…they read as fast as lightning…
Needs some work.
After the jump, some more old gun books, and one new one.
Archive for the ‘Hoplobibilophilia’ Category
Everybody was gun book blogging…
Thursday, April 25th, 2024Gun books. And train book.
Monday, March 25th, 2024I haven’t done one of these in a bit, and need to get back to it. And since it looks like the baseball season begins this week, I’m going to take the opportunity to throw a metaphorical change-up pitch with a train related book.
I would love to be able to document a book about guns on trains, but I don’t have a copy of Gerald Bull’s book. Yet.
After the jump…
Today is Presidents’ Day. How about some gun book crankery?
Monday, February 19th, 2024I recall reading somewhere (I think in Mr. Gatling’s Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It) that Lincoln was a big gun guy. If any inventor showed up at the White House with a new or improved weapon design, they were pretty much guaranteed an audience with Abe.
How much of that was desperation to win the war, and how much of it was a fascination with guns and the mechanics of machines, I have no idea.
Short shameful confession: it has been a while since I field stripped a 1911 pattern pistol.
I wanted to break down and lube one of my Commander length guns (using the lubrication suggestions from Bill Wilson’s Gun Guy, and also his lube). I had forgotten what a complete and utter (word that rhymes with “witch”) it is to get the slide stop pin through both the frame and the barrel link. Every time, the link got pushed backwards and into a position where I couldn’t get the stop into place.
I finally got it, but it took me probably 45 minutes. Maybe I need more practice. Good thing I have three more 1911s that need the same treatment. And plenty of Wilson lube left…
After the jump, a few gun books for the discerning eyes of my readers.
It was the gun book post before Christmas…
Friday, December 22nd, 2023How do you feel about gunstocks?
Not gun stocks, but gunstocks. The kind made out of wood, back in the day before synthetics became common.
After the jump, some more Samworths for those of you who still like wood.
It’s beginning to look a lot like gun books…
Wednesday, December 20th, 2023…everywhere you go. At least, here on this blog.
Last Friday was my last day at work until January 8th. Some of this is me burning PTO before year-end, some of this is corporate holidays, and some of it is mandatory corporate shutdowns.
I’m planning to do more gun book posts and random gun crankery during my vacation, including a few things you’ve seen teasers for. So strap in, my people. It’s going to be a fun couple of weeks.
Why don’t we start out with a slice of history? After the jump…
Fun with gun books!
Thursday, November 16th, 2023I think I promised old gun sights last time, so old gun sights is what you’re getting…
Hoplobibilophilia, part 37.
Tuesday, August 22nd, 2023“Will this parade of Samworth books ever end?” cries my loyal reader.
Actually, yes. I think this is the final Samworth I have to catalog…so far. I’m still short of a complete set.
Even more hoplobibliophila, plus previews of coming attractions.
Thursday, August 17th, 2023First, a preview of something that I hope to post very soon.
You may remember a while back – April of 2022, as a matter of fact – I said I was special ordering a gun from my local gun shop for Buy a Gun Day.
It came in…on August 3rd. Yes, this year. I actually waited longer for this than Someone Who Isn’t Me expects to wait for their Form 4 item. (Don’t ask. I will not be taking questions at this time.) Not that I blame my local gun shop for this. As I understand it, there are reasons for the delay related to the manufacturer. All will be revealed soon, I hope.
In the meantime, let no man say that I am not PC.
After the jump, some more gun books for my loyal reader…
The Gun Book Club.
Monday, August 14th, 2023Would you believe I actually got to engage in a little bit of recoil therapy this weekend? Thanks to KR Training for letting us use their range after the class, and thanks to Greg Ellifritz for putting on a great class: “The Explosive Threat: Recognizing, Detecting, and Neutralizing the Terrorist Bomber”.
I didn’t do a lot of shooting because it was hotter than the hinges of Hell, and we didn’t have a lot of time before our dinner engagement. But I did manage to function check a couple of carry guns, and am reasonably satisfied with their performance.
I finished Ammunition, Demystified: The (non) Bubba’s Guide to How Ammo Really Works on my trip. My opinion hasn’t changed. I absolutely do recommend it. But you should be aware that there’s some pretty heavy duty math in the book. I think most folks could probably benefit from it even if times tables give them a headache. My only other issue with the book came when Mr. Siewert discussed some ballistic work he did back in the day with a company that was making air rifle pellets. My issue? “Where were you when I was a teenager, Mr. Siewert?”
And now for some more gun books from the stack…
What time is it, kids?
Tuesday, July 25th, 2023Not Howdy Doody time.
I promised I wasn’t going to do any more gun books until “Day of the .45, part 2.” went up. Now that I have posted it, I have a large stack to go through, including more than one Samworth, so I’m going to start trying to knock some of those off.
First, some ground rules:
I’m going be posting some newer books, ones that are readily available on Amazon or from the usual suspects. For those, I will be posting Amazon affiliate links, and I will be posting commentary if I’ve read the book, but I won’t be posting cover photos or a lot of bibliographic detail. The Amazon links should give you enough information to order the book, or to find it from some other vendor, if you’re really interested, and photos of readily available contemporary books will just make these posts longer.
One of my side projects that I won’t be documenting in a lot of detail here: I’ve decided that I want to try to accumulate a complete set of Gun Digest. I’ve found that GD frequently has interesting articles on either gun or gun book history, and I think it would be useful to have them around for reference. I probably won’t be documenting those here, though I may mention them in passing.
My self-imposed limits for this project are: I’m buying them used, in very good to excellent condition, and I’m trying not to pay more than $10 for each one. So far, I have the 1998 edition (which has a very good article on the Winchester Model 52) and the 2005 edition (nice article on the guns of Roy Chapman Andrews). The 2010 edition (with the profile of E.C. Crossman) is on the way, as is another Samworth book by Crossman.
With those ground rules set:
Gun book time!
Tuesday, March 14th, 2023It is a little like steam engine time, but more boring.
Last week was a fairly busy week. This week is shaping up to be less packed, and with the time change, I have more daylight to work with. Which means I may be able to get some pictures for part two of “Day of the .45”, and for another project I’m working on. In the meantime, after the jump and as foretold in the prophecy, more bibliographies…
Memo from the Department of Gun Books.
Saturday, January 28th, 2023I hadn’t been buying anything for a while, because I was in the “no purchasing anything for yourself” holiday period.
But we went out for a bit over the MLK weekend, and I ran across some things at Half-Price Books. After the jump, some previously undocumented purchases…