Post by HeadHunter on Jul 16, 2024 13:08:37 GMT
Here's a few of my recommended books for some 'light' reading, lol.
#1. Massad Ayoob's - Greatest Handguns of the World.
What more can be said about this guy ? An instructor to many special forces worldwide, a US court appointed 'Expert Witness' on the subject of legal gun use and well known 2nd amendment activist. A must read book, extolling the virtues and the short comings of a lot of the modern firearms available for self defence in the US.
#2. Elmer Keith - Sixguns.
(the copy on the left is an original and the copy on the right is a modern reprint)
From the Grandfather of the magnum cartridge comes a book that covers everything that you'll ever need to know about handgun shooting, from trick shooting to hunting, from reloading to holsters and possibly more importantly, successful shooting techniques ! A must read from a legend in the field of revolvers, without him the .44 magnum would never have existed and the .41 magnum would never have even been dreamt of.
(as a quick note - the newer copy is available FREE to anyone interested all I ask is that they cover postage costs, probably about £4.50. If you want it just message me and we'll sort it out)
#3. Jeff Cooper - On Handguns.
Jeff cooper is the man that practically invented combat target shooting, the founding father of IPSC, technical adviser to the FBI on gun training and effective shooting. He served in both the military and then the Police, he brought about changes that are still practised and respected to this day. The opposite to Elmer Keith in his belief in the auto as the way forward for Police sidearms and a firm believer in regular training for all Police Officers to help protect the public and themselves against the 'bad elements' within society. His views on the practicality of sidearms is often underrated but I feel that he was a product of a changing world (from revolvers to autos) and he rose to the occasion.
Whatever you can get that has been written by Jeff Cooper is worth getting, he was a regular writer for Guns & Ammo for many years and some of his articles were condensed into softback books by Peterson Publishing (the owner of G&A) and are well worth getting hold of.
#4. The NRA book of small arms - Vol 1.
This was the first book of its kind, a complete catalogue of all known handguns world wide with some top quality drawings and photographs, how to strip each weapon down is covered, the calibres that they came in and every conceivable bit of information (history, design, use, etc.) is included and as such the book runs to about 630 pages ! Can be a bit 'dry' reading but is an excellent reference book for anyone interested in military small arms. The first chapter makes for great reading though if you ever wanted to know the concise history of handguns and where they got their name from (you'll never use the word 'pistol' again without thinking about it).
#5. Colt Firearms from 1836.
This a superb book, hard to get but well worth the effort. Originally published in 1954 but was actually written many, many years earlier, collated from various sources by the author of first hand accounts of Samuel Colts history, designs, working practices, factory, patents, marketing strategies and some other (shall we say) less than noble business schemes. The book tells the story of Samuel Colt like you've never heard it before. Later books on his life often miss out the years before he famously made his first revolver and they are all the worse for it ! Did you realise that he travelled the US gassing the wealthy with nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for money to fund the development of the very first revolver ? And that took so long that he almost missed being able to patent his idea (because you needed to have a functioning real item in order to patent it). His approach to patent infringement was well known the world over but that's because he got into firearm manufacture himself through very dubious interaction with an un-patented design that he ran across in London (more on this further down in another book).
The book lists and shows all of the Colt revolver designs and is a great piece of reference work in that respect but it really exceeds expectations when it comes to the study of the man himself and what made him the man he was, the man credited with inventing the revolver.
#6. J.N.George - English Pistols and revolvers.
The front of this book is a very unassuming green colour with no writing on it apart from the spine which is why I only photographed the frontispiece. This book covers English gunmaking and design from the 17th century right up to the early 1900's and is a great book about the history of gunmaking in our fair isle. Predominately centres on muskets and the innovations bought into being (matchlock, wheel lock, flintlock, etc.) during 17th, 18th and beginning of the 19th century BUT I sought this book out in reference to another subject altogether ; The invention of a black powder revolver that was solely activated by the trigger (sounds familiar doesn't it), this was built during the 1700's as an experiment but was deemed to labour intensive (meaning expensive) to manufacture on a larger scale and was never patented and ended up being given to the Crown and kept at the Royal Armoury for posterity. A 100 or so years later a certain young man called Samuel Colt landed in England and whilst on shore leave (while his ship was being unloaded and loaded at the London Docks) he visited the RA and took a great deal of interest in the many designs of guns that were kept there, this is not supposition but well documented fact from both Samuel Colt himself and the RA in London ! Many years later when he returned to London as a successful manufacturer of guns and to exhibit his wares at the Crystal palace Exhibition he was 'loaned' a couple of items from the RA which were never seen again, in fact years later when he opened his first factory in London he was asked about where the items had gone by a member of parliament to which an investigation was started. The RA decreed that the said items were of no historical importance and accepted the loss of these items ! Something tells me that he was covering his tracks especially as he was very prone to prosecuting anyone else who had infringed on any of his patents and was well known for his generous nature towards certain people of power (statesmen, contract managers, Officers conducting and overseeing military testing, etc.).
