Posted on 09/07/2006 6:34:08 PM PDT by Chickensoup
My son is very interested in weapons. Guns mostly. He has received his Royal Rangers badge in gun mangagement. I am looking for books for him to read about guns, particularly rifles and handguns. How to handle and manage them. How to break them down and clean them. How to do minor repairs. How to reload.
Your input would be invalubable. When I search at Amazon, all I get is anti-gun screeds.
Buy him a membership in the NRA, and get the included NRA magazine "American Rifleman."
Books aren't the way to learn about guns. Get him involved with a gun club where old farts can teach him right. Books won't hurt but I wouldn't rely on them too heavilly.
You can get manuals from the manufacturers on takedown and cleaning. if I'm not mistaken you can get some downloads online from manufacturers. Check their websites. If you have a pistol or rifle, the specific manual for it should be available from thr manufacturer. I have an old bolt action .22 that I want to work on and when I called they sent the manual free.
How old does one have to be to be a member?
I am not relying on them. But I need him to practice his reading, and this is his passion, along with dirt bikes and four wheelers. So I am looking for gun books.
Enlist in the Army and learn how to do all that and soooooooo much more, in Bootcamp. After 12wks, he'll learn how to take apart a B52 and reassemble it in the dark, in 43 minutes, or less. Guarran-damn-teed! Get down and give me 50, puke!
(((sorry)))
If he's interested in reloading check out Midway, Brownell's and Lee handloading websites. They have instructional material on reloading including how to videos and books.
Thank you.
I recommend the Hornady handbook of metallic cartridge reloading.
You can be any age to join, but Junior membership is a tad cheaper.
American Rifleman Magazine is about the best all around gun magazine there is. It has a little bit of historical guns, new gun reviews, reloading, gunsmithing, and hunting.
By all means encourage the reading. When I was 13 or 14 years old I had a whole set of survival manuals and hunting/fishing guides. Those books covered everything from crossing a river using my pants as a floatation device to tanning hides. Drive patterns for deer, drying meat, and building snares for rabbits.
The reading is worth it even if he never picks up a gun in his life.
Contact your local shooting range. They have trained instructors who can help.
They should be in the phone book.
Thank you.
I will point him to it
Are these the same people who made the car Yugo?
He may never do any of the things the good Colonel has, but the information imparted is invaluable.
L
It's interesting that there is no literature aimed at children about hunting and weapons. It is like boys don't exist except to recycle and meet BooBoo the bear at the zoo.
Powder..Patch..Ball FIRE!
"Gunsmith Kinks" 1 through 4 Can be found on Ebay and other fine used book stores...
Try "The Red Badge Of Courage" or "My Side Of The Mountain".
L
We have those fiction books. But there are no DK or Eyewitness books about weapons unless it is in history. No intro books.
L
11
Please enroll him in a course where an experienced instructor can drill safety as well as technique into his head. He can learn a great deal more than just taking a gun apart and cleaning it, but he will learn that too!
Here's a book I found that touches on guns and weaponry: "The Big Book of Boy Stuff".
If you're in the UK you might try Countryman Books. He's got a bunch of out of print British gun books and catalogs.
Just a suggestion, why don't you take your boy to the gun range? Find something he can rent, and let fire one.
You could also get him a subscription to any of the gun mags around. My son likes to read my old issues of Guns and Ammo. Get him his own subscription.
It's a great way to get him to read, and it's something you can enjoy together.
L
All good ideas, thank you.
Not at all. The Yugoslav Mauser rifle is a legitimate Mauser which is your most basic bolt action rifle, and made to German standards. They were produced by the Yugoslav military industries in the 40s and 50s.
Tell me about it. When I was a kid way back in the 60's books for boys were, well, for boys!
Now it's all Captain Planet Smashes Evil Industrialists and Why Your Dad Is Really A Big Jerk.
So I decided to Hell with them and started doing 'boy stuff' with him whenever possible. He's been to the gun range several times with me and my shooting buddies. He even won a box of ammo from one of my friends.
When he was ten he got a Daisy Youth Model and at 11 he got the Henry It's a fine little shooter.
I've introduced him to model rockets, map, compass, and GPS reading, shooting, fishing, Tae Kwon Do (he broke his first board Tuesday), and whatever else I can think of to make your basic liberal weenie wet their pants.
So when I finish my Guns and Ammo, it goes to Lurker Jr. He reads it from cover to cover and then tells me what he'd like to have. We can both dream about expensive firearms together.
So start leaving some gun mags laying around. Chances are he'll get curious on his own.
Best of luck. Raising a civilized human male is an awesome responsibility. It's not for the faint of heart.
L
Thank you for your good advice.
I will get more magazines for him and try to hook him up with the local gun club.
It's a nice little shooter in a US Standard cartridge.
L
The Enfield is not as good a teaching tool, which is what chickensoup here wants. Many if not most modern hunting rifles are copies of the basic Mauser action, while nobody to my knowledge ever bothered to copy an Enfield. That's partly because the Enfield bolt locks up at the center, which is basically a bad idea and makes it unsuitable for anything much bigger than a 303 or 308.
join the army
You're correct about that. I merely mentioned it as a possible purchase for you.
L
Thanks, I don't really need any (more) firearms at present and am pretty much limited to hunting with bows at present. In fact, the experiences I've had with flintlock rifles which is another thing people hunt with in places where you can't use modern hunting rifles indicate that I'd be more likely to hit something with one of my bows, even at 50 - 100 yard ranges.
