Reddit mentions: The best collectible weapons books

Awesome! Glad to see another person interested, smithing is fun! Getting started is actually pretty easy as long as long as you aren't planning on crafting gorgeous blades right off the get-go. You really only need a few things:

• A forge (these can be built surprisingly cheap if you are inclined)
  
• Coal or charcoal to fire the forge (not bricket charcoal)
  
• A smithing hammer
  
• An anvil (can be as simple as a piece of railroad)
  
• Steel (I recommend starting with 1095, railroad spikes, or rebar).
  
• A bucket of oil or water (depending on the steel) to quench the blade in.
  
• A magnet. Those ones on the long extending stick are the best. (This is for checking the heat of the steel when tempering it)
  
  An anvil can be pricey, even used, if you get a real one but a piece of railroad can be obtained pretty cheaply though not always easily. Don't pay more than $2-4 a pound for an anvil if you buy a used one. The heavier, the better but starting out it should at least weigh 60+ lbs, preferably 150+. Don't try to use a jeweler's anvil or a cast iron anvil. There's some good videos covering types of anvils and where to find them. Everything else will be easy and cheap to obtain.
  
  You can find all the info you need to get started by searching YouTube for knife making or knife smithing. Walter Sorrells in particular has a good channel with some high quality videos. He focuses more on making knives from steel blanks than on forging, but he does have a couple of good forge videos and happens to have spent some time studying under Japanese smiths so he has some decent info on forging Japanese swords and knives if you are interested. Honestly, for a normal knife/sword the forging isn't that hard, it's the finishing part that takes all the time, effort, and skill. (Not to downplay the skills of most medieval smiths, they had to be much more precise in their smithing than we do today because we have power sanders and grinders to quickly fix mistakes). Most YouTube channels will focus on smithing knives instead of swords and I recommend you start with the same even though swords are awesome. It's the same techniques and process, but knives are cheaper to practice on and swords are more difficult to get right.
  
  If you want or prefer a book, there are a few good ones for sale on Amazon. The Backyard Blacksmith, The Complete Modern Blacksmith, The $50 Knife Shop, How to Make Knives, and The Wonder of Knife Making are all great beginner books (only the last two deal with actually making knives). When you get some practice under your belt, Jim Hrisoulas has a couple of books on bladesmithing that are designed for experienced smiths who want to build better blades and deals with swords specifically.

there is a book called 50$ knife shop that would be a good start. ABANA also has a level one beginning blacksmithing project guide. I would recomend trying that. its helpful.

as for the cheapest and dirtiest way to forge a knife, take a leaf spring or coil spring heat it up to orange color smash it flat on a flat hard surface (an anvil), forge a point on one end and a tang (handle) on the other. you can attempt to forge bevels too, but that part is hard to do correctly. it is absolutly necesary to beale to forge flat and straight. this is also hard to do. you can grind/ file a bevel from a flat, but you cant grind/ file something from crooked to straight.

once you have a straight flat forged to shape blade you take it to the grinder to remove scale. this can be done with a hand grinder or a belt grinder, but scale will eat belts fast!!! so a hand grinder is more cost efective. with the scale removed you are ready to grind/ file your primary bevel. No grinder? then clamp your blade to a 2x4 and get at it with some files. first establish a bevel then draw file it flat. (remember when draw filing right hand pushes and left hand pulls) once you have the blade filed its time to sand all those ugly marks out. i sand to 220 or so then heat treat...

heat treat... use simple steel like OTS (old truck spring/ 5160) heat to nonmagnetic then quench in warm canola oil. take it out and check with a file. it should slide across it like glass. if the file dosent bite you have a hard blade. now go temper it at around 400 deg for 2 hours twice. (4 hr total)

now you have a heat treated and tempered blade. you can sharpen it and test it now. file or grind your final bevel then sharpen on a stone. go chop some 2x4s and then try to cut some paper. if you got a good edge you should be able to chop multiple 2x4s and still have a sharp blade. if the edge chips or rolls something went wrong. go rebevel the edge and re sharpen. test again. Chips mean the edge is too thin or HT didnt go right. fix your problems hear not later. make a good preforming blade before you make it pretty.

now make it pretty, back to hand sanding. start at 120 and work your way to 400 or so. make sure to completely remove the marks form the previous grit sand paper. before moving to a finer grit. careful not to cut yourself when hand sanding. your blade should be razor sharp by now.

in all honesty id start with stock removal and if you still want to forge knives build up to it. for me forging is easy and fun. its the stock removal part thats the hard work. if you dont mind the stock removal part you will be a lot less frustrated...

your dad sounds like mine, but with my dad I leave buying stuff that he likes up to him because he knows what he wants. That and a lot of stuff with sports logos on it are cheap knick knacks or gag gift things that won't really do anything except say "Hey I like this team"

Since your dad isnt too tech savvy like mine is as well, I would suggest a good wrist watch. looks good, but is tough and wont shatter if he drops it. A good watch is really the only "accessory" a man really needs. This watch here
can be used out on the golf course or any sporting event while also looking good. It's an analog watch, there's nothing digital about it. Each band is all one peice so you don't have to worry about any breaking parts or pinching. It's water resistant so if he spills any hot sauce on it there won't be any problem.

If I should be chosen I would really appreciate this gladius or this book whichever would be fantastic.

For the OP, there were ways of making steel into sheets or at least plates in the later middle ages and early modern period: water-powered trip hammers. You can see an early modern in action shaping a billet of steel in Sweden here and can see a fairly realistic rendering in the background of this very allegorical painting of Venus visiting the forge of Vulcan asking him to forge the armour of Aeneas. It may have been used for rough shaping by actual armourers, but it could also (and perhaps more importantly) be used to flatten blooms of steel or iron into plates that were more easily worked. By contrast, rolling steel is a 17th century process, more or less, and so was not used for most of the period that plate armour was used.

