In memoriam - Bruce Moulds has passed away

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I was informed yesterday of @bruce moulds passing by @CBH.
I was glad i was sitting down at the time.
Even tho I never met Bruce personally I hand many a long conversation with him. He was a very knowledgeable bloke and we spent many a time stirring the crap out of each other both in the forum and in person all in good Australian fun and humor. Bruce was a straight shooter and you always knew where you stood with him.
He had strong opinions on what worked and didn't work for him and had no problems telling others. He passed on a great deal of knowledge on this forum and others.
One subject Bruce was very strong on was the quality of @Von Gruff Gary's knives. He thought if you only owned one knife it has to be a Von Gruff as they work as promised. Every time we spoke his first question was not how are you Bob, it was have you ordered your von Gruff yet. He liked them that much.
Even tho I didn't meet Bruce personally I regarded him as a good friend. My only regret is that Bruce, Chris and myself never got to do the hunting trip we wanted to do together to compare calibers and sit around the campfire swapping stories
My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this time.
RIP old mate I will miss you
Bob

 

[Brent in Az]

Well...that is sad news. Two good members lost this week. Condolences to the family & friends in Australia.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Yesterday I was informed that our esteemed forum member Bruce Moulds passed away on Wednesday night.
A message came in with Bruce as the subject. That seemed odd

His son in law made contact via a p.m. here to advise me unsure of how I actually knew Bruce. He wrote I don't know if you were mates. Phil his son in law provided his phone number so I gave him a quick call.

I messaged several members who had befriended Bruce and had regular contact with him advising of his passing and that I would post publicly this morning. Responses with Tributes, Thoughts and Prayers for his family came back quickly from those I contacted.

I was fortunate to have met Bruce in person. His town is about 400 miles from mine. I have kids in the city so I arranged to meet Bruce at a popular tourist town about 20 miles from the area he called home.

We originally connected through this forum and had discussions about Von Gruff knives. There was a lot of friendly banter as Aussies do. Bruce was very excited about the knife he had ordered with the Micarta scales.

This image of Bruce's knife was posted in another thread courtesy of Gary. I think Bruce may have been the first to request the steel and associated pouch.

View attachment 406464

Now, the reason that Bruce and I met up was to have show and tell with our knives over a coffee. The knife pictured was clearly well used when I handled it. Bruce was very proud of his knife and very keen on the design Gary had created for me.

While in discussions of what to order and debating design and the uncertainty Covid bought Bruce made the tongue in cheek comment "What if Gary gets hit by a bus and you haven't ordered one?" That got me thinking. We traded many messages about our orders etc , it's nearly here, I said Bruce was lurking by the mailbox waiting once his was in transit.

I learned a bit about Bruce and his life in our short meeting. His passion for shooting his choices of less common cartridges. He was still working for himself doing landscaping in the area.

We often joked about the 6.5Creedmore rifle trend likening it to the Man Bun and Latte trend.

Bruce used the name bruce moulds here and on other forums. If you google Bruce Moulds Shooting Forum you will see he could be found on quite a few and gets mention in F Class and Benchrest.

Bruce clearly had a lot of experience and was often quick to point out what he thought. Another member wisely worded this as 'Forthright way of communicating that may have been Blunt but not in an offensive way"

Another said to add that Bruce had an extreme hate for the Nosler Partition projectile and his posts regarding this were quite numerous.

All offered their condolences to Bruce family.

Bruce was 69.

The word Vale (Farewell) is used in Australian shooter magazine on the occasion where a shooters obituary is published.

Farewell Bruce, thanks for the yarns we had. I won't get to buy you that coffee I owe you but I will remember you when I get the chance to pay it forward.

RIP mate. @bruce moulds

Chris,
CBH Australia

Thanks Chris! A good portrait of Bruce.

 

[Randy F]

Sad news.
RIP Bruce, prayers to family and friends.

 

[Uncle Sauce]

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends

 

[mdwest]

RIP Bruce. Please save a place for the rest of us by the campfire.

Prayers out for all those left behind.

 

[BRICKBURN]

RIP Bruce. You will be missed.


This is a telling reply from Bruce in a Welcome to AH thread.

Welcome to AH! You’ll love reading about all the hunting and firearms threads and posts from the many experts here on a plethora of subjects. Bob, Bruce and the many other fine gentlemen from OZ (and Mr. Von Gruff from NZ) will keep you entertained with their expertise and unique insights and preferences with their favorite rifles and cartridges. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, as Bruce reminded me when I first joined AH, “the only stupid question is the one you didn’t ask”. And, I’ve asked a LOT of them, because if you don’t know, you don’t know? Again, welcome!

yes bob and i are clearly and unquestionably wise, but then we are also very old and so you would expect that.
garry (von gruff) is quite a bit younger, but is wise beyond his years.
then there is chris from broken hill who is younger again, but wise for his age and getting wiser every year.
all else aside we are definitely gentlemen as c e h so aptly describes.
bruce.

 

[CJW]

RIP

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Men with his experience are very hard to find. He was a wealth of knowledge that I feel we all learned from, and I know for sure that I will miss him.
RIP Bruce.

 

[R.M.C.]

Geez that's a shame. Way too many of these threads lately. My prayers for his family. I always enjoyed his posts, always signed Bruce

 

[gbflyer]

Oh man! New guy here, enjoyed his writings and will miss those in the future. Everyone that got to know him personally was very fortunate. Best to his family.

 

[PaulT]

RIP Bruce Moulds.

Home from the hill is the Hunter.

Sincerest condolences to family and friends.

We have lost a fine Man.

 

[flatwater bill]

He will be missed...................one could always tell from his commentary that he had knowledge and experience......the foundations of wisdom.................RIP.....................FWB

 

[LivingTheDream]

This is really sad news. My thoughts and prayers with his family. May he rest in peace.

 

[krish]

It is sad we lost a member who made this forum funny and entertaining.
MY HEART CONDOLENCES TO HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
PRAY GOO FOR HIS SOUL TO REST IN PEACE.
KRISH

 

[CoElkHunter]

This is such very tragic news for me. I never met Bruce Moulds, but through his threads and posts here on AH, I felt a kinship with Bruce. He was one of the first members here I conversed with after joining AH. We would banter back and forth and discuss wildcats and load data and he was always so helpful. He had a very dry sense of humor and made me laugh so often. I will really miss him and his expertise on everything firearm, reloading and hunting related. Someone here will have to pick up the slack on Bruce’s favorite cartridge, the 9.3x64. RIP my friend.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. Thanks to everyone here on AH for their remembrance of Bruce.

 

[nztimb]

This is a telling reply from Bruce in a Welcome to AH thread.
yes bob and i are clearly and unquestionably wise, but then we are also very old and so you would expect that.
garry (von gruff) is quite a bit younger, but is wise beyond his years.
then there is chris from broken hill who is younger again, but wise for his age and getting wiser every year.
all else aside we are definitely gentlemen as c e h so aptly describes.
bruce.

Pleased to be thought of as young, but the fact remains that Bruce at 69 and I were both born 1952 so contempories in that regard

 

[fourfive8]

Oh no! Heartsick about this news. Two gone before their time in the last few days. I'll miss Bruce tremendously. Condolences to his family. Rest in peace Bruce

 

[Chukar]

More sad news, two great members in a week.

RIP Mr. Moulds and condolences to the family and friends.

 

[Red Leg]

Ah Jeez. He was a man worth arguing with (and always politely). We agreed 75% of the time and had fun with the 25%. We are all far lesser for his passing.