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January 2nd, 2016
Designing and Forming Custom Cartridges For Rifles and Handguns, by Ken Howell, is widely considered the leading book on the subject. The great resource has been out of print since 2002. But here’s good news — Howell’s book is now available again on the Huntington Die Specialties webstore.
 You can now purchase an exact reprint of Howell’s classic book for $59.98. This 600-page hardcover (8 1/2″ x 11″) resource features 450 pages of diagrams, all drawn to the same 1.5x scale. The collection of cartridge diagrams includes many “cartridge blueprints” available nowhere else, including many obscure wildcats. Howell’s book includes sections on: case specs, use of forming dies, fire forming, cartridge annealing, case capacity variables, chamber pressure variables, and powder selection. CLICK to ORDER.
Here are reviews from two book purchasers:
“This is an absolutely incredible [book] for wildcatters, ballistic students and serious cartridge handloaders. It provides the critical dimensions (imperial and metric as well as displacement) for about 1840 cartridges[.] The first 100 pages explain the mechanics of cartridge forming. The cartridge drawings are in B&W, very legible and easy to copy or scan[.] Especially on the metric side there are a few notable cartridge ommissions… but it does not detract from the overall importance of this magnificent work, which I consider the best of the genre. A great buy for serious cartridge students at any price.” — Pierre Van W.
“This book has earned the reputation of being THE authority in the field of reliable dimensions for small arms cartridges. The author [lists] which cases are useful in making other cases which may not be available. This is the bedrock technical book for this subject area and is a necessity for any hardcore reloader. It is worth more than the price asked.” — Gene C.
Editor’s Note: A couple of guys who had the original edition of this book said they found a few errors in dimensions when comparing Howell’s diagrams with SAAMI specs. Before you spec a reamer or invest in dies, you may want to double-check dimensions found in this book.
Book tip from EdLongrange. We welcome reader submissions.
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November 24th, 2015
Creedmoor Sports is having a big sale on printed books. On sale now are many of the most popular training and competition books. If you are looking for some good reading material this winter, check out the Creedmoor Book Sale. Gun books also make great holiday gifts for your shooting buddies.
Among the discounted sale titles below, we strongly recommend the Competitive AR15 Builders Guide, and Mental Training in Shooting. While somewhat pricey, Air Rifle Training and Competition book is a “must-read” for three-position Airgun competitors.
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October 19th, 2015
Applied Ballistics LLC will release updated editions of two popular resource books: Applied Ballistics for Long-Range Shooting (3rd Edition) and Ballistic Performance of Rifle Bullets (2nd Edition). Retail price is $54.95 for each title, or $94.95 if purchased together. Pre-orders are now being accepted with a $5 discount per book. You can pre-order the new editions through the Applied Ballistics store. The new editions are expected to ship by the second week of December.
Applied Ballistics for Long Range Shooting (ABLRS), Bryan Litz’s “Magnum Opus”, will have significant enhancements. New for the Third Edition is content on Weapon Employment Zone (WEZ) analysis. WEZ analysis is the study of hit percentage, and how that will be affected by the uncertainties in your environment. Existing academic material is augmented with modern experimental findings. The Third Edition also includes a CD-ROM disc with Applied Ballistics’ latest version of its ballistic software. NOTE: The third edition of ABLRS does NOT include the library of bullet data. That bullet library now exists as a separate reference book: Ballistic Performance of Rifle Bullets.
Ballistic Performance of Rifle Bullets — Data for 533 Bullets AND Rimfire Ammo
The updated, Second Edition of Ballistic Performance of Rifle Bullets contains the current library of all modern bullets tested by the Applied Ballistics Laboratory. Expanding on the First Edition, which had data on 400 bullets from .22 to .408 caliber, this Second Edition contains data on 533 bullets from .22 through .50 caliber. In addition to the centerfire bullet data, the Second Edition contains live fire data on 90 types of rimfire ammo which were all tested for muzzle velocity and BC through five different barrels of various twist/length configurations. This library of experimental test data is the most extensive and accurate resource ever assembled for small arms bullets. Numerous modern ballistics programs draw from the library of tested BCs that are published in this book.
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October 1st, 2015
 The new, 37th Edition of the Gun Trader’s Guide has just been released. This fully-illustrated resource features current market values for thousands of rifles, pistols, and shotguns. This 37th Edition, now with over 1000 photographs, includes dozens of new entries added since the previous edition. Along with the Blue Blue of Gun Values, the Gun Trader’s Guide is one of the two definitive resources on gun prices. If you buy or sell firearms, the Gun Traders’ Guide is a must-have item that will pay for itself. Over two million copies of the Gun Trader’s Guide have been sold to date. Order soon to be one of the first to own the new 37th Edition. Amazon’s price is $23.24.
If you don’t want to lug the big book around, a Kindle (electronic) Edition of the 2014 Gun Trader’s Guide to Rifles is available for just $16.17. This 608-page eBook edition of the 2014 Guide can be viewed on a Kindle, iPad, laptop, or your home computer. This is handy if you want to access gun values at a gunshop, estate sale, or auction.
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Get Books Fast from Amazon.com
You can order the Gun Trader’s Guide, the Blue Book of Gun Values and other popular firearms and shooting books through the AccurateShooter.com Bookstore. To save you time, we’ve collected the best books on shooting, reloading, hunting, and gunsmithing all in one location. Ordering, secure billing, and shipping are all handled efficiently by Amazon.com. |
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March 25th, 2015
 The 14th Edition of Cartridges of the World is a handy reference that contains illustrations and basic load data for over 1500 cartridges. If you load for a wide variety of cartridges, or are a cartridge collector, this book is a “must-have” resource. The latest edition (released in December 2014) includes 50 new cartridges. This important reference guide can be ordered through Amazon.com for $28.42 (or just $20.99 for a Kindle eBook version).
Cartridges of the World, the most widely-read cartridge reference book, has been totally updated, with a newly expanded, full-color 64-page color section featuring essays from some of today’s most prominent gun writers. The 14th Edition of Cartridges of the World (ISBN: 9781440242656) includes updated cartridge specs, plus essays by leading writers on the topics of SAAMI guidelines, wildcatting, and new cartridge design trends. Cartridges of the World is the most authoritative cartridge reference guide in print.
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Cartridges of the World by author Frank C. Barnes was first published in 1965. The 14th Edition is edited by W. Todd Woodard, Editor of Gun Tests magazine and author of several firearms reference books. Frank Barnes (1918-1992) began collecting information on handgun cartridges at the early age of 12, thanks to his father, a police officer. Frank Barnes was an innovative cartridge designer, who invented the original 308 x 1.5″ Barnes, predecessor of the 30BR case.
Before Frank began a law enforcement career, he was a college professor. Frank was also a pilot, and a race-car driver. Learn more about Cartridges of the World (14th Ed.) at www.gundigest.com. |
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January 14th, 2015
 The NRA Gunsmithing Guide contains 336 pages of solid, comprehensive gunsmithing info drawn from articles originally published in the American Rifleman magazine.
The $24.95 book includes 116 articles by expert smiths who build, repair, accurize, and customize all types of firearms (with a strong emphasis on rifles). The three main subject areas are: improving rifle accuracy, customizing fine rifles, and restoring old rifles. Roughly one-third of the articles cover these three topics.
As you would expect from content that first ran in American Rifleman magazine, the articles in the NRA Gunsmithing Guide are richly illustrated with photographs, charts, drawings, diagrams, and data tables. Not Available in bookstores, the NRA Gunsmithing Guide is sold online through Palladium Press, the NRA’s Book Publishing Affiliate.
Click Here for NRA Gunsmithing Guide ORDER Page
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December 12th, 2014
 If you’re thinking of spending thousands of dollars on a new rifle scope or spotting scope, do your homework first. You need to understand key design features, such as first focal plane vs. second focal plane, and turret click values. You should learn about light transmission, resolution, and other factors that distinguish a great optic from a not-so-great one. You also need to analyze your specific requirements before making a buying decision: How much magnification do you really need? Is illumination important? How much scope weight can you reasonably tolerate?
Sport Optics, a new book by Alan Hale, helps you answer all these important questions. Hale, former CEO of Celestron Optics, has more than 50 years of experience in the optics industry. His book, Sport Optics, is an up-to-date, comprehensive guide to Riflescopes, Spotting Scopes, and Binoculars. Hale surveys products from dozens of domestic and foreign manufacturers. Hale explains, in easy-to-understand terms, the technical jargon used by optics-makers. This helps buyers make informed decisions.
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The new book is full of good, sound advice. Respected gun writer Chuck Hawks says: “Alan Hale has impeccable credentials in the optics industry. Sport Optics is written for the layman in a clear, understandable and interesting manner.” Bill Thompson, co-publisher of Bird Watcher’s Digest adds: “Alan Hale is one of the Zen masters of sport optics[.] He knows more about how optics work, how and where they are made, and how to put them to their highest possible use than most outdoor sport optics writers. Read this book before you make any optics purchase[.]”
FREE Book Preview at Amazon.com
The Sports Optics book is offered at Amazon.com for $21.95. To preview the book, go to the Amazon web page for Sports Optics, and click the cover photo that says “Look Inside”. This lets you see front and back covers, complete table of contents, and many sample pages (such as those shown below):
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October 5th, 2014
We recommend that all hand-loaders have a couple reliable reloading manuals as reference guides. Berger, Hornady, and Sierra all offer well-respected load manuals. These can provide starting load information for a wide variety of cartridge types and bullet selections. We do like to cross-check any printed load recipes with current online data, to ensure you have the latest info.
Along with a good load manual, those getting started in metallic cartridge reloading can benefit from a good basic reloading treatise. There’s a new intro guide from the publishers of Gun Digest.
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The New Gun Digest Shooter’s Guide To Reloading, by Phillip Massaro, was created for shooters new to reloading. This is a good starting point for those who want to learn to hand-load safely and efficiently. Hundreds of photos illustrate the text — and we all know a picture can be worth a thousand words.
After discussing the benefits of hand-loading, Massaro’s book covers the basics of metallic cartridge reloading, step by step. Along the way Massaro recommends appropriate presses and tools for reloading both pistol and rifle cartridges. Massaro also explains the variations in bullet and powder types, and how they affect ballistics. In addition, Massaro includes a “Specialty Situations” chapter that reveals common reloading mistakes and issues and offers practical solutions. This section on avoiding common mistakes is one of book’s best features. We wish all reloading guides had a similar section. |
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Editor’s NOTE: This book will be released next week. Accordingly, we have not seen the final, printed version yet. At $14.79, the Gun Digest Shooter’s Guide to Reloading is relatively inexpensive. The sample chapters we reviewed provided good basic information in a well-organized fashion. Certainly, we would not tell advanced reloaders and/or competition shooters to rush out and buy this book. However, for folks getting started in hand-loading, this resource should be helpful.
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September 26th, 2014
 So, you want to put five shots through one hole at 100 yards? That may be asking a bit much, but with the right rifle, the right technique, and the right load, you might just be able to shoot “in the ones” (i.e. a group measuring 0.1 to 0.199 MOA). You could consume a lot of time and money trying to achieve this level of precision. Or you could learn from “the man”, Tony Boyer, unquestionably the most successful shooter in the history of short-range benchrest competition.
You can literally “go inside Boyer’s brain” by reading his 323-page treatise, The Book of Rifle Accuracy. First published in 2010, this is a beautiful book, full of color photos from cover to cover. Every serious benchrest shooter should read Tony’s book. He has dominated registered benchrest in a fashion that will never be duplicated. Tony Boyer has 164 U.S. Benchrest Hall of Fame points. The next closest shooter, Lester Bruno, has 48 Hall of Fame points. (Totals current 9/21/13).
The full-color book is 323 pages long, with color photos or color illustrations on nearly every page. The hard-cover edition costs $42.50, while the soft cover version is $34.50. Purchase from Amazon.com, or you can buy directly the publisher by visiting www.RifleAccuracyBook.com. The Boyer books are also available from Bruno Shooters Supply, 1-800-455-0350.
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Hard-Back Edition
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The Book Of Rifle Accuracy, By Tony Boyer
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September 2nd, 2014
 Our friend Chip Lohman, Editor of NRA’s Shooting Sports USA magazine, has authored an important new book, NRA the Rest of the Story. It’s about the NRA, but it is definitely NOT a political treatise. Rather it examines all the myriad things the NRA does — from safety seminars for kids to running the National Matches at Camp Perry.
Chip explains the “mission” of his new book: “Having worked in NRA’s Youth Program Division and now within the shooting sports community, I’ve wanted to help offset misconceptions in the news about our sport and the people that make it special. By creating a short, inexpensive book that can be passed along by a friend, perhaps some balance can be added to misleading media ‘sound bites’ about the shooting sports and firearms.”
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Chip hopes shooting sports enthusiasts will “pass the book along for others to read, especially those who may be on the fence about firearms. For every book sold, I can give two away.”
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“From a multi-faceted man (Marine, teacher, sailor, and editor) comes this many-sided little book that sparkles with bits of information about the NRA’s history and current mission. No polemics, just useful nuggets of data that the publics would be unlikely to encounter otherwise.
This book will not change the minds of dedicated anti-gunners, but it could make the difference in the hands people who want to get the story right, but are too busy to do the research themselves.
– Dr. Judy Tant, National Pistol Champion |
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August 27th, 2014
Top Shot Season 4 Champion Chris Cheng has written a new shooting skills book, Shoot to Win. This book is designed primarily for new shooters looking to master basic techniques. However, it also provides tips for all competitors, no matter what their skill levels. On the Top Shot TV show, Cheng was able to beat many more experienced marksman because he was smart, he trained methodically, and he had excellent fundamentals. He showed the world that a relative novice with proper training can prevail in head-to-head competition over more experienced shooters who may have acquired “bad habits” (technique flaws) over the years.
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Chris Cheng won the title of “Top Shot,” a $100,000 cash prize, and a professional shooting contract. How did a tech support guy with limited shooting experience beat out 17 other competitors — including military snipers, police officers, and seasoned shooting pros? Well, that’s the question this book answers. Cheng covers his approach to staying calm under pressure, teamwork, sportsmanship, and leadership.
Chris was excited about his new book: “Shoot to Win is coming out October 7th! This has been almost two years in the making….” The book is primarily a treatise on beginning rifle, pistol, and shotgun marksmanship. The book also how explains how Chris trained for, and then won the Top Shot competition. If you are interested in Shoot to Win by Chris Cheng, you can pre-order the hard copy book at Amazon.com right now (for October 7, 2014 release). An eBook version will be coming out later this fall as well. |
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August 15th, 2014
 Readers often ask us: “Is there a decent, easy-to-comprehend book that can help my wind-reading?” Many of our Forum members have recommended The Wind Book for Rifle Shooters by Linda Miller and Keith Cunningham. This 146-page book, published in 2007, is a very informative resource. But you don’t have to take our word for it. If you click this link, you can read book excerpts and decide for yourself. When the Amazon page opens, click the book cover (labeled “Look Inside”) and another screen will appear. This lets you preview the first few chapters, and see some illustrations.
Other books cover wind reading in a broader discussion of ballistics or long-range shooting, such as Applied Ballistics for Long-Range Shooting by Bryan Litz. But the Miller & Cunningham book is ALL about wind reading from cover to cover, and that is its strength. The book focuses on real world skills that can help you accurately gauge wind angle, wind velocity, and wind cycles.
All other factors being equal, it is your ability to read the wind that will make the most difference in your shooting accuracy. The better you understand the behavior of the wind, the better you will understand the behavior of your bullet. — Wind Book for Rifle Shooters
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The Wind Book for Rifle Shooters cover the techniques and tactics used by expert wind-readers. There are numerous charts and illustrations. The authors show you how to put together a simple wind-reading “toolbox” for calculating wind speed, direction, deflection and drift. Then they explain how to use these tools to read flags and mirage, record and interpret your observations, and time your shots to compensate for wind. Here are some reviews from actual book buyers:
I believe this is a must-have book if you are a long-range sport shooter. I compete in F-Class Open and when I first purchased this book and read it from cover to cover, it helped me understand wind reading and making accurate scope corrections. Buy this book, read it, put into practice what it tells you, you will not be disappointed. — P. Janzso
If you have one book for wind reading, this should be it. Whether you’re a novice or experienced wind shooter this book has something for you. It covers how to get wind speed and direction from flags, mirage, and natural phenomenon. In my opinion this is the best book for learning to read wind speed and direction. — Muddler
As far as I know this is the only book of its type. It’s very well written in a way that’s easy to understand for such a complex subject. The charts and graphs are extremely helpful. It’s a bit on the short side at about 146 pages but still packed with knowledge. — R. Johnson |
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