Gunsmithing at Home: Lock, Stