tonykharper
Well-known member
Bill was a rare and special person. One could consider his life’s work to be advancing Rimfire accuracy. It would be fair to say he is and was Mr. Rimfire Benchrest (RFBR). But he was so much more than that.
I didn’t know Bill as well as many others. He came into my life when I developed a desire to compete in rimfire benchrest matches. This dates back to the days of BR 50.
By then Bill had already developed his famous pistols. These were Remington XP conversions to rimfire. He was turning out benchrest guns from various manufacturers. He did many Remington 37s and 40Xs, as well as Suhls and Anschutz. But I think his favorites were the 52 Winchester rifles. In the beginning we all used souped up factory guns as the basis for our RFBR rifles. Some are still doing it today.
Bill was a natural artist. It was a gift. He had no formal training in art. But trained himself in the necessary techniques. He had an eye for detail like few others. If you asked Bill to look at a buffalo nickel, he would be able to tell you the blood type of the Indian on the other side before he gave it back to you. He didn’t miss anything.
Bill learned gunsmithing the same way. He trained himself. The results were his rifles and pistols have set the RFBR world on fire setting record after record in all forms of RFBR shooting. Some are still competing and winning today. Pretty amazing when you realize Bill hasn’t built a rifle in 12 plus years. The stories about Bill using old equipment in a dirt floor shop are true. I’ve been there and watched him work. Bill could do more with a set of Swiss hand files than most can do with a fully equipped Bridgeport mill including DRO’s..
In my life I’ve been lucky to have known a few special people. By special I mean people with a gift that only comes along once or twice in a generation. Bill was one of those.
With that said, all of the ones I’ve known were independent thinkers. They do their own research and once they develop their truth there is no moving them away from it. This can tend to make these people less social. They are comfortable in their own skin and really don’t need approval from others.
Bill was a hard guy to get to know. If you didn’t make an effort, you would never get to know Bill.
For those that are still reading I’m going to tell the story of why I made the effort to get to know Bill and I’ll quit for now and call this part 1. There will be others for those interested.
I started shooting RFBR when BR 50 started. BR 50 required one to shoot 50 scoring shots at 50 individual targets in 30 minutes. It was called the meanest game in town. The scoring was strict. When scoring the saying was, "when in doubt it is out”. Ties do not go to the shooter.
It also had what is called “worst edge scoring”. Meaning a shot has to be inside the line to receive the higher score. If a shot broke through the line and touched a lower scoring ring you received the lower score. Same as ARA is scored today.
A 5000 was possible but in those days a 4000 score would win most targets. Anything above that would certainly win.
The competition was built around a 12 lb. unlimited rifle. But the rules gave point rewards for being under 12 lb. and took points away from rifles weighing more than 12 lb.
Most rifles of the day were right in that 12 lb. range, so I didn’t pay much attention to these rules.
Well, that was until I went to my first big match.
At the match, on my first target I shot a 4100 score, I felt like a hero, could not believe my luck.
But when they announced the winner, it wasn’t me. Some guy had shot a 3900 with a Calfee pistol and when the points were shifted, he won. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy. But in reality, it was my own fault I didn’t pay enough attention to the rules. Still don’t like the rules but they were what they were.
Later on, IR 50/50 came along and the rimfire sporter class was born along with the 3 -gun competitions. This consisted of the Sporter, 10.5 lb, and 13.5 lb rifles. There were, and still are many rules in IR 50/50 3 -gun. One of those rules was, and is, no tuners on sporters. I read it very carefully because everyone wanted a tuner on everything, but the rule was the rule.
Then I showed up at my first big IR 50/50 3-gun match and here comes these guys from Indiana with these sporters that had these big knots on the end of the barrels, and they were counter drilled back before the knot. It was obvious these were tuners. No, they didn’t adjust but they were tuners, nonetheless. They killed me and everyone shooting straight barreled rifles.
When the match was over, I went to the match director and asked what was up with the tuners. He immediately told me those weren’t tuners, they were just a special “barrel contour”. I asked who was making them and the answer came back Bill Calfee, the same guy that had built those pistols.
