The ultimate reference book for shooters, gunsmiths, ballisticians, historians, hunters and collectors.

This is one of the finest books about military firearms ever written.

Julian Hatcher wrote this book in 1947, and it touches on virtually every aspect of firearms then current.

The author's writing style is precise and clear without being dry.

The operation of all military small arms and machine guns are given in great detail, as well as Hatcher's observations about recoil, gun powder, metallurgy, ballistics, and much more. It is an incredible history lesson for the firearms enthusiast written by a man that watched it all happen first hand.

This is a fascinating classic publication. Hatcher, was a firearms/explosives expert with the US army covering both world wars. He presents much detail on vintage firearms and their virtues and defects , even reports on individuals who managed to blow themselves up, mostly by accident and details of which way up bullets come back down when fired vertically from a machine gun.

The value of the work goes beyond a catalogue of all aspects of military firearms – it is a man discussing the great passion of his life.