Recommended Reading: Books by Ratigan and Tompkins

If you’re looking for a holiday gift for a serious shooter, or just to add to your library of “classic” shooting resources, here are two books that “lead the field” for their respective shooting disciplines.

For Short-Range Benchresters
Extreme Rifle Accuracy by Mike Ratigan should be on the shelf of every serious short-range benchrest shooter. (Shooters in other disciplines will find many parts of the book helpful as well.) Butch Lambert has said Mike’s book is “far and away the best BR book written. Very comprehensive, it touches on every aspect of our game.”

A Super Shoot winner and US World Benchrest Team Director, Mike Ratigan is a leading figure in the Benchrest game. It’s rare to find an active competitor with Mike’s credentials who has shared his vast knowledge of the sport. Mike’s new 368-page book is dedicated to getting the most from modern rifle accuracy equipment with an emphasis on shooting 100-200-300 yard group benchrest tournaments.

For the new benchrest shooter, this book presents topics seldom covered elsewhere. The most popular hardware plus new equipment offerings are covered, including external mount scopes, actions, triggers, stocks, wind flags, and more. Also covered are match formats and etiquette, rifle handling techniques, note taking, tuning, bullet selection, goals, match strategies, and the mental aspect of competition. Mike provides many tips that will help active competitors update their own competitive program. The chapter on Superman bullets alone will answer some age-old questions. Ratigan also provides an excellent overview of the World Benchrest Championships and the US Benchrest Hall of Fame. To order, call Mike at (580) 256-2963, or use this ORDER FORM.

Review by Scott Smallwood.

For Long-Range Shooters
Prone and Long-Range Shooting, is a must-read for serious Palma, F-Class, and Highpower shooters. We predict your scores will go up if you read (and re-read) the sections on match strategies and Reading Wind & Mirage. The sections covering Mental and Physical training and will benefit all precision shooters, regardless of discipline. Other topics include Shooting Fundamentals, International Competition, and Loading for Long Range.

Nancy Tompkins has been shooting competitively for over 33 years. She has won the National Long Range Championships four times, and is the only woman ever to win the National Highpower Championships. She has also won the prestigious Wimbledon Cup, and is a 5-time Leech Cup winner. Nancy has been on six Palma Teams (as both a shooter and a coach). Nancy’s mentor is 6-time National Highpower Champion, Wimbleton Cup Winner, and 2005 World F-class Champion Middleton (‘Mid’) Tompkins, and she was able to draw on his considerable expertise in creating her new book. This book is available from RifleShootingbyNancy.com, for $34.95 plus shipping. You can also order through Sinclair International. However, Nancy has signed copies of the book available to those who order directly from her website.