Charles Stephens

Author Charles (Charlie) Stephens, a descendant of legendary gunfighter Robert Woodson (Wood) Hite of the infamous James Gang, made his publishing debut in 1991 with The Thompson/Center Contender Pistol: How to Tune, Time, Load, and Shoot for Accuracy (Paladin Press). Since that time he has written and had published five other books on pistol-shooting sports. His latest work, Cowboy Action Silhouette Rifle (Paladin Press, May 2001), is his first on the subject of rifle shooting.

Born in the old territorial town of Fort Smith, Arkansas, Charlie grew up in that area of western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma known in American history as Indian Territory and the “Nation.” His interest in shooting began at an early age, when his grandmother, Daisy Irene Hahn Ainsworth (herself a child pioneer of the Old West who traveled across the tall grass prairies from Illinois to Oklahoma in a covered wagon) taught him to shoot a rifle.

After graduating from high school, Charlie initially pursued his goal of becoming a carpenter and builder until a "kiddy cruise" (so-called because of the number of navy enlistees under age 18 aboard) as a U.S. Navy seaman first class (and then as a petty officer and radioman) sent him around the world several times, with stops in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Malaysia, Japan, and the Philippines, among other places.

Charlie graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1970 with a BSEE degree, after which he was commissioned an ensign in the regular navy. After serving in the combat zone during two tours of duty in Vietnam and attaining the rank of Lieutenant JG, he left the navy for the last time.

When he returned from the war in Vietnam, Charlie suffered through a lengthy bout with Vietnam War Delayed Stress Syndrome and a divorce that left him homeless. He found work as a roughneck on an oil rig on the North Sea. When he had time off, traveled to England and Scotland, touring ancient archaeological sites such as Stonehenge.

Charlie returned to the United States in 1975 and spent most of the next 20 years working as a U.S. Army civilian-employed electrical engineer at White Sands Missile Test Range. The largest overland rocket and missile test facility in the free world, White Sands was also the location of the Trinity Site, where the world’s first atomic bomb was exploded.

After a 30-year career serving his country, Charlie moved back to the area where he was born. In 1994 he married Paula Tanner, an ardent and accomplished artist. Her beautiful watercolor paintings of floral and aboriginal Indian art can be found at the Desurmont Gallery in Taos, New Mexico. Together, Charlie and Paula have six children from previous marriages and nine grandchildren. (Another

Charlie's interest in guns and shooting began at the age of around 10 when he received a new Daisy Red Ryder BB gun from his grandmother. During his preteen years, under her close scrutiny and guidance, Charlie became an expert marksman while picking off numerous sparrows from trees on the family farm in an effort to reduce the birds' consumption of store-bought chicken feed. He continued honing his marksmanship while in the U.S. Navy, competing in bullseye target shooting with the Colt service.45 auto. Much later, after leaving naval service and moving to southern New Mexico, Charlie was introduced to both the High Power Rifle Silhouette and the Handgun Metallic Silhouette shooting sports. He distinguished himself by winning the NRA Long Range Pistol Silhouette Standing Aggregate National Championship in 1990. In 1992, he was introduced to the classic German rifle shooting sport known as Schuetzen single-shot target shooting. Shooting occasionally with the rifle while concentrating on the pistol events over the next several years, Charlie further distinguished himself by winning the coveted Pistol King Match in International/World Class Schuetzen competition in 1998.