A really good reference book please

Brutus

Brutus

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I have a few (not very many) shotgun technical reference books:

-Automatic and Repeating Shotguns from the Coles book series
-Fine Shotguns by Taylor
Although these books combined are not too bad, I often find myself using the internet to answer basic questions, such at what X diameter is what choke for Y gauge, etc.

Can anyone please recommend one Old World title, for a final definitive technical answers, regarding break action shotguns of the past??

Cheers

Edit: I already own The Gun and it's Development by WW Greener.
 
I have about a dozen books on shotguns on my shelf, and I don't consider any of them definitive.

Gerald Burrard wrote a 3-volume set, and they are the most technically oriented. They deal almost exclusively with English double guns, and unfortunately the cartridge information is somewhat dated. They pre-date steel shot, plastic wad cups, and even the crimp turnover was a technical innovation. Volume one deals with the design and construction of guns. Volume 2 is about the cartridge, and as mentioned, is somewhat dated. Volume 3, the Gun & the Cartridge, contains some very useful information on chokes, shot size, ballistics, and there is a long interesting section on barrel bursts.

G. Garwood ( Gough ) Thomas is another Englishman who wrote a series of books, about shotguns, from a later period than Burrard. At least Thomas acknowledges that semi-autos and pump guns exist. The books are actually a compilation of article written for British gun and game magazines. He disagrees with Burrard on some matters, and it's nice to get a different point of view.

Geoffery Boothroyd's books are very good, but deal almost entirely with the guns and the makers; he doesn't touch on ballistics or other technicalities at all.

The Modern Shotgun (3-volumes) Gerald Burrard

Gough Thomas' Gun Book
Shotgun Facts & Fancies- Gough Thomas
Shotguns & Cartridges- Gough Thomas

Shotguns & Gunsmiths- Boothroyd
Sidelocks & Boxlocks- Boothroyd
Boothroyd on British Shotguns
Boothroyd's Directory.
 
Not commonly seen -
Shotgun Technicana by Michael McIntosh and David Trevallion - a book of technical detail on how things work, not comprehensive but interesting where it covers the topics.
There are so many good books on shotgun makers, particularly the British makers, but often short on technical detail, without some reading between the lines.
I have found "The Italian Gun" and "Spanish Best" to be interesting but hardly thorough.
My library is very short on references to German, Austrian makers though there are a few very good articles in Double Gun Journal.
We could pretty quickly get to a list of fifty books of real interest, and that would be winnowing out the shallow and superficial.
A bit more specific information about the topics you want to cover would yield more clear direction.
There certainly isn't, and cannot be, one book that will fill you in.
 
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Brutus said:
I have a few (not very many) shotgun technical reference books:

-Automatic and Repeating Shotguns from the Coles book series
-Fine Shotguns by Taylor
Although these books combined are not too bad, I often find myself using the internet to answer basic questions, such at what X diameter is what choke for Y gauge, etc.

Can anyone please recommend one Old World title, for a final definitive technical answers, regarding break action shotguns of the past??

Cheers

Edit: I already own The Gun and it's Development by WW Greener.
Click to expand...

^The highlighted portion as previously stated.
 
I have a hardcopy of this book http://www.amazon.com/Shotguns-Shotgunning-Firearms-Layne-Simpson/dp/0873495675 Although it is very typical Layne Simpson writing it makes me feel as though shotguns are his first and truest love. Some of it is probably too light and maybe even repetitive for most hardcore shotgunners, but I remember enjoying it and still go back to it once in a while when I'm daydreaming of a specific action, gauge, choke or hunting style.

Look forward to checking out some of the suggestions that come out of this thread. I might be a simple welder but I love reading and learning about shotguns lol
 
McIntosh is my favourite shotgun writer. Such sweeping DBBL history/reference books as I've seen have been on the gun #### side of things and very expensive. These are the ones that are full colour photos of gold inlays and engraving and stuff, sometime showing actual ####ographic scenes. To find these, I used to tour Barnes and Noble bookstores in the USA, but Amazon.com now makes that a little easier if you stay in Canada. The only trouble is that Amazon does not tend to categorize such things properly so a very good book on a minority interest subject can be nearly impossible to find.

Here's one anyway: http://www.amazon.com/Affordable-Do...kmr1&keywords=mcintosh+double+barrel+shotguns

Take a look at "what other customers also bought." In this case, that is more reliable than an Amazon search.

Here's the most intriguing thing a regular search brings up. I'll have to look around the house for spare change before buying it though: http://www.amazon.com/2009-2014-Shotguns-Combination-Rifle-Shotguns-Tranquilizer/dp/0497885360/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432983372&sr=1-11&keywords=double+barrel+shotguns
 
I read that "The Modern Shotgun" by Gerald Burrard is a good set of reference books from the 1960s. I remember looking at it, it was a boxed set, but that was a while and a half ago. Out of print but probably available on abebooks.com .
 
There's one been sitting in the case for quite some time and an interesting read for sure.

Modern Waterfowl......Guns & Gunning..........by Don Zutz.

He writes about shotgun actions, barrel lengths, chokes, shells, patterning
and even how to do a duck right.

Decent read in old fashion easy absorb script.
Lots of photos and such.
 
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