You Still Here

<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://twitter.com/FredSchultz35/status/1576920222359224320
</div></figure>

You still here 10 4 22 no play

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>🚧 You Still Here? Tuesday, October 4, 2022 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

It's like a kitten clown car...

You Still Here?  Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Hunting

When it comes to bagging big, dangerous critters, hunters want all the knockdown power they can get, and a Cody-based company has taken that to the extreme. 

Big Horn Armory Inc. touts its AR500 as the world’s most powerful AR-style rifle. The semi-automatic weapon is chambered in the company’s own .500 Auto Max cartridge and can thump out half-inch diameter bullets just as fast as a shooter can stand to pull the trigger. 

“Bison are pretty much the toughest critter on this continent and it punches right through both sides of them,” Greg Buchel, the company’s founder and president, told Cowboy State Daily. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Escaping Illinois For Wyoming"}]

Buchel wasn’t born in Wyoming, but said that he couldn’t feel more at home in the Cowboy State. He was born and raised in Chicago, and already had an extensive background in manufacturing before he moved to Wyoming more than two decades ago. 

“I moved out here about 21 years ago. I escaped Illinois and I haven’t looked back since,” he said. 

He enjoys the wide-open spaces, freedom and hunting opportunities the Cowboy State provides. And he also appreciates the business-friendly atmosphere. 

[{"type":"text","text":"He wasn’t in Wyoming very long before opportunity came knocking. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Upping Smith & Wesson’s Power Levels"}]

“When I first moved out here, a neighbor of mine was a gun crank. The .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum cartridge had just been created. And we thought, ‘Hey, we should make a lever-action rifle chambered for the .500 Smith & Wesson.” 

So the seeds were planted for Big Horn Amory. The company was founded in 2007, and started turning out its first lever-action rifles a couple of years later. 

Smith & Wesson created the .500 cartridge for its legendary revolvers. It dwarfed even the mighty .44 magnum. That round made Smith & Wesson a household name — thanks in large part to Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” movie character packing a Smith & Wesson .44 magnum revolver. 

Cartridges like the .44 magnum and .500 Smith & Wesson are certainly respectable powerhouses in their original revolver platforms. But there’s a long tradition of building lever-action rifles chambered for magnum revolver cartridges. 

The longer barrels take the bullets’ performance to whole new levels, Buchel said. 

With their shorter barrels and gap between the cartridge chambers and barrel, revolvers blow out a fair amount of unburned powder when they’re fired.  

The enclosed action and longer barrel of a rifle allow more of the gunpowder to burn, Buchel said. And more powder burned explosively during firing equals more velocity, and more bullet velocity means more devastating impact on the target. 

Muzzle velocity, or the speed the bullet is moving when it leaves a firearm’s barrel, is measured in the feet per second (fps). So, for instance, a 400-grain bullet fired from a revolver might have a muzzle velocity of 1,457 fps. Whereas out of a rifle with an 18- to 20-inch barrel, it might be trucking at 2,000 fps, Buchel said. 

[{"type":"text","text":"An AR For Any Critter"}]

Big Horn Armory’s popularity was growing among Wyoming hunters who wanted something that could stop a charging grizzly, if need be, as well as folks headed to Alaska to hunt huge game like moose and coastal brown bears. 

Meanwhile, the popularity of AR-style rifles continued to grow. AR stands for “Armalite Rifle” after the company that first produced the firearms. And the most common chamberings for ARs are the relatively small .223 Remmington, or the 5.56×45mm NATO. 

But ARs were also gaining popularity among big-game hunters who wanted them chambered for beefier cartridges, such as the .308 Winchester.

So, Big Horn Armory figured, why not produce an AR chambered big enough to take down anything that might lumber across North America?

Working off the .500 Smith & Wesson template, they designed the .500 Auto Max cartridge. It’s essentially a rimless version of the .500 Smith & Wesson, Buchel said, which allows it to feed property in a semi-automatic action. 

“Lever-actions require a rimmed cartridge (one with a lip around the base), but semi-automatic actions operate with a rimless cartridge,” he said. “As an AR cartridge, the .500 Auto Max is our baby.”

A semi-automatic firearm fires one shot for each pull of the trigger, and the action cycles itself between shots. 