I'm going to answer this separately since it's actually a bit different than the question in the OP. If you're talking about a historical method of making armour finished that doesn't involve some combination of cold and hot work with a hammer, no, there isn't any good evidence for such a process being used historically, at least none I've seen that's convincing. The only alternative I can think of to hammering out plate armour is stamping it using a kind of dye, which is both much more coplex from your perspective and something that I have yet to see evidence for. Probably the best writing I've seen on the historical methods of armourers at the forge is the Phd Thesis of Nickolas Dupras, which analyzed tool inventories, other written accounts and most importantly the actual hammer marks on surviving armours to try to determine working methods. In no examples that he analyzed were there any signs that the metal was shaped by anything other than a hammer. Now, in his Phd Thesis Matthias Goll did argue for some kind of water-powered stamping mechanism, but the argument he presents for this is tenuous, involving the similarities of surviving pieces (it's possible that some armours were hammered on forms that would contain the basic shape of say, a breastplate but that is different), a rather strained reading of an allegorical biography of Maximilian I and little else that I can recall, though it has been some time since I read the thesis.

Regarding the last part, the laborious work of polishing? That's also inevitable, unless you want to make an armour 'rough from the hammer'. Historians like Tobias Capwell estimate that polishing was the majority of labor hours in producing plate armour, and then as now armourers tried to use labor saving devices like polishing wheels powered by water (at least by circa 1500).

Fortunately for you if you are simply seeking to make armour most modern armourers seem to take advantages of alternative means of heating steel like various gas torches, so your ability to forge something in this day and age isn't restricted by the size of your actual forge. There are a number of books and how-tos on making armour, many of them not very good and pretty much all of them more about creating the right look than using the right methods. However the best of the lot is still probably Techniques of Medieval Armour Reproduction: The Fourteenth Century. You may want to try to do things 'the real way' and that's admirable but frankly it's very difficult to do it in this day and age - raw materials are too different and moreover the whole way armourers work has changed due to changes in the labor market. Modern armourers are solitary artisans that do all steps themselves. By contrast medieval and early modern armourers were working in workshops with multiple people - at least a couple or a handful, but as many as dozens, and they were working in a larger community of artisans that could allow for division of labor and economies of scale. This made shaping steel, finishing it and polishing it all using hand or water-powered tools and (char)coal fired forges for heat more feasible than it is for a single person working in their backyard, garage or shed today. That larger social context is something we need to think about whenever we think about reconstructing objects from the past or trying to learn about historical methods of craft through practicing our trades in the modern day.

Caveat: I am not an armourer.

It's a collection of anecdotes from an arms developer. More than anything it gives an overview as to the mentality and function of American arms development, acquisition, and industry during the cold war.

It's a fairly thin book and in some ways it feels both a bit too dry, and a bit to light on information.
The author is happy to throw a big list of numbers in your face, but at the same time he omits big chunks of the story most readers would likely find interesting.

I don't think it's a bad book, I enjoyed it. But you should know what kind of a book it is before you buy it. I get a feeling that a lot of buyers had an inaccurate understanding of what kind of a book they were purchasing and ended up disappointed.

Edit: One book I can however thoroughly recommend if you haven't read it is this. It's a great book full of knowledge that anyone interested in firearms (particularly military firearms) will find of great interest. I think the copyright on this book has long since expired so you can find free ebook versions of it online.

Ok, in addition to the paper/booklet posted earlier from acedemia.edu about the lorica segmentata here are some other resources discussing armor and some on metal work techniques. Much of what is available is medieval period but many of the skills and techniques are similar.
On Divers Arts by Theophilus is a treatise on painting, glass making, and metalwork from roughly 1122ad. ISBN:978-0486237848

De Re Metalica by Georgius Agricola is a scientific book on mining and metallurgy from around 1556ad. ISBN: 978-0486600062

The Pirotechnia of Vannoccio Biringuccio is a treatise on metallurgy and alchemy/chemistry from 1540ad. ISBN:978-0486261348

Techniques of Medieval Armor Reproduction: The Fourteenth Century is an awesome book covering various metalwork techniques as applied to making 14th century armor. ISBN: 978-1581605365 He talks about tools you will need and some modifications to make to them for ease of use. He even gives you some ideas on finding good sources for drawing inspiration from for your armor patterns. If you are starting with making armor and don't have anyone nearby to help you learn this is a good guide to buy.

Best of the Hammer is a black and white series of booklets that have great info on medieval metalwork from chainmail to bladesmithing. ISBN:978-0943228044

Roman Body Armor, by Hilary & John Travis is a good re-examining of the data on Roman armor up until this point. ISBN: 978-1445608037

Spike knives are great to practice knifemaking on. They will be decorative however since, as you pointed out, they do not contain enough carbon to heat treat or keep an edge. But do work with them; it's free steel and you can practice how to go about profiling a knife on them.

As far as hammers go, I have known accomplished smiths who are happy with the hammer they picked up at a flea market. I've also known those who have made their own, or those that have bought from Centaur Forge or from other smiths.

It seems everyone has their own idea of what works for them. Quality of steel, balance, and ergonomics are obviously the main priorities, but the rest is up to you.
At this stage, just use what's economical until you start refining your smithing style.

Pick up The Backyard Blacksmith and The $50 Knife Shop. If you've got time, I would also invest in The Art of Blacksmithing, mainly for it's ideas on projects and moving metal.

As for your forge questions, I'm not sure what the best answer is as I primarily work with coal and only occasionally work with gas. The gas forges I use are pretty big, so I don't have experience in your model. Maybe try to stick a RR spike in there, close the doors, and see how it does? You can make small knives for now until you figure out the direction you want to take. Hope this all helped, good luck!

When you are going into printed literature, it is best to go for a specialized subject.

There are a lot of books that want to cover everything, but most of them are pretty bad.

One cover-everything book that I do like is How Weapons Work. But that it mostly because I grew up with this book, and it's probably part of what sparked my interest in firearms. Reading it now, it does cover most things, but it barely scratches the surface of each subject.