To make a long story short I was sent overseas for 12 years and didn’t compete but when I returned, I knew exactly who to see to find out what it would take to be successful.
TKH
I didn’t know Bill as well as many others. He came into my life when I developed a desire to compete in rimfire benchrest matches. This dates back to the days of BR 50.
By then Bill had already developed his famous pistols. These were Remington XP conversions to rimfire. He was turning out benchrest guns from various manufacturers. He did many Remington 37s and 40Xs, as well as Suhls and Anschutz. But I think his favorites were the 52 Winchester rifles. In the beginning we all used souped up factory guns as the basis for our RFBR rifles. Some are still doing it today.
Bill was a natural artist. It was a gift. He had no formal training in art. But trained himself in the necessary techniques. He had an eye for detail like few others. If you asked Bill to look at a buffalo nickel, he would be able to tell you the blood type of the Indian on the other side before he gave it back to you. He didn’t miss anything.
Bill learned gunsmithing the same way. He trained himself. The results were his rifles and pistols have set the RFBR world on fire setting record after record in all forms of RFBR shooting. Some are still competing and winning today. Pretty amazing when you realize Bill hasn’t built a rifle in 12 plus years. The stories about Bill using old equipment in a dirt floor shop are true. I’ve been there and watched him work. Bill could do more with a set of Swiss hand files than most can do with a fully equipped Bridgeport mill including DRO’s..
In my life I’ve been lucky to have known a few special people. By special I mean people with a gift that only comes along once or twice in a generation. Bill was one of those.
With that said, all of the ones I’ve known were independent thinkers. They do their own research and once they develop their truth there is no moving them away from it. This can tend to make these people less social. They are comfortable in their own skin and really don’t need approval from others.
Bill was a hard guy to get to know. If you didn’t make an effort, you would never get to know Bill.
For those that are still reading I’m going to tell the story of why I made the effort to get to know Bill and I’ll quit for now and call this part 1. There will be others for those interested.
I started shooting RFBR when BR 50 started. BR 50 required one to shoot 50 scoring shots at 50 individual targets in 30 minutes. It was called the meanest game in town. The scoring was strict. When scoring the saying was, "when in doubt it is out”. Ties do not go to the shooter.
It also had what is called “worst edge scoring”. Meaning a shot has to be inside the line to receive the higher score. If a shot broke through the line and touched a lower scoring ring you received the lower score. Same as ARA is scored today.
A 5000 was possible but in those days a 4000 score would win most targets. Anything above that would certainly win.
The competition was built around a 12 lb. unlimited rifle. But the rules gave point rewards for being under 12 lb. and took points away from rifles weighing more than 12 lb.
Most rifles of the day were right in that 12 lb. range, so I didn’t pay much attention to these rules.
Well, that was until I went to my first big match.
At the match, on my first target I shot a 4100 score, I felt like a hero, could not believe my luck.
But when they announced the winner, it wasn’t me. Some guy had shot a 3900 with a Calfee pistol and when the points were shifted, he won. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy. But in reality, it was my own fault I didn’t pay enough attention to the rules. Still don’t like the rules but they were what they were.
Later on, IR 50/50 came along and the rimfire sporter class was born along with the 3 -gun competitions. This consisted of the Sporter, 10.5 lb, and 13.5 lb rifles. There were, and still are many rules in IR 50/50 3 -gun. One of those rules was, and is, no tuners on sporters. I read it very carefully because everyone wanted a tuner on everything, but the rule was the rule.
Then I showed up at my first big IR 50/50 3-gun match and here comes these guys from Indiana with these sporters that had these big knots on the end of the barrels, and they were counter drilled back before the knot. It was obvious these were tuners. No, they didn’t adjust but they were tuners, nonetheless. They killed me and everyone shooting straight barreled rifles.
When the match was over, I went to the match director and asked what was up with the tuners. He immediately told me those weren’t tuners, they were just a special “barrel contour”. I asked who was making them and the answer came back Bill Calfee, the same guy that had built those pistols.
To make a long story short I was sent overseas for 12 years and didn’t compete but when I returned, I knew exactly who to see to find out what it would take to be successful.
TKH
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