In the past I’ve written about Col. Rex Applegate, whose “Kill or Be Killed” shooting book was perhaps the most influential handgun book of the 1940’s. I recently shared an article from the NRA’s American Rifleman magazine that provided details about his “House of Horrors” shoothouse. Applegate was influenced by Fairbairn, whose book ‘Shooting to …

Continue reading ‘Col. Rex Applegate: Influence on Modern Handgun Techniques (1944 NRA article)’ »

After learning about this book from a Greg Ellifritz post about books written about or by real old West gunfighters, I found a rare first edition copy signed by the author. The book was published in the UK by Robert Hale. Hale’s company published Westerns in the UK from 1936 to 2020. Many of those …

Continue reading ‘Book Review I’ve Killed Men (Jack Ganzhorn, 1910)’ »

Back in 2017 I posted a review of Himmelwright’s “Pistol and Revolver Shooting” book (1930 revision). In going through my archives I found that one of my historical handgun research team had scanned pages from the 1930 edition, mostly pages related to target design, and shared with me. The original book review is here. From …

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He is a self-taught shooter who recognized that the techniques and lessons he learned could be used to train our war fighters.  Accordingly, he founded Mid-South Institute for Self Defense Shooting (MISS), in 1981 just south of Memphis, TN where he developed the most comprehensive firearms training program in the country.  For over 41 years, …

Continue reading ‘Book Review: Shoot To Win (John Shaw & Bill Currie, 1985)’ »

John Shaw dominated the competitive shooting scene during the 1980’s.  While being the captain and nine-year member of the World Champion U.S. I.P.S.C. Team, he won, or was the runner-up, in every major shooting competition in the world including: He is a self-taught shooter who recognized that the techniques and lessons he learned could be used …

Continue reading ‘Book Review: You Can’t Miss (John Shaw & Michael Bane, 1982)’ »

Firearms trainer Mike Conti has written a three-book fictionalized history of the life of famous FBI agent and gunfighter Jelly Bryce. “The Legend Begins” was book 1 of that series (reviewed previously), which continues in FBI Odyssey (book 2) and The Man In the Mirror (book 3) Bryce was an influential figure in the history …

Continue reading ‘Book Review: Jelly Bryce: FBI Odyssey/The Man in the Mirror (Conti, 2015/2016)’ »

Earlier this year Tom Givens sent me a signed copy of a book published by the Snub Gun Study Group – a group of trainers and shooters interested in the history and modern use of the short barreled revolver. More about this group can be found here. They also have a downloads page, including a …

Continue reading ‘Book Review: The Snubby Chronicles (various, 2021)’ »

Firearms trainer Mike Conti has written a three-book fictionalized history of the life of famous FBI agent and gunfighter Jelly Bryce. “The Legend Begins” is book 1 of that series. Bryce was an influential figure in the history of shooting training. His techniques became the core of FBI firearms training, which were taught to law …

Continue reading ‘Book Review: Jelly Bryce: The Legend Begins (Conti, 2014)’ »

This controversial work of fiction was written in the late 1990’s, after the assault weapon and magazine capacity bans were signed into law by Bill Clinton: after the Waco/Koresh standoff, the Ruby Ridge standoff, and the Oklahoma City bombing. Anti-government sentiment within the gun culture and the right was strong, and the militia movement was …

Continue reading ‘Book Review: Unintended Consequences (Ross, 1996)’ »