favorite reloading/shooting book

[Bfh_auto]

I'm trying to build a library. I want input on everything from reloading to gunsmithing and accurizing rifles and hunting/camping and survival stories.
As a kid my dad read me stories of Jack O'Connor and Elmer Keith and I want to read things like that to my son.

 

[Hokie_PhD]

I like the book by Richard Lee on reloading aka the Lee reloading manual. It may not be the best or most recent manual but it has an excellent front with all of the reloading processes. Lee is clear and explains things well.

 

[nettlle]

There are many but one of my all time favorites is "The Accurate Rifle" by Warren Page.

 

[The Evangelist Cowboy]

Elmer Keith- "Sixguns", Jesus "Chuy" Aguirre- "Rio Grande Gunsmith", Bill Jordon- "No second place winner", Paul Kirchner - "Jim Cirillo's Tales of the Stakeout Squad", Not a book but John Taffin's articles on http://sixguns.com/

 

[Klint Beastwood]

There’s a book called Hatchet by Gary Paulsen that’s a survival book. It’s not a manual and to my knowledge a fictional book, but it’s pretty good for a younger age. The author is known for writing wilderness based books.

 

[Bfh_auto]

I like the book by Richard Lee on reloading aka the Lee reloading manual. It may not be the best or most recent manual but it has an excellent front with all of the reloading processes. Lee is clear and explains things well.

I have Lee Hornady and Lyman manuals.

 

[The Evangelist Cowboy]

There’s a book called Hatchet by Gary Paulsen that’s a survival book. It’s not a manual and to my knowledge a fictional book, but it’s pretty good for a younger age. The author is known for writing wilderness based books.

Read that when I was a cub, good book and its a series.

 

[boom boom]

For general intro's into gunsmithing--Try Patrick Sweeney's series Gunsmithing Rifles is a bit dated but solid information and introduction to issues involved, His Gunsmithing Handguns is very recent and good introduction, He also has 4 volumes on AR gunsmithing--all four add up to one good book, but get Glen Zediker's book instead as more concise and more immediately useful if not trying to figure out brand name accessories. Sweeney has a Gunsmithing Shotguns but never read it. Most of these apart from the AR books assume some basic mechanical knowledge as well as firearms knowledge. These are really so that you can have an intelligent conversation with a gunsmith rather than teaching someone gunsmithing itself. The old classics in gunsmithing are useful if you mess around with old firearms--Chapel, Frazier, Dunlap to some extent are useful to start with but these can be quite technical.

Hatcher's Notebook is useful for background information about WWI and WWII weapons and firearm development.

 

[Bfh_auto]

For general intro's into gunsmithing--Try Patrick Sweeney's series Gunsmithing Rifles is a bit dated but solid information and introduction to issues involved, His Gunsmithing Handguns is very recent and good introduction, He also has 4 volumes on AR gunsmithing--all four add up to one good book, but get Glen Zediker's book instead as more concise and more immediately useful if not trying to figure out brand name accessories. Sweeney has a Gunsmithing Shotguns but never read it. Most of these apart from the AR books assume some basic mechanical knowledge as well as firearms knowledge. These are really so that you can have an intelligent conversation with a gunsmith rather than teaching someone gunsmithing itself. The old classics in gunsmithing are useful if you mess around with old firearms--Chapel, Frazier, Dunlap to some extent are useful to start with but these can be quite technical.

Hatcher's Notebook is useful for background information about WWI and WWII weapons and firearm development.

My Dad is a gunsmith, so I have the basic knowledge down. However there are random tips and tricks to learn.

 

[WestKentucky]

Gonna sound crazy, but a whole bunch of good stuff was in the OLD popular mechanics magazines. While it may not be directly gunsmithing or gun related, a lot of it is very relatable.

 

[entropy]

Foxfire 5, Elliot Wigginton, et al. . The rest of the series contain a lot of good-to-know, but somewhat unrelated information.

Meditations on Hunting, Jose Ortega y Gasset.

In the Gravest Extreme, Massad Ayoob.

Death in the Long Grass, Peter Hathaway Capstick.

Guns and How they Work, Ian V. Hogg.

Any of Jerry Kuhnhausen's Gunsmithing books.

A good start, to add to the ones listed above.

 

[Hokie_PhD]

I have Lee Hornady and Lyman manuals.

I have Lyman also but like Lee better. I like Lee’s writing style better. I also like the way the load data is laid out better.

I like that Lyman shows you which load was most accurate for the gun they used to test.

I also have the free Alliant reloading guide that they’ll send you free. And of course the free PDFs each powder company have are great downloads that every reloader should have.

I also have some books on ARs but nothing that I think is memorable enough to suggest buying.

 

[GBExpat]

Hatcher's Notebook, hands down.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Bfh_auto: ... reloading,
gunsmithing and accurizing rifles,
and hunting/camping and survival stories ...
Nostalgia. From my teen years in the 1960s, when I would go .22 target practicing with my father at the old home place and hunting squirrels with my uncle on his farm on the mountain. I fondly recall C.S. Landis, "Hunting with the Twenty-Two", which I found at the city public library.

It dates from 1950. It starts off on squirrel hunting, .22 rimfire and centerfire rifles, ammo, etc., and moves on the Landis' experiences with other game and with predator and varmint control, discussions of rifles and ammo available in 1950. As I recall the book also included stories about trapping and hunting in the sub-arctic north.

Charles Singer Landis, "Hunting with the Twenty-Two", 1950.
Hardcover: 429 pages
Publisher: Small Arms Technical Publishing Company; 1st edition (1950)
ASIN: B00248XAN0
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars based on 6 customer reviews
https://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Twenty-Two-Charles-S-Landis/dp/B00248XAN0[/I]

 

[Bfh_auto]

I have Lyman also but like Lee better. I like Lee’s writing style better. I also like the way the load data is laid out better.

I like that Lyman shows you which load was most accurate for the gun they used to test.

I also have the free Alliant reloading guide that they’ll send you free. And of course the free PDFs each powder company have are great downloads that every reloader should have.

I also have some books on ARs but nothing that I think is memorable enough to suggest buying.

My first one was a Lee book.
There are two things about Lyman that I prefer, they show cast bullet loads and they show pressure data on most cartridges. I like this because I reload for some cartridges that don't have data. This makes extrapolation a tiny bit safer.

 

[Bfh_auto]

There’s a book called Hatchet by Gary Paulsen that’s a survival book. It’s not a manual and to my knowledge a fictional book, but it’s pretty good for a younger age. The author is known for writing wilderness based books.

Is this about the kid who survived a bush plane crash?

 

[mcb]

I am afraid that printed reloading books have fallen to the way side for me. I have several on the shelf but rarely refer to them/ My first resource I turn to is the internet. The powder manufactures' websites first, then bullet makers, and finally the web in general. I then verify/sanity-check the loads (especially those I fine on the web in general) in QuickLoads.

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

I bought a book that was based on military training for snipers, I don't recall the title now as I loaned it to my Doctor several years ago and haven't got it back yet, but it covered shooting and trigger techniques, proper handling of a rifle, concealment, and positioning that are very useful in both hunting and general target shooting. I found it very helpful for prairie rat shooting. I'll try to get a title and author for you.

 

[Bfh_auto]

I bought a book that was based on military training for snipers, I don't recall the title now as I loaned it to my Doctor several years ago and haven't got it back yet, but it covered shooting and trigger techniques, proper handling of a rifle, concealment, and positioning that are very useful in both hunting and general target shooting. I found it very helpful for prairie rat shooting. I'll try to get a title and author for you.

Was it "The ultimate sniper" by Maj. John L. Plaster?

 

[DavidABQ]

I am sure it has been suggested already but Master's Notebook is very informative.

At least it was for me.

 

[bannockburn]

Some of my favorites:

The Collecting of Guns-edited by James Serven (first gun book)
Colt-An American Legend and The World of Beretta-both by R.L. Wilson
Bolt Action Rifles-Frank de Haas
Textbook of Pistols and Revolvers-Julian Hatcher
The Gun and it's Development-W.W. Greener
Sixguns-Elmer Keith
The Handgun-Geoffrey Boothroyd
Trouble Shooting Your Handgun-J.B. Wood
African Rifles and Cartridges-John Taylor
Military Small Arms of the 20th Century-Ian Hogg and John Weeks

And anything (books and magazine articles), by Jeff Cooper and Skeeter Skelton

 

[sean m]

Robert Ruark, "The Old Man and the Boy" and the follow up book to it "The Old Man's Boy Get's Older". Not technical books but entertaining stories of a young boy being taught how to become a man by his grandfather.

Patrick Macmanus's books I found to be patterned after Ruark's style. Definitely a good read for a youth.
https://www.amazon.com/Old-Man-Boy-Robert-Ruark/dp/080502669X

https://www.amazon.com/Night-Bear-A...H9A_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515365678&sr=1-2

 

[Bfh_auto]

Robert Ruark, "The Old Man and the Boy" and the follow up book to it "The Old Man's Boy Get's Older". Not technical books but entertaining stories of a young boy being taught how to become a man by his grandfather.

Patrick Macmanus's books I found to be patterned after Ruark's style. Definitely a good read for a youth.
https://www.amazon.com/Old-Man-Boy-Robert-Ruark/dp/080502669X

https://www.amazon.com/Night-Bear-A...H9A_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515365678&sr=1-2

I had forgotten about his stories. I used to flip to his columns before reading anything else.

 

[1976B.L.Johns.]

INTRODUCTION

THE big sedan slid to the curbstone, decelerating rapidly. The driver reached for the instrument panel, snapped off the ignition, the lights,and tightened up on the emergency brake. Nonchalantly he slid across the seat, opened the door, alighted and looked up at the big house sandwiched between others in the closely packed city street. A small attic window set close to the peak of the roof glowed faintly from an internal light. Something doing up there! . . . Hastily he climbed the porch stairs and let himself in with his pass key. He breezed through the house with a cheery greeting and his unasked question was immediately answered.

"Sure, he's up in the attic monkeying around as usual. Don't you gun bugs ever get tired?"

A moment later he was in the attic . . . and sure enough, "doin's were afoot. Obie was handloading. Before him on the long sturdy bench constructed by himself with its purpose in view at the time of design was a long row of assorted loading tools--FA, Pacific, and others. A small gasoline stove was roaring merrily in one corner of the neat little workshop. On it a pot of bullet metal was acquiring that "liquid" appearance.

..........that is from the "COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING" A Treatise on Handloading for Pleasure, Economy and Utility by Philip B. Sharpe,Dedicated to Harry M. Pope(The Old Master) copyright 1937 and 1941 by Funk & Wagnalls Company.

Received this book from my Dad many years ago.......It is an interesting book with lots of history, but can be kinda "dry" reading at parts. ie When it mentions new and modern tools, I have to laugh to myself and realize just how far things have come in just a few generations!

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

Bfhauto: Bingo! That is the book. While many folks may be put off by the title it is a very informative book for general shooting and hunting practices.