Learning

The earliest European explorers and seekers of freedom to arrive on American shores carried with them loud, inaccurate blunderbusses that were the progenitors of distinctively American long arms. Early Americans, from self-reliant New England colonists to the rough-hewn woodsmen of the western frontier (then referred to as “Ken-tuck-ee”) depended upon their smooth-bore muskets and later, their long rifles, to hunt for food, protect themselves from wild predators and defend themselves from Indian attacks.

Colonial Americans’ widespread proficiency with firearms and the use of more accurate long guns, with helical grooves cut into their bores, enabled colonists to take on British soldiers and Hessian mercenaries, changing forever the nature of military small arms conflict.

Continuing innovations in small arms and ammunition, from repeating rifles and revolvers to the replacement of black powder, lead balls and paper wrapping with metallic cartridges containing powder and primer and tipped with aerodynamic bullets, facilitated America’s western expansion.

From times before the Civil War, through WWI, legendary firearms inventors and manufacturers, such Colt, Smith & Wesson, Remington, Winchester and Browning, have been associated in the public consciousness with America’s “gun culture.” While less known to the public, 20th Century gun inventors such as John Garand, whose eponymous M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle was carried by millions of GIs and Marines during WWII, and Eugene Stoner, who conceived, designed and developed the Vietnam War-era M16 and its civilian counterpart, the AR-15, have influenced modern history, from the 1940s to today.

If you really want to learn about guns, you need to understand their role in American History! You may also wish to delve into firearms science and technology, firearms laws and regulation, the 2nd Amendment, the development of the firearms industry, and the role firearms have played on the battlefield.

Recommended Reading

Accuracy and Precision for Long Range Shooting: A Practical Guide for Riflemen and Applied Ballistics for Long-Range Shooting, by Bryan Litz.  Written by an aerospace engineer, professional ballistician and competitive long-range shooter, these two books (part of series of books by Litz) translate PhD-level science into language, graphics and data that students of ballistics and practitioners of long-range riflery can understand and apply.
American Rifle: A Biography, by Alexander Rose. An engaging, detail-packed, historical account of the rifle in America.
America’s Rifle, by Stephen P. Halbrook. A close examination of the history of the AR-15 and the legal basis for ownership of the semi-automatic rifle owned by millions of Americans.
First Freedom: A Ride Through America’s Enduring History with the Gun, by David Harsanyi. A wide-ranging history of how America’s “gun culture” evolved, with many fascinating historical, technical, and cultural details not covered in other books more focused on guns and their inventors.
Gun Barrons: The Weapons that Transformed America and the Men Who Invented Them, by John Bainbridge, Jr. An informative and entertaining history of American firearms and the storied figures who invented, manufactured and marketed them.
Gun Control in the Third Reich, by Stephen P. Halbrook. Learn about the systematic elimination of private ownership of firearms during the Third Reich.
Lock, Stock, and Barrel: The Origins of American Gun Culture, by Clayton E. Cramer. A richly sourced text about the historical and legal foundations of privately owned firearms in America and the Second Amendment.
Revolver: Sam Colt and the Six-Shooter that Changed America, by Jim Rasenberger. An informative, highly entertaining account of the life, times and inventions of Sam Colt and his famous revolver.
The Frontiersman, by Allan W. Eckert. Eckert wrote a well-regarded series of five historically accurate, meticulously documented novels about the struggles for land and empire between American colonists, Native Americans, the French and the British in pre-revolutionary America. The Frontiersman focuses on one early American (based on a real figure in history) and his reliance on firearms during his eventful and dangerous life in the wilds of the Ohio River Valley.
The Guns of John Moses Browning: The Remarkable Story of the Inventor Whose Firearms Changed the World, by Nathan Gorenstein. The story of an American original, who invented some of the most important firearms of the 20th Century—including many of the dominant military arms that were carried by soldiers and Marines (the BAR and M19 machine guns) and installed on ground vehicles, aircraft and naval ships during WWII (the famous M2, or “Ma Deuce” heavy machine gun).
The Winchester, by Laura Trevely. A revealing and entertaining expose of the rise and fall of the Winchester gun dynasty, written by a descendent of Oliver Winchester.
Undaunted Courage, by Stephen E. Ambrose. This book about the Lewis and Clark Expedition does a splendid job of describing the vitally important role that firearms played on the early 19th Century American frontier.
The Founder’s Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms, by Stephen P. Halbrook. A well referenced account of the origins of the Second Amendment, based on statements of America’s founders and historical source material from 1768 to 1826, including newspapers, written correspondence, debates and resolutions.