Recommended Reading,
Books for Recreational Shooters

Compiled by Chuck Hawks


Listed below are some of my favorite gun and shooting books. I have divided them by category (Rifle, Handgun, Shotgun, Hunting, etc.) and then alphabetically by author. Enjoy some good reading!

Ammunition, Cartridges and Ballistics

  • Frank C. Barnes: Cartridges of the World
  • Bob Hagel: Game Loads and Practical Ballistics for the American Hunter
  • Paul A. Matthews: Forty Years with the .45-70
  • Winchester-Western: The Winchester-Western Ammunition Handbook

General Subjects

  • R. Stephen Dorsey: Guns of the Western Indian War
  • S.P. Fjestad: Blue Book of Gun Values
  • Grits Gresham: Grits On Guns
  • Burr Leyson: The New Guns Annual
  • Jack O'Connor: Complete Book of Rifles and Shotguns
  • Jack O'Connor (with Roy Dunlap, Alex Kerr, and Jeff Cooper): Complete Book of Shooting
  • Jack O'Connor: Jack O'Connor's Gun Book
  • Jack O'Connor: Outdoor Life Arms and Ammunition Annual
  • Stoeger: Shooter's Bible
  • Ralph T. Walker (Edited by Jack Lewis): Hobby Gunsmithing
  • L. R. Wallack: The Anatomy of Firearms
  • Ken Warner (formerly John T. Amber), Editor: Gun Digest

Gun Makers

  • Larry L. Baer: The Parker Gun
  • Lt. Col. William S. Brophy: L.C. Smith Shotguns
  • Robert W. Elliott & Jim Cobb: Lefever: Guns of Lasting Fame
  • Peter Alan Kasler: Glock, The New Wave in Combat Handguns
  • Michael McIntosh: Best Guns
  • Michael McIntosh: A.H. Fox, The Finest Gun in the World
  • Ned Schwing: Winchester's Finest, The Model 21
  • Walter Claude Snyder: The Ithaca Gun Company, From the Beginning
  • Wiley Sword: The Historic Henry Rifle
  • Terry Wieland: Spanish Best
  • R.L. Wilson: Colt, An American Legend
  • R.L. Wilson: Winchester, An American Legend

Handgun

  • Massad F. Ayoob: StressFire
  • Jeff Cooper: Cooper on Handguns
  • Bill Jordan: No Second Place Winner
  • Evan P. Marshall & Edwin J. Sanow: Handgun Stopping Power, The Definitive Study
  • Ed McGivern: Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting
  • George C. Nonte & Lee E. Jurras: Handgun Hunting

Hunting

  • Jim Corbett: Man-Eaters of Kumaon
  • Byron W. Dalrymple: Deer Hunting With Dalrymple
  • Byron W. Dalrymple: North American Big Game Hunting
  • J. Wayne Fears: Hunting Whitetails Successfully
  • Jack O'Connor: Big Game Hunts
  • Jack O'Connor: Game in the Desert Revisited
  • Jack O'Connor: The Hunter's Shooting Guide
  • Jack O'Connor (with Ben East, Erwin A. Bauer, Archibald Rutledge, Charles Elliott, Byron W. Dalrymple, Clyde Ormond): Outdoor Life's Deer Hunting Book

Reloading

  • A-Square: Any Shot you Want
  • Parker O. Ackley: Pocket Manual for Shooters and Reloaders
  • Hodgdon Powder Company: Data Manual
  • Hornady Manufacturing Company: Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading
  • Lyman (Edward A Matunas, Editor): Reloading Handbook
  • Edward A. Matunas: Reloading for Shotgunners
  • Nosler, Inc: Nosler Reloading Guide
  • Sierra: Rifle and Handgun Reloading Data
  • Speer: Speer Reloading Manual
  • Ken Warner (formerly John T. Amber), Editor: Handloader's Digest

Rifle

  • Jack O'Connor: The Hunting Rifle
  • Jack O'Connor: The Rifle Book
  • Alexander Rose: American Rifle

Shotgun

  • Geoffrey Boothroyd: Sidelocks & Boxlocks
  • Bob Brister: Shotgunning, The Art and the Science
  • John Culler & Chuck Wechsler (Editors): Second to None
  • Michael McIntosh: Shotguns and Shooting
  • Jack O'Connor: The Shotgun Book
  • Michael Yardley: Gunfitting



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Copyright 2006, 2016 by Chuck Hawks. All rights reserved.


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