#7. McHenry & Roper - Smith & Wesson Handguns.
This is a great book ! Covers everything that you'll ever need to know about the history of S&W gunmaking, everything from the early Volcanic repeating rifle to the multiple attempts to get the company started. One thing that I took away from this book was the fact that Daniel B Wesson was the driving force behind the brand, a true gunsmith who loved his art and had a true passion for what he did. I can't recommend this book enough for anyone wanting to know more about the history of S&W, it was a success story that even Samuel Colt was jealous of and one that was tinged with sadness even at the best of times where their success would also be their undoing.
#8. R.L.Wilson - Winchester an American Legend
R.L.Wilson has a certain way when he writes a book; factual and informative but yet has pictures that are like works of art, I kid you not. The additional work that he puts into the photographs is superb and are in themselves such a pleasure to view. The author is well respected and has done a number of books within the world of guns and one thing you can guarantee with one of his books is that they are always superb.
#9. R.L.Wilson - Ruger and his guns.
Whatever I said about his previous book (#8) can be stated here equally as well but the subject material (for me anyway) is far better. Bill Ruger was one of, if not, the most important gunsmiths of the 20th century, his innovation into the field brought about the MIM parts that almost all gun companies now use and his dedication to the evolution of the revolver will always make him a Legend in my eyes and the pictures in this book are far more personal than in the previous book (personal material from Bill Ruger accompanies most of the pictures). Superb is an understatement when describing this book.
#10. Gurney Brown - Colt's Python, King of the Seven Serpents.
This is one hell of a book, all the pictures (and there's a lot of them) are full size pictures of the guns showing both sides and close up details added in. The pages themselves are made from heavy weight paper giving the book the feel of expensive as soon as you touch it.
Working closely with Colt he has logged every conceivable type of Python that was ever produced and even has all the serial numbers in the book to help identify any Python. The author wrote another book called "Colt - The Seven Serpents" and one that one day I hope to be lucky enough to own, until then I can just keep dreaming as they are so expensive to buy and hard to get hold of, especially here in the UK.
#11. Bob Nichols - The secrets of double action shooting.
This is a little book that has a lot in it, lots of information on DA shooting and the guys that promoted in the days when it was frowned upon (30's to the 50's) in competition shooting circles. There are some great chapters describing techniques and even hardware adjustments that could be made to increase speed, accuracy and ability. A very useful book if you're wanting to get into DA shooting properly.
#12. Modern Pistols and Revolvers.
I've forgotten the name of the guy that wrote this but it's a great little book. Although the title says 'Modern' we're actually talking about 1883, so take that with a pinch of salt. This book has a bit of everything, target scoring, gun choice, load choice, sighting, distance shooting, stance and more importantly descriptions of the top shooters of the day including (would you believe it) Annie Oakley with their actual target results from various competitions. It's filled full of the classic side on stance, one handed, SA shooting style that permeates that period in shooting history for competitions. There are detailed descriptions of record breaking events and trick shot escapades in European Courts, it's definitely one for the historical gun nut, hence why I bought it, lol.
#13. Roy F. Dunlap - Gunsmithing
Now this a technical book but one of the best and most sought after by actual gunsmiths, as a reference book for 'how to solve a problem' it's superb and the only reason I own a copy is because I do love to tinker with mine, although replicas and RS guns are very, very different they do have some things in common and often problem solving an issue on a RS gun lends itself very nicely to a replica gun too. The information contained in this book is absolutely stunning, everything from tempering and hardening to making your own tools for a specific job. There are tables on colour case hardening, chapters on making grips, on bullet making, on getting the right size projectile for the barrel, on repairs, maintenance, gun bluing and even use. A great book that offers an insight into just what actually goes into making and keeping a gun running, gunsmiths have to be part blacksmith, part chemist, part engineer, part carpenter, part toolmaker and ready to learn from any mistake they ever make !
What did I learn from this book ? How much respect I should owe to bloody gunsmiths....Not a 'Jack of all trades' but a 'Master of them all'.
So that's my list of 'go to' books, I've got a few more but they are nowhere near as good as the ones I've listed but what I do have is a library of 'Guns & Ammo' magazines, mostly from the 60's onwards (the height of the revolver) and dying off as the auto became more and more popular....
I've got every copy from 1960 all the way to 1970 (minus the whole of 1961 for some unknown reason) and from there the more I go into the 70's the less I have, so if you ever come across some old G&A magazines remember me please, lol.
