Ed Masaki has left the range

First topic message reminder :

We bid aloha to Ed Masaki. He passed away on Monday 22 August 2022. His service will be at Hosoi Mortuary, Honolulu, Hawaii at 4pm 25 September 2022.

I want to say thank you very much for the condolences and your messages about my father.  It was really special to see and to have the photos of my father at Camp Perry.  I knew he went there a few years ago.  If anyone one that would like to share photos of my father, I would really appreciate it.  He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.  Mahalo, EdMasakl Daughter

I met Ed at a match in the Seattle area in the early 1990's.  I had just separated after 10 years active duty and was a broke, divorced college student who loved shooting Bullseye. He offered to take my poorly made Colt Gold Cup and work his magic and I agreed.  I literally gave my only 45 to a guy I met the day before.

I couple of months later he sent it back and it was magical.  It functioned like glass and dropped brass in the exact same spot and shot my reloads into just over an inch at 25yds.  It was my primary wad gun for a decade and has been back up ever since.  It was given to me by my Dad when I shot my way into Sharpshooter.

I took it out for the local monthly match and shot it in honor of Ed.  He literally made my hobby awesome with that wad gun.  A few years later he made me a ball gun, it is pictured by my screen name.  I've collected dozens of leg medals with it over the years. 

 

Rip.

I'm very sad to learn of Ed's passing. But I did suspect it as he was MIA at the past 2 or 3 Hawaii Gun Shows and was frail looking before that.

Much of what I know of Ed is from the best source: several of his buddies from the Army Reserve rifle team. They shot alongside legends such as Gary Anderson. In particular they were, Harry Watanabe (who may have been closest to Ed), Dicky Wong, and Ed Chang. Harry was my uncle. His son has Ed's last Dragon; I got to shoot it with my cousin and Ed.

Sadly, I can only remember a couple of stories about Ed, but I do know that many others were told with much head shaking of disbelief. Apparently, he was a magnet for misadventure.

The foremost story in my mind was when Ed accidentally shot himself. I forgot the exact circumstances, but it seems he may have been working on a .22 pistol when it discharged and gave him a grazing gut wound. When my uncle Harry found out, he rushed to the hospital. Ed was already recovering comfortably by them. The first words out of my uncle's mouth -- Ed's best friend -- was, "You dumb ass!". I don't know what followed, but the vocabulary of retired master sergeant can be impressive.

The next story is by courtesy of Ed Chang. Ed M. was known to wander downrange after hours, picking up spent cast bullets to be remelted. It seems that more than once, he filled his pockets to the point where his pants fell down. Undeterred, he would continue picking up more with one hand while holding up his pants with the other. A man on a mission, with no sense of embarrassment.

The next story I recall only very hazily, but it was told at different times by Harry, Ed C., and Dicky. Quite some time ago, the rifle team was there in the old Las Vegas MGM hotel when it suffered a spectacular fire. The team evacuated together, but Ed was MIA, possibly having been downstairs gambling. So they started looking. The picture is this: Ed was of small stature while nearly all the others besting him by 4-6 inches and 20-40 pounds. So apparently, they weren't looking down enough. Ed had gotten out from another exit and now was tagging along unnoticed, wondering who the hell they were searching for.

This story is more about the whole Reserve team. While on training maneuvers at Pohakuloa Training Center on the Big Island, they had some free time and went on a kind of culling hunt of feral goats, boar, axis deer, and mouflon sheep; all destructive to the native environment. Realize now, that most of them weren't hunters. So, they targeted what they knew would stone drop the animal. The local guide got suspicious about who these guys were when they began successfully making head shots. They confessed.

The last story is of Ed's shooting. Although he was the smallest, he was also just about the best on the team. No small feat given that in those days, they were shooting full power '06 or 308 Garands, Springfields, M-14/M1A's and bolt Model 70's. The guys believed Ed was somewhat doubled jointed and was able to get down into exceptionally stable shooting positions. Most especially, I was told that in the cross-legged sitting position, Ed was able to practically get his knees to touch the ground and also bend over far enough to completely lock in his elbows. For him, it was like shooting prone.

Ed, you used all of the road. I hope it's not all X's up there, just to keep it challenging.

Nines,
Thank you for posting your memories. These are great stories! The lore surrounding the giants in bullseye and other shooting sports is as fascinating as the sports themselves. Glad you passed along
these stories for others to enjoy.

I’m sorry for your and the family’s loss.
Rod

I was thinking of him a couple weeks ago. I was in Waikiki, about a block from what was his house. I didn’t visit out of respect to whomever is there now.

I think the last time I saw him, he gave a smithing lecture. It was an act of dedication to bring all that stuff from Hawaii to camp perry. 

I have two of his 1911s. Thanks and appreciation for all he did!