Wyoming's favorite cowboy shootist was a once-in-a-lifetime talent
By Jon Trobaugh
IT MAY SEEM ODD, even a little silly, for the inaugural blog post of a site purportedly focused on the defensive use of 1911- and 2011-style handguns to cover Bob Milek, a gun writer who is rarely associated with the platform. But (a big Bill Jordan-sized “but”) this blog would simply not exist without Milek and his work; I owe him more than a few grains of appreciation and gratitude for showing me what great gun journalism can be when a writer follows his or her passions with integrity, humility, and a little bit of style.
Cowboy, Hunter, Handloader: Milek and Wyoming
I first encountered Milek's writing in the pages of Guns & Ammo Magazine during the 1980s. My grandfather was a subscriber to the magazine, and he would give me the issue each month as long as I kept my promise to tell him what my favorite article was. Milek’s writing was crisp and personal. The image of Milek wearing his trademark big black shooting glasses and cowboy hat while proudly displaying his latest trophy for the camera alongside the firearm he used to harvest it (usually a big bore revolver or Contender pistol) was striking. The combination of his austere, rugged words and images spoke to young men like myself who dreamed of hunting whitetails and pronghorns all day (and getting paid to do it).
Honestly, it was the “getting paid” part I found to be the most inspiring and novel. I grew up in a poverty stricken place, and opportunities were limited. But I could write well; I knew that. I just needed permission to pursue something bigger. I needed to see a regular guy who wrote for a living full-time. Milek, who wore the same shirts and hats as my aforementioned grandfather it seemed, was that guy for me.
Milek will always be associated with his native state of Wyoming and the hunting and shooting sports there. He captured the majesty of the place as well as any professional travel writer I have read. As a young fan, I often wondered why he wrote so infrequently about exotic hunts when compared to some of the other experienced hunters employed by Guns & Ammo. Before the American public grew a conscience about African hunting, dangerous game from the continent (and the stories of hunting that game) were highly prized. I am not suggesting that Milek NEVER hunted Africa; photographic evidence of such hunts exists, including a beautiful shot of Bob and a massive male lion, but Milek preferred to hunt and write about his beautiful little postage stamp of the world, as Faulkner might say. Afterall, what did Africa or South America have to offer that Wyoming did not? The Cowboy State’s topography allows for extremely long-range shooting (Milek loved Pronghorn hunting and varminting) and the diversity of the fauna kept him and his family busy year round.
Milek passed away before he could write a full-length book, but he did pen several long-form special issues for G&A, Shooting Times, and Petersen's Hunting as well as reference articles/guides for Lyman Products. If fate had afforded him the time to write that book, I like to think it would have been a narrative outlining the lessons he passed down to his children about hunting rifles and ballistics. Tough to recall at this juncture, but I remember reading that his son’s favorite hunting rifle had “never seen a round of commercial ammunition.” Milek co-developed, based on his extensive hunting and reloading experience, the .30 Herrett and .357 Herrett cartridges
Bob Milek and the 1911 pistol
Though he was never accused of being a 1911 diehard, Milek reviewed plenty of .45 ACP-chambered variants during his career, even penning a fantastic article on his "kit" build of an all stainless 1911. He also wrote highly of the LAR Grizzly line of magnum 1911-style handguns. Still, it is true that he committed many more words to stories about “beating” semi-automatic shooters with his trusty double-or single-action revolver in 45 Colt or similar big-bore caliber than shooting 1911s themselves. But not one of us is perfect; just look at the shitty AI image accompanying this article.
What Milek did do for 1911 shooters is help lay the foundation for modern pistol-mounted optics. He doesn’t get enough credit here, but without his having the ears (eyes?) of scope makers, the world may have never seen low power optics designed specifically for pistols. And without the creation of these scopes and their mounts, red dot sights would likely still not be an economical option for today's tactical 1911 and 2011 shooters.
Honesty and integrity were probably Milek's greatest strengths outside of his ability to track and hunt in the Cowboy State. In Milek's day, many gun writers were less expert reviewers and more "gun presenters," folks who at best fail to test the gear they recommend and at worst shill for firearms and products they know are no good. Of course, this problem has only gotten worse since, but Milek was never afraid to criticize and remained a voice for real, everyday shooters. His takedown of the .357 maximum cartridge in G&A for example was rumored to be the impetus for Dan Wesson's jettisoning its silhouette revolver line in that chambering.
Some might label his criticism of the .357 maximum cartridge as being self-serving because of the aforementioned .357 Herrett project, but a closer reading of the piece in question “357 Maximum: Too Much Too Soon?” makes clear I believe that Milek draws a strong distinction between commercial and wildcat cartridges and their purposes and clientele. For hardcore competitors, the cartridge made sense, but, as Milek writes, the chambering did not offer any advantages at the time. He also encountered issues with the Dan Wesson revolvers chambered for the round during testing. If introduced in the Freedom Arms revolvers perhaps the cartridge would have met with Milek’s approval. On a related note, let’s bring silhouette shooting back!
Parting Shot
In the end, Milek left us too soon; he passed in 1993 after a battle with cancer at the age of 58. But he left behind a legacy much larger I believe than the one he imagined he would: a legacy of interesting rifles, true handgun hunting innovation, cherished family, life-long friends, handloading, solid gun writing … and a 1911 pistol here and there. 😎
Read more about the late Bob Milek at Guns and Ammon Magazine.
Other resources:
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