Gun Books

[JG727]

I will be attending gunsmithing school this Fall, and I have a request:

What books do you recommend a gunsmith/marksman read.

I don't mean the basic assembly/disassembly or reloading theory, I mean the best darn books you,ve read. The indispensable. The classics.

I've already got the following books on my list.

Suggestions to Military Riflemen - Townsend Whelen​

The American Rifle - Townsend Whelen​

The Bullet's Flight - F.W. Mann​

Hatcher's Notebook - Julian Hatcher​

Incidentally, anyone know of a good place to buy books like this?

I get most of my (older) military and aviation memoirs off of the Barnes & Noble and the Amazon websites. They usually turn out to be former library books in pretty good condition.

Thank you in advance,

James

 

[talldragon]

Book List

These are just a few gun related books that I have enjoyed. YMMV .

Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir
Author: Joseph R. Owen
ISBN-13: 9780804116978 - ISBN-10: 0804116970
^^^^^^^^M-1 Garand, M1 Carbines and BAR figure heavily in this one.

Sniper: The Skills, the Weapons, and the Experiences
Author: Adrian Gilbert
ISBN-13: 9780312957667 - ISBN-10: 0312957661
^^^^^^^^^Generic Sniper book. A little dry.

Hogs in the Shadows: Combat Stories from Marine Snipers in Iraq
Author: Milo S. Afong
ISBN-13: 9780425217511 - ISBN-10: 0425217515
^^^^^^^^^Great stories. Collection style. Not Political.

Man-Eaters of Tsavo
Author: John Henry Patterson
ISBN-13: 9781592281879 - ISBN-10: 1592281877
^^^^^^^^^Yes, it's gun related. Hunting stories. With a British flair. .303's are used, as well as Double-Barrel Rifles.

Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills
Author: Charles W. Henderson
ISBN-13: 9780425103555 - ISBN-10: 0425103552
^^^^^^^^^Some say this one is Bovine Scatology, others say it's legend. You be the judge. Interviews with Carlos Hathcock jr from the book are on youtube.

Notes of a Sniper: Vassili Zaitsev's Account of the Battle of Stalingrad
ISBN-13: 9780615121482 - ISBN-10: 0615121489
^^^^^^^^^^This one may be Soviet propaganda since it was published at different time periods up into the 70's. Easy reading, good story. fact or fiction? who knows.. Enemy at the Gates borrowed heavily from this story.

Papa Bravo Romeo : U.S. Navy Patrol Boats at War in Vietnam
Author: Wynn Goldsmith
ISBN-13: 9780804119214 - ISBN-10: 080411921X
Lots of twin .50 cal and mortar action in this one. Written from an officer's point of view.

Roberts Ridge: A Story of Courage and Sacrifice on Takur Ghar Mountain, Afghanistan
Author: Malcolm MacPherson
ISBN-13: 9780553586800 - ISBN-10: 0553586807
^^^^^^^^^^Well written story.

The Secrets of Inchon: The Untold Story of the Most Daring Covert Mission of the Korean War
Author: Eugene Franklin Clark, Thomas J. Fleming
ISBN-13: 9780425190005 - ISBN-10: 0425190005
^^^^^^^^^^^^ M1911's and M3 Grease guns in this one.

Shooter : The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper
Author: Jack Coughlin, Casey Kuhlman, Donald A. Davis
ISBN-13: 9780312939175 - ISBN-10: 0312939175
^^^^^^^^^^^^These guys are legit, IMHO.

Silent Warrior: The Marine Sniper's Vietnam Story Continues
Author: Charles Henderson
ISBN-13: 9780425181720 - ISBN-10: 0425181723
^^^^^^^^^^^^More about Sniper Carlos Hathcock jr.

Xin Loi, Viet Nam : Thirty-one Months of War: A Soldier's Memoir
Author: Al Sever
ISBN-13: 9780891418566 - ISBN-10: 0891418563
^^^^^^^^^^^^A Helo mechanic becomes a door gunner. M60's figure in, as well as in-field repair of.


This is just a book list, not opinion. I have read all these myself and have my own view points about them and whether or not they are fact, fiction or just fantasy....who knows for sure.

MODS:
I hope these selections are not too political for THR. If they are, I will gladly remove any that offend .

 

[henschman]

On the topic of marksmanship, "Fred's Guide to Becoming a Rifleman" is pretty good.

 

[J-Bar]

Elmer Keith books;

Gun Notes vol. 1, 2

Hell I was There

Sixguns
Check Amazon.com

 

[Daveboone]

I think Amazon is by far the best (cheapest, quickest, most dependable) source for books. I frequently do a simple generic ( Alaska Hunting ) search to see what comes up, and always find great stuff.
Any book by Jack O'Connor (Complete Book of Rifles and Shotguns, Big Game Hunts). Anything from Elmer Keith (Sixguns By Keith, "Hell, I was There" or Bill Jordan (No 2nd Place Winner). I would read Speers Reloading Handbook cover to cover-all you would ever want to know about reloading, ballistics, and popular/unpopular, historic and modern cartridges. Ruark-Horn of the Hunter. T.R.s Africa Game Trails.John (Pondoro) Taylor-Big Game and Big Game Rifles, African Rifles and Cartridges, Man Eaters and Marauders.
Pinnell and Tallifson- Last of the Great Brown Bear Men (Kodiac Bear hunting).
There is a start! Also, online you should be able to find the armys rifle and pistol shooting manual. Become very familiar with the history of american militar arms, and WW1- current military arms and their civilian use (springfield, M1Garand, 1911a1, AR15, etc.).

