Books that everyone should read

[Ambrose_Duck]

"Alas Babylon" was written in 1959 and is an excellent book.

See also:

"Handgunner's Gunners Guide" by Chic Gaylord
"Blue Steel & Gunleather" by John Bianchi

 

[Ambrose_Duck]

Sorry meant

"Handgunner's Guide" by Chic Gaylord

 

[P&R Fan]

Skeeter Skelton is my all time favorite gun writer. Even though he's been gone for 25 years, his stuff is still really good.
His books were a compilation of his articles in Shooting Times magazine. Try to find Hoglegs, Hipshots and Jalapenos and Good Friends, Good Guns and Good Whiskey. They are available, but really expensive. There was also a book written after his death that had good stuff in it called I Remember Skeeter. That's a softcover and should be easier to find.

Anything by Massad Ayoob or Chuck Taylor is good for reading about self defense issues.
Jim

 

[Homie]

Two more that belong on the list-Askins and Jinks.

 

[mc5aw]

If you get Massad Ayoob's books on combat handgunning, you need to also get Jim Cirrillo's. Add to your list the various titles on Jim Corbett's tiger and leopard hunting in India, as well as "African Game Trails" by Teddy Roosevelt.

 

[ikor]

FWIW, there are several places to download free books and while few will specifically address guns and shooting, a great many...such as Churchill's works, the many stories of Rudyard Kipling or the stories of Jim Corbett, etc...can be downloaded on various machines such as the Kindle or printed directly from a printer.

A huge storehouse of such material is The Gutenberg Project, and here is Corbett's best known book (The Man Eaters of Kumaon) for free from a different site...

Man-Eaters of Kumaon by Jim Corbett - Download Here

 

[jtcarm]

"Death in the Tall Grass" and "Death in the Silent Places" by Peter Capstick. The first may be "Death in the Long Grass".

The second includes a bio of Jim Corbett, mentioned by ikor. Corbett was a hunter of man-eating cats in India, and, as Capstick put it, nearly ended up on the menu himself a couple of times.

 

[ostlund]

Unintended Consequences by John Ross. It doesn't exactly fit your "by legends of years past" guideance but I believe it is a "should read" as it provides a history source of our U.S.A., our gun culture, and world history. In my mind it kind of rolls a common theme together which many of the above authors touch on throughout their books. Keith, Skeeter and definitly Mr. 1911 Cooper. GunsRfun in all their forms and I think it important to keep us all tied up to a higher "family" level to ensure our endurance in the world scheme of things. UC is a little raw in some sections but the overall message is encouraging. My wife liked it. Good luck finding it as it is a "cult classic."

Please share your list!

 

[younggun22]

I just picked up these 3 books at the shop I work at.

Pistol and Revolver Shooting by Walter Roper

In The Gravest Extreme by Massad Ayoob

Fast and Fancy by Ed McGivern

 

[varmint243]

This is a spectacular thread
I have consolidated the list, it seems like it should be a sticky somewhere.

No Second Place Winner by Jordan
Sixguns by Keith
Hell I Was There by Keith
The Custom Revolver by Bowen
Fireworks by Cooper
Single Action Sixguns by Taffin
Hatcher's Notebook
The Modern Rifle by Jim Carmichel
The Ultimate in Rifle Accuracy by Glenn Newick
Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting by Ed McGivern
Experiments of a Handgunner by Walter Roper
Pistol and Revolver Shooting by Walter Roper
In the Gravest Extreme by Masaad Ayoob
The Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker
The Bulletproof Mind by LTC Dave Grossman
Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders vol 1 & 2 by PO Ackley
Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride by Michael Wallis
Book of the 44 by John Taffin
Big Bore Handguns by John Taffin
Single Action Sixguns by John Taffin
Armed and Female by Paxton Quigley
Not an Easy Target by Paxton Quigley
Alas Babylon by Pat Frank
Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson
Practical Shooting by Brian Enos
The Old Man and The Boy by Robert Ruark
A Sand County Alminac by Aldo Leopold
Handgunner's Guide by Chic Gaylord
Blue Steel & Gunleather by John Bianchi
Hoglegs, Hipshots and Jalapenos by Skeeter Skelton
Good Friends, Good Guns, and Good Whiskey by Skeeter Skelton
The Man Eaters of Kumaon by Corbett
Death in the Tall Grass by Peter Capstick
Death in the Silent Places by Peter Capstick
Unintended Consequences by John Ross


Skeeter Skelton
Chris Kyle
Askins
Jinks
Jim Cirrillo
Jim Corbett's

 

[66Park]

I just picked up these 3 books at the shop I work at.

Pistol and Revolver Shooting by Walter Roper

In The Gravest Extreme by Massad Ayoob

Fast and Fancy by Ed McGivern

All classics, and all very good.

 

[05CarbonDRZ]

History Of Smith And Wesson:No Thing Of Importance Will Come Without Effort by Roy Jinks.

 

[shouldazagged]

Zhuk, A.B., The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Handguns: Pistols And Revolvers Of The World, 1870 To The Present

Lovette, Ed, The Snubby Revolver: The ECQ, Concealed Carry And Backup Standard

Masters, John, Bugles And A Tiger (Though the tiger in question plays a limited role, it's a fascinating book. He took the tiger with a .303 SMLE service rifle.)

Roosevelt, T.R., any of his books on hunting and conservation. Noted as a hunter, his views on game management and responsible hunting were way ahead of his time.

 

[akriet]

The novel: Pale Horse Coming, by Stephen Hunter, is neat. About some old-time shooters dealing with a situation.

 

[Checkman]

Some of my favorites

The Complete Book of Rifles and Shotguns by Jack O'Connor
Shooting by J. Henry "Fitz" Fitzgerals
The Complete Catalog of Smith & Wesson by Supica and Nahas
Sixguns by Elmer Keith
No Second Place Winner by Bill Jordan
Book of Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting by Ed McGivern
Dangerous Game Rifles by Terry Wieland
Handgunner's Guide by Chic Gaylord
Small Arms of the World by W.H.B. Smith

 

[hotrod150]

The novel: Pale Horse Coming, by Stephen Hunter, is neat. About some old-time shooters dealing with a situation.

The old-time shooters in the book are (thinly-disguised) Elmer Keith, Jack O'Connor, Charley Askins, & Ed McGivern (and maybe a couple otehrs I forgot).
As far as hunting books goes, "Aagard's Africa" by Finn Aagard and "Hunting the Rockies " & "Hunting on Three Continents" by Jack O'Connor are pretty good reads.

 

[civil1977]

I'd agree with most of the above and add The Custom Revolver by Hamilton S. Bowen. Great read and great photography.

 

[Gyrene6891]

Add anything by Masaad Ayoob to the list.

 

[WaMike]

We've had several Stephen Hunter threads; his books are well-researched and he doesn't get his firearms screwed up.

The Man-eaters of Tsavo (Patterson) is a pretty good read.

 

[El Biblioitecario]

I make it a point to reall all the books on the American Library Association's "Banned Book List." Those are the books that the ALA deems unfit or politically incorrect for society. The stuff we aren't able to handle.
QUOTE]

Given that the ALA has consistantly challenged censorship, I find that an extraordinary statement. I would like to see a link to this list. I suspect that in fact it is a list compiled by the ALA of books which have been banned or attempted to be banned by groups _other than_ the ALA.