Building the Gunsmithing Library: Part 1, The Classics

For the would-be gunsmith just starting out, the choices in books must seem intimidating in the extreme. Where do you start? In my opinion, you start at the beginning— with the basics. In this article, I’ll tell you about some of my favorite basic books—books that have helped to launch an untold number of gunsmithing careers. And then in future issues, I’ll tell you about some of the books I’ve found invaluable on more advanced and specialized areas of gunsmithing.

I’m sure it wasn’t the first book on gunsmithing ever published, but it might be the most well known, and it was very instrumental in helping me get started. That book is titled simply Gunsmithing, by Roy Dunlap. Originally published in 1950 by Thomas G. Samworth, a publisher who specialized in these special-interest titles, this book has been continuously updated and available for many years. My copy is a second edition, dated 1963.

This edition has artwork featuring the late Alvin Linden working in his Wisconsin shop. Later editions are available from web vendors like Amazon.com or auction sites like e Bay; the newest edition has a different cover illustration and is available from outfits like Brownells or Barnes & Noble. Gunsmithing has 35 chapters covering subjects like setting up the shop and purchasing tools, to various metalworking skills such as soldering, brazing, welding, and heat treating.

Roy was one of those rare gunsmith/ craftsmen who did it all, working in both wood as a stockmaker and a metalworker installing custom barrels, along with fabricating an assortment of target shooting accessories. Since his shop was built around target shooting and later silhouette shooting, he made complete rifles for both sports. Some of his items were so popular they were used by military teams as well as Winchester and Remington factory teams.

Eight separate chapters in Gunsmithing are devoted to the design, fabrication, and finishing of wood gunstocks. (Alternate materials for stocks, especially molded fiberglass, were still decades away.) There is also a substantial amount of data and dimensions on various cartridges. Gunsmithing contains a wealth of detail on various personalities involved in the trade, both prewar and post-war, including names like Joe Pfeiffer, Bliss Titus, Tom Shelhammer, and W. A. Sukalle.

One of Dunlop’s later chapters, "Ornamentation of Wood and Metal," contains memorable illustrations including game scenes on a Ballard receiver by Arnold Griebel and also an early-model Winchester 52 target-rifle presentation piece modified by stockmaker Thomas Shelhammer and engraved by Rudolph Kornbrath. This later piece was recently sold at an auction for $65,000!

Dunlap did no such fancy work himself, and didn’t even like to checker pistol grips on his target rifles, but he certainly recognized the great work of others. All in all, Gunsmithing is a great book and a great first choice for anyone wishing to build up a set of references. Its only weakness is a lack of coverage on firearms created after the late 1950s. But, of course, there are other books that do that. An earlier book, mentioned in Dunlap’s dedication, is Clyde Baker’s Modern Gunsmithing.

Baker, born in 1893, came from an earlier era. His book was first published in 1933, and he died at a relatively young age in 1943. The copy of Baker’s book I have is a revision by well-known author J. E. Traister. (Traister was the original editor of American Gunsmith.) As with Dunlap’s book, this one was also published by Stackpole.

Modern Gunsmithing includes 34 chapters with nearly 600 pages of details on nearly every gunsmithingrelated subject imaginable. The late Townsend Whelen contributed chapters titled "Rifle Barrel Design and Fitting," "Chambering and Barrel Work," and "Cartridge Design." Whelen had the good fortune to live much longer than Baker, and his experience in charge of the Frankfort Arsenal as well as positions on the U. S.

Army Ordinance Staff gave him unmatched experience in the development and manufacture of military small arms and ammunition. Modern Gunsmithing is a great companion book to Gunsmithing. While both books overlap and cover the same subjects, they aren’t identical and it is worthwhile to own both. Both Dunlap’s and Baker’s books are written in a conversational style.

It’s easy to imagine sitting in the author’s shop listening to him explain some particular point, and then having him follow up with a demonstration as well. The Modern Gunsmith by James Virgil Howe—a two-volume set—is quite different from the aforementioned books. With Howe, the reading experience is like sitting in a college professor’s classroom combined with tours of then-current firearms factories. Howe had an even broader experience than either of the other previous authors.

Prior to writing The Modern Gunsmith, he was in charge of the Small-Arms Experimental Division at Frankford Arsenal, where he worked closely with Townsend Whelan. He also helped found the custom gun firm of Griffin & Howe in New York city, which still exists, many decades later. I believe he was also the editor or The American Rifleman magazine for at least several years in the 1950s. Howe’s book was first published in 1934, then re-released in 1937 and again in 1941.

The copies I have were reprints from June of 1945. The publisher was Funk & Wagnalls and the result is something more akin to a college text in both appearance and content. The first volume of The Modern Gunsmith has 29 chapters and 170 illustrations in over 400 pages of material.

