The Hedderly series of articles from Western FIeld magazine have been hashed, re-hashed, scrambled and flambe'd ad nauseum over the years on this and other BBSs. I spent a considerable amount of time and money 10-12 years ago procuring microfilm copies of the entire series with the idea of re-publishing it in a single annotated version with notes, addenda, contemporary references, etc.
Predictably, "life got in the way", so to speak; raising children caring for aging parents (both now deceased), periodic health issues, investigation of copyright qualifications, and the like all 'conspired' to forestall my original vision and efforts to publish. A more positive result evolved over time, however, in the realization that, other than the florid descriptions of the individual guns you refer to, is that there is very little "there" there.
That is, the fact that this material is now over 100 years old, and by definition so outdated by many iterations of technical developments in both guns and ammunition, that the real attraction (to me) of the series has evolved into a sort of whimsical fascination with Hedderly's efforts to promote and encourage greater use of smallbore shotguns for almost everything from trap to 'reedbird' shooting. His exhaustive patterning tests, for example, and resulting comparison of charts by gauge have essentially been rendered moot by time and firearms and ammunition development.
Most all of the rest of the attraction in reading the series is akin to revisiting the evolution of the development and use of smokeless powder vs. black, and the similar redesign of ammunition from multiple fibre wadding to single, self-contained shotcups. In short, a distillation of a now very familiar history of related subjects, all presented in the context of contemporary theory and practice c. 1909 -1912, roughly the chronological span of the series in Western Field. And in the end, all hopelessly outdated, of course.
As a result, I have rethought my original concept of series republication and have shifted tracks, so to speak, and have decided to concentrate more on the man himself and his role in promoting the use of smallbore shotguns vs. the exhausting trivia of experimemtal loadings. There is at least one other bona fide effort underway which I understand will cover that aspect of Hedderly's endeavors, so that facet of his work will be adequately covered and presented.
My final draft is in the works as we speak as I finish up another shorter, more focused effort on another individual personality equal in stature and influence to the shooting community at large. Now to proceed carefully on "the road not taken."
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