Books worth reading

A good book from the old days is Phil Sharpe's "Complete Guide to Handloading". I have the 1952 edition. Aside from showing the reloading tools of pre-WW II, he gives the history of many, many cartridges, including the wildcats of the earlier times. Discussions of powders and other components.

I've seen it listed in used-book listings.

Mainsail said:

This is a good and useful use of your reading time.

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Hm, odd. In all the times I've read it I don't remember ever reading about guns in the bible.

While it isn't exactly focused on the guns, a great story with a lot of gun fighting and a really interesting take on the old West and Indian hunting is Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.

Xiphoticness said:

Hm, odd. In all the times I've read it I don't remember ever reading about guns in the bible.

While it isn't exactly focused on the guns, a great story with a lot of gun fighting and a really interesting take on the old West and Indian hunting is Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.

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The OP didn't mention guns.

Books worth reading

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There's a very good thread here about movies worth watching, but I haven't been able to find something similar about novels, and the books this community may recommend.
If this topic isn't discussed anywhere else, maybe you could list below those books you enjoyed ?

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The OP didn't mention guns.

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Very true! Then my all time favorite book is Tom Jones,1749, by Henry Fielding. Just as rousing and hilarious as it was in the mid 18th century.

Emma,1813, by the great Jane Austen, comes in second.

I saw Jeff Cooper mentioned, maybe "The Art of the Rifle" was mentioned.
If not, well ...

Also, "Practical Shooting" by Brian Enos

"Chairman" Jeff?

http://www.dvc.org.uk/jeff/

Regardless of one's agree/disagree, his ideas are still thought-provoking.

"Anthem" by Ayn Rand
"The Republic" by Plato
"The Gift of Fear" Gavin de Becker
"Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses" by Mark Twain (I think it's hilarious that a known, respected author published a book that exists solely to mock another author's work)
"On the Decay of the Art of Lying" also by Twain
"Hit Man" and "Hit List" by Lawrence Block
"All the Flowers are Dying" by Lawrence Block

Mainsail said:

The OP didn't mention guns.

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No, but the Moderator did.

Robert said:

Keep this firearms related and it will stay open.

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There's no doubt that the Good Book is a good book, but it's not firearms related.

There's no doubt that the Good Book is a good book, but it's not firearms related.

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Oh,spoilsport. But you get extra points now!

Mainsail said:

The OP didn't mention guns.

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This is the General Gun Discussion forum. Ergo, posts should be about firearms or they are off topic.

GLOCK by Paul Barrett

Interesting read about Gaston Glock and his pistol. A story of an Austrian engineer that went from making curtain rods to the #1 gun seller in the US. And an interesting look into the gun culture in America.

theotherwaldo said:

Larry Correia writes some good shooting action books,

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I'm kind of surprised it took us 47 replies to get this one out.

The Monster Hunter and Dead Six series are gun action fun.

Brad Thor.....

Author; Brad Thor has a few decent action novels. He goes into detail about guns & tactics.
Vince Flynn the late author, had a few gunfight scenes & detailed weapons in his Mitch Rapp series. Flynn died about 3/4 years ago.

While it isn't exactly focused on the guns, a great story with a lot of gun fighting and a really interesting take on the old West and Indian hunting is Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.

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Blood Meridian is an outstanding book about human violence. There's a pretty good tale in there of the men making their own gunpowder, and not a minute too soon.

Very good historical fiction, I highly recommend it. A fictional account of a rider with the Glanton Gang

Reference type stuff, mostly

The Rifle in America, Phil Sharpe.
Experiments of a Handgunner, Walter Roper.
Shotgun Shooting facts, Gough Thomas (Garwood).
Pistols, A Modern Encyclopedia, Henry Stebbins.
Ordnance Went Up Front, Roy Dunlap.
Handguns of the World, Edward Ezell.
The Handgun, Geoffrey Boothroyd.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Handguns, A.B. Zhuk.

Stephen Hunter novels
The Deadliest Men: The World's Deadliest Combatants through the Ages by Paul Kirchner
The Hunters of Kentucky: A Narrative History of America's 1st Far West, 1750-1792 by Ted Franklin Belue
Rifles of Colonial America, Volume 1 & 2 by George Shumway
Bullseyes Don't Shoot Back by Rex Applegate and Michael Janich
Stressfire by Masaad Ayoob

The Secrets of Double Action Shooting By Bob Nichols Copyright 1950

Interior Ballistics (How a Gun Converts Chemical Energy into Projectile Motion) E.D.Lowry Copyright 1968

Y'll are wrong about this
"There's no doubt that the Good Book is a good book, but it's not firearms related."

IT speaks of coming wars. How will they be fought? With guns and other current weapons. NO details but very correct

I don't mind reading a good history especially when it goes into details about the weapons and how they were used.

kitsapshooter said:

IT speaks of coming wars. How will they be fought? With guns and other current weapons. NO details but very correct

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Ok.

That is an absurd stretch.

Steal This Book by the late radical author and self-described 'American Refusenik' Abbie Hoffman

Entertaining in its historical context as a book that was nearly banned and pushed limits that have been well-eclipsed these days. Love or hate Abbie's politics, he was a man of sharp humor and wit--the section on firearms is concise and well written--it's entitled "Piece Now".

Lawful online copy can be read hear: http://tenant.net/Community/steal/steal.html

Shanghai McCoy said:

An old stand by here at THR has always been Unintended Consequences...

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Jorg Nysgerrig said:

Probably only because most people are too polite to say what a terrible book since so many members seem to like it.

I cringe every time I see someone recommend it.

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Sam Cade said:

Probably the worst case of first-novelitus ever.

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I gotta echo this sentiment. That book is terribad. Most of the ultra-libertarian fantasy novels are painful to read- people read them for the validation of their own political views and fears and because some of them have interesting (and sometimes even accurate) survival tips, but anyone who tries to read them because they have an interesting story or are well written is doomed to disappointment.

Amazed no one mentioned cartridges of the world yet.

Just finished reading "Unbroken". This is the story of Louis Zamperini…a WWII era Olympic sprinter. He was drafted into the Army Air Force after the war started. He became a bombardier, was sent to the pacific, shot down, captured, kept as a POW in the brutal Jap POW system.

One heckuva story. A story of resistance, of survival, and of redemption.

Just finished "The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms" by Stephen P. Halbrook. If you're interested in Revolutionary era history and legal studies (at a layman's level), it's a very interesting book, chronicling the experiences that influenced the Founders' fear of gun control as well as the debates that shaped the Federal and State constitutions and bill's of rights. It's also full of good quotes.

The biggest thing I got from it was probably the confirmation of my belief that the commerce clause was never intended to be a basis for firearms regulations and that the Second Amendment was created largely to prevent such measures. Now, if only we could get Congress and SCOTUS to understand....