Customer Reviews

The Art of the Rifle: Special Color Edtion

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think this is a good "hot to" book, but honestly, I would have expected a little more from it... especially for the price.

I would recommend this book to new comers. Unless you are searching for a reference book, you should spend your money elsewhere if you are already involved in shooting.

If you've read all of "Jeff Coopers Commentaries" (formerly Gunsight Gossip), you've read everything in this book already. Col. Cooper distills his years of writings about rifles and shooting and places it into 21 easy, distinct chapters that encapsulate the ideas. This includes the ever popular question of "Why?"

Col. Cooper leaves politics out of it, which is refreshing. Rifles are amoral, inanimate objects entirely dependent on the purposes of the shooter.

The prohibitionist will rave against such a book, for "teaching snipers" or some such. Ignore them. Mastering shooting requires mastering ones self, and self control is beyond the awareness of prohibitionists.

" Pick up a rifle- a really good rifle- and if you know how to use it well, you change instantly from a mouse to a man.." writes the good Colonel.

Its disappointing how few books there are on the most basic principles of marksmanship, and how to use a rifle efficently. There is lots of pelf written for people who fancy themselves as Green Beret Snipers, but very little indeed on the most basic principles of marksmenship. And there is this book.

Anyone who uses a rifle will benefit from this book. A begineer could not get a better teacher. A person familier with rifles will get enough information to progress to expert. And an expert will still learn enough to make the book worthwhile, or at the very least be able to enjoy Col. Coopers unique writing style. A Parent wishing to teach their daughter or son how to shoot would be well served with this as a gift for them.

There are 20 chapters covering safety (nice to see), firing positions, breathing, rests and so on. The Colonel does not usually go into much depth in the WHY of things- keep your barrel off the rest as it affects trajectery , without launching into a long discourse on barrel harmonics. Despite being reasonably brief there is a lot to comprehend and practice, so you will be dealving into it for some time.

The only gripes I have is some- but not all- of the ample illustrations are a tad over and under exposed so they are not as clear as one would like. This is common, alas, with Paladin books. Generally the photos are good and the dust cover is handsome.

Most highly recommended.