You need to know what you want to learn from the book.

If you want books for gun identification you have stuff like The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of XXXXX. These books are great as reference to a particular firearm, but doesn't offer much in terms of data or technical details.

If want to get more specific in a specific brand of firearm you have books like Mauser. Military Rifles of the World. Once you get into books about specific firearms the quality increases. You'll rarely go wrong with a book about a very specific subject.

ForgottenWeapons (which in itself is an extremely good reference for old and unusual stuff) has some book reviews every now and then.

If you want to get technical AGI has some nice video armorer's courses. I only have a couple of them, but I'm impressed with what I've seen.

Due to time and location, attending Appleseed is not possible as much as I'd to like to go. So I figured I'd try to find the next best thing and that's when I found the book “Gun Digest: Shooters Guide to Rifle Marksmanship”. From what I read this book covers just about everything at Appleseed and more. When reading the book I even found lots of mentions of Appleseed and the writer mentions how he's involved in the program. This book covers shooting with iron sights, positional shooting, sling supported shooting, etc. I spent a few months reading and practicing what was in the book and I was amazed at the progress I made. The book is a relatively easy read and packed with tons of pictures.

https://www.amazon.com/Digest-Shooters-Guide-Rifle-Marksmanship-ebook/dp/B00CA9DKCO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498609539&sr=8-2&keywords=Gun+digest+marksmanship

So today I decided to try out the Appleseed AQT test. I found a digital download of the 11x17 document and made a few prints and set it up at 25 yards. It turned out to be a lot more fun than expected. I planned on only doing one run but ended up doing three. Having a timer really adds a new level to shooting especially on the rapid fire courses. On the first run I pulled out a 222. The next I had a 243 and the last a 226. My best moment was the clean sweep on the final stage you see in the image.

The rifle I'm using is a Ruger 10/22 Altamont Classic V fitted with tech sights, USGI sling, and a Volquartssen target hammer. The 20” barrel provides for a really nice sight radius. I was using CCI Standard Velocity. I was shooting from a MidwayUSA shooting mat. Tip: Wear a long sleeve shirt and jeans! It helps with the sling on the arm and the jeans help when your elbows from slipping when shooting sitting.

No, it's not official. No, I didn't get a patch. But I learned a lot. This shows you if you aren't able to make it to an Appleseed it doesn't mean you can't still learn. I would suggest go to an Appleseed first but this is another option. Just because you can't go doesn't mean you have to give up.

My next challenge is to try this but with my Marlin 25mn, a beautiful bolt gun chambered in 22WMR but not nearly as accurate as my 10/22.

There are just too many individual variant Mausers to cover on a Reddit reply. Being the premier bolt action of the day, it's something like the C&R version of the AR platform. They were made in every shape, size, and caliber.

The short answer is that what most people think of Mausers can be described as the earlier M1893-style small rings and the later M1898-style large rings. (This is a radical over simplification and will turn the stomachs on most big milsurp collectors around here.)

Small Rings are good for slightly lower powered cartridges. They are generally lighter and more sleek looking. Most are stocked in straight wrists. They are also cock on close.

Large Rings are extremely rugged and can take very heavy ammo. They are slightly bulkier and usually look far less graceful. They cock on open. (There is an Intermediate Ring and a "What is with the Turks?" Ring, but they generally fall in the properties of the Large Ring category)


I recommend two books to get you started:

Mauser Military Rifles of the World. You can actually regularly find this at your local Barnes and Noble. This is the most complete Mauser book. It's like a shopping list.

Bolt Action Military Rifles of the World. This is an excellent beginning point for milsurps and the authors were very careful with their facts. Least number of ambiguous 'mistakes' of any collected book I've seen. It also has a two page layout on the evolution of the Mauser design that I find VERY helpful.

Get a new wife... I kid I kid.

Get the Blue Book of Gun Values.

I'd keep (in no particular order)

• Winchester Model 94, if it is a pre-1964; pre-64 guns can be very valuable!
  
• Winchester Model 61
  
• Springfield Krag
  
• Mauser Model 98
  
• Marlin West Point
  
• M-1 Carbine Military
  
• Colt 38 Official Police
  
• Colt 38 Police Positive Special
  
• S&W Model 102 Military Police
  
• Strum & Ruger LR Auto Pistol
  
  Definitely get the blue book, before you even consider selling them. Convince your wife to take a firearms safety course and basic shooting course with you. Then get a gun safe and keep them at home; don't have someone install the safe. Be sure your home owner's insurance will cover what you've got, most home owners insurance only covers $500 worth of guns, jewelry and other things.
  
  The stuff which you're not "allowed" to keep, you can sell on GunBroker.

I would suggest picking up a book or two in that case. I highly recommend "The Complete Bladesmith" by Jim Hrisoulas and 'The Wonder of Knifemaking" by Wayne Goddard. I have both and they are very good at laying down the steps for making a knife. Also, make sure you learn about knife steel. You won't find it in a local store, but will need to be purchased online (most of the time). Pick a simple steel like 1080/1084 and start using that. Get good at heat treating it, and the move to something else. 5160 is also good to start. Both are forgiving.

There exists no specific written material of tomahawk use but there have been some exploratory stuff done by bowie knife enthusiasts that match the two together. It is mostly a modern interpretation based off period sabre/cutlass drills. Link: https://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Tomahawk-Illustrated-Guide-Weapons/dp/1581604416

​

Hatchet and round shield does not exist as a source. For round shield, Scottish targe is closest but even then there are precious few resources dedicated to how to use it.

​

If you are interested in axes & round shield in particular, you may find more information from reenactment or larp groups than from HEMA groups as we don't really 'do' axes unless they come in the form of a poleaxe. And even then, mostly in harness.

As was said by others in reply to your other question, sword making is not something to be taken lightly. I admire your interest, but the wording of your questions seems to imply that you don't really want to learn how to make a sword but that you would like to assemble a sword.

