Above - NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING Host Toby Bridges Shooting A John Sorbie Built Rifle & Tube Sight
NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING
Published October 3, 2016
Namlhunt.com Loses A Great Friend...
Early this morning (October 3, 2016), I received one of those phone calls that no one really wants to receive. The oldest son of the best friend I have ever had in my life called from Illinois to let me know that his Dad had passed away at 5:21 this morning. That's his father, John Sorbie, of Gillespie, Illinois, in the photo above ... a photo I snapped back in the mid 1980's...while he and I enjoyed one of hundreds of days when out shooting muzzleloading guns.
I had first met John back in the summer of 1975. I had recently left Dixie Gun Works, to open a gun shop in a small rural
Western Illinois town ... and to pursue writing about muzzleloading guns and muzzleloader hunting. The shop had only been open for a month or so, when John walked in to see what I had for sale ... or for trade. Right away, I came to realize that Scottish blood ran true through his veins. If there was one thing John hated to part with it was money. I also learned that he was a very fair trader, and during the 41 years since he and I first met, we literally traded hundreds of guns - the vast majority of which loaded through the muzzle.
I had first met John back in the summer of 1975. I had recently left Dixie Gun Works, to open a gun shop in a small rural
Western Illinois town ... and to pursue writing about muzzleloading guns and muzzleloader hunting. The shop had only been open for a month or so, when John walked in to see what I had for sale ... or for trade. Right away, I came to realize that Scottish blood ran true through his veins. If there was one thing John hated to part with it was money. I also learned that he was a very fair trader, and during the 41 years since he and I first met, we literally traded hundreds of guns - the vast majority of which loaded through the muzzle.
John was much more than a "muzzleloader fancier" ... he was also a very talented muzzleloading rifle maker - and an extremely adaptive machinist. If he could not find custom rifle components available for a style he had in mind...he would make them himself. The rifle he's shooting in the above photo, and the two rifles at left, are John Sorbie rifles.
I can remember a three or four year period during which he turned out two or three rifles a month. His rifles had earned quite a local reputation, and once a shooter got one they tended to hang onto it. My guess is that a majority of his rifles are still in the area close to where he lived. Often, John would already be thinking about the next rifle he planned to build ... before the one he was working on at the time was completed. Actually, during that time...he would get them totally shaped...inletted...and assembled - then I would take them home with me and do the final sanding, polish work and finishing.
I especially remember one very nice little percussion half-stock .32 "squirrel rifle" that he had fully completed...except for the finishing. John was wanting to move onto his next project, and asked if I would finish it up for him. This was in early fall of 1985. I was working on the manuscript and photography for a book I had undertaken for Stackpole Books - "Custom Muzzleloading Rifles". I had a variety of muzzleloader finishing products to test, so I jumped on the opportunity. At that time, I was also building a big percussion .54 Hawken rifle ... and was in "finishing mode".
I can remember a three or four year period during which he turned out two or three rifles a month. His rifles had earned quite a local reputation, and once a shooter got one they tended to hang onto it. My guess is that a majority of his rifles are still in the area close to where he lived. Often, John would already be thinking about the next rifle he planned to build ... before the one he was working on at the time was completed. Actually, during that time...he would get them totally shaped...inletted...and assembled - then I would take them home with me and do the final sanding, polish work and finishing.
I especially remember one very nice little percussion half-stock .32 "squirrel rifle" that he had fully completed...except for the finishing. John was wanting to move onto his next project, and asked if I would finish it up for him. This was in early fall of 1985. I was working on the manuscript and photography for a book I had undertaken for Stackpole Books - "Custom Muzzleloading Rifles". I had a variety of muzzleloader finishing products to test, so I jumped on the opportunity. At that time, I was also building a big percussion .54 Hawken rifle ... and was in "finishing mode".
That Hawken was one of two rifles I built that year specifically for photographing for the cover of the book - shown at right. John Sorbie had helped me with some fitting of the locks and triggers on both of these rifles as well.
Now, John had built the .32 percussion rifle for his own use. He and I hunted squirrels together, and he wanted a nice small-bore specifically for making head shots on bushytails. Since this was to be his rifle...he had taken a bit more time with it - and everything fit perfectly. So...I too took my time and did the absolute best job I could to finish the rifle. The end product was a real beauty.
