'smithing books

[hpdrifter]

I have a small working knowledge of "mechanical repairs". I know just a little metallurgy(not anywhere near enough), can file and sand and polish(maybe not top notch proffessionally). I have done some rust bluing, some browning and just general gunrepairs.

I can weld; Mig, heliarc, Tic, gas although I wouldn't call my self a welder. I haven't welded on a gun before.

What I mean to say is; I have a fair basic knowledge to do some of MY OWN gun repair and be very comfortable with it, but I want a little more detail.

I'm not rich by any means, so I can't afford to go and buy too many books/manuals. I already have Home Gunsmithing, Riflesmithing, and few other very general do-it-yo-self books, but I'd like to go into more detail; i.e. deeper and more advanced metallurgy and more advanced gunsmithing info. Riflesmithing goes into pretty good detail on action work and rebarreling/headspacing although my ignorance knows no bounds.

I was a wondering if any of the posters here have any druthers on any of the books out there and would offer their opinion as to the best books that might further ones knowledge.

There are many in Brownells catalog, and if one of these fit the bill, I'd like to know cause I get me a discount there.

Sure would appreciate any input some of you smith types might offer!

Thanks.

[floodgate]

hpdrifter:

It's an older one, but Roy Dunlap's "Gunsmithing" can't be beat; I know even musical instrument makers and jewelers who keep it on their ready shelf. And if you want to know how Dunlap earned his spurs, read his "Ordnance Went up Front". He served in both the European and Pacific theaters in WW Twice, and got his knowledge the hard way, keeping M1's, carbines and Thompsons running with bullets whizzing overhead. Try AbeBooks; no "gun nut's" bookshelf should be without these classics, even if you never touch a file to metal.

floodgate

[mozark]

"The Gunsmith Machinist," by Steve Acker. I can hardly recommend this book enough. Acker is a part-time gunsmith/machinist, i.e. he has a day job. The book is written as a series if articles built around jobs he performed in his shop, or equipment he built for his shop. Simple and clear enough for the inexperienced, with plenty of subtlety for the old hand.

MM

[Bret4207]

Check the posts in the "Shop Tips" sticky here. I covered some of the best books there.

[Char-Gar]

I want to give an Amen to Dunlap's book. I bought my copy in 1962 and it is the most used book I own.

[KCSO]

I would start with the 5 volume disassembly manuals from JB Woods. All the other tips and tricks are nothing if you can't get the gun back together and if you don't do it every day you will forget that you need a special slave pin to put x back together.

[hpdrifter]

Thanks fof all the info.

Will check some of these out and see if I can work them into the budget.

[waksupi]

Get all the Gunsmith Kinks books from Brownell's. And, Jerry Knuhausens books on specific firearms.

[Bent Ramrod]

For all around use, Dunlap's is about the best. McFarland's "Gunsmithing Simplified" is very good from the point of view of the home shop enthusiast. Vickery's "Advanced Gunsmithing," if you can find a copy, gets into the metalworking end of gunsmithing more deeply than most. I believe there is a one-volume reprint somewhere of Howe's "The Modern Gun-Smith," which covers everything up to WWII and has some of the prettiest mechanical drawings ever drafted.