Camp's "The Shooter's Guide to the 1911 Pattern Pistol"

[Richard.Howe]

I recently purchased Stephen A. Camp's book on 1911s entitled "The Shooter's Guide to the 1911 Pattern Pistol."

It is one of the best, most informative books on this subject that I've read -- unbiased in his approach and not afraid to stab a few sacred cows. If you love 1911s but want more information, this is a "must have."

Don't mean to advertise for a particular product, but Camp has produced a good reference. It's certainly better than the G&A book on this topic.

Rich

 

[Erich]

Amen to that.

I posted a review on Mr. Camp's "for sale" post in the "For sale: accessories" forum. I hope you (and he) won't mind me reproducing it here.



This is really an impressive book - buy it if you are at all interested in 1911s

(I'm sorry for the unsolicited endorsement, but if I would sure want a friend to recommend this book to me. )

The original English meaning of "amateur" was "one who has a taste for (something)," from the French amateur, meaning "lover of." (The English meaning "a dabbler" (as opposed to a professional) did not come until later.)

While professional gunwriters would be proud to have put together a book as good as Mr. Camp's writing. The Shooter's Guide to the 1911 Pattern Pistol, as I read through it, I kept thinking about the original meaning of "amateur": this author truly has a love for John Moses Browning's pistol. And he makes the reader appreciate the gun in new ways.

The book doesn't claim to cover everything, but it does an amazingly good job of discussing a broad variety of topics concerning the 1911s. It is NOT a shop manual. It discusses history, model variations, calibers, the pros and cons of various parts, it has commentary from leading 'smiths and from various users - it's like several years' worth of sitting around shooting the bull with a bunch of guys who are really into the 1911. If you've done any reading on internet gun boards over the last five years, you're already familiar with Stephen A. Camp's This book goes so far beyond Mr. Camp's internet posts that I was astounded. It really is a masterwork.

I consider it high praise when I say that the writing in The Shooter's Guide to the 1911 Pattern Pistol is up there with John Taffin's. It feels like Sixguns by Keith, if only old Elmer had been a lot more organized. In other words, this is a book that I'm going to read over and over. I'm going to buy a copy for one of my shooting buddies. Based on this book, I'm going to be sure to buy others of Mr. Camp's books for my personal library. I sent an email to Amazon.com recommending that they contact Mr. Camp to find out about selling his books. This is a fine book, folks.

So, if you have any interest in the 1911 at all - whether you're considering buying one, or it's your favorite gun of all time - you should pick up a copy of The Shooter's Guide to the 1911 Pattern Pistol.