Books

[talkingamoeba]

Hello,
Would you folks point me in the direction of a good book of carving styles or designs that would give me ideas so that I can come up with a simple beginners subject to carve on a stock? Also, are their any good picture books of the different rifle styles to serve as a source to pick some ideas from?

 

[qtrhrs7]

You can go to Muzzleloader Builders Supply website and check out their book section. They may have what you want.

 

[Zonie]

I don't know of any books that are directly aimed at the carving styles of the old longrifles but the books that show a number of these carved rifles are available both for sale and at many public libraries.

Kiding's "THOUGHTS ON THE KENTUCKY RIFLE IN ITS GOLDEN AGES" is good as is George Shumways two volume set called "RIFLES OF COLONIAL AMERICA".

James R. Johnson's book "KENTUCKY RIFLES & PISTOLS 1750-1850" shows over 100 rifles and pistols, most of them having views of both sides.

John Dillin's classic "The Kentucky Rifle" is very interesting but the photos are small and often show only the right hand side so the carving isn't seen.

Dr. Whisker has many books dealing with various 'schools' or Pennsylvania county's gunmakers but most of the photos only show the right side of the guns.
Dr. Whiskers books go into great detail about the lives of the gunmakers but really don't give a lot of information about the guns he shows in his books.

A book with incredible pictures of incredible guns is called "The Longrifles of Western Pennsylvania- Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties" by R, Rosenberger & Charles Kaufmann.
The guns and their craftsmanship are superb but much of what is shown was rather unique to that area of Pennsylvania.

As I mentioned, I would try the local library.
Although many librarys are not fond of firearms most librarians will conceede that these guns are actually works of art so they will often work with you in finding these books.
If your local library doesn't have the books, ask if they are part of a 'loaner system' where they can obtain books from the larger libraries for their patrons to read.
Often, libraries have books that are for "Reference ONLY". The library may or may not allow you to photocopy the pages but if you have a small digital camera you can snap a picture of the pages that interest you.

 

[Birddog6]

I have several dozen ML books. The ones I have gotten the best use from is the RCA Vol I & Vol II. Not to say I have not enjoyed the others, but those 2 books have served me the best in study, carving styles, etc.

Keith Lisle

 

[saber]

Go to e-bay do search for Kentuck rifle, longrifle Pa longrifle and building the Kentucky there are books there and a DVD on carveing the longrifle and how to do it God Bless

 

[talkingamoeba]

Thank you for the directions, I didn't want to buy 10 OK books to get to 1 or 2 that will give me the visual that I am looking for. I don't go to town much, but I'll check with the library. I searched on-line and lots of stuff came up but not the kind of pictures and types that I find interesting enough to try. Thanks again.

 

[Birddog6]

The RCA Vol. #I & II have Hundreds of photos of rifles in them. They are all black & white, but an excellent pair of books. Both books are over 1" thick & hard back.
However, IMHO, any book you are going to buy, you should look at In Hand before you buy it. I have bought allot of them over the years & found out of ? 75 or so, had actually Looked at them in hand first, I would have bought about 10.

One of the worst I ever bought was a Jaeger book. It was just copies of copies of copies of poor copied photos from magazines. For me, a totally useless book I sold the very next day.....

The finest book I ever bought of really GOOD clear awesome photos, is the Jaeger book that Jim Chambers Flintlocks sells. Undoubtedly the best photo collection of rifles I have ever seen. It is an expensive book, but if you are a Jaeger lover, it is the coup de grace of Jaeger books. :thumbsup:

Keith Lisle

 

[Vaino]

My main references are RCA, vol. 1&2 and along w/ the photos, the dimensions given are a real help. These 2 books are constantly refered to, especially when building LRs that I don't normally build. Kindig's book is OK but doesn't contain enough close-ups.....Fred

 

[ehoff]

I have to agree that if I had to choose just two books, RCA Vol. 1 & 2 would be the ones.

 

[talkingamoeba]

I will show my lack of knowledge here :idunno: What is "RCA vol I & II?"

 

[Zonie]

That's George Shumway's Rifles of Colonial America, volume I & II .
http://www.shumwaypublisher.com/store/shop/

 

[talkingamoeba]

Thanks Zonie, I have seen those through Dixie. You folks are the best.

 

[Zonie]

If I were going to buy one of Shumways books I would go straight to the source and use the link I gave.

I recently bought two books from him and I was pleased to notice that he used the new Post Offices low cost boxes to ship it to me.

Not only did I recieve the books two days after I ordered them but the postage was $10 less than most other companies charge for shipping. :grin:

 

[talkingamoeba]

For some reason that link doesn't want to work for me, but I'll keep trying. Thanks Zonie :thumbsup:

 

[J.D.]

The Book of Lancaster Carving

Full size Lancaster and Lebanon school carvings.

Susanne Waren-Bicio, Historical Armsmaker
PO box 160 Ozone, AR 72854-0160

 

[talkingamoeba]

Thanks JD exactly what I was looking for.

 

Look up / Google Dixon's Muzzleloading Shop, You should be close enough to go there and check out their book selection, they probably have 200 or more titles, and you can see what yer getting before you buy. They're just east of Allentown, definately worth a trip. I go for the gunbuilder's fair last weekend in July, well worth the 16 hour drive from northern Michigan. :thumbsup:

Bill

 

[talkingamoeba]

Thanks, would be a 6 hour drive I guess. However, they have more people there than here and I don't do well with that many folks around. I had heard of Dixons, and might even end up there sometime :idunno: :grin: