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zero7one
18 April 2009, 06:42
I have never pretended to portray that I know everything about weapons, though I would like to. I have handled a wide array of weapon systems in my Military and Law Enforcement careers and have become very proficient with many of them. However, in a search for further knowledge and to better myself, I have picked up a book titled The AR-15, Volume 2 by Patrick Sweeney. Skimming through the book, some of the information looks like information that I already knew, but there is a lot of good information on topics that are rarely covered in general AR-15 type training.

Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.com/Gun-Digest-Book-AR-15-Vol/dp/0896894746/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240061911&sr=8-1)



Editorial Review

Product Description
*Most popular and versatile rifle in the U.S. - top choice for everyone from girls' high school shooting teams to police squads
*Features DIY projects to easily enhance firearm performance

Gun Digest Book of the AR-15, Vol. 2 not only covers how well this rifle performs in testing, but also provides projects you can do to enhance your rifle's performance. Packed with 600 detailed photos, including step-by-step instructions for projects, and a primer on aftermarket parts, this guide delivers honest test results for the rifle, its commonly available ammunition and magazines, and accuracy. There's something in this book for every fan of the AR-15.


I would like to start a discussion of what books you have found to be useful, resourceful, helpful, or just all around a good read.

m24shooter
19 April 2009, 11:09
M16/M4 Handbook
http://www.weaponevolution.com/forum/showthread.php?t=600

Great accomplice to Green Eyes/Black Rifles

adrenaline151
19 April 2009, 11:56
The only Ar related book that I have spent time with so far is "Green Eyes and Black Rifles" by Kyle Lamb. I liked it, but can't say that it was better or worse than any other, because it's all I have really read.

louie
19 April 2009, 22:08
The 'Bible' of the US M-14 rifle:

The U.S. .30 Cal. Gas Operated Service Rifles: A Shop Manual, vols. I & II,
by Jerry Kuhnhausen.

and:

M1A Rifle History and Development
by Lee "Different" Emerson

Army Chief
19 April 2009, 22:33
In addition to those mentioned (I particularly like the first two), I found Tiger McKee's The Book of Two Guns (http://www.amazon.com/Book-Two-Guns-Martial-Carbine/dp/1419601806/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240205075&sr=8-1) to be worth a read.



http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Z8ZKY3VKL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1419601806/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link)


The book is effectively a collection of hand-written notes and diagrams with a fairly low "pizzazz factor," but offers good insights into what many of the better-known training schools and instructors have been teaching in recent years. It may be slightly dated (2005) by contemporary standards, since a lot of new training doctrine seems to have emerged over the past 4-5 years, but basics are basics, and Two Guns covers them well.

If you are going to own just one book, I would probably recommend that it be Green Eyes & Black Rifles, but this one is an excellent addition to the list.

AC

zero7one
25 May 2009, 21:14
Another book that I recently read (easy ready BTW), is Build Your Own Ar-15 by Duncan Long. The book was very easy to get through for step-by-step instruction. The only problem with the book is that it is a little out dated and speaks of the AWB during the Clinton Administration. If you can work through that, the book is well worth the money (around $16).

Quib
2 January 2010, 09:52
I consider these mandatory, and feel every AR owner should have them in their library.

- FM 3-22.9 Rifle Marksmanship
- TM 9-1005-319-23&P Unit and Direct Support Maintenance Manual
- TM 9-1005-319-10 Operators Manual

Read up on and study the basic operating and function of the weapon. Learn disassembly, reassembly and function checking of the weapon. Learn the correct nomenclature of its parts. Learn each parts function and how each part interacts with the others.

Quib

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2702/4234052005_bf1d17544b_o.png

Mike
2 January 2010, 11:18
I would like to start a discussion of what books you have found to be useful, resourceful, helpful, or just all around a good read.


Resourceful for anyone interested in the AR15 / M16 / M4 family are two books from Collector Grade Publications.

Together they offer a very deep insight into the history, design, development and diversity of the family of weapons that has developed around the Stoner system concept.


http://www.collectorgrade.com/shop/media/blackrifle.jpeg


The Black Rifle M16 Retrospective

by R Blake Stevens and Edward C Ezell
Enhanced Second Edition, 1992
416 pages, 441 illustrations

A chilling study of small arms development and procurement in the post-Ordnance US small arms environment, wherein OSD 'whiz kids' arrogantly called the tune and shooting watermelons at a picnic passed for engineering development. Beginning with the Black Rifle's forebear the ArmaLite AR-10, through the small caliber/high velocity (SCHV) program at Aberdeen Proving Ground, the .22 Gustafson carbine, the .22/NATO T48 and the Springfield and Winchester .224 rifles, this is an in-depth examination of the many controversies surrounding the 5.56mm M16 'package' - where it came from; what it is; what it is not, and why.


...and...


http://www.collectorgrade.com/images/cover-black-rifle-M16.jpg


BLACK RIFLE II - The M16 Into the 21st Century

by Christopher R. Bartocci
Deluxe First Edition, 2004
408 pages, 626 illustrations

This new book is a sequel to the perennially popular 1987 Collector Grade title The Black Rifle, which is now in its fourth printing.

Amazingly, considering the storms of controversy which surrounded the light rifle program in its early days, the M16 has gone on to become the longest-serving shoulder arm in US history, and the benchmark against which any new military rifle, American or otherwise, must now be compared.

Even more astonishingly, the M16 today is at the center of a thriving, multi-million-dollar industry involving numerous companies and military agencies who are designing and manufacturing drop-in upper receivers in various configurations and calibers, plus complex rail systems and other high-tech accessories, all based on the M16 ³platform², which thereby grows more firmly established with each passing day.

This book chronicles all the new third- and fourth-generation rifle and carbine models which have been introduced by Colt and Diemaco since The Black Rifle was originally published, and describes and depicts the myriad of enhanced sights and rails systems which help make the M16s of today the most versatile, modular and effective combat weapons in the world. It also includes a comprehensive survey of the Colt semi-automatic-only family of commercial and law enforcement products, in .222 Remington, 5.56mm (.223 Remington), 9mm and 7.62x39mm, and an in-depth Reference Compendium of all Colt military and civilian models and components.

Both are available directly from Collector Grade Publications (http://www.collectorgrade.com/bookshelf4.html) .

Anyone interested in guns and their development and history should have a look at their line of publications as they are really in-depth and comprehensive. I now own 14 CC books that are still in print plus two more that are not available anymore as well as some more from the time before the late Mr. Ezell joined CC Publications. They are all a valuable addition to any library and/or collection.

Army Chief
2 January 2010, 14:02
Any Collector Grade Publication book is going to be well worth the money, which is saying something, since they don't come cheap.

With respect to the Black Rifle series, the first volume is an indispensible resource which effectively covers the journey from AR-15 to the M-16A1. Newer models (i.e. A2 to present) are covered much more extensively in the second title -- Black RIfle II -- which has been the subject of some light criticism, but is nevertheless a benchmark text.

AC