The AR500 is designed as a hunting rifle because everybody who works at Big Horn Armory is a hunter,” he said. 

Some of its features include a generously-sized trigger guard, making it easier to shoot with gloves on during cold weather hunts. 

“We say it’s suitable for everything from prairie dogs to pachyderms to Peterbilts,” he said. 

The latter being a reference to the rifle’s ability to punch through engine blocks. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Won’t Ruin Smaller Game"}]

The company’s lever guns have been taken on South African Safari hunts. However, it’s unlikely that the AR500 will be used on Safari, because semi-automatic rifles aren’t allowed in South Africa, Buchel said. 

Even so, it’s suitable for Wyoming hunts, he said. Folks might worry about such a massive round making a complete mess of relatively smaller animals, such as deer or antelope. 

[{"type":"text","text":"But with hard-case bullets that’s not the case, he said. "}]

He knows of one hunter who used an AR500 to shoot an antelope, and said the critter “was dead before it even fell completely over.”

“There was a half-inch entry wound, and a half-inch exit wound” indicating that the bullet didn’t expand inside the antelope as smaller-caliber bullets would have done, he said 

“But with a half-inch bullet, how much expansion do you need?” he added. 

Big Horn Armory’s rifles are higher-end, but represent a long-term investment because of the craftsmanship that goes into each one, Buchel said. 

The AR500s are priced around $2,500, and the lever guns are priced around $4,500 on up. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Promoting Wyoming Manufacturing"}]

Buchel said he’s not only happy that his company has thrived in Wyoming, he’d like to see manufacturing continue to grow here. 

“As a company, we’re growing. We can’t build them (rifles) fast enough,” he said. 

And manufacturing can continue to add well-paying jobs to Wyoming’s economy, and help retain the state’s youth, Buchel added. 

“In Wyoming, we sometimes say that we import retired people and we export our kids,” he said.

NOTE: This is a staff favorite story and was originally published on December 24, 2023.

Giant AR15 shooting 12 22 23

<title>🚧 Escape From Chicago: Wyoming Firearms Founder Makes World’s Most Powerful AR-Style Rifle | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Greg Buchel was born and raised in Chicago but “escaped Illinois” to move to Wyoming and founded Big Horn Armory which touts its AR500 as the world’s most powerful AR-style rifle. Buchel says it will down anything from "pachyderms to Peterbilts."

Escape From Chicago: Wyoming Firearms Founder Makes World’s Most Powerful AR-Style Rifle

Candy moulton 4 16 24

Candy Moulton

Wyoming Life

Sports

That awful moment during the 1989 Cheyenne Frontier Days Finals when Takin’ Care of Business tossed bull rider Lane Frost into the air, then hit him in the ribs with a horn that killed the rodeo star, is still keenly felt by the doctor who treated him.

Most of the men riding bulls today weren’t born when Frost died, but they all owe him and know they are safer in the arena because of what happened at Cheyenne 34 years ago.

On July 30, 1989, a cool, rainy day, Frost rode Takin’ Care of Business, scoring an 85. But he had a poor dismount that put him in front of the bull, which stepped on his chaps and hooked the young cowboy with a horn to the ribs.

After the blow, Frost rose from the arena dirt, took a few steps and motioned to the sidelines that he was hurt before he collapsed face down.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"He Couldn’t Fix It"}]

Dr. Skip Ross was the first responder to attend Frost after the bull pounded into him.

[{"type":"text","text":"Frost had broken ribs that tore through his heart."}]

Still visibly moved by recalling the events of that fateful day, Ross now quietly says he knows the injury was something “you couldn’t fix.” But he tried for 90 minutes before reluctantly agreeing with other members of the medical team that Frost was gone.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘A Terrible Deal All Around’"}]

Parker Breding of Edgar, Montana, who qualified for the semifinals at CFD with his bull ride on Wednesday, wasn’t born when Frost made his last ride in Cheyenne, but Breding has often heard of the day from his parents. His father, Scott Breding is a five-time NFR qualifier who often competed against Frost.

“Dad was actually there that day when Lane got killed,” Breding said. “It was one of those terrible deals. My mom didn’t know, they just said a bull rider got killed, she didn’t know who it was.