Please understand that questions about sword making are asked almost exclusively by people who are so new to blacksmithing that they have no business making a sword. I suspect that you fall into that category.

Nearly everyone with an interest in blacksmithing has an interest in swords and other blades. And as we learn about how they are made we quickly realize that swordmaking is very serious and potentially dangerous business. I, for one, will help anyone who asks about what it takes to make a sword. But I will not help anyone actually make one.

Just like a gun, a sword is a weapon; and weapons can be surprisingly lethal to both the person holding it and others who are nearby. A poorly made sword can be equally lethal but has the added danger of being either unbalanced or fragile or both. They are also a danger while they are being made; especially if power tools are involved. A large blade that catches on a wire wheel or a sanding belt can cut or stab you very severely before you even have time to react. So please understand that when we see questions about swords coming from novices, we cringe. Making a sword is serious business and is not to be taken lightly.

A blacksmith takes the time to research how similar swords were made and discover what tools materials are needed to accomplish that goal. He or she also works out a plan of each step from start to finish. Many even work for a year or more as an apprentice for an experienced blacksmith to learn how. At the very least many hours are spent reading books and studying both photographs and in person examples of handmade swords.

There are thousands of books on swords both old and new. Many of them focus on certain styles of swords and not all of them go into detail about smithing a sword, but many of them do. You can also find thousands of pictures both online and in reference books on arms & armor at your local library. If you live near a reasonably large city, there might even be a local museum nearby that has some swords on display. Also read as much as you can on blacksmithing and metalworking in general.

By the time you are ready to make your first sword, you will have already built multiple smaller blades and other items while improving your skills, and you will have made thousands or swords in your head.

Here are some books on blacksmithing that I think you will find useful: http://www.hct.ac.uk/Downloads/craftpublications.html

You should also read A book or two on modern knife making. "Wayne Goddard's $50 Dollar Knife Shop" is highly recommended by many people here.

I'm not saying you can't make a sword or even that you shouldn't make one. If that's your dream, don't let anyone stop you. But I would strongly encourage you to start small and work your way up.

TL;DR: If you really want to make a sword, I suggest you read it!

I was recently given a copy of Ed McGivern's Fast and Fancy Revolver shooting ($2.51 kindle edition). It's a really good read but the tips on how to have your wife hold various targets so you can shoot it out of her hand is just awesome. Safety first! You wouldn't want to shoot your her fingers off when practicing your upside-down-two-revolver technique. In all seriousness he thoroughly documents a lot of his shooting of different guns and ammo and his trick shooting is unbelievable.

I'd say it's doable, especially with the equipment you've listed.

Find a copy of this book if you can. Best resource out there for building folders.

Use a quality waterjet provider and you can jet out the knives with little cleanup. You'll still have to clean up holes though... ream the pivots, drill and tap the other holes, etc.

Most people assemble the whole knife and get the opening+lockup working properly before they heat treat and grind bevels. It requires a lot of fit-up, taking apart, etc to get everything working properly... you probably won't be able to make the blade then work on the frame while it's in HT.

Make a jig to grind bevels if you don't have experience free-handing. There are simple ones that work very well.

Read read read. There are lots of WIP threads on the forums that will help you. Knifedogs, BF Shop Talk, Britishblades, etc.

Armorer here. Not sure of your skill level, but Brian Price's Techniques Of Medieval Armour Reproduction is a required text for any armorer.

The Armour Archive is also a terrific resource for pretty much everything armor related with tons of very experienced folks that can answer pretty much any question you may have.

What are you looking to make?

So those, I believe are FEG P9F's imported by Mauser. It's definitely not a Hi Power clone like the early FEGs which have interchangeable parts with FNs and are true clones. This gun is more like they took a S&W Model 39 and put into a vaguely Hi Power shape.

Great little $0.99 PDF that started as a forum post but is definitely worth reading for anyone interested in FEG.

Backyard Blacksmith like Raeladar recommended, by Lorelei Sims
http://www.amazon.com/The-Backyard-Blacksmith-Traditional-Techniques/dp/1592532519/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341272167&sr=8-1&keywords=backyard+blacksmith

The Complete Bladesmith by Jim Hrisoulas has a TON of detailed info like forgewelding (important throughout blacksmithing, not just bladesmithing)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Bladesmith-Forging-Perfection/dp/1581606338/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1341272167&sr=8-4&keywords=backyard+blacksmith


and The Complete Modern Blacksmith by Alexander Weygers has good info as well
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Modern-Blacksmith-Alexander-Weygers/dp/0898158966/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c

my library is growing from these books as well as the forge I'm putting together.

If you want to know more about gun slinging and revolver shooting, check out this book: https://www.amazon.com/McGiverns-Book-Fancy-Revolver-Shooting/dp/160239086X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483076483&sr=8-1&keywords=fast+and+fancy+revolver+shooting

It was written by one of the best revolver shooters of all time. He lived a little later than the "wild west" but not by much. The best revolver shooter of our time is Jerry Miculek, who currently holds several world records for speed and accuracy with a revolver, and he credits that book with getting him started down that path.

> Which Mauser is best?

Long Mauser is best Mauser.

There's such a huge variety of Mauser models and calibers that you might want to buy one or two books on the subject.

Really though, if you want a Kar.98k that's what you should get; you won't really be happy otherwise. If you want a rifle that's visually identical to the Kar.98k without the price tag you might look at the Israeli-contract FN M1950 (many of which were converted to 7.62NATO), a Czech CZ-Brno Vz.98(N) (post-WW2 Czech copy of the 98k) or a Yugoslavian Mod.98/48 (German Kar.98k that were re-built and re-marked by Yugoslavia in the 1950s).

Off the top of my head (might be missing a few things), you will need:

• Flat bending jig
  
• Spot welder
  
• Heat treating arrangement
  
• 12 ton press
  
• Drill press
  
• Riveting jig
  
• Barrel pressing/populating tools
  
• Hammer
  
• Punches
  
• 3mm drill bits
  
• 4mm drill bits
  
• 1/4" end mill
  
• 7mm reamer
  
• Gas port drill bit (there are several sizes you could use)
  
• Vise
  
• Bench grinder
  
• Rivets
  
• 922r compliance parts (trigger, furniture, etc.)
  
• Go/No Go headspace gauges
  
• Dremel
  
  I'm probably missing one or two things. Similarly, you could also live without some of the stuff I mentioned, but you'll want most of that to do a decent job at it. You're looking at easily $500-$1000+ for the tools and jigs if you have to buy everything.
  
  As for a guide, get this and this
  
  Don't get into AK building because you want to do it on the cheap. Those days are gone. Get into AK building because you love AKs and want to build a lot of them.

It also depends on what you expect the projectile to do. What is your intended target? Paper? Prairie dogs? Deer? Bear? Elephants? Each one has different requirements such as energy and velocity at the useful range desired. Flat shooter or heavy hitter? A classic reference and a good read is: Hatchers Notebook

This book is an excellent resource if you are going down that road. There are over 50 countries listed in the TOC, god knows how many variants within that... Great book, can't recommend enough for Mauser reference.

Story:

So I finally went to the range after damn near two months, and one of the guns I brought with me was my Smith & Wesson 4505 - one of only 1200 made. I put 70 round of factory ammo through it, without any sort of malfunction or hiccup - the reliability to be expected of 3rd Gen Smith's.

I am open to any sort of critiques y'all can come up with. I do apologize in advance for the atrocious sound quality - certainly there are better filming locations than on a popular, public shooting range on a rainy day in Washington.

___

Would you like to know more?

• Wikipedia Article, Smith & Wesson 4506
  
  
• "Field Strip: Smith & Wesson 4505" [3:08]
  
  
• According to the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson:
  
  > Caliber: .45 ACP, blued finish, full size traditional double-action, 5" barrel, 8-shot magazine, ambidextrous safety, Novak Lo-Mount fixed sights with limited production of adjustable sights, 3rd trigger guard. Approximately 1200 were manufactured with serial prefixes of "TFSxxxx": and "THCxxxx." Weight is 41 oz. Produced 1991.

What you're referring to is usually called stock-removal. I'd look into Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop

It outlines both forging and stock removal techniques as well as ways to make the necessary equipment on the cheap. (It actually used to be called the $25 knife shop, but it has been updated a good deal and since then the dollar has gone through a good deal of inflation)

What kind of tools do you have right now?

Ok then, military surplus rifles. That's a solid place to start. Here's a rundown:

I actually don't have a K31 book, but this one is written by Joe Poyer who is an author I trust. K31s are pretty straightforward for the most part, it's the earlier rifles that are a tad complicated to study.

There's so many damn Mausers that it's hard to recommend a book that covers enough of them. This one should be enough to get you started. This one just came back in print and is for the Swedish Mauser.

For Mosins, This one should provide enough knowledge, but there's actually a surprising amount of material online. Not many printed books on Mosins in English, sadly.

For Enfields, Ian Skennerton's book is the go-to.

And that should be enough to get you started. For any other guns, just type the gun name followed by "book" into Google and you should find what you need. And as always, the internet has plenty of it's own resources too.

Both eyes.

My uncle was a firearms instructor and shot competitively. He taught me how to shoot after my father passed away. One day he noticed me squinting my left eye and said my father would have slapped me on the back of the head if he saw me doing that.

Shooting with one eye closed causes fatigue if you do it for very long. It will also cause you to lose visual acuity after a few seconds vs shooting with both eyes open. A.A. Yur'yev wrote a really good book with all sorts of awesome information like this in it. I like to reread it every few years or so as it seems I always pick up something new.

Here's a link if you're interested: http://www.amazon.com/Competitive-Shooting-Techniques-Training-Running/dp/0935998535

Get, read and absorb the following:

• The Complete Modern Blacksmith
  
  
• Step by Step Knifemaking
  
  
• The Complete Bladesmith
  
  
• This one is arguable, but I've enjoyed my 1977 copy. How to Make Knives
  
  The knowledge is more important than the tools. That said, don't scrimp on the anvil, the vise and the flatter hammer.
  

As /u/Ermott stated, if you've got a few years of free time, there is no shortage at all of information to be found online.

If you specifically want a book for reference, here's the list. (I own and have read, and re-read every book here.)

Stock removal knife macking -
Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop, revised
How to Mack Knives, by Barney and Loveless

When you're ready to move up a few notches in complexity -
The Tactical Folding Knife, by Terzuola

If forging is more your thing -
The Complete Bladesmith, by Hrisoulas

An overview (and extremely interesting) look at how different modern mackers go about macking knives -
Blade's Guide to Macking Knives

And finally, the condensed Q&A for everything the aspiring knife macker could ever want to know -
The Wonder of Knife Macking, by Goddard
The second edition of this books has mixed reviews centering on poor editing, I've read and recommend the first edition, though slightly dated, for it's solid insight into so many areas of knife macking.

I hope this helps you, don't forget to come back and post photos of the knives you mack!

You might work on making one for him. It makes it that much more special. I'm actually about to start making a garden knife for my dad as a father's day gift. Texas Knifemaker's Supply has some good steel for fairly low prices and a hacksaw and a bastard mill file along with some good sandpaper and a dremel if you have it can make quick work of the 440C or the ATS34. They are very comparable. Unfortunately they are already annealed so they can dull tools fairly quickly. But that also means the finished knife only needs to be tempered which can be achieved with putting it in an oven at 450 F for 1.5 hours 3 times. You can also buy scales and pretty much any tool or supply you would like from them.

I also recommend the $50 Knife Shop as a general guide to knife making as it has plenty of tips for both forged and stock-removal knives.

Very cool, thank you for the follow up. To me, the tomahawk is quintessentially THE american weapon. Utilitarian and lethal. In addition, there are rudimentary examples of natives using stones as axe heads in a similar manner, before settlement when the Europeans introduced their own metallic version. I'm a fan of native american weapons.

I find mine invaluable around the camp but I also feel comfortable with it as a weapon. Theres a great pair of books if you want to learn more on how the tomahawk was historically used in combat 1 2

This book was what started it all off for me in knife making. It was tremendously helpful in answering a lot of beginning questions and giving valuable advice on how to begin.

I know you're more inclined toward handguns and rifles, but give this book on shotguns a try. Chuck Hawks, the reputable writer of all things guns, highly recommends Shotgunning: The Art and the Science for being one of the first books to approach shotguns in a fascinating and scientific manner.

there are tons of resources online to learn blacksmithing/bladesmithing

youtube,
iforgeiron.com,
/r/bladesmith

the list goes on and on but those are the best IMO


also books abound on the subject

it you want to get started cheap look into
https://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Goddards-Knife-Shop-Revised/dp/0896892956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495550648&sr=8-1&keywords=wayne+goddard+50+dollar+knife

but keep in mind this was $50 in the late 80's early 90's (whenever he wrote it) so it might be a bit more unless you can find and scavenge some of the things you will need. which isnt as hard as it sounds actually

Edit: formatting

Actually if you have a backyard it is a surprisingly easy set up. Check out The $50 dollar knife shop which can be downloaded for free various places.

I triple concur. A friend of mine gifted me The Handloader's manual of cartridge conversions. Awesome book.

i did a quick google to see if leaf springs were ideal and they are so i put out feelers for some of those.

And also in the course of that found recommendation for the $50 knife shop book so I bought him that on amazon. link: https://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Goddards-Knife-Shop-Revised/dp/0896892956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482254778&sr=8-1&keywords=50+knife+shop

Thanks folks You both got me exactly what I needed!

All it takes to clean up your finish work is a rasp, a bunch of sandpaper down to 1200 grit, and time.

I suggest checking out these books:

http://www.amazon.com/Step---Step-Knifemaking-You-Can/dp/0615116590/

http://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Goddards-Knife-Shop-Revised/dp/0896892956/

http://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Knives-Richard-Barney/dp/087341389X/

These were all invaluable to me when I was learning fit and finish. They're also all probably available through your local library.

If you do decide to buy some tools, you can get a TON of fast, efficient work done from just a cheap belt sander ($50 at Harbor Freight) and a cheap benchtop buffer (get a washing machine motor from a junkyard and built one, or spend $80 on one). Those two tools alone will make a WORLD of difference in your finish work.

I'm buying all top quality items though. You can start for much much less.

Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop is a great place to start.

Not sure why the downvotes for some very valid information. Classes rank number 1. Youtube is an excellent resource as well. There are plenty of channels that eliminate the signal to noise ratio. Reading books has never done anything for me personally on firearm instructions. Nothing beats hands-on.

One quick search yielded this for informative books.
https://www.amazon.com/Gun-Digest-2017-Jerry-Lee/dp/1440246580

Gun Digest Shooter's Guide to Rifle Marksmanship.

I've also heard good things about Jeff Cooper's Art of the Rifle.

For assessing your progress, check out the NRA marksmanship qualification program. I'm currently working through the 4 position rifle sequence.

The go to is Shotgunning: The art and Science. If he has been shooting for a while he probably has read it, but if he doesn't have a copy it is always fun to go back to.

http://www.amazon.com/Shotgunning-The-Science-Bob-Brister/dp/1602393273

Can confirm- I have this and it's a great book to learn from. If you're looking for a book centered more in bladesmithing, here's your bible- https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Bladesmith-Forging-Your-Perfection/dp/1581606338

I learned from YouTube. Also a great start is this book. http://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Goddards-Knife-Shop-Revised/dp/0896892956

When I started collecting guns in 2006, I bought a S&W Model 617-6. Not knowing anything about S&Ws, I assumed the "-6" was for the six-inch barrel on the gun. It was something of a revelation when I saw a -5 (which was then still a regular production gun with S&W) with a 6" barrel. So I researched the 617 and was able to piece together some of the history of this model, including the major engineering changes (changed rear sight/drilled & tapped frame, MIM parts, 10-shot vs. 6-shot) and learned that different engineering changes were manufactured concurrently (-5 and -6, -3 and -4, etc.).

I bought another S&W revolver (S&W 17-8), and another (686-1), and another (10-6), and another (19-3). Each time, I researched the model on the Internet, its history, engineering changes, and variations, and started to note a pattern: while dash-numbers weren't always the same, their engineering changes did seem to mirror one another sometimes. For instance, the engineering change for the S&W Model 10-5/10-6 to S&W Model 10-7/10-8 was the same for the S&W Model 19-3 to S&W Model 19-4 (gas ring moved to the cylinder). Moreover, I noted they happened in the same year (1977). Dash-numbers not being the same was because the models weren't all introduced at the same time, nor did changes to one model necessarily mean changes to another model - the Model 10, for instance, was on the -5 and -6 engineering change (produced concurrently) while the Model 19 was on the -3. So while the models were fairly independent, there were some key changes that helped me get a sense of what was happening.

http://www.handloads.com/misc/Smith.Model.Changes.asp - this webpage was pretty instrumental to getting a partial picture of earlier S&W models, and helped assign dates to engineering changes.

What really helped my research along was the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson. With this book, I was able to both confirm everything I had learned up to this point with the numerous S&W revolvers I had purchased and researched (including opening them up and looking at the guts, and touching and feeling the parts that had been changed), and also look up information on other models - ones I'd probably never get to purchase myself.

