What books do you recommend?

[gulogulo1970]

Survival Guns by Mel Tappen is a great read. Its the book that I read at 13 that warped my mind. It really turned me on to guns and having a well rounded gun selection for any situation. He's alittle "kooky" but his firearms information is spot on. It has been out of print for awhile, but recently it has been brought out in a new publishing run.

 

[tetleyb]

Maybe a little off tangent, however if you want a book about military operations, I would suggest: Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab. Excellent read about the British SAS in The Gulf War.

 

[Balog]

Great stuff! I've been a huge fan of Peter Hathaway Capstick since I read "Death in the Long Grass" at age 12. A friend loaned me "Immediate Action" by Andy Mcnab, it's his life story up until the events recounted in "Bravo Two Zero." Quite a down to earth look at the SAS. The only Heinlen I've read is "Citizen of the Galaxy" and that was a loooooong time ago. I remember really enjoying it, tho. For all you Jeff Cooper fans, I'd point you towards http://www.dvc.org.uk/~johnny/jeff/

 

[geekWithA.45]

"Black Hawk Down" Mark Bowden
"No Second Place Winner" Bill Jordan
"Farnham Method of Defensive Handgunning" - John Farnham
"Art of the Rifle" Jeff Cooper
"In the gravest extreme" Ayoob (a little dated, but worthwhile)
"Armed and Female" Paxton Quigley (also a little dated, but great to convince the lady in your life!)
"Sniper" - Carlos Hathcock. (The dude took DAYS to sneak through a field!)

 

[lee n. field]

He's alittle "kooky" but his firearms information is spot on.

Is it? Things have changed. Things that weren't around when Mel was alive: abundant Commie milsurp (SKS, AK, Makarov, etc.), Europlastic, .40 S&W, good .45 autos that weren't 1911s. Would anyone now rave about the Mini-14 the way Mel did?

It has been out of print for awhile, but recently it has been brought out in a new publishing run.

Cool. I'll have to look for it. My copy fell to pieces long ago.

 

[greyhound]

I loved "Unintended Consequences", but was not impressed by "Boston's Gun Bible".

Technically, its a well written book, but is so heavy on the "gotta get a battle rifle, ignore the shotguns, no handguns except maybe Glock, gonna rise up against the govt" type stuff that much of the admittedly good technical things are overshadowed.

I was looking for general gun knowledge and self defense applications, not instructions on what weapons to stockpile for the ncoming revolution. The man had 2 pages on shotguns and ignored handguns other than a few pages on Glocks, and went on and on about what battle rifles we need to combat the JBT.

There's a place for that, and Lord knows I am not a fan of .gov, but a book that calls itself the "Gun Bible" needs to dwell on general gun knowledge, not tactics regarding an upcoming rising of the gun culture against .gov.

"U.C." while fiction, was much more about guns themselves than about how to combat the authorities.

 

[Balog]

greyhound

was not impressed by "Boston's Gun Bible".

I'm getting it mainly for guidance on buying a battlerifle. Sorta like the FAQ on this site about buying a revolver. I knew going in that it didn't have much on shotguns or handguns. I suppose if I'd bought it expecting an all-around look at firearms I'd have been less than thrilled.

 

[Tag]

Gates of fire, or Father Soldier Son, both quite memorable... Frank Herberts Dune is also a good one

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Marine Sniper and Silent Warrior both by Charles Henderson and both about Carlos Hathcock. Read the first one twice and will probably read the second a second time.

Guns Crime and Freedom and Guns Freedom and Terrorism by Wayne LaPierre.

 

[Orthonym]

A couple on the political side:

1. "Safeguarding Liberty - The Constitution and Citizen Militias", Larry Pratt, editor. 1995 Legacy Communications, Franklin, Tennessee. ISBN 1-880692-18-X. Has some good, well-reasoned stuff by David Hardy and David Kopel, inter alia. The Appendix has the complete text of the Militia Act of 1792, only superceded about 100 years ago. (SOME WHO WERE ALIVE THEN ARE STILL WALKING AROUND!) One of the articles most conclusively proves (speeches in Congress, quotes from the Founders, etc) that the Nat'l Guard is NOT the militia!

2. Poe, Richard, "The Seven Myths of Gun Control - Reclaiming the Truth about Guns, Crime, and the Second Amendment" 2001, FORUM, An Imprint of Prima Publishing, Roseville, California. ISBN 0-7615-2558-0. Read the Epilogue first. Its title is "The End of Manhood". Ouch!


On a lighter note: Oh, yes, I most heartily and enthusiastically recommend "Cartridges of the World". My copy of the 7th edition is falling to pieces; I often fall asleep over it, or contemplate it in the "library" while doing my duty. I WANT a rifle chambered in .219 Improved Zipper, just for the silly name!

 

[BlackVest]

All the books in the Peguin Classics series.