“And back then you had to use pay phones. And he didn’t get to call home for quite a while, so that was a pretty scary deal, just a terrible deal all around.”

Breding said his mother “sat by the phone all night long until he was able to call her. She got the news she wanted, but somebody else didn’t. It was just a terrible day.”

“I grew up watching Lane Frost. … So that’s pretty much how I learned how to ride bulls,” J.B. Mauney, one of the most successful riders in the sport, said Thursday before he prepared for his own ride on Two Socks. “It was unfortunate it happened here. But it kind of trademarks it for bull riders.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Sparked Action"}]

Frost’s friend and traveling partner Cody Lambert developed a protective vest that the bull riders started wearing “and that’s saved me a bunch of times,” Mauney said. “It’s unfortunate that things like (Frost’s death) have to happen to turn it around and get something like that, but you know it’s all a part of the game.”

Mauney, who rode some of the rankest bulls in the sport during his years with the PBR, made history in 2016 as the first bull rider to reach the $7 million mark in career earnings.

He retired from PBR two years ago and started riding in the PRCA, earning a trip to the National Finals in Las Vegas his first year in pro rodeo.

He said Frost’s death had a profound effect on the bull riders because, “It got them to wear the vests.”

The doctor and cowboys agree that a vest might have prevented Frost’s injury from being fatal, and more important that in the years since, the protective gear has kept other cowboys from severe injury.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Still A Reminder’"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Most bull riders also wear helmets instead of cowboy hats."}]

Ross said all high school bull riders are required to wear helmets. That means they learn to ride and balance their body with the headgear on, so they continue wearing a helmet when they advance to college and pro ranks.

But Frost’s accident is “still a reminder to bull riders that the sport is dangerous,” said Breding, a four-time NFR qualifier. “It’s dangerous, we all know that. We’re all just riding on God’s time and asking for his protection when we’re doing this.”

But cowboys also take care of themselves, and Breding said after Lambert came out with the leather vests for guys to wear his dad was one of the first to wear one. 

“Thank God that we have those, because they’ve prevented a lot of bad things,” he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘8 Seconds’"}]

The movie “8 Seconds” about Frost’s life — starring Luke Perry as Frost, Stephen Baldwin as Tuff Hedeman, Red Mitchell as Lambert and Cynthia Geary as Lane’s wife, Kellie Kyle Frost — grossed more than $19 million at the box office and inspired a generation of bull riders.

For River Mossberg of Cheyenne, who competed in bull riding in high school rodeo but has not yet at the college or professional levels, “8 Seconds” was an inspiration.

“It was a movie that was around and always in the movie case,” he said, adding the film was a “good story with a good meaning behind it.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Mossberg’s goal is to ride at Cheyenne Frontier Days someday."}]

Bull riding is a culture unto itself. The boys who do it usually start when they are little as mutton busters (riding sheep), then they ride calves and steers before finally getting on bulls.

One little boy in the cowboy ready area at CFD on Thursday, wearing his chaps, boots and cowboy hat, had his own bull rope.

As the cowboys prepared for their rides, he wrapped his bull rope around the seat of a picnic table and practiced his own riding. No doubt, he was dreaming just like Mossberg of one day getting on a bucking bull and hearing the announcer call his name as he enters the arena at Cheyenne Frontier Days for an 8-second ride.

“Champion Lane Frost” a 15-foot tall, monumental bronze sculpture by Casper artist Chris Navarro, is a permanent memorial to the bull rider and the location where “behind-the-scenes” chute tours begin during CFD.

It stands in front of the CFD Old West Museum, which has its own tribute to Frost.

Lane frost 1989

<title>🚧 34-Years Ago Sunday, Lane Frost Died At Cheyenne Frontier Days, Cowboys Remember | Cowboy State Daily</title>

It’s been 34 years since Lane Frost’s last bull ride at Cheyenne Frontier Days on July 30, 1989. This week, bull riders in Cheyenne remembered Frost and what he means to the sport.

You Still Here? Tuesday, October 4, 2022

More in You Still Here

You Still Here? Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Steve Inman: Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Bonus Video 1: Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Bonus Video 2: Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Most read