recommended reading?

[2meterB]

Can anyone suggest some good books/materials on c&r firearms? Including nonfiction books on ww1/ww2.

[ccandgc]

There are lots of books written on specific firearms...Garands, Enfields, etc. look at Amazon, bookstores too. Especially for books on both world wars. An interesting place I found cheap old books is the library. One of our local libraries has a room in the back they sell off books....you'll never know what would turn up in a place like that.

[SanPedroShooter]

I just got a copy of Hanguns of the World by Edward Ezell, it focuses heavily on handgun development from the Civil war to post WWII (as you imagine it would)

Turns out there is very little new under the sun. Polymer stands out.

I tried to tie this one to WWI, maybe I didn't quite get there. WWI was catalyst for the guns use now. Especially the consolidation and growth of the manufacturers we are familiar with today.

[knucklehead0202]

Small arms of the World is a great book, with breakdowns on many countries and the small arms they've used. It also contains a condensed, but very comprehensive history of small arms. Lots of good info in this book, including field stripping instructions for many pistols and rifles.

Another one that's priceless, especially for reloaders is Cartridges of the World.

[Paulie Lugnuts]

Shot Gun News, they usually have articles on C&Rs.

[TMB 1]

US Infantry Weapons In Combat http://www.amazon.com/Infantry-Weapo.../dp/1888722150

[krwada]

Mausers

I really love the Mauser. You can get the Mauser Military Rifles of the World over at Amazon.

This book is like a reference guide on all things Mauser Rifle!

[Mssr. Eleganté]

"Deadly Business: Sam Cummings, Interarms, and the Arms Trade".

Sam Cummings travelled around Europe after WWII buying up surplus firearms for Hollywood studios and the CIA. Then he started importing stuff to the U.S. to sell to American sportsmen.

[sammass]

Back at Anniston in Sept, the CMP Store had all the books (Canfield, Duff, Hatcher, Kuleck, etc) on the Garand. Might pay a bit more than Amazon, but you contribute to the training programs. Look online in the eStore.

[DesertWalker]

There are lots of books written on specific firearms...Garands, Enfields, etc. look at Amazon, bookstores too. Especially for books on both world wars. An interesting place I found cheap old books is the library. One of our local libraries has a room in the back they sell off books....you'll never know what would turn up in a place like that.

^^^^ I will second the library as a good place to start. Look in the Reference Section. You may find some titles you want to buy on Amazon or Ebay. I have been lucky and,over time,picked up some decent books at the library sales also. Got the Mauser book off Amazon recently, and I go back to it every time somebody on this forum posts about a new-to-them Mauser.

[pitfighter]

My most resourced:

Collector Grade Publications:
1. Sturmgewehr! (My most dog-eared book, so fully researched it is almost scary.)
2. The Devil's paintbrush.
3. Hitler's Garands.

Musgrave Oliver.
4. German machine-guns. (My second most dog-eared research book, assembling parts kits and accessories this is great for cutting through the salesman's BS, they have the original manuals and break downs reprinted. All accessories listed.)

R.L Wilson. (Wish list, someday, when I have money, I'll buy these guns, books.)
5. Colt.
6. The Peacemakers.
7. Steel canvas.

Elmer Keith.
(No BS shooting techniques, Keith interviewed MANY real gunfighters, some who had been alive during the Wild West. A treasure trove of anecdotes - reread by me a dozen times.)
8. Sixguns.

My personal favorite get away from it reads:
Timothy J. Mullin (Paladin Press)
*These titles sound hockey, but THEY are a truly terrific resource, he sources the rarest firearms and gives them an amazingly realistic battlefield test, photographing everything, he has a NON PC approach to his writing, that is rare now, and I find myself looking up rifles and SMG's all the time.
His BS factor is very low.
A LOT of C&R weapons are tested.
9. Testing the War Weapons.
10. handbook of Handguns.
11. The fighting Submachinegun, machine Pistol and shotgun.

I have many other firearm related books of course, but the above are on a shelf of their own, and I treasure them - done said it.

[Crunch130]

The Longest Day, Cornelius Ryan, 1959. It's about D-Day and has the advantage of interviewing many Allied and German participants while they were still young enough to remember it well.

Crunch

[Syntax Error]

Expensive, but if you are interested in Mauser 98 rifles, Storz's "Rifle and Carbine 98" is hard to beat for well-researched information of the development and production of the Model 98 Mauser.

http://www.amazon.com/Rifle-Carbine-98-Firearms-German/dp/390252605X

[emcon5]

What are you looking for? There is a ton of outstanding historical non-fiction on WW2 out there that really doesn't focus much on the small arms.

The Longest Day, Cornelius Ryan, 1959. It's about D-Day and has the advantage of interviewing many Allied and German participants while they were still young enough to remember it well.

Crunch

Cornelius Ryan stuff is excellent. (Bridge Too Far, Last Battle)

Here are a few others:

"A Writer at War" Vasily Grossman
"Beyond Band of Brothers" Richard D. Winters
"Panzer Commander" Hans Von Luck
"Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" and "Neptune's Inferno" James D. Hornfischer
"Pegasus Bridge", "Citizen Soldiers", "Band of Brothers", "D-Day", "The Wild Blue" Stephen Ambrose
"Stalingrad" - Antony Beevor
"With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa" E.B. Sledge
"Helmet for my Pillow" Robert Leckie
"In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front" Gottlob Herbert Bidermann
"War as I knew it" George S Patton.
"Blood Red Snow: The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front" Gunter K. Koschorrek
"The Rommel Papers" B. H. Liddell Hart

[2meterB]

Wow. Thanks!