I'm not sure whether I was drawn to physics by a natural interest in finding things out, or became more interested in finding things out by my physics training.  Either way, by the time I completed graduate school (ABD in solid state physics at the University of Iowa after an MS in 1988), this was my mindset.  In about 2000, with a growing interest in firearms I began to wonder about some of the fundamental ballistics questions.  The primary connection between a range of barrel lengths and the velocity of a fired bullet was not available - either it hadn't been done, or it hadn't been put in the public arena.  Such information is of importance when deciding on a handgun for self defense and led to this research.  Ideally, we would also have investigated the behavior of the bullets in ballistic gelatin at the same time as measuring the velocity.  But like many such seemingly simple experiments the time required to carry out the additional work far outweighed the burden of the financial cost.  No doubt the data we have collected and made available here will serve as a starting point in gaining a clear understanding of the combination of barrel length and various ammunition on ballistics.  I eagerly await developments from others in the firearms community in further exploring these questions.

When not engaged in things firearms related I am involved in woodfired ceramics and research into aspects of this art.  Most Saturday nights find me playing bass for a rock cover band in eastern Iowa.  Yes, I am Buckaroo Banzai.

My dad was a cop, and a hunter.  I quite literally learned how to safely handle firearms before I could ride a bicycle.  I've owned my own guns since I was 8.  But having been a gun owner most all of my life did not mean that I knew all that there was to know about guns, nor ballistics.  When Jim K first turned his interest to firearms, I was able to offer some sage old advice - knowledge which was mostly decades out of date.  This quickly became apparent when we got to talking about this or that modern ammo, in calibers and configurations I had no experience with.  So when Jim K and I got to talking about hard data, I shared his interest in finding out what was available, and then his interest in doing the research ourselves.  Connecting to Steve, and his considerable knowledge in this field, was a stroke of luck, and we quickly drafted him into our project.  I'm still a long ways from knowing all that there is to know about guns, ammo, and ballistics, but I have had a hell of a great time learning more these past few years.

In 'real life' I am a book and document conservator, which requires very careful consideration of detail and a willingness to do tasks others find mind-numbingly boring.  This does not make me much fun at parties.  I'm also a writer, which does help.  A little.

All I can say is that it's taken me years to develop a fine appreciation for black powder and the arms, muzzle and breech loading, hand and shoulder, that use it.  All at a whack I find myself involved up to the eyeballs in testing dozens of the latest hi-tech samples of modern smoke-free defensive ammunition.  It's almost enough to make a person weep, except for the lack of sulphur.

At least the past 40 years obsessing over the subtleties of cartridge design, internal and external ballistics before I ascended to my current brimstone nirvana have paid off in learning how to run chronographs, computers and medium-sized hammers, and that's been put to some use in this series of empirical tests.

(Steve is also the cartridge and proof mark consultant for the German Gun Collectors Association and can often be found on weekends beneath a large cloud of blue smoke at Cowboy Action shoots across the Midwest.)

My getting involved with this project was a matter of fate.  When I was 13 years old I got introduced to firearms and began my life-long pursuit and fascination with learning as much as I could about all types of firearms.  The historical aspect of firearms interests me as to how each came about with their development of the designs, engineering and mechanical operations.  I am a knowledge junkie and have a photographic memory which has helped me store all this information over the years.  A local gun shop owner took me under his wing during my teenage years, teaching me the importance passing on the heritage and tradition of firearms to future generations.  During years of professional experience I have been able to blend my prior knowledge of firearms with the real world practical application of weapons.  And I have come to realize the importance of the right of self-defense in our society.

This is where fate came in.  I became a fan of a local rock cover band about two years ago and got to know Jim Kasper.  We found out about our mutual strong interest in firearms and the rest is history.  Jim invited me on the second big sequence of ballistics testing and let me tell you I will never forget that experience.  Meeting Jim D and Steve was great - we all come from different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives in life not to mention firearms but as a group we complimented one another, each learning from one another during this process.  I believe that providing this ballistic data information to the public can be very useful in the decision making process as to what type of weapon and ammunition are best used depending on the individual's needs and application in the real world.