Information about W. Buchele Needed

[DWalt]

Hi, I am new here, even though I am not exactly new to muzzleloading, having about a dozen assorted black powder rifles, pistols, and revolvers.

My question regards William Buchele. About 12 years ago, I bought a very nice Wm. Buchele half-stock percussion .45 cal. rifle, at an estate sale. It is somewhat plain in style. I have fired it several times (not recently), and before that I doubt it had been fired. I know Buchele was a modern maker and I have two of his books. Beyond that, I know virtually nothing, and internet searches have not been very helpful. Can anyone provide some biographical information about Wm. Buchele?

 

[Rifleman1776]

Even though I never met him personally, he is well known among ml'ers.
Contact the NMLRA office. If he is still living, I'm sure he is still a member. They will direct you to him.

 

[sail32]

A sort bibliography of William Buchele (1895 to 1977) is mentioned on page 62, of
“Contemporary Makers of Muzzle Loading Firearms”, by Robert Weil, copyright 1980. Printed by Taylor Publishing Co., Dallas Texas.
The book also has 9 pages showing some of his flintlocks.

He is also one of the Authors of;

“Recreating the American Longrifle” a Paperback .]
William Buchele (Author), George Shumway (Author), Peter A. Alexander (Author)

Also; http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/271707/

 

[George]

TMF member CrackStock posted this in a recent thread about a Buchele lock:

Here is a teaser from the fourth edition of Recreating the American Longrifle through Shumway,...

William Buchele was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1895 and died in 1977.

Military - infantry WW1. Apparently a strong shooter. Later asserts that he was a sniper in WW1

Studied art at Toledo Museum of Art - oil painting.

Developed an interest in astronomy and built a 6 inch telescope. Having a degree of success, he then made others. This interest led him to achieving fame for work with lenses and he went on to superintend an optical plant in Birmingham, NY. He later built his own factory with a contract with the US Government. He turned the optical business over to his son in order to carve guns.

He was a serious bicycle rider and survived a serious crash with a car.

Apparently, he was a hard working man and had a healthy constitution since he recovered from a number of injuries. He injured himself in obtaining wood with a chainsaw shortly before dying.

Here is a link to a thread with pictures of a Buchele rifle:
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/271686/

Spence

 

[AZbpBurner]

I met Wm Buchele several times at OGCA shows. Even in the late 60's & early 70's he could fetch well over $3000 for even the 'plainest' of his rifles. He said that you don't make them to get rich, but for the love of the craft. He estimated that, after materials cost, he was making around 97¢ an hour for labor.

Around the time I graduated from High School in 1970, I brought in a percussion pistol I had just completed. He held it in his hands, turned it over a couple of times, drew his thumb across the finish on the forestock, smiled, handed it back to me, then shook my hand. I knew better than to ask what he thought about my first pistol, and I know that he musta' thought it would make a great paint stirrer at his shop.

Nevertheless, he was among the best of the masters, and it was a privilege to be able to stand before him on many occasions & watch him at his handiwork on a particular rifle.

And while he never gave my pistol either thumbs up or down, it was held briefly by the very same hands that crafted some of America's most beautiful rifles of the day.

 

[DWalt]

Thanks for the information. I did find an article once with some information about a William Buchele in Toledo who had something to do with producing optical parts during WWII, but the article mentioned nothing about his being a gunmaker. Therefore, I couldn't be sure he was the same person. So now I know a lot more about him than I did.

Buchele is mentioned as having being active in the OGCA, and there is some probability that I have even seen him. When I lived in Ohio (until 1976), I was an OGCA member and attended most shows back when they were held in Columbus. That was a great time.

By the way, I am originally from Portsmouth, Ohio, the original home of the NMLRA in the 1930s, and spent a lot of time at the small gun shop on Gallia Street run by Red Farris back in the late 1950s and 60s. I knew him very well, along with some of the original NMLRA members such as Leroy Compton, who published Muzzle Blasts for awhile at his printing plant in Portsmouth. I even shot at the old N&W Railroad YMCA range where tha NMLRA started.

Here is a picture of my Buchele:

 

[DWalt]

The article I mentioned above about Buchele's optical talents can be found at: http://home.europa.com/~telscope/rfprmgng-pa.txt

The part specifically mentioning Buchele's wartime contributions is below:

"In Toledo, Ohio, William Buchele made 7300 prisms, about 98 percent
acceptable from the beginning, with the help of his wife, son, father, and
brothers. He was an ATM who had made several telescopes, including a one ton,
20 inch reflector, described in Scientific American of October 1939. Buchele
went on to a career making motion picture lenses, and at least one astronomical
refractor lens by him is known."

 

[DWalt]

A little additional information.

William M. Buchle shows up on the U. S. Census records of 1920, 1930, and 1940 as residing in Toledo, Ohio, with a birthdate shown of "about 1896." His wife's name is shown as both Wilma and Welma.

 

[George T.]

That is a very fine rifle and I see nothing plain about it. I bet it's a shooter! Geo. T.

 

[DWalt]

I don't know. I have fired it only a few times, maybe 5 or 6, not enough to make any judgments about its accuracy, and certainly not enough to develop the best load. Besides, it's just too nice to shoot. I probably should sell it.

Most of my muzzle-loading rifle shooting is done with one of those ultra-cheapie Spanish half-stock MLs in .50 cal (called "Plainsman" I think). And it shoots exceptionally well at 50 yards, sometimes 5-shot groups with all holes touching. I bought it at a garage sale some years ago for maybe $25, and it has been the best $25 I ever spent on a gun. Its only fault is that it's not very pretty.

 

[Barry Duggan]

Pretty don't matter as much as performing well, in all positions. :thumbsup:

 

[DWalt]

Does anyone know the proper pronunciation of Buchele - at least as he used it? It seems there are many of them - Boo-Shell, Buck-Lee, Byou-klee, Byou-Kell, Byou-Shell, Book-Ell, and more.