#BookReview

It is not every day you get the opportunity to review a book on the life and inventions of the grandfather of modern firearms or as the book refers to him,” the Thomas Edison of guns”. When I saw the chance to read all the way through the new book published by Simon & Schuster: The Guns of John Moses Browning by Nathan Gorenstein, I was ecstatic! Let’s dive right into the review.

Jonathan Ferguson’s new book on British bullpup rifles is one I’ve been waiting a long time for. Five years ago I wrote my Master’s thesis on the development of the early Cold War British bullpup rifle, the E.M.2, and the politics which engulfed it. It’s just over 40 years since Thomas Dugleby published his book on ‘EM-2 Concept & Design: A Rifle Ahead of Its Time’. For many years Dugelby’s book, published by Collector Grade Publications, represented the best published collection of information about Britain’s ill-fated bullpup.

While the late R. Blake Stevens‘ Black Rifle may still be considered the bible when it comes to the origins and history of the AR-15, the new second edition of ‘AR-15 (Volume 1)‘ from Vickers Guide is an accessible, aesthetically pleasing way into the history of one of the world’s most famous firearms.

Besides being fun to shoot, guns can also be works of art or marvels of engineering.  Understanding the man or men who designed a particular firearm can give one a better appreciation for the firearm in one’s hand.  Whether its Peter Paul von Mauser, John Moses Browning, Hiram Maxim, or our subject for today, Samuel Colt, it is incredibly interesting to read the writings of their journals and actions of their lives.  Understanding the who, when, where, and why paints a much fuller picture of the “what” – the gun in one’s hand.  In this case, that gun is an icon of America: The Colt Revolver.

Learning about shooting disciplines should always be an ongoing experience.  Even those of us with hundreds or thousands of hours of training time can find value in absorbing the shared expertise of others.  One book that I have encountered that covers precision rifle techniques is Anthony Cirincione II’s Long Range Precision Rifle; Expanded Edition.  (MSRP $31)  In my personal regard, it is one of the best guides out there to help with the setup and effective employment of a scoped rifle.

The C96 ‘Broomhandle’ Mauser is certainly one of the most iconic self-loading handguns of the First World War. Osprey Publications has recently published a title about the C96, written by Jonathan Ferguson, Curator of Firearms at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, UK. For those not familiar with the Weapon Series from Osprey Publications, they are written to give a well organized and explained, yet easy to read, description of a particular small arm. The books are generally 80 pages in length and supplemented with artwork and high-quality photographs. The Weapon Series of books aren’t meant to be a definitive guide, but instead more of a survey for those wishing to expand their knowledge in regards to any particular small arm.

Osprey Publishing “Weapon” series is an excellent primer for those who want a book on a particular weapon system, but don’t want an overly in-depth version more appropriate for research purposes. The books aren’t intended to make you an expert on any particular weapon but do greatly improve your knowledge of a particular one when it comes to history, design, usage, and current application. This sort of approach to small arms literature isn’t new, Ballentine Books having pioneered it in the 1960s and 70s. Both publishing companies got their name for starting out with books on individual battles, then moving on to weapons. However with Osprey, the company is really getting into some depth with each particular weapon, and hopefully will expand it in the future.

Guns of the Special Forces is a recent publication by Pen & Sword Press written by Leigh Neville, an Australian defense and military author. The book is inspired by Guns of the Elite written by George Markham, an in-depth look at the history and then current (1990s) usage of small arms by special operations units in the world. Neville is essentially bringing the SF narrative of small arms knowledge and development up to date, in an extremely well written, 244 page publication filled with excellent description, discussion, and amazing photographs. In fact, I think the photographs are some of the best to appear in print from this secretive community the world over. I’m very used to being awed and seeing a number of photographs from OIF/OEF of SF weapons, but even for me the book blew it out of the park with the selection of pictures.

Yes, I am a gun writer – or an outdoor writer, to use the proper term. If you assume this means I read quite a bit, you’d be right, but not every gun writer out there is also a reader. For me, reading is paramount. The only thing capable of fighting my desire to get out and shoot is a good book. So I was pleased to find fellow outdoor writer Bryce M. Towsley’s newest book “Prepper Guns” is both well-thought out and detailed.

In 1946 a man by the name of John Nosler went on a particularly frustrating moose hunt. Nosler had made an accurate killing shot on a moose using his .300 H&H, then watched as the animal failed to go down. Due to the events of that hunt he decided the gun industry was in need of bullets that got the job done every time. The result was the Partition, a dual core bullet. Using ammunition loaded with the new bullets John Nosler and his friend Clarence Purdie were able to drop moose with a single shot apiece the following fall. And in 1948, the Nosler Partition Bullet Company was founded.

So you want to buy an AK, but don’t know where to start, eh? Well, don’t worry about it because as the kids say these days “there’s an app for that”.