity to overtake Remington's position at the leading edge of the mainstream rifle market. They did it with superior products at a fair price.

jks

jks
 
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Jeff Stover said:
I pointed Mike out to him, and said "this won't mean anything to you right now, but if you get into shooting, someday you will be able to say that you saw Mike Walker".

Mike shot three benches down from me and shot fairly well. I know that his first 2 groups at 200 yards were a .480 and .540. He had a problem on his 3rd target, but overall he did fine. Who knows how many times that man has fired a benchrest rifle.

I am an admitted benchrest history junkie. On Sunday morning I asked him to sign my copy of "Modern Accuracy" by Bob Wallack. For those that have not seen this volume, it was printed in 1950 and the subtitle is "history of benchrest shooting". Mike is IN the book on page 49 shown in a group photo smoking his pipe. At that time he was in his late 30s (sheesh). I was like a kid getting an autograph from Babe Ruth (or,er, A-Rod).

Besides the innovations that Jerry mentioned (.222 and M700), he invented button rifling and also designed the Remington 20x scope.

I had my girlfriend take of picture of Mike and me-see attachment

(Note on the book, "Modern Accuracy". It is, by far, the most interesting of the vintage benchrest books. Two are on eBay right now. I would recommend it over the various "Ultimate in Rifle Precision" yearbooks that were put out from about 1949 to the late 50s)

Jeff
Click to expand...

Jeff, how about sending Dick Grosbier a copy of that picture and have him put it on the IBS web site home page? Heck, even put it in the next issure of PS Magazine as well.
 
You guys beat me to the punch...

.... as I drove into work this morning I was going to post about Mike Walker shooting at the Nationals this past week at soon-to-be 98 years old. He is 40 years older than me. And when I think back on the week as many of us complained about the heat, not getting two bullets to touch, rules interpretation and other superflous stuff, the only picture that remains in my mind about that week was seeing Mike sitting behind the line cleaning his gun between relays. All he wanted to do was compete one more time and give it his best.

Ron Dill e-mailed me and stated that one of the reasons that Mike comes to these Nationals is to attempt to get his last two Hall of Fame points. After I looked at the points tally yesterday, I was astonished that he wasn't in the HOF. He is sitting at eight points for the US Benchrest Hall of Fame. At age 97, and the state of the competition that exists today, the reality may be undeniable; but, his efforts are humbling to the rest of us. If there is someone who we, as competitive benchrest shooters, as well as most of the rifle shooting world, owe some huge thanks and recognition to, it is Mike Walker.

As the Eastern Region NBRSA Director, I am proposing to our Regional Hall of Fame committee that Mike Walker be inducted into our Eastern Region Hall of Fame at our 2009 annual meeting on November 7 (being held at Cabela's in Dundee, MI). I believe that this small tribute is the least we can do to recognize his great accomplishments to our sport.

His name will be enshrined on the wall at Kelbly's along with the other honorary inductees who have given so much to our sport. Those are Ralph Stolle, Phil Sauer, Nelson Berger, Walt Berger and George Kelbly.

Mike, please accept our humble apologies for not doing this sooner.
 
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In my view Mike is in the Hall of Fame, as he has accomplished more than many of us know for the firearm industry and the shooting sports let alone our unique sport of Bench Rest.
Joe, you are right and we should recognize the people who are icons in our sport while they are with us.
 
virg said:
Some of the finest .22 caliber competition Remington bullets ever produced by ANY manufacturer. And...Remington has no excuse for still not making them.;)

virg
Click to expand...

Earl Case, a friend of mine who died three or so years ago, had hoarded a supply of those bullets. Wish I had been able to get my hands on them after he died. He also had a hoard of T.
 
Hall of Fame

It would seem that our Benchrest Hall of Fame may need a certain expansion or enhancement that would recognise the accomplishments of men like Mike Walker that have clearly contributed well more than many of the current members who have gotten their membership by showing excellent shooting skills. This is not to diminish the accomplishments of any member of the Hall of Fame. To be inducted into this elite group certainly requires a level of skill that few are able to achieve.

What I would suggest is that the current members of the Hall of Fame be allowed the opportunity, by a 2/3 vote of those still living, to induct anyone of thier choosing a special membership status ( Member Exemplar, or something similar) so that the rest of the people in this sport would have the knowledge of and honor of knowing these special people. This status could recognise people such as Mike Walker for his extrodinary contributions to the sport or someone like Tony Boyer for his extrordinary accomplishments, etc..... With a recognition such as this it would not be necessary that 10 points be earned, but that all the other great contributions be taken into consideration.

Respectfully submitted,
Larry
 
virg said:
Some of the finest .22 caliber competition Remington bullets ever produced by ANY manufacturer. And...Remington has no excuse for still not making them.

virg
Click to expand...

Let's not let nostalgia or respect for the pioneers like Mike Walker cloud our thinking. I am a shooter first and foremost, but I also collect competition cartridges, including bullets. I have old Benchrest bullets made by Remington, Jordan, Sierra, Sisk, Speer, Calhoon, RCBS, Metzger, and others. They may have been the best of their day but none of them can compare with todays.

JMHO

Ray
 
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