Rifle Story, The: an Illustrated History from 1776 to the Present Day - Hardcover

Gun Week", March 20, 2007"Written by a world authority on firearms, this 304-page hardbound volume tells the firearms story of the past 230 years. From the first sporting rifles to the latest military rifle designs, Walter covers the birth, development, and use of the rifle, and all its many trials and tribulations over the years ... this excellent tome includes 84 glossy black and white photo plates and 52 line drawings ... This is an excellent book on the subject and the illustrations are definitely an asset. The time span for the subject is so large it would be extremely difficult to cover it in more extensive detail."

"The Rifle Story" tells the fascinating story of the development and use of the rifle, from its advent in central Europe for target shooting through its first hesitant use in war to the precision shooting machines of today. Set against the fascinating anecdotal history of the use and abuse of the rifle, the book tracks not only the impact of technology on the ability to hit targets effectively at ever-increasing range, but also highlights the continual bickering between inventors who felt that novelty was the same as progress, military hierarchies that were often blinkered by out-of-date thinking, and parsimonious governments interested only in keeping the costs of weaponry to the absolute minimum. The need to supply guns and ammunition to remote colonies, pushing back the frontiers of civilisation for good or bad, made fortunes for many enterprising gunmakers. Colt, Winchester and Mauser are just three of the many manufacturers to gain (and retain) commercial renown. The story is scattered with flashes of brilliance of designers - some well-known, others now forgotten - and disasters on an international scale that were rarely admitted by their perpetrators. "The Rifle Story" presents the trials and tribulations of the rifled long-arm in a concise, lucid style pioneered by the author of "The Luger Story", "Military Rifles of Two World Wars", "Military Handguns of Two World Wars", "The Greenhill Dictionary of Guns and Gunmakers", "Guns of the Third Reich and The Luger Story".