Must read material for any firearms enthusiast?

[MarkCO]

Glad someone mentioned Hatcher's Notebook. It is the foundation and I consider it mandatory for any true firearms aficionado. It cover's most of the OPs interests well.

In the Gravest Extreme by Ayoob is good, but be careful to not give it gospel status...it is not and some of his opinions have not borne out to be completely correct.

Practical Shooting by Brian Enos is a must read if you are serious about competition shooting of any type. It is one of those books you need to read every 2 years or so because there are so many layers. Some people hate it, but when you look at their shooting performance it will be apparent why.

Seeklander's Your Competition Handgun Training Program is also good for competition, but it is more USPSA/IDPA focused, so unless those sports are what you are after, skip it.

Those four are the big set to me that really get you a wide view. Many of the others are just reworks.

I have 4 books dedicated only to ballistics, primarily external and terminal that I use professionally as well. They are interesting to me, but are probably not must reads for the vast majority of firearms enthusiasts.

Two that explore more of the mental side of competition shooting are The Talent Code and With Winning in Mind. Most of the top level athletes in the shooting sports have the second one and most benefited from the concepts in the first one, most unknowingly. They are not shooting specific at all, but encompass the necessary elements for top performance.

For defensive firearms use, I also to like Bird's The Concealed Handgun Manual. For women I also recommend The Cornered Cat by Kathy Jackson. As a male, I actually enjoyed it as well and it gave me some different perspectives.

After those, there are of course topic specific classics like Black Magic by Feamster, The Custom Government Model Pistol by Wolf and Shots at Big Game by Boddington. Blacks Shotgunners Guide is another topic specific one that is good.

Some others that might miss your radar, but which are very good if you are wanting to read about survival and defense are Drive to Survive by Rich and Police and Pursuit Driving by Bondurant.

I won't list them, but be aware, there are a lot of poser's out there. Some books really are just regurgitation of what some guy learned in one of the "famous" classes. Not bad, but one step removed. Also realize that modern pistolcraft, and even more so long gun use, has changed significantly in the past 30 years. Durability of weapons, performance of ammunition and replacement and refinement of technique are all getting better. The skill level of the winners of USPSA nationals in the early 80s would be that of a mid B level shooter today. There are a lot of the "old" guys who used to compete who would, just on weapon handling and shooting skill, get their doors blown clean off the hinges today. When your weapon handling shooting skills increase, you have more "tactical" options. These facts should not be lost when reading the classics, and the new stuff either. Current techniques and tactics of our best "door-kicker" types have not yet been disseminated to the general public and as such, some, which are beneficial to the armed citizen, are not being used or taught mainstream. On the other hand, some are being taught which are really offensive military tactics which are not appropriate for the armed civilian who is subject to the US legal system.

While I do not have a "book" to recommend, I would also suggest some research and reading on the mind of the criminal;common, psychopathic, and organized. Today's criminals are very different than the criminals some of the "famous" guys dealt with, and while most are still cowards who would prey on victims, we must realize that the criminal mindset is varied, and changing as well.

[The Harmonica Kid]

A great deal of hard to find books (Sixguns, The Art of the Rifle, Hatchers notebook, etc,) are now available electronically for Kindle, Nook,etc. And there cheap. Try it out if you have em guys.