The Book isn't definitive, however - there are several S&W revolvers that have been produced after the 3rd Edition was published that aren't listed in the book, and there are even subtle variations on the guns that are listed in the book. For instance: my 10-6 is supposed to have the gas ring on the yoke, per the book, but it has the gas ring on the cylinder like a 10-8 (though it is marked 10-6, and its serial number puts its date of manufacture - 1974 - in the 10-6 range - 1962-1977). It's possible that the yoke and cylinder assembly were retrofitted (I believe my Model 10 was a trade-in of some sort, possibly police, but more likely some security company), though the bluing and wear of the cylinder matches that of the frame and barrel, or The Book isn't the be-all, end-all of S&W history.

The one adage I've seen over and over on the various gun forums is: "Never say 'never' with S&W" - there are always exceptions to the rule.

The book goes over all kinds of different rifling types, it was almost like every English gunmaker had their own. Rigby rifling was like Metford but with semi-round lands, Holland and Holland semi-smooth bore had a ton of very shallow round lands and Alexander Henry rifling was like polygonal with extra triangular lands in the corners of the hex. Pretty crazy stuff.

I imagine rifling a muzzleloading cannon would be a chore. Its not like you can push a broach through so it must have been done with a single point cutter.

Edit: Heres the book. It normally retails for $100 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811704424/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=

It depends on when it was made. Some versions are very similar while some are direct clones of the HP. The Argentinian FM Hi Powers are direct clones and should accept all BHP parts.

There's a good book out there that has some production details: https://www.amazon.com/DECODING-F%C3%89G-HI-POWER-Jerry-Paregien-ebook/dp/B00DKB3LXY

My understanding was that there was a good website but the guy who made it wrote the book.

Hatcher's Notebook is fantastic.

The gun digest annuals have articles , a pretty extensive pricing guide with some historic info on each firearm, all kinds of ballistics information and various gun info. I wouldn't say you need every year but having a new volume of it every 5 or so years can get you new info. Also the articles are well written. Lot's of other books by gun digest on their webstore as well.

If you want a more complete reference pick up a Standard Catalog. Bit more pricey but it's a giant book and maybe a bit more in line with what you are looking for.

I am an English shotgun-aboo

I Started here

https://www.amazon.com/British-Sporting-Gun-Rifle-Perfection/dp/0811704424

Michael McIntosh “Best Gun’s” will be more of a generic overview of fancy Pants gunmaking and give good primers for different gunmakers and regions

Next time instead of asking simple questions and hoping for simple answers from this pit, I'll just buy this https://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Own-AK-Vol-ebook/dp/B00J614CI0

Books. Do your home work. There is a lot of different ways to make good knifes and lots of ways to make junk. If you understand how you want to make a knife you'll know what tools you need. So is it forged or material removal? How do you want to deal with the tempering? I can go on but I think you get the idea. Here is a place to start http://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Goddards-Knife-Shop-Revised/dp/0896892956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344738903&sr=8-1&keywords=50+knife+shop

You might like this.

Get this book on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Shotgunning-Science-Second-Bob-Brister/dp/1602393273 However if you don't decide to read it I'll lay out some stuff for you.

First things first: make sure your gun fits you. The gun should shoot where you look when you mount it*. Shotgun fit is a very nuanced concept so you might look into having a shooting instructor help you out getting your gun to fit. If your gun doesn't fit there's no point in going any further.

Shoot with both eyes open. Depth perception is important, and losing half of your FOV when you close your eyes is suboptimal. If you're cross-dominant Google ways to fix it.

Make sure your stance is good. Some people stand more erect, some hunch over more. Experiment. The goal is to lean into the gun enough that you can control the recoil effectively but maintain enough upper-body mobility to swing the gun. I stand like I'm shooting a 4-bore elephant gun because I started shooting skeet when I was 8 or so and I had to lean into the gun to keep my tiny self from getting knocked over. It's suboptimal but I shoot OK.

Make sure the butt of the gun is in your shoulder's "pocket." Chicken-wing your arm and hold it out at 90 degrees. You should feel a pocket open up in the general vicinity of your shoulder joint. You'll know it when you feel it. Put the gun there; having it on your pectoral or deltoid muscles will give you a horrible bruise. YES you will be chicken-winging your arm. This is how you shoot a shotgun.

Next, leading the target is important. There are 4 main methods for determining lead:

1. Instinctive. Do what you feel. I kinda shoot this way but I wouldn't rely on it; you need a lot of shells down range before your instincts work.
   
2. Spot shooting. Holding the gun in one place and shooting when the bird reaches the right spot. I know a very good (won the Grand from 27 yards) trapshooter who shoots this way but it doesn't work well outside of trap or skeet where you know more or less exactly what the target will do.
   
3. Sustained lead. Hold the gun in front of the bird the designated amount and stay in front of it, pulling the trigger when the time is right.
   
4. Swing-through. Swing through the bird along its trajectory then slap the trigger. This one is my favorite.
   
   Common mistakes include:
   
   
5. Lifting your head.
   
6. Stopping your swing. I like to put my weak hand farther forward on the forearm to smooth my swing out a little.
   
7. Flinching.
   
   Don't do those things.
   
   That should get you started.
   
   *Note that this isn't the case with dedicated skeet or trap guns, but for general-purpose guns it's best if it shoots flat.

Greenleaf workshop on YouTube does some very nice tutorials, a book that comes to mind is Techniquies of Medieval Armour Reproduction: The 14th Century" by Brian Price (https://www.amazon.com/Techniques-Medieval-Armour-Reproduction-Century/dp/1581605366). I haven't read it myself, but I understand that it is very informative.

You could try these guys some of whom own the 'Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson" and are willing to look up your provided serial number. Or you could purchase the book/ ebook from Amazon.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1980-present/222977-new-members-looking-date-manufacture-info-how-find-your-serial-number.html

https://www.amazon.com/Standard-Catalog-Smith-Wesson/dp/089689293X

Apparently that book is worth a fortune now ಠ_ಠ

Fjestad's Blue Book.