Topics covered include how to saw planks from alog, how to "remodel" various service rifles, instructions for fabricating hand tools and checkering cradles, how to sharpen drill bits, details on the Lyman #48 receiver sight and the #103 tang sight, and—among other things—details on both etching and engraving.

The second volume further expands with additional material on the previous subjects, plus information A final book from the World War II era I want to suggest is Professional Gunsmithing by Walter Howe. (I’ve been unable to determine if James V.

Howe and Walter Howe were related or if the two authors with the same last name is just a coincidence.) Walter’s book was published in 1946 by Stackpole Books, which, like Samworth, was one of the main publishers of firearms books of the day. (It appears to me that Thomas G. Samworth was first employed by Stack- Volume II pole and later started publishing fireon tool making, die making, and details on iron and steel, including heat treatment.

Chapters 8 through 14 cover rifle-barrel design and fitting, barrel tools and their construction, barrel drilling and reaming, rifling, barrel turning, chambering and headspacing, relining, striking and polishing, and finally bluing and browning. In the middle of all this is a chapter on the design and conversion of guns for the .22 caliber Hornet. The latter includes information from the man who helped create that cartridge, Captain G. A. Woody.

In overall size, Volume II of The Modern Gunsmith is equal to Volume I in that there are another 28 chapters and 400 pages of material. In looking at both volumes, it seems that Howe finished Volume I and then felt there was more to add on many of the subjects in Volume I, plus a number of other topics that just had to get some coverage. Volume II includes information on bullet swages and caseresizing dies, as well as the construction of bullet molds.

There is also a lengthy chapter titled "Restoration and Preservation of Antique Firearms". Volume II concludes with what the author describes as a "Supplement," which encompasses ten more chapters and over 60 pages covering topics such as a safety analysis of materials used for barrels and receivers, barrel stresses and strains, finishes and surfaces, high-velocity experiments, and details on gunpowder.

The Supplement concludes with information on semi-automatic military weapons, with details on the Johnson, Pedersen, and Garand rifles.

arm titles on his own.) Unlike the other books, which dwell on gunsmithing tools and techniques, Walter Howe’s book deals primarily with the business side of gunsmithing, including topics such as business setup and customer relationships, shop setup and equipment, special tools and fixtures, and handling guns taken in for repairs. Much emphasis is placed on reviewing costs and pricing work.

From Chapter 1, Howe’s cardinal rules of running a gunsmithing business are: 1) Be exemplary in the handling of guns at all times; 2) don’t make promises you can’t keep; 3) keep abreast of all the latest models and calibers and stay informed on the latest technical developments in the arms and ammunition field; 4) Know and live up to all the laws regarding traffic in firearms, ammunition, and components thereof; 5) don’t compromise with safety in repair work; 6) don’t take on jobs that are beyond your abilities or facilities; and 7) know your customer.

These business rules are just as important today as they were 60 years ago. However, some of the calculations of various costs and pricing are just a tad obsolete. Costs and wages have inflated greatly since this book was published, but the principals of calculating overhead and developing prices remain the same. There are some common chapters in all of these books, particularly with respect to shop equipment.

On this subject, Walter Howe has some different ideas and goes into some different areas, such as designs for firing-pin protrusion gauges, a tool for removing revolver cylinder ratchets, a revolver recoil-plate tool, a shop-made stockbolt screwdriver for two-piece stocks, ideas for bore-examination mirrors, and a plunger-tube rivet-set.

In addition, Howe covers special taps for thread chasing, barrel-dent removers for shotguns, special clamps for oneand two-piece stocks, a vise for holding pins, a magazine-dent remover, and fabrication of both bottoming chisels and rasps. In my opinion, if a copy of Walter Howe’s book can be located, it would be an asset to any professional’s library. Conclusions Any of the volumes mentioned here have much to say to today’s gunsmith, despite having been published years ago.

Although much time has passed, many if not most of the firearm designs the gunsmith deals with on a daily basis are even older than these books. Of course, none of these authors anticipated the conversion of the Colt M1911 into what are know today as a "race gun," and they certainly weren’t aware of the "black guns" so in demand by today’s shooting public. But when you’re starting out to build a gunsmith’s library, you want to start with the basics, and any of these authors can provide that for you.

The availability of these books is not exactly good, with only Dunlap’s Gunsmithing on sale at Brownells. Copies can often be picked up through the classified sections of gun magazines, through used-book dealers like Amazon.com, and they regularly appear on the online auction websites like e Bay. My favorites, in case you’re wondering, are James V. Howe’s twovolume The Modern Gunsmith and Gunsmithing by Roy Dunlap. ■