Joined
·
7,055 Posts
Snake's mention of the ODI Viking brings up a whole new topic and can of worms.
Many years ago I befriended the late Louis Seecamp and his son Larry.
It was very early in my career and the introduction of their little .32 prompted my editor to assign me to do a piece about the company and new gun.
The old man was Prussian to the core and bore a nasty scar down one side of his face on the Eastern front of WW 1. The Russian did not survive.
Seecamp came to this country after the war and began working in the firearms industry in "Gun Valley," CT.
He designed a double-action modification for the 1911 that had a small cult following The only production example was the ODI Viking.
Over the years I got a few of the guns and looked for a long time for a Viking to complete my collection. Finally found one in CA.
I really liked the old man and wrote what I thought was a good story. In those days the U.S. mule delivered stuff like that so I stuck it in the mailbox. In less than a week it came back with a rejection letter. No comment, no criticism just REJECT>
I was pissed and after a couple of days called the editor and ended up begging him to let me do a re-write. He grudgingly agreed.
I sweated blood and bullets over the new version and finally sent it in.
Didn't hear a word, but the very next issue of "GUNS" that came had the piece. I studied what appeared in print and not a single comma had ben changed from my original text.
The next year at the Shot show I sat with him and asked why he rejected the story.
"I knew you could do better."
The moral of this story is hero worship is only good in small doses.
Many years ago I befriended the late Louis Seecamp and his son Larry.
It was very early in my career and the introduction of their little .32 prompted my editor to assign me to do a piece about the company and new gun.
The old man was Prussian to the core and bore a nasty scar down one side of his face on the Eastern front of WW 1. The Russian did not survive.
Seecamp came to this country after the war and began working in the firearms industry in "Gun Valley," CT.
He designed a double-action modification for the 1911 that had a small cult following The only production example was the ODI Viking.
Over the years I got a few of the guns and looked for a long time for a Viking to complete my collection. Finally found one in CA.
I really liked the old man and wrote what I thought was a good story. In those days the U.S. mule delivered stuff like that so I stuck it in the mailbox. In less than a week it came back with a rejection letter. No comment, no criticism just REJECT>
I was pissed and after a couple of days called the editor and ended up begging him to let me do a re-write. He grudgingly agreed.
I sweated blood and bullets over the new version and finally sent it in.
Didn't hear a word, but the very next issue of "GUNS" that came had the piece. I studied what appeared in print and not a single comma had ben changed from my original text.
The next year at the Shot show I sat with him and asked why he rejected the story.
"I knew you could do better."
The moral of this story is hero worship is only good in small doses.
