Adolph Toepperwein

The Art of Bullet Drawing

Ad Topperwein (1869-1962) became a legend in his own time. Born in Texas to German immigrants, Ad had gun powder in his veins. His father was an accomplished gunsmith, and Ad was out-shooting adults at the age of eight. Ad took up aerial shooting at the age of 11 and later performed in vaudeville and circuses to earn a living.

In 1890, Topperwein visited Coney Island with his agent, George Walker, and proceeded to bankrupt six shooting gallery concessionaires by shooting all the targets and winning all the money and prizes. As his skill with the target gun became known throughout the arcade, the galleries closed their doors. However, the Texans had accomplished what they wanted; Topperwein got a job as the trick shooting marksman for the vaudeville circuit. He later joined the Orrin Brothers Circus and traveled with it for eight years before being hired as a contract exhibition shooter for Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

While working for Winchester , he achieved his famous world record during a ten-day exhibition at the San Antonio fairgrounds in December 1907 Over the ten day period he shot a total of 72,500 two and one-quarter inch airborne cubes, missing only nine. He shot until there were no more cartridges in San Antonio for his Model .03 Winchester 22 automatic and he had used all 60,000 cubes more than once. He had finally broken Doc Carver's record, which had been his goal since he first saw Carver perform with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

Topperwein pioneered the art of “bullet drawings.” By firing in rapid succession and placing bullets one-half inch apart, he created portraits of Indians, Indian chiefs, Uncle Sam, cowboys and others. Within twelve minutes, he was able to combine his shooting ability with his artistic talent and create recognizable images on sheets of tin.

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Tom Frye

Born: 1916
Died: 10-14-1982 
Age: 66

In 1950 the ATA life member captured the first of his eight Grand American industry trophies, the Clay Target title with 199. He fired an 86 in the 1955 Preliminary Handicap to finish second among industry representatives. The following year, Frye claimed the industry crown in the Grand American Handicap for 94 from 24 yards and 23 in a shoot off. He shared category honors in the Dayton Homecoming with Tom Lynott following each having scored 197s. In addition, Frye paced other industry reps in the All-Around with 384x400 and the High-Over-All with 956x1,000. During the 1963 tournament, Frye regained the Clay Target title and earned runner-up laurels in the Singles Class Championship, both with scores of 200 straight.

During the 1952 Ohio State Shoot, Frye led industry men in the Singles Championship with 198. In Montana state competition he paced the handicap field with 98 from 25-yards at the 1962 tournament, and he headed industry reps with 198 during the 1964 Singles Championship.

Frye was named to the industry All-American team each year from 1951 through 1956; also in 1949 and 1965. He served as captain in 1964 and co-captain in 1957. From 1960 through 1963, he led national industry doubles averages three times and handicap standings twice.

The last trick shooter to be employed by a major arms and ammunition company, Frye often appeared on television shows demonstrating his expertise with a rifle and shotgun. March 1975 Trap & Field magazine carried this account: "Montana gunner Tom Frye gave a shooting demonstration on the nationally-syndicated Mike Douglas TV show recently, during which he etched the portrait of guest star Robert Goulet in aluminum with a .22 rifle. Frye also shot at wooden blocks and at small metal discs, about the size of silver dollars, thrown in the air by Douglas, Goulet and other show guests. Frye, who began shooting demonstrations more than 20 years ago, then showed his talent with a shotgun. He shot at heads of cabbage and at eggs and, finally, at some regulation clay targets."

Tom was especially famous for his silhouettes of Indian heads, many of which have been displayed at numerous clubs throughout the country. One Billings, Montana restaurant had a wall mural of a Western scene done by Frye with the .22 rifle. The Bureau of Indian Affairs sponsored Frye performances for children of several tribes, and he was adopted by the Shoshone and Crow tribes.

In October 1959 at Reno, Nevada, Frye established a marathon and accuracy world record by hitting all but six of 100,000 hand-thrown wooden blocks with a .22 rifle. He shot nine hours a day over a 13-day period while besting the record established by Ad Topperwein in 1907. Tom once held the 12-gauge skeet shooting long-run record, and in 1963 he had a trapshooting run of 800 in singles.

He passed away October 14, 1982 of congestive heart failure.