 

[Ramone]

Art of the Rifle (and anything else by Jeff Cooper)

The Book of Two Guns - Tiger Mckee <sp?>

The Accurate Rifle- Warren Page

Gunsmithing by Patrick Sweeny (two books- one for rifles, one for pistols)

 

[JG727]

Art of the Rifle (and anything else by Jeff Cooper)

The Book of Two Guns - Tiger Mckee <sp?>

The Accurate Rifle- Warren Page

Gunsmithing by Patrick Sweeny (two books- one for rifles, one for pistols)

I have both of Patrick Sweeney's book. They're pretty good

 

[Cosmoline]

Gun Notes vol. 1, 2

Big dittos on this one. My volumes are dog-eared with tabs and stickies.

Also

DB Wesson's "Burning Powder,"

Mas Ayoob's "Stressfire,"

The Lee reloading manual, even if you don't reload

Barne's Cartridges of the World,

Cooper's "Art of the Rifle"

And there are hundreds for various specialties of course. I have a bunch from the "For Collectors" series, and there are other special classics on the Savage 99, the .45-70 and the .30-30.

think Amazon is by far the best (cheapest, quickest, most dependable) source for books.

A word of warning about Amazon. For these very specialized books there's a strange inflation that takes hold and the prices go through the atmosphere. "Gun Notes vol 1" in PAPERBACK is currently at the low used price of $89.24 with a high price of $208!! I picked it up for $10 at a local book store.

 

[kragluver]

Lots of good suggestions here. Book of the Garand by Hatcher as well as his Textbook of Pistols and Revolvers are excellent. You can typically do better than amazon by going to Abebooks.com.

 

[BaltimoreBoy]

Combat history: "Shots Fired in Anger" by Lieutenant Col. John George
(WWII Pacific combat)

I liked the old Jack O'Connor books like "The Rifle Book" and "The Shotgun Book". Kind of old now - though no older than the Keith. But there is a lot of common sense in them.

 

[KCFirepower]

read several of the above and loved them, but no one above mentioned "Boston's Gun Bible"

 

[JG727]

I'd love to have:

The Gunsmith Machinist I & II - by Steve Acker

Anyone read them?

 

[RichBMW]

I'm reading "1911: The First 100 Years" by Patrick Sweeney right now. Great book. Lots of information about the 1911, very well written, crammed with excellent pictures, printed on super-high-quality paper. Just $19.79 from Amazon, a great price for a superior quality hard cover book.

 

[kragluver]

I read Sweeney's book right after it came out. The photos are great. However, in several chapters the writing was terrible - almost like it was rushed to publication without going through an editor. There were grammer errors throughout and a few historical inaccuracies. I liked the chapters on the development of the 1911 and the discussion on the Savage pistol.

 

[Kerf]

JG727 -

Gunsmithing by Roy Dunlap
Firearm Design and Assembly by Al Linden, a series of 4 pamphlets about 50 pages each with full size pattern sheets.
Checkering and Carving of Gunstocks by Monty Kennedy

Not sure how apropos the above titles are – since they deal in wood and steel. Seems everyone today is assembling parts and dropping them into plastic stocks. At least you’ll get and understanding of basic concepts regarding form and function.

Last thought – Check out at your local Public Library the DVD: The Gunsmith of Williamsburg, if you haven’t seen it already. It will certainly broaden your horizons. And Jerry Kuhnhausen 2 volume set on the 1911 .45 Automatic.

Good Luck!

Kerf

 

[JG727]

Not sure how apropos the above titles are – since they deal in wood and steel. Seems everyone today is assembling parts and dropping them into plastic stocks. At least you’ll get and understanding of basic concepts regarding form and function.

I'd love to do true fabrication and design work... anyone can be a parts-changer, I'd like to be more than that.

Unfortunately, work like that eats up man-hours, which means it can get really expensive for customers, so I realize that to do that type of work on a regular basis I have do a lot of either customization work, or repairs on older/obscure firearms.

At the very least I'd like to have the equipment to be able to offer the services, even if I am the only one utilizing them.... I'd like to do some 80% cast builds for friends and family.

 

[Vaarok]

Gunsmith Kinks by Bob Brownell is also worth a try.

Your best bet, however, is to just passively accumulate books. Books eat money in a hurry, like everything else, when you actively seek them.

Cheap, good, fast. Pick two. If you're patient and vigilant, tons of books and old magazines pop up from garage gunsmiths and estates all the time, snag those for $10 a box. You'll likely also find tools and such in the process too!

 

[parsimonious_instead]

I find that used books are super cheap on eBay.
Here are a couple I think are really good:

Bullseyes Don't Shoot Back, by Rex Applegate
The book of two guns, by Tiger McKee
Guns, Bullets and Gunfights by Jim Cirillo

I'd also like to suggest the "deadliest men" books by Paul Kirchner,
especially the first one. It features a hair-raising account of Lance
Thomas, the LA jewelry and watch dealer who prevailed
in several armed robbery attempts.