Shooter's Bible Guide to Cartridges

I'm 60. I was given my first gun at "about" age 4 or 5, and it was a Stevens Favorite in 25 rimfire. My father made it inactive by filing off the firing pin, but I had great fun hauling it around, acting like I was shooting/hunting, with a real gun. I did not fire a gun until I was 8 or 9 and it was a .270 off a bench rest. The rest of my years have me owning upwards of 50 guns - rifles, pistols & shotguns. I reload for all & cast bullets. The point of my rambling, is that in spite of being around guns virtually my entire life, and seeing so much literature, new and old, it is refreshing to come across a book like this that I find thoroughly enjoyable. The book is of very high quality print, with glossy stock for print and pictures alike. The content is arranged by similar qualities of the cartridges and gives an excellent description of the pedigree of each. The content is also extremely accurate, which is very important for safety reasons. I would whole heartedly recommend the purchase of this book for anyone with just a passing interest in firearms & cartridges, up to those who approach expert status. It would make an excellent companion to "Cartridges of the World", or even to a book like Ken Water's "Pet Loads". It would be an excellent addition for novices just taking up reloading, along with books like one of the Lyman reloading manuals and one of the "ABC's of Reloading". It would pair nicely with any book on hunting, giving the reader an understanding of the ability of various cartridges. Simply, it belongs on the shelf of anyone at all interested in not just shooting a gun, but also understanding the mechanics of what is being fired.

I found this book to be full of interesting data. I normally use this kind of book to lookup data for a project that I am working on. Not so, here..... I looked up a few cartridges when I first got it and ended up going to the first one in the book and reading it like a novel. Some thing new and interesting on every page! At this point I am half way through it and should finish it in a week. It has to be the best way to present data I have ever seen.

Very well written book and interesting to learn about the differences and development of different cartridges over the years and how new ones were developed. Also helps you pick the right caliber for what you're looking at doing with the weapon.

As something of a beginner in this particular niche of knowledge, I am not entirely sure what to make of this text. But then again I'm also not even sure what I was expecting or wanting. So I am left to say that overall it's certainly "fine" in terms of going over the most important families of cartridge types. And I do like seeing the groupings by "family," in the way the book is organized, as that helps me sort out the bewildering array of different designations. The history, too, is helpful in grokking why certain variants exist. The overall presentation, however, is a bit quirky and suffers from some lack of clear organizational structure. It also seems to me that the book doesn't quite know what it really wants to be. Is it a beginner's introduction or is it an in-depth history? The text sort of oscillates back and forth between those poles, and the result is a read-through that is at times a bit confusing. The effect on me is I'm presented with information which, even as a beginner, I deem as quite elementary. And then on the other hand there are bits and pieces of information dropped in a context whereby it seems assumed the reader understands what is being talked about, but in fact are a complete mystery to the uninitiated. What I think is truly missing is a chapter that sort of "ties it all together." I'm a very visual sort of learner who benefits from a birds-eye overview. I'd have loved to have seen a chart that cross-compares all the major cartridge types, along with some descriptive text that lays-out the main characteristics and use cases for each. So overall while the book is interesting and useful, it's a bit quirky. I'll keep it around but probably still on the hunt for the right volume to fulfill my interests.

i found this book interesting one time but unless you are anal about ballistics and a serious reloader as i am not the shooters bible is still the book for me this book has every measurment of anything you could measure not really the right book for me never be able to absorb all the imformation i don't regret buying it there are lots of history of shells that is interesting but this one should last me forever

There's a ton of information in this book for someone like me who has a number of firearms but a very rudimentary knowledge of cartridges. Some of it was a bit too technical for my background, but I learned a lot now and the rest will be a good reference that I can use in conjunction with the Internet, if I need to.

You can find more, and better, information about individual cartridges online for free, if you know what cartridge you are interested in. Otherwise, a far better choice would be Cartridges of the World: 10th Edition, Revised and Expanded , which provides excellent information on current and outdated rifle and handgun cartridges, however it does not have anything on the slew of new short and ultra short rifle cartridges which have recently come on the market. In any case, you can research those online, and it would be wise to question how long any of these will stay in production; you don't want to get stuck with a rifle that requires ammunition that is no longer available, or that you can't find locally when you are off somewhere hunting. As far as I can see, this book only gives you extremely brief, superficial information on each cartridge, and for someone new to the shooting sports, maybe it would provide for a starting point for further research, but I'm certain that years from now you will come to realize that most of what's out there on guns and cartridges is baloney aimed strictly at marketing and selling. The most significant change in ammunition in recent years is the technological advances made in bullets (the actual projectile of the cartridge), which has increased the effeciency and lethality of ammunition, and learning something about bullets is well worth the effort. I have recommended and earlier edition of Cartridges Of The World because I actually own it and have read it to a dog-eared state, and I have noted some complaints of the newest edition. I also noted that Guide To Cartridges failed to warn the reader of the importance of recoil with many of the magnum calibers, which should always be considered before deciding on a big game rifle. Conventional wisdom through the years has demonstrated that a .30-06 is about all the recoil most people can tolerate, and the .300 Winchester Magnum caliber and greater are distinctly unpleasant, or even painful, so I believe it is important for a book to educate the reader regarding the "shootability" of a cartridge for the individual, because after all, what good is a great and powerful cartridge if you can't shoot it well? How often you shoot also has a lot to do with how much recoil you can comfortably tolerate (to an extent, of course), so actually shooting a caliber before spending your money is a good idea. Maybe a friend can take you shooting, or find a range that offers instruction and can rent you a rifle to try out, to see if it suits you. As far as handgun cartridges go, you may find that bigger is not always better, and revolvers are easier to shoot than semi-automatics, and again, find a range that will rent you a handgun to shoot and try a few to get a feeling for what is best for you.

Tons of info laid out in an easy to read format

libro che va nel particolare introvabile in lingua italiana, ottime illustrazioni. lo consiglio nella biblioteca anche a chi è digiuno di inglese

Would have wished for more details. The net has this info and more.

Bom livro

Purchased for a gift, recipient loved it!

I was pleasantly surprised. The book is well written and the layout and format along with colour diagrams and fotos makes for an interesting read.