Book recommendations

dakota.potts · December 30, 2015, 05:38 PM

I have a dream (maybe a pipe dream) of designing and producing my own firearms and accessories. I'm a gunsmithing student and CNC machinist now learning parts of the trade. I'm also trying to reach myself CAD by modeling parts around the house and blueprints I find on the internet.

I'm looking for recommendations for good books I can read in my downtime. Not necessarily reference or instructional books as much as something you can sit down and read, if that makes sense.

I don't have much of a book budget right now, so starting with books I have a good chance of finding at my local library is good. Books on firearm design, triggers, basic engineering, manufacturing techniques, machining, automation, metallurgy etc. If you recommend it from a place of experience and I can find it at my library, I'll read it and see what I can learn.

These are separate from the required books for my gunsmithing classes which include the Brownells Gunsmithing Kinks

Thanks

**4V50 Gary** · December 30, 2015, 07:30 PM

Walther Howe's Professional Gunsmithing. It's still my favorite. I also like Steele and Harrison's book, but that's mostly for older guns.

BobCat45 · December 30, 2015, 08:13 PM

Go to everyspec.com and search for MIL-HDBK-5J - it is a very large download but it is free (taxpayers paid for it long ago). You mentioned Metallurgy - it has lots of data, you will not sit and read it like a book but you will enrich yourself perusing it.

It is "cancelled" - the new "private enterprise" version is called MMPDS (Metallic Materials Properties Database somthing) but it has not been updated and has languished. MIL-HDBK-5J is the go-to for metallic materials - basics and properties.

What have you got to loose?

Enjoy!

**JohnKSa** · December 31, 2015, 12:26 AM

Jim Carmichael's Book of The Rifle is a good read. It's not a gunsmithing book in the conventional sense, but there are a lot of good gunsmithing tips from a person who shot, tweaked and maintained rifles all his life.

Clark · December 31, 2015, 12:59 PM

My father had an electrical engineering degree and got a job at Pacific Car and Foundry in the late 1940s. With a copies of
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Of-Or.../dp/1432518119
http://www.amazon.com/Eshbachs-Handb.../dp/0470085789

He cranked out some innovations for the M55 design, and they made him chief engineer for the next 40 years.

Israel still uses them to shoot up Lebanon every now and then. My father's guns were Vietnam War era, and are all retired from US use now.

The gave him a big office, inside parking, built miniature metal models of his designs, and a staff photographer took a staged picture of him designing a [I don't know which] gun in the early 1970s.
He used lots of math for everything.

My youngest brother, as a teeny bopper saw a picture of an Aston BlackPower Pistol in a jr. high library book, and decided to make one. He made a big mess in the garage. He could only see one side of the pistol, so his pistol only looks correct from one side. He could not see inside, so he did not use leaf springs, he used automotive drum brake coil springs he found in the garage.
He turned it in as a jr. high shop project and got an A.
He did not use math for anything.
He just used the one picture he saw.

Here is a pic of my youngest brother, as a teeny bopper in the early 1970s, shooting that gun in the back yard.
We generally regarded him as a pest.

Dixie Gunsmithing · December 31, 2015, 09:44 PM

To learn a bit about the history of guns, powder, barrel manufacture, and doubles, I would recommend "The Gun and its Development" by WW Greener.

Also, there is a rather good book written by Rheinmetall, titled "Handbook on Weaponry". They are the German manufacturers and designers of many German military rifles to large guns. The book has pretty much everything in it, and many arms designers use the book. Message me for a link to it. It is a large pdf, at 180 megs.

Elements Of Ordnance can be found as a free eBook on Google, below:

https://books.google.com/books/about...d=DSZLAAAAMAAJ

dakota.potts · January 1, 2016, 01:32 AM

I found a pretty cool book for free download earlier - The Submachine Gun Designer's Handbook. I really am interested in the development of so called "tactical" weapons (or whatever other name there is for them) so it's been a great reference with technical data about different bolt weights, ejector types, formulas for cyclic rate etc.

I'm looking into the other recommendations and I'll hopefully get to go to the library the day after tomorrow to see which of these titles are available. Tomorrow is range day.