Keep in mind, these are national averages. The values are a bit higher than my local area but it can give you a ball park.

I don't know that cartridge, but Mark @ C&Rsenal suggested a book "The Handloaders Manual of Cartridge Conversions". In it, they suggest 357Maximum brass and have one load with 180gr spire point and Alliant 2400.

I don't see how using 223 would work, this looks like a rimmed cartridge, but I'm not into converting stuff, just interested in the old obsolete.

Info comes from the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson available in print and on kindle for free with prime lending.
http://www.amazon.com/Standard-Catalog-Smith-Wesson-Supica/dp/089689293X

After they switched to the model number system in the late 50's they would add a - and a second number anytime they changed or updated a gun. According to the book the model 10-5 was only produced in 1962.

• 10-4 (1962): Trigger guard screw eliminated on tapered barrel frame
• 10-5 (1962): Sight width changed from 1/10" to 1/8" on tapered barrel models
• 10-6 (1962): Trigger guard screw eliminated on heavy barrel model.

I've got a model 10-6 you can see in this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DZ9TzahRjA

If you poke around my other videos I've got a few more model 10 videos about DIY replacing the barrel and detail stripping.

Have you read [Hatcher's Notebook](http://www.Hatcher.com/'s Notebook: A Standard Reference Book for Shooters, Gunsmiths, Ballisticians, Historians, Hunters, and Collectors https://www.amazon.com/dp/1614272832/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_LrRPAbMD41YRX)? Gen. Hatcher worked in the Ordnance Department of the U.S. Army and discusses the issues with these receivers in his book. One big issue I see with trying to reheat treat these receivers is the action shattering when trying to remove the barrel. Which for some, may be too much risk for a irreplaceable piece of someone's collection.

So these are really dependant on a ton of factors. Material, size, style, era, etc., so to get exact weight ranges, you're going to want more information.

However, Wizards does provide tables for this sort of thing. The SRD also has a table here: https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/5e_SRD:Armor

You may want to investigate some historical armour texts also: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1581605366/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_tR9NDbT79Y7M4

If you can post a picture of the serial number, I can give you an approximate date of manufacture and model (S&W reference book ftw!).

Competitive Shooting by A.A. Yur'yev covers this in detail, but I have no idea where to recommend the book for cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Goddards-Knife-Shop-Revised/dp/0896892956

https://smile.amazon.com/Mauser-Military-Rifles-World-Robert/dp/1440215448?sa-no-redirect=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DKB3LXY/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Bladesmith-Forging-Your-Perfection/dp/1581606338/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506287194&sr=1-3&keywords=knife+making This book has almost everything you need to know to get started and then some. It helped me a lot. The author is amazingly thorough. He even covers proper anvil height and hammer use.

*Edit: grammer and spelling

Ditto. Linke to book. Here's another one I liked

https://www.amazon.com/Techniques-Medieval-Armour-Reproduction-Century/dp/1581605366

This has everything you'd need, if you're willing to read it and not skim.

Also get him this book for his birthday or something. Tells you how to do everything on the cheap.
https://smile.amazon.com/Wayne-Goddards-Knife-Shop-Revised/dp/0896892956/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=50+knife+shop&qid=1562951506&s=gateway&sr=8-1

If you start with stock removal rather than forging, it's a lot more feasible for an amateur to get into knife making. But $20-30 dollars for the tools and materials to make a knife is not really a realistic expectation. There is a reason custom knife makers charge what they do for handmade knives.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0896892956/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=27M5TD9S3RT9B&coliid=I1502KH7W916KH

Here are 2 resources that may be of help...
Armourarchive and [this book] (http://www.amazon.com/Techniques-Medieval-Armour-Reproduction-Century/dp/1581605366/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415593510&sr=1-1&keywords=medieval+armor)

Buy a book before you buy the gun. https://www.amazon.com/Mauser-Military-Rifles-World-Robert/dp/1440215448

This book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1602393273/

Has the answers to all your questions and is the gold standard reference for that kind of information in shotgunning. Buy it, read it, and don't believe what anyone else tells you that might be contradictory.

Failure can be discouraging, but you learn from it. Epic failure can turn you off from what you're trying to learn completely. I'm just now getting my forge together (hope to test tomorrow) and the candor of your ambition is a little annoying since, while I have big ideas for what I want to do, I know I do not have the skill to do any of it yet. My first project is probably going to be J-hooks and other assorted hardware to hang lawn equipment in my garage. You need to take smaller steps or you'll end up having a really bad experience and just drop smithing all together. If you really want good advice about blade making I recently purchased The Complete Bladesmith. Its great, it explains a lot of the basics, terminology, and some simple hammer techniques. It was really cheap and my favorite book right now.

Or, an example from Skyrim: How many shitty iron daggers did you have to make before you could move up to Dragon Bone weapons ;-)?

Don't do that!

Heat it and cool it slowly to anneal it. That will make it as soft as possible. Finish your grinding completely, but leave the blade dull; there should be a 1/64 flat at least.

Get it completely done, then harden it. Do it in motor oil; water is dangerous to quench high carbon in. It will cause it to crack outright or introduce microfractures that weaken the blade. I've had both happen. Motor oil is the quench of choice of all the knife and sword makers I've met for even W1 steel.

Once you've quenched in motor oil, you'll need to temper it. That's another level more difficult.

I would suggest this book if you want to get into blademaking. It's a great resource.

After reading The Fighting Tomahawk which discusses the axe from a Native American standpoint my eyes were really opened up to the versatility of the axe.

You can use the top to punch opponents, use the top edge of the blade in the opposite direction to "rake" across an enemy and give jagged wounds, you can of course slash, and probably the biggest advantage use the curved portion to catch an opponents weapon, limbs, or even shield, and redirect them.

If i recall correctly the author stated that the off balance nature of the tomahawk lent itself to either quickly killing an enemy or being thrown off balance yourself because it is a hard weapon to recover from a missed swing.