This is what I got at amazon when I asked for " guns" in books.
1.
Shooter's Bible 2005: The World's Standard Firearms Reference Book (Shooter's Bible) by Jay Langston (Paperback - Jun 2004)
Used & new from $4.95
2.
The Great Book of Guns: An Illustrated History of Military, Sporting, and Antique Firearms by Chris McNab (Hardcover - Dec 10, 2004)
Buy new: $24.98 In Stock
Used & new from $15.24
3.
Gun Digest 2006 (Gun Digest) by Ken Ramage (Paperback - Jul 15, 2005)
Buy new: $27.99 $18.47 In Stock
Used & new from $8.53
4.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, New Edition by Jared Diamond (Hardcover - Jul 11, 2005)
Buy new: $24.95 $16.47 In Stock
Used & new from $14.47
Other Edition(s): Hardcover, Paperback, School & Library Binding, Audio CD; See all 6.
5.
Blue Book of Gun Values, 27th Edition (Blue Book of Gun Values) by S. P. Fjestad and Steven P. Fjestad (Paperback - April 1, 2006)
Buy new: $39.95 $26.37 In Stock
Used & new from $25.99
Other Edition(s): Paperback, Unknown Binding
Excerpt - page 4: "... As Blue Book Publications, Inc. is a publisher, not a gun shop, this service is designed to link you up with ..."
See more references to guns in this book.
Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
6.
The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie (Paperback - Oct 1, 1998)
Buy new: $14.00 Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks
Used & new from $14.00
Other Edition(s): Hardcover, Audio Cassette
Excerpt - page 34: "... thirty thousand pounds to make me look like a hired gun presumably wouldn't stop at another three hundred to make me ..."
See more references to guns in this book.
Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
7.
The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman (Mass Market Paperback - Aug 3, 2004)
Buy new: $6.99 In Stock
Used & new from $2.18
Other Edition(s): Hardcover, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback, School & Library Binding; See all 8.
Excerpt - page 2: "... 2 THE GUNS OF AUGUST tures behind the famous upturned mustache in an ..."
See more references to guns in this book.
Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
8.
Gun Digest 2007 (Gun Digest) by Ken Ramage (Paperback - Aug 2006)
Buy new: $29.99 $19.79 In Stock
Used & new from $16.50
9.
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo and Ron Kovic (Paperback - Aug 25, 1998)
Buy new: $17.00 In Stock
Used & new from $5.99
Other Edition(s): Hardcover, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback, School & Library Binding
10.
Top Gun (Wings of Gold, No 4) by T. E. Cruise (Paperback - Jan 1990)
Used & new from $0.01
Other Edition(s): VHS Tape, DVD
11.
The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds (Paperback - Nov 23, 1998)
Buy new: $6.99 In Stock
Used & new from $2.89
Other Edition(s): Hardcover, Paperback, School & Library Binding, Unknown Binding
Excerpt - page 1: "... I: THE SPANISH GUN 44144 EDWARD watched intently as his father struggled into the ..."
See more references to guns in this book.
Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
12.
Gun Dog: Revolutionary Rapid Training Method by Richard A. Wolters and John W. Randolph (Hardcover - May 26, 1961)
Buy new: $25.95 $17.13 In Stock
Used & new from $11.99
Excerpt - page 1: "... were to be a book on training. This is a gun dog book for the upland bird hunter. A how-to-train book. ..."
See more references to guns in this book.
Surprise me! See a random page in this book.
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Here's a short instructional video on field stripping a AK 47:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwMluoh-2Mg
Just try this to find some more:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=field+strip&search=Search
(Note, some of these videos might be 1. unsafe, 2. questionable, 3. of scantily clad young women)
click at your own risk
If you ever take your son to Disney World in Florida, one of the largest shooting ranges in the world offers "learn to shoot" days and "shoot the biggest gun you can lift" experiences for the European and Asian tourist types who can't own weapons in their home countries. The range will provide a taxi ride to and from the range too for an extra fee if a car hasn't been rented.
Shooting Sports of Orlando
My son in law just bought the new teeney tiny compound bow. He's pretty excited about it. First one on the block so he's King of the Hill in the local hunting circle.
I have been at this for about forty years and the best book by far is "The Complete Guide To Guns And Shooting" By John Malloy. I think you can get it through Amazon or the publisher who is DBI Books.
The Boy Scouts has a merit badge book on shooting rifles which is ok. A little dated maybe.
It helps to fill out your profile page and let us know at least what State or country you're in. I never heard of a Royal Rangers.
I always wanted one of those. I wanted to cram a 350 (or larger) in it, tub it out, race slicks, roll cage, etc. Would have been a heck of a race car.
Funny that you should mention that. It is my understanding that the plant where the Yugo automobile was built is also the same place where so many Yugo SKS's where made. That would be the Zastava plant which was bombed in the late 90's by the US. I think that it has since been rebuilt and is currently manufacturing small arms.
If he is still in school, find a 4-H club in your area and get him enrolled in shooting sports.
If he likes to mess on the computer, get him enrolled in some gun forums on the internet where there are old timers there to discuss things and police the information.
A great activity you both can do together is to buy an AR-15 in parts form and put it together yourselves. Get a stripped lower, lower parts kit, etc. and you'll kill two birds with one stone; you'll spend some quality time together, and he'll REALLY understand how it works after assembling it. It's not all that difficult to do.
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