T. O'Heir · January 2, 2016, 02:38 PM

"...so called "tactical" weapons..." All hand held weapons are "tactical".
"...don't have much of a book budget..." Books are horrendously expensive. Even used. Your local public library absolutely is the place to start and read everything they have about metallurgy, mechanical engineering and machine design.
If you don't have a copy of Machinery's Handbook(runs about $100. Much less via Amazon.), you need one.
Buy as many of the NRA Gunsmithing Guides as you can. And any and all books of exploded drawings and strip and assemble guides.

Jim Watson · January 2, 2016, 05:13 PM

The Rifle In America by Phil Sharpe (1938) is kind of a US version of The Gun and its Development. $25 for the NRA reprint second hand at Amazon.

A short piece you might enjoy is Making a World-Famous Automatic Pistol from Machinery magazine, 1942.
http://forum.m1911.org/temp/1911manufacture.pdf

dakota.potts · January 2, 2016, 11:01 PM

Went to the library today and picked up a book on welding, Professional Care and Refinishing of Gun Stocks, and A History of the Modern Firearm.

I'm waiting to buy any books including exploded drawings as our school bookstore makes some available at the start of the semester and our instructor recommends buying those. They cost to the tune of several hundred dollars, so I want to see what all is included in those books before buying anything similar.

Jim: thank you for the article. Very interesting indeed. The use of 7 distinct cutters in one operation on the horizontal milling machine is borderline genius. Very interesting show of engineering. It's great to see that some things have changed a lot and some things have hardly changed at all. Also interesting to me that they rifled their own barrels in house.

December 30, 2015, 05:38 PM	#1
dakota.potts Senior Member Join Date: February 25, 2013 Location: Keystone Heights, Florida Posts: 3,084	Book recommendations I have a dream (maybe a pipe dream) of designing and producing my own firearms and accessories. I'm a gunsmithing student and CNC machinist now learning parts of the trade. I'm also trying to reach myself CAD by modeling parts around the house and blueprints I find on the internet. I'm looking for recommendations for good books I can read in my downtime. Not necessarily reference or instructional books as much as something you can sit down and read, if that makes sense. I don't have much of a book budget right now, so starting with books I have a good chance of finding at my local library is good. Books on firearm design, triggers, basic engineering, manufacturing techniques, machining, automation, metallurgy etc. If you recommend it from a place of experience and I can find it at my library, I'll read it and see what I can learn. These are separate from the required books for my gunsmithing classes which include the Brownells Gunsmithing Kinks Thanks __________________ Certified Gunsmith (On Hiatus) Certified Armorer - H&K and Glock Among Others You can find my writings at my website, pottsprecision.com.

December 30, 2015, 07:30 PM	#2
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 21,840	Walther Howe's Professional Gunsmithing. It's still my favorite. I also like Steele and Harrison's book, but that's mostly for older guns. __________________ Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. *Molon Labe!*

December 31, 2015, 12:26 AM	#4
JohnKSa Staff Join Date: February 12, 2001 Location: DFW Area Posts: 24,990	Jim Carmichael's Book of The Rifle is a good read. It's not a gunsmithing book in the conventional sense, but there are a lot of good gunsmithing tips from a person who shot, tweaked and maintained rifles all his life. __________________ Do you know about the TEXAS State Rifle Association?

December 31, 2015, 12:59 PM	#5
Clark Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 1999 Location: WA, the ever blue state Posts: 4,678	My father had an electrical engineering degree and got a job at Pacific Car and Foundry in the late 1940s. With a copies of http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Of-Or.../dp/1432518119 http://www.amazon.com/Eshbachs-Handb.../dp/0470085789 He cranked out some innovations for the M55 design, and they made him chief engineer for the next 40 years. Israel still uses them to shoot up Lebanon every now and then. My father's guns were Vietnam War era, and are all retired from US use now. The gave him a big office, inside parking, built miniature metal models of his designs, and a staff photographer took a staged picture of him designing a [I don't know which] gun in the early 1970s. He used lots of math for everything. My youngest brother, as a teeny bopper saw a picture of an Aston BlackPower Pistol in a jr. high library book, and decided to make one. He made a big mess in the garage. He could only see one side of the pistol, so his pistol only looks correct from one side. He could not see inside, so he did not use leaf springs, he used automotive drum brake coil springs he found in the garage. He turned it in as a jr. high shop project and got an A. He did not use math for anything. He just used the one picture he saw. Here is a pic of my youngest brother, as a teeny bopper in the early 1970s, shooting that gun in the back yard. We generally regarded him as a pest. __________________ The word 'forum" does not mean "not criticizing books." "Ad hominem fallacy" is not the same as point by point criticism of books. If you bought the book, and believe it all, it may FEEL like an ad hominem attack, but you might strive to accept other points of view may exist. Are we a nation of competing ideas, or a nation of forced conformity of thought?