#1. Massad Ayoob's - Greatest Handguns of the World.
What more can be said about this guy ? An instructor to many special forces worldwide, a US court appointed 'Expert Witness' on the subject of legal gun use and well known 2nd amendment activist. A must read book, extolling the virtues and the short comings of a lot of the modern firearms available for self defence in the US.
#2. Elmer Keith - Sixguns.
(the copy on the left is an original and the copy on the right is a modern reprint)
From the Grandfather of the magnum cartridge comes a book that covers everything that you'll ever need to know about handgun shooting, from trick shooting to hunting, from reloading to holsters and possibly more importantly, successful shooting techniques ! A must read from a legend in the field of revolvers, without him the .44 magnum would never have existed and the .41 magnum would never have even been dreamt of.
(as a quick note - the newer copy is available FREE to anyone interested all I ask is that they cover postage costs, probably about £4.50. If you want it just message me and we'll sort it out)
#3. Jeff Cooper - On Handguns.
Jeff cooper is the man that practically invented combat target shooting, the founding father of IPSC, technical adviser to the FBI on gun training and effective shooting. He served in both the military and then the Police, he brought about changes that are still practised and respected to this day. The opposite to Elmer Keith in his belief in the auto as the way forward for Police sidearms and a firm believer in regular training for all Police Officers to help protect the public and themselves against the 'bad elements' within society. His views on the practicality of sidearms is often underrated but I feel that he was a product of a changing world (from revolvers to autos) and he rose to the occasion.
Whatever you can get that has been written by Jeff Cooper is worth getting, he was a regular writer for Guns & Ammo for many years and some of his articles were condensed into softback books by Peterson Publishing (the owner of G&A) and are well worth getting hold of.
#4. The NRA book of small arms - Vol 1.
This was the first book of its kind, a complete catalogue of all known handguns world wide with some top quality drawings and photographs, how to strip each weapon down is covered, the calibres that they came in and every conceivable bit of information (history, design, use, etc.) is included and as such the book runs to about 630 pages ! Can be a bit 'dry' reading but is an excellent reference book for anyone interested in military small arms. The first chapter makes for great reading though if you ever wanted to know the concise history of handguns and where they got their name from (you'll never use the word 'pistol' again without thinking about it).
#5. Colt Firearms from 1836.
This a superb book, hard to get but well worth the effort. Originally published in 1954 but was actually written many, many years earlier, collated from various sources by the author of first hand accounts of Samuel Colts history, designs, working practices, factory, patents, marketing strategies and some other (shall we say) less than noble business schemes. The book tells the story of Samuel Colt like you've never heard it before. Later books on his life often miss out the years before he famously made his first revolver and they are all the worse for it ! Did you realise that he travelled the US gassing the wealthy with nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for money to fund the development of the very first revolver ? And that took so long that he almost missed being able to patent his idea (because you needed to have a functioning real item in order to patent it). His approach to patent infringement was well known the world over but that's because he got into firearm manufacture himself through very dubious interaction with an un-patented design that he ran across in London (more on this further down in another book).
The book lists and shows all of the Colt revolver designs and is a great piece of reference work in that respect but it really exceeds expectations when it comes to the study of the man himself and what made him the man he was, the man credited with inventing the revolver.
#6. J.N.George - English Pistols and revolvers.
The front of this book is a very unassuming green colour with no writing on it apart from the spine which is why I only photographed the frontispiece. This book covers English gunmaking and design from the 17th century right up to the early 1900's and is a great book about the history of gunmaking in our fair isle. Predominately centres on muskets and the innovations bought into being (matchlock, wheel lock, flintlock, etc.) during 17th, 18th and beginning of the 19th century BUT I sought this book out in reference to another subject altogether ; The invention of a black powder revolver that was solely activated by the trigger (sounds familiar doesn't it), this was built during the 1700's as an experiment but was deemed to labour intensive (meaning expensive) to manufacture on a larger scale and was never patented and ended up being given to the Crown and kept at the Royal Armoury for posterity. A 100 or so years later a certain young man called Samuel Colt landed in England and whilst on shore leave (while his ship was being unloaded and loaded at the London Docks) he visited the RA and took a great deal of interest in the many designs of guns that were kept there, this is not supposition but well documented fact from both Samuel Colt himself and the RA in London ! Many years later when he returned to London as a successful manufacturer of guns and to exhibit his wares at the Crystal palace Exhibition he was 'loaned' a couple of items from the RA which were never seen again, in fact years later when he opened his first factory in London he was asked about where the items had gone by a member of parliament to which an investigation was started. The RA decreed that the said items were of no historical importance and accepted the loss of these items ! Something tells me that he was covering his tracks especially as he was very prone to prosecuting anyone else who had infringed on any of his patents and was well known for his generous nature towards certain people of power (statesmen, contract managers, Officers conducting and overseeing military testing, etc.).