 

[Orthonym]

Huh?

Penguin printed lots and lots of books; I think they were mostly classics, some written ~ 1000 years ago. All good stuff, but not very many of them having much to do with RKBA, as far as I know.

 

[444]

Cartridges of the World is a must have.
I really enjoyed the books by, and about Skeeter Skelton: these arn't so much books that will give you general gun knowlege but are stories that all involve guns and shooting.
A Rifleman Went to War by McBride
Combative Fundamentals by Jeff Gonzales
Tactical Reality by Louis Awerbuck


Lots of good stuff already mentioned, I have read a lot of them; probably most of them.

 

[tiberius]

Unintended Conseqeunces is around on a PDF .. I have a copy i think.

Even if John Ross says that its OK to share this file, I'm so sure I could read an 800 page book as .pdf file.

One question though, is the kind of book that I should be worried about buying on line now that we live in a near police state (see Patriot Act)? I noticed that when I look it up at Amazon, they also recomend The Tuner Diaries and I have seen this used as "concrete" evidence that that MacVey (sp?) etal were "un-American".

I'm not normally the Sn-Foil hat type, but I'd like to hear some opinions

 

[Travis McGee]

Boston T. Party is about to publish his 2nd amendment novel "MOLON LABE," and John Ross is supposed to almost be finished a sequel to Unintended Consequences.

And then there is my RKBA novel, which is already available.

 

[Recon By Fire]

Orwell all the way

1984 is a great book, for gun owners and non gun owners alike.

Although not exactly related to Gun ownership, the ideas presented by Geroge Orwell are relevant in today's world.

 

[rick314]

I may be a bit slanted on this cuz he answers some questions I had


But the best book I have read in a couple of years is this

Eye witness accounts of Desert One, Beirut, Cent Am, attempted Bright Light missions (in the 80`s and in Laos) a real page turner from the 'selection' to "what do I do next"


Bravo two Zero is also a must read

I`m reading Clancy`s latest at the moment................good start but it`s bogging down in the middle.

But Red Storm Rising is a must read, fiction of a NATO/ Warsaw Pact exchange. I`m ashamed to say how many times I`ve read that.

They Were Soldiers once and Young is captivating

 

[Kingcreek]

A-square rifles and rifle cartridges by Art Alphin
Make it accurate by Craig Boddington
Hunting Trips of a Ranchman and The Wilderness Hunter(abridged) by T Roosevelt
Use enough Gunby Robert Ruark
God, Guns, & Rock'n'Roll by Ted Nugent

 

[tyme]

I wouldn't worry about buying UC. Lots of people have bought copies. It has 300 reviews on amazon.com, which is quite a lot. The government would be more likely to go after FFLs if it wants to hurt the community. Going after people who buy a book will just make everyone furious, including the ACLU, and would prove to Mr. Shotgunner that bad things can happen to him.

 

[Ala Dan]

The Tactical Pistol by Gabe Suraez

Chained Eagle by Everett Alvarez, Jr.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[Balog]

Anyone read "Concealed Carry" by Wiley Clapp? My wife is going to be getting her CCW as soon as we can afford it, and I'm trying to talk my in-laws into getting 'em. It seemed like it might have some fairly timely and useful info, if the description of it is accurate. Of course that can be a rather large if

 

[Brian Dale]

Details on 1960's hunting book

I wasn't able to edit my earlier post to include this info in it. No big deal, but I said I'd get this info. One of the books I recommended is Learning to Gun: plain facts and techniques of shotguns, gun dogs, and gunning by John Stuart Martin, (c) 1963 Doubleday & Co. - abebooks has it listed, at present. It's an interesting window into the way things were 40 years ago and longer.

Related comment: the author lost his left arm to an ND when he was young. He spends little time in the book on this, focusing on teaching basic technique and principles. He does describe himself as a "unibrach" but treats that as no big deal. There's no "victim consciousness." Writes that the ND heightened his respect for firearms - no kidding. And Gee, they never sued anybody.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Even if John Ross says that its OK to share this file, I'm so sure I could read an 800 page book as .pdf file.

It's only 3.8Mb

I have it, but only because I already own the hardcover. This means I can sneak a quick read at work... I can't get away w/ reading a book, but reading what's on screen is OK......

Gotta love my Dilbertian PHB!

J.

 

[45crittergitter]

Don't forget Ayoob's books.

Understanding Firearms Ballistics, by Forker (I think) is good; has a couple errors.

Hatcher's Notebook

Optics for the Hunter, by Barsness

Anything by Stephen Halbrook

John Lott's books

the list goes on...

 

[Black Snowman]

I'll put in another vote for any reloading manual. When shopping for new calibers I'll frequently refer to mine to compare information. Not to mention if you reload, or are thinking about reloading, you just can't have too many of them