That week, I had also finished the big Hawken on the cover at right. I called John and asked if he wanted to hit our club range the next morning...to sight in both rifles. So, after a couple of cups of coffee at his house the next morning, we were off to the range. I concentrated on finding a load that shot consistently for the Hawken...and filing the top of the front sight blade to get it printing an inch high at 50 yards. John worked on sighting in the .32 half-stock.
I could tell he was getting frustrated about something, and asked what was making him irritated. He snapped back, "I think this barrel has some issues...I've had it with the rifle!" He then wanted to know what kind of difference I would want if I took his rifle on trade for the Hawken. I'll just say...he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. So...I went home with the .32 and he went home with the .54 Hawken. I had a magazine article to knock out that afternoon ... so figured I'd try shooting the .32 later that evening...after all, it needed cleaning anyway.
Loading just 15-grains of FFFg black powder and a tightly patched 47-grain .315" diameter ball, the rifle printed "dead on" at 25 yards - and five shots were all touching. The next morning, I hit a stretch of hardwoods less than 5 miles from John's house...and in less than an hour I had a five-squirrel limit. All were clean head shots. My kids were just about fed up with fried squirrels, so I took them to John's house and asked if he and his wife, Mel, would like them. He conned me into cleaning them, and when I had finished he asked..."What rifle did you shoot these with?"
When I told him...he just stood there and shook his head back and forth...and smiled.
Now, John had built the .32 percussion rifle for his own use. He and I hunted squirrels together, and he wanted a nice small-bore specifically for making head shots on bushytails. Since this was to be his rifle...he had taken a bit more time with it - and everything fit perfectly. So...I too took my time and did the absolute best job I could to finish the rifle. The end product was a real beauty.
That week, I had also finished the big Hawken on the cover at right. I called John and asked if he wanted to hit our club range the next morning...to sight in both rifles. So, after a couple of cups of coffee at his house the next morning, we were off to the range. I concentrated on finding a load that shot consistently for the Hawken...and filing the top of the front sight blade to get it printing an inch high at 50 yards. John worked on sighting in the .32 half-stock.
I could tell he was getting frustrated about something, and asked what was making him irritated. He snapped back, "I think this barrel has some issues...I've had it with the rifle!" He then wanted to know what kind of difference I would want if I took his rifle on trade for the Hawken. I'll just say...he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. So...I went home with the .32 and he went home with the .54 Hawken. I had a magazine article to knock out that afternoon ... so figured I'd try shooting the .32 later that evening...after all, it needed cleaning anyway.
Loading just 15-grains of FFFg black powder and a tightly patched 47-grain .315" diameter ball, the rifle printed "dead on" at 25 yards - and five shots were all touching. The next morning, I hit a stretch of hardwoods less than 5 miles from John's house...and in less than an hour I had a five-squirrel limit. All were clean head shots. My kids were just about fed up with fried squirrels, so I took them to John's house and asked if he and his wife, Mel, would like them. He conned me into cleaning them, and when I had finished he asked..."What rifle did you shoot these with?"
When I told him...he just stood there and shook his head back and forth...and smiled.
The rifle shown in this photo was one of the very last rifles John ever built. It could even be the last rifle he did build. He even hand built the "tube sight" that's on the percussion .31 caliber small-bore rifle. (For more on this rifle go to - http://www.namlhunt.com/ml-small-bore.html ) When I visited with him in April 2015, his health had really taken a turn downward. By late summer he had already accepted that he was not going to get better ... and had no problem talking about it. Unless I was out hunting or travelling, I tried to call just about every day. I learned a lot from John Sorbie, and the world is now a sadder place without him. It is especially so for me.
One of the hardest things I have ever had to do, once I knew John would leave us soon, was to tell him that I considered him the best friend I had ever known. Best friends don't have to say it ... they already know it. Still, I felt guilty knowing I had never ever shared how much I cherished his friendship. I will miss you John ... and every time a thunder storm rolls in, I will remember the fun we enjoyed making some thunder of our own ... with our frontstuffers! - Toby Bridges, NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING
One of the hardest things I have ever had to do, once I knew John would leave us soon, was to tell him that I considered him the best friend I had ever known. Best friends don't have to say it ... they already know it. Still, I felt guilty knowing I had never ever shared how much I cherished his friendship. I will miss you John ... and every time a thunder storm rolls in, I will remember the fun we enjoyed making some thunder of our own ... with our frontstuffers! - Toby Bridges, NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING
