Born in 1957, Jean-Pierre Bastié got his first weapon at the age of 12. It was a Diana air rifle with which he fired his first rounds. Since then his interest in guns has not dwindled. He was a hunter, a shooter, a competitor with ancient weapons and then a collector before he founded the Académie des Armes Anciennes (Antique Weapons Academy in France) in 1987.
For more than thirty years, he has been collaborating with the editors of various French and foreign magazines specializing in weapons. A tireless researcher, he has been scouring the archives (like those of Châtellerault, visible on his profile picture) for ages in search of unpublished sources.

Jean-Pierre Bastié is also President of the "Union Française des amateurs d'Armes" (UFA) and Expert for the French Department of Justice about antique weapons.

http://www.academie-des-armes-anciennes.com/

https://www.armes-ufa.com/