January 1, 2016, 01:32 AM	#7
dakota.potts Senior Member Join Date: February 25, 2013 Location: Keystone Heights, Florida Posts: 3,084	I found a pretty cool book for free download earlier - The Submachine Gun Designer's Handbook. I really am interested in the development of so called "tactical" weapons (or whatever other name there is for them) so it's been a great reference with technical data about different bolt weights, ejector types, formulas for cyclic rate etc. I'm looking into the other recommendations and I'll hopefully get to go to the library the day after tomorrow to see which of these titles are available. Tomorrow is range day. __________________ Certified Gunsmith (On Hiatus) Certified Armorer - H&K and Glock Among Others You can find my writings at my website, pottsprecision.com.

December 30, 2015, 08:13 PM	#3
BobCat45 Senior Member Join Date: May 18, 2004 Location: East Bernard, TX Posts: 523	Go to everyspec.com and search for MIL-HDBK-5J - it is a very large download but it is free (taxpayers paid for it long ago). You mentioned Metallurgy - it has lots of data, you will not sit and read it like a book but you will enrich yourself perusing it. It is "cancelled" - the new "private enterprise" version is called MMPDS (Metallic Materials Properties Database somthing) but it has not been updated and has languished. MIL-HDBK-5J is the go-to for metallic materials - basics and properties. What have you got to loose? Enjoy!

December 31, 2015, 09:44 PM	#6
Dixie Gunsmithing Moderator Emeritus Join Date: April 27, 2013 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,923	To learn a bit about the history of guns, powder, barrel manufacture, and doubles, I would recommend "The Gun and its Development" by WW Greener. Also, there is a rather good book written by Rheinmetall, titled "Handbook on Weaponry". They are the German manufacturers and designers of many German military rifles to large guns. The book has pretty much everything in it, and many arms designers use the book. Message me for a link to it. It is a large pdf, at 180 megs. Elements Of Ordnance can be found as a free eBook on Google, below: https://books.google.com/books/about...d=DSZLAAAAMAAJ

January 2, 2016, 02:38 PM	#8
T. O'Heir Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 12,453	"...so called "tactical" weapons..." All hand held weapons are "tactical". "...don't have much of a book budget..." Books are horrendously expensive. Even used. Your local public library absolutely is the place to start and read everything they have about metallurgy, mechanical engineering and machine design. If you don't have a copy of Machinery's Handbook(runs about $100. Much less via Amazon.), you need one. Buy as many of the NRA Gunsmithing Guides as you can. And any and all books of exploded drawings and strip and assemble guides. __________________ Spelling and grammar count!

January 2, 2016, 05:13 PM	#9
Jim Watson Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2001 Location: Alabama Posts: 18,543	The Rifle In America by Phil Sharpe (1938) is kind of a US version of The Gun and its Development. $25 for the NRA reprint second hand at Amazon. A short piece you might enjoy is Making a World-Famous Automatic Pistol from Machinery magazine, 1942. http://forum.m1911.org/temp/1911manufacture.pdf

January 2, 2016, 11:01 PM	#10
dakota.potts Senior Member Join Date: February 25, 2013 Location: Keystone Heights, Florida Posts: 3,084	Went to the library today and picked up a book on welding, Professional Care and Refinishing of Gun Stocks, and A History of the Modern Firearm. I'm waiting to buy any books including exploded drawings as our school bookstore makes some available at the start of the semester and our instructor recommends buying those. They cost to the tune of several hundred dollars, so I want to see what all is included in those books before buying anything similar. Jim: thank you for the article. Very interesting indeed. The use of 7 distinct cutters in one operation on the horizontal milling machine is borderline genius. Very interesting show of engineering. It's great to see that some things have changed a lot and some things have hardly changed at all. Also interesting to me that they rifled their own barrels in house. __________________ Certified Gunsmith (On Hiatus) Certified Armorer - H&K and Glock Among Others You can find my writings at my website, pottsprecision.com. Last edited by dakota.potts; January 2, 2016 at 11:08 PM.