By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
It is inevitable that with each passing year, someone we know or know of will pass as well, a fact underscored days ago with the death of renowned firearms developer Gaston Glock.
But he was preceded by others who have, in the vernacular of many in the firearms community, “left the range.”
Big bore handgun cartridge developer John Linebaugh—creator of the .475 and .500 Linebaugh—passed away back on March 19 at his home in Clark, Wyo. When he was memorialized in The American Rifleman, Linebaugh was described as having a “passion” for firearms that took root after he moved to Wyoming. Not bad for a fellow who “grew up in a gun-free house.”
His ground-breaking .500 Linebaugh was introduced in 1986, followed two years later by the slightly smaller .475 Linebaugh, firmly cementing his name into the annals of handgun development.
Popular gunwriter Tiger McKee, author of the Tactical Wire in the pages of American Handgunner, and an expert on personal defense tactics and concealed carry, passed almost exactly a month later, on April 17. Magazine editor Tom McHale described McKee as a man “best known for his lifelong commitment to being a student.” According to the memorial in AH, McKee earned expert ratings on pistol and rifle from the legendary Col. Jeff Cooper, founder of the Gunsite Academy in Paulden, Ariz. He also earned teaching certifications from Thunder Ranch and the FBI.
Just a week later, Bart Skelton—son of legendary writer and lawman Charles Allan “Skeeter” Skelton—passed away April 25 at his home in Deming, N.M. He was but 62 years old. Among those paying tribute were equally famous gunwriter and author Massad Ayoob in the pages of Backwoods Home.
Skelton had followed his father into law enforcement, serving with the New Mexico State Police and later with the US Customs Service, eventually becoming Agent in Charge in Deming. He retired in 2014 from the Department of Homeland Security. He served on the National Rifle Association Board of Directors.
He was memorialized in American Handgunner by colleague Jeff “Tank” Hoover, who wrote, “I’m a pretty good judge of character, and Bart Skelton was the real deal.”
On Sept. 16, Shooting Illustrated field editor Ed Head died, leaving behind legions of family, friends and admirers from his years as operations manager, rangemaster and instructor at the Gunsite Academy from 2005 to 2010. Head had served with the U.S. Border Patrol and had also served in the U.S. Air Force, according to a brief biography in Shooting Illustrated. He became a senior firearms instructor for the Border Patrol and also completed firearms instructor training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. He took firearms training at Gunsite in 1988 and earned an instructor rating in 1992.
On Oct. 14, Dick Metcalf, former writer at Guns & Ammo, passed away at the age of 77. Metcalf was a devoted shooter and skilled writer, whose byline also appeared for several years in Shooting Times. In addition, he was a veteran of the U.S. Army and had taught history at both Yale and Cornell universities.
But Metcalf, as explained in an online Wikipedia biography, ignited a firestorm in December 2013 in his G&A column “The Backstop,” when he wrote about the Second Amendment. He pointed to the final four words in the amendment, “shall not be infringed,” and observed that “way too many gun owners still seem to believe that any regulation of the right to keep and bear arms is an infringement.”
“The fact is,” he continued, “all constitutional rights are regulated, always have been, and need to be.”
Those words got him fired within days of publication. The media had something of a field day, including a write-up done by Mother Jones. Metcalf’s career never really recovered.
