Customer Reviews

Guns and Gunmaking Tools of Southern Appalachia, the Story of the Kentucky Rifle

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For students of the Southern mountain rifle as well as Appalachian lore, this book is a must. What is so amazing is how these plain, but entirely serviceable rifles were made under such primitive conditions. The chapter on cross bows and how they were made gives the reader an idea of the extreme poverty that these folk lived in. I also found the chapter on Hacker Martin, a 20th century maker of these guns to be entertaining and informative. Being a collector and muzzleloading shooter, I certainly appreciated what John R. Irwin has done with the subject

A great book on old time methods and old time tools of the gun trade. Great pictures!

I bought this book to study primitive long rifle manufacturing techniques in Appalachia. It is very well laid out. It is also an interesting insight into life in the mountains during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This is the best book I have found on tools of the gun makers in the south. The southern mountain gun is placed in a better context of isolation from the Eastern traditions through the photos and accounts. After studying the photos I will have to duplicate some of the tools for my own use.

We have an old black powder rifle in our family and this book provided interesting information that I distributed at the next family re-union.

If all you do is look at the pictures in this book, it is worth the price, but don't miss the text. I have been collecting guns made by some of the gunsmiths featured in this book for years, and I also like to collect all the information about them as individuals so I could try to understand why they made certain rifles the way they did. The book told me more than I could ever have learned by myself. Both about the guns and the gunsmiths themselves. If you are the least bit interested in these people and the guns they made, then you should really own this book.