Every outdoorsman should have a good library of information
It is often called research writing and I would say that it is as good a name as any. Every writer keeps a library around and does a bit of research when he does his writing. I know, as I write this piece, there is an ever-present array of useful books from Roget’s Thesaurus to the various hand-loading manuals.
Winter is a good time to catch up on some of those books, some that I wholeheartedly agree with and a few full of nothing but nonsense. Any reader who knows me, or at least knows my writings, are aware that I fish just like they do. I like to catch fish so I use whatever legal method works on a particular day. I might find myself attached to a trout that thought a worm would make a fine meal. Another evening might find me tossing a spinner bait along a quiet shoreline of some local pond. Then again, I might be trolling a Hot N Tot along a lake bottom for walleye. Whatever it takes, but many of the methods I use were taught to me by reading books.
On the other side of the coin, in the majority of my small library, one finds gun and reloading books dominate my collection. I might agree with my gun writers and might come across to the reader as arrogant, but like Barry Bonds I feel very confident that I know as much about ballistics and rifles as anyone and more than most. For years, my personal guru, where my scope sights are concerned, was a past president and perhaps the best outdoors writer Pennsylvania has been home to, Bob Bell. I found Bell to be not only knowledgeable about scopes but a fine person to be around. Like me, he enjoyed talking rifles and scopes, but when I was young I found that I could hold my own as we talked into the wee hours of the night. I discovered any book by Bell was worth having, and he wrote the scope section of Gun Digest for a long time.
Another book I find useful when researching a certain firearm is DeHaas’ Bolt Action Rifles. This book is in its fourth edition and enables the reader to do simple things like bolt removal on various guns. More than once a caller has asked me how to remove the bolt from a certain uncommon rifle. This is where I pretend to be a genius, and after glancing at the rifle book, tell him or her just how to do it. An example would be the Model 600 Remington. There is no bolt release to be seen. You simply use a kitchen knife and slide it into the left side of the action and press the bolt stop down. Then the bolt comes out easily. Thank goodness for the library. The exploded drawings in this book alone are worth the cost.
For many years, I thought the best reloading books were those written by Parker O. Ackley. Come to think of it, they are still good. The articles on pressure and strength of various rifles, along with the chapter on killing power and sorting dies when reloading can be great teachers. But, there is a book available that can top the Ackley books.
A reloading guru named Ken Waters has written a book – or reprinted his articles written for Handloader Magazine – and it is indispensable to a curious and serious hand-loader. Titled “Pet Loads,” these books should be in the reloading room of every shooter. Mine have been read and reread, borrowed and covered with coffee cup stains but they are books that are constantly used.
Another book of importance in my room is a hardbound book titled, “The Rifleman’s Rifle,” by Roger Rule. This one tells one everything there is to know about the Pre-64 Model 70 Winchester. If one wants to collect these very collectable rifles, he or she should own a copy of this book. It can save the person from buying something that is not collectable, therefore saving the person a bundle of money. If someone approaches you with a pre-64 Model 70 in 7mag you can look in the model 70 bible, the book by Rule. It will tell you they never catalogued such a rifle and much the same can be said about the rifle in .222. This is another book that is well-written and the No. 1 book for those who want to research the old Pre-Winchester Model 70.
So there you have it. You used to think I was smart. But, think about it. I do know how and where to look for information and that does take a good bit of smarts.