#7. McHenry & Roper - Smith & Wesson Handguns.
This is a great book ! Covers everything that you'll ever need to know about the history of S&W gunmaking, everything from the early Volcanic repeating rifle to the multiple attempts to get the company started. One thing that I took away from this book was the fact that Daniel B Wesson was the driving force behind the brand, a true gunsmith who loved his art and had a true passion for what he did. I can't recommend this book enough for anyone wanting to know more about the history of S&W, it was a success story that even Samuel Colt was jealous of and one that was tinged with sadness even at the best of times where their success would also be their undoing.
#8. R.L.Wilson - Winchester an American Legend
R.L.Wilson has a certain way when he writes a book; factual and informative but yet has pictures that are like works of art, I kid you not. The additional work that he puts into the photographs is superb and are in themselves such a pleasure to view. The author is well respected and has done a number of books within the world of guns and one thing you can guarantee with one of his books is that they are always superb.
#9. R.L.Wilson - Ruger and his guns.
Whatever I said about his previous book (#8) can be stated here equally as well but the subject material (for me anyway) is far better. Bill Ruger was one of, if not, the most important gunsmiths of the 20th century, his innovation into the field brought about the MIM parts that almost all gun companies now use and his dedication to the evolution of the revolver will always make him a Legend in my eyes and the pictures in this book are far more personal than in the previous book (personal material from Bill Ruger accompanies most of the pictures). Superb is an understatement when describing this book.
#10. Gurney Brown - Colt's Python, King of the Seven Serpents.
This is one hell of a book, all the pictures (and there's a lot of them) are full size pictures of the guns showing both sides and close up details added in. The pages themselves are made from heavy weight paper giving the book the feel of expensive as soon as you touch it.
Working closely with Colt he has logged every conceivable type of Python that was ever produced and even has all the serial numbers in the book to help identify any Python. The author wrote another book called "Colt - The Seven Serpents" and one that one day I hope to be lucky enough to own, until then I can just keep dreaming as they are so expensive to buy and hard to get hold of, especially here in the UK.
#11. Bob Nichols - The secrets of double action shooting.
This is a little book that has a lot in it, lots of information on DA shooting and the guys that promoted in the days when it was frowned upon (30's to the 50's) in competition shooting circles. There are some great chapters describing techniques and even hardware adjustments that could be made to increase speed, accuracy and ability. A very useful book if you're wanting to get into DA shooting properly.
#12. Modern Pistols and Revolvers.
I've forgotten the name of the guy that wrote this but it's a great little book. Although the title says 'Modern' we're actually talking about 1883, so take that with a pinch of salt. This book has a bit of everything, target scoring, gun choice, load choice, sighting, distance shooting, stance and more importantly descriptions of the top shooters of the day including (would you believe it) Annie Oakley with their actual target results from various competitions. It's filled full of the classic side on stance, one handed, SA shooting style that permeates that period in shooting history for competitions. There are detailed descriptions of record breaking events and trick shot escapades in European Courts, it's definitely one for the historical gun nut, hence why I bought it, lol.
#13. Roy F. Dunlap - Gunsmithing
Now this a technical book but one of the best and most sought after by actual gunsmiths, as a reference book for 'how to solve a problem' it's superb and the only reason I own a copy is because I do love to tinker with mine, although replicas and RS guns are very, very different they do have some things in common and often problem solving an issue on a RS gun lends itself very nicely to a replica gun too. The information contained in this book is absolutely stunning, everything from tempering and hardening to making your own tools for a specific job. There are tables on colour case hardening, chapters on making grips, on bullet making, on getting the right size projectile for the barrel, on repairs, maintenance, gun bluing and even use. A great book that offers an insight into just what actually goes into making and keeping a gun running, gunsmiths have to be part blacksmith, part chemist, part engineer, part carpenter, part toolmaker and ready to learn from any mistake they ever make !
What did I learn from this book ? How much respect I should owe to bloody gunsmiths....Not a 'Jack of all trades' but a 'Master of them all'.
So that's my list of 'go to' books, I've got a few more but they are nowhere near as good as the ones I've listed but what I do have is a library of 'Guns & Ammo' magazines, mostly from the 60's onwards (the height of the revolver) and dying off as the auto became more and more popular....
I've got every copy from 1960 all the way to 1970 (minus the whole of 1961 for some unknown reason) and from there the more I go into the 70's the less I have, so if you ever come across some old G&A magazines remember me please, lol.
