Professional Gunsmithing - A Textbook on the Repair and Alteration of Firearms - With Detailed Notes and Suggestions Relative to the Equipment and Operation of a Commercial Gun Shop Paperback – Illustrated, December 21, 2010

This is one excellent book for a novice and intermediary level gunsmith. Even though it was written in the late 40s or early 50s, this book is NOT, obsolete or irrelevant. It contains a wealth of useful information and actually explains the "why" in addition to "how-to". It covers the fundamentals really well. The only other volume that also deserves a 5 star rating is the book by Roy Dunlap called "Gunsmithing". Get both of these volumes if you are serious about learning the fundamentals. One last thing: the kindle edition costs 10 times less than the hard cover. At the time of this writing it is only $4.74 - imho a steal.

I think this book is a great reference text. This book should be on the beginners as well the pro's book shopping list.It shows you how to make some useful gun smith tools, vise jaws, and how to use old Atlas lathes and Mills from the 40's. The book does not go into great detail on Lathe or Mill use but there are pictures to help guide you. You should have prior machine shop training on lathe and mills.Great Book I am glad I spent the money on it, even though the copyright is 1946 the information is timeless.K.D.

I have put much effort into reading gunsmith books, and my view is the "NEW" books are just crap. This book combined with the book by Roy Dunlap, have been the most useful. They are both dated, so if you are interested in fixing an AR, this wont help. However, if you want to learn how to tune a revolver, how guns actually work this is the book for you. Unlike the new works it does not mention brownells catalog on every page, which is nice. It was written in a time when the purpose of a book was to transmit information and not just advertise more products.I have taken the AGI professional gunsmith series and this book seems to follow the premiss of teaching design function and repair.Anyway, I'm surprised to see so few reviews becuase this is a hidden classic.

While this books is obviously around 50 years old (he mentions that "the war" will probably have a negative impact on Germany's gun industry), some information is simply timeless. In these days of CNC and computer-driven milling, this book still contains a wealth of invaluable information. Sometimes there are issues that you just can't fix with your $20,000 lathe, and this book can help explain many of them away.This book has already paid for itself 5 times over in my gunsmithing business, as it's helped me resolve several issues that some of the "new age" smiths in town were clueless about. By the time the customers came to me, they thought their gun was trashed... this book helped save their weapons, and made me some cash in the process! I have no issues giving it 5 stars.

The outdated nature of the book loses it a star. All people who tinker with guns can learn a great deal from this text.4 stars

You can tell this was written some time ago. However, all the tips and information still stand. Some comments about things like synthetic stocks and pistol vs revolver are old enough you can tell that there wasn't anything but a poor plastic for stocks and revolvers were much more reliable than pistols at the time. I wouldn't hesitate a moment to buy this book again, it is well worth the money and I haven't finished reading it yet.

Since this book was written a good number of changes in gunsmithing technology and techniques have changed. That being said the book is a wealth of good basic knowledge on firearms repair and maintenance as well as proper techniques.

A very wonderful book, it contains a lot of information on professional gunsmithing. A very good book. Liked it alot.Thanks

Not in the same league as Dunlap, but with some handy tips and tecniques still relevant to the modern gunsmith and gun restorer. I would however steer well clear of any of the reccomended chemical treatements, even if you could obtain the chemicals he suggests.Rather too much subjective opinion to be technically useful, however does give an interesting insight into the world of the pre war jobbing gunsmith in America.