Building books

[melsdad]

If you had the "Gunsmith Of Greenville County" , "The Art Of Building The Pennsylvania Longrifle", and "Rifles Of Colonial America #1"

I read that the Greenville County book has similar information as the Recreating American Longrifles book. Is this true?

Would you still purchase "Recreating American Longrifles"??

[Captchee]

yes its true . however  Peter Alexander goes more into detail with photo explanations
 Where shummway  isn’t  . he uses drawings . So what  happens a lot of times is that you have to picture in you mind what he is talking about  when he hasn’t included a drawing .
Drawings also  don’t provide other information  that can often be discerned in a photo

Would you still purchase "Recreating American Longrifles"??

 well thats up to you . i learned long ago from  shummways book  and frankly dont see a need to buy Alexanders .
I think if you already have Alexanders then  there probably isnt a reason to have shummways past  seeing a diffrent builders point of view .
Myself i thing shummways makes a builder think more . so you end up starting out with your own style . where with Alexanders , becouse of the deatiled information , you end up building his way and only his way  without alot of your own reasoning  behind what your building

[melsdad]

Thank you Charles! Very helpful as ususal!

[Buzzard]

I agree with Captchee: I just finished Alexander's revised version and can say i really didn't learn much of anything new!

[rollingb]

i learned long ago from  shummways book  and frankly dont see a need to buy Alexanders .

Same here.  

[huntinguy]

if I may chime in here.

It depends on where you are. In my case I am just starting my learning. I have both of these books - The Gunsmith of Grenville County and Recreating American Longrifles.

The Gunsmith of Grenville County is a much expanded version of RAL. It also gives more details and better descriptions and explanations. Because of my limited knowledge (though I didn't realize how limited at the time) Gunsmith of Grenville County changed my mind on how I looked at longrifles. It helped me understand the mechanical aspect better (many more diagrams and explanations) as well as understanding styles.

IF I was to get just one it would be Gunsmith of Grenville County. Having said that, though they do cover the same ground... kinda... I have no regrets having both.

[melsdad]

Thank you all for the help!

[StaticXD00d]

I have all 4, plus Dixon's book, Kindig's book, Meek's Art of Engraving, Gunsmithing Tips & Projects, Gunstock Checkering and Carving... you can't have too many books on guns and gun building.

[ridjrunr]

I agree 100% with static. The more resources,the better. Plus they are books you can keep and refer to for years. I have both Recreating and Gunsmith of GC,both are great reads.
When it comes to this type of info and other books to study from,IMO,you can't have too many. It is an investment in knowledge and study. I plan to keep mine the rest of my life.