Ernest Hemingway is a mythic writer and alpha male. As a hunter and conservationist, he drew greatly from the strong example of Theodore Roosevelt, and he much enjoyed teaching newcomers to shoot and hunt. Including short excerpts from Hemingway's works, these stories of his guns and rifles tell us as much about him as a lifelong, expert hunter and shooter and as a man.

A “well-researched and very readable new biography” (The Wall Street Journal) of “the Thomas Edison of guns,” a visionary inventor who designed the modern handgun and whose awe-inspiring array of firearms helped ensure victory in numerous American wars and holds a crucial place in world history. Few people are aware that John Moses Browning—a tall, humble, cerebral man born in 1855 and raised as a Mormon in the American West—was the mind behind many of the world-changing firearms that dominated more than a century of conflict. He invented the design used in virtually all modern pistols, created the most popular hunting rifles and shotguns, and conceived the machine guns that proved decisive not just in World Wars I and II but nearly every major military action since. Yet few in America knew his name until he was into his sixties. Now, author Nathan Gorenstein brings firearms inventor John Moses Browning to vivid life in this riveting and revealing biography. Embodying the tradition of self-made, self-educated geniuses (like Lincoln and Edison), Browning was able to think in three dimensions (he never used blueprints) and his gifted mind produced everything from the famous Winchester “30-30” hunting rifle to the awesomely effective machine guns used by every American aircraft and infantry unit in World War II. The British credited Browning’s guns with helping to win the Battle of Britain. His inventions illustrate both the good and bad of weapons. Sweeping, lively, and brilliantly told, this fascinating book that “gun collectors and historians of armaments will cherish” (Kirkus Reviews) introduces a little-known legend whose impact on history ranks with that of the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford.

When a soldier must face multiple opponents at close quarters, few weapons can match the effectiveness of the shotgun. From World War I to the War on Terror, the shotgun has been a devastating weapon in the hands of US troops. For urban combat, prisoner control and shipboard operations, it remains as deadly today as it was a century ago. This book examines various types, from the early combat shotguns through to the riot gun and trench gun versions used in World War l. So effective was the trench shotgun, the Germans complained it violated the “Rules of War” as an inhumane weapon, and threatened to execute troops captured carrying one. More recently during the War on Terror, shotguns have been used to clear cave complexes in Afghanistan and buildings in Iraq, but especially to blow doors open during entries and searches. Featuring specially commissioned full-color artwork, this is the story of the origins, development and the use of the combat shotgun in US service, from the trenches of World War l, to the Korean and Vietnamese Wars and lately the cave complexes of Afghanistan.

A complete compendium of rifles and shotguns through the ages. A "rifled" firearm is one in which the projectile is made to spin as it travels up the bore. The term "rifle," however, was originally applied to muskets to differentiate them from the earlier smoothbore weapons and is used today to designate the infantryman's personal weapon, fired from the shoulder or the hip, or, in some modern weapons, from a bipod. The rifle has also been used by sportsmen to kill larger game and was also used as a working tool by cowboys and trappers during the period of Western Expansion. It progressed from being a muzzle-loader to a breechloading, bolt-operated weapon, then to a semi-automatic weapon, and finally to a lightweight "assault rifle." The emphasis throughout these developments has been in increasing the rate of fire, reducing the weight and making the weapons more accurate, simpler to fire, more reliable, and easier to maintain. The shotgun is a smoothbore weapon originally developed as a hunting device for killing fast moving, flying or running prey. Loaded with shot (many small projectiles) the chances of hitting a moving target was greatly enhanced. Like the rifle, the shotgun has undergone similar progression from muzzle-loader to breechloader, bolt action, and finally semi-automatic mode. The weapon has also seen military use in trench warfare and special operations as well as riot suppression by the police. The Illustrated Catalog of Rifles and Shotguns shows the reader over 500 longarms of all types form the early flintlocks of the revolutionary period, the percussion cap rifles and repeaters of the Civil War, the famous rifles and shotguns of the Wild West, the standard infantry rifles of two World Wars, to the present day with Assault Rifles, and combat shotguns, together with state-of-the-art sporting rifles and shotguns. Each entry has a color photo along with a description and a technical specification. It is arranged in alphabetical order within five historical periods: Historic, Civil War, The Frontier, Two World Wars, and Modern, plus a separate comprehensive Shotgun section.

All about shotguns from their history to gauges, sights, barrels, chambers, shot size, etc.