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9/28/2014 10:14:04 AM EDT
I want to get into gun restoration/gunsmithing as a hobby. I plan to buy something old, beat up, and not worth much to learn on and practice on. That way if (and when) I make a mistake, I won't care that much.

Can anybody recommend a book that has some basics to get started with (wood restoration, metal finishing, etc)?  I am mainly interested in rifles.

Also, any recommendations of a rifle to look for that would be good to learn on?  I plan on looking at pawn shops and gun shows.

Thanks
9/28/2014 1:58:58 PM EDT
[#1]
Two books to start with:

Rifle Gunsmithing by Jack Mitchell
Bolt Action Rifles by Frank De Hass

A Mauser 98
9/28/2014 2:26:11 PM EDT
[#2]
The gold standard is The Modern Gunsmith, vol 1 and 2, by James Howe.  A bit out of your and my league....

It is available as an e-book, but the original dead tree books are very nice to have.
9/29/2014 10:31:14 AM EDT
[#3]
As an Amateur, here are some of the books I've found helpful, on a poor civil servants salary

Do it Yourself Gunsmithing by Jim Carmichel, very old school, hand checkering, stock fitting with hand tools, project based.

Bryce Towslys Gunsmithing Made Easyspecific projects approached from the home gunsmiths perspective, like glass bedding, refinishing a wood stock, shortening and re-crowning a barrel without a lathe, etc.


Patrick Sweeny's Gunsmithing Pistols & Revolvers, Gunsmithing Rifles. Lots of explanation, technique, and projects.

Shotgun News 's Gunsmithing Projects covers a lot of gunsmithing tools & techniques, including Lathe use and Welding in the front, then has a collection of How To gunbuild articles from over the years, stuff like AK Builds, 9mm scratch built carbine, FAL builds, AR builds, lot's of parts kit builds. Good stuff!

There's a second addition that's on my shopping list.

There's an entire NRA series as well that are on my " To buy", but the ones above will keep you busy for a long while and are all aimed at beginners. They also have th added benefit of being CHEAP! Big help to me.

9/30/2014 9:22:18 AM EDT
[#4]
This old textbook beats hell out of the Howe book and is also available on line:

http://www.machinistblog.com/download-advanced-gunsmithing-book-pdf/

or  https://s3.amazonaws.com/machblog/downloads/AdvancedGunsmithing.pdf

Another useful book:

Gunsmithing and Tool Making Bible - Harold Hoffman

One more for now:

US Rifles and Machine Guns

The last book is a complete description of the manufacture of 1903 Springfield rifles.

I need to add a complete list of this sort of information for folks that are interested in getting a start on their own.





9/30/2014 9:47:02 AM EDT
[#5]
Quote History
Quoted:
This old textbook beats hell out of the Howe book and is also available on line:

http://www.machinistblog.com/download-advanced-gunsmithing-book-pdf/

or  https://s3.amazonaws.com/machblog/downloads/AdvancedGunsmithing.pdf

Another useful book:

Gunsmithing and Tool Making Bible - Harold Hoffman

One more for now:

US Rifles and Machine Guns

The last book is a complete description of the manufacture of 1903 Springfield rifles.

I need to add a complete list of this sort of information for folks that are interested in getting a start on their own.





View Quote


That would be a great resource;  a comprehensive list with a brief description of the content, allowing forum users to scroll through and find titles in their area of interest.

Most of the books I currently own have been blind luck or a tip from a forum. A descriptive list would be a great help to us amateurs.
9/30/2014 9:48:17 PM EDT
[#6]
Quoted:
I want to get into gun restoration/gunsmithing as a hobby. I plan to buy something old, beat up, and not worth much to learn on and practice on. That way if (and when) I make a mistake, I won't care that much.

Can anybody recommend a book that has some basics to get started with (wood restoration, metal finishing, etc)?  I am mainly interested in rifles.

Also, any recommendations of a rifle to look for that would be good to learn on?  I plan on looking at pawn shops and gun shows.

Thanks
View Quote

I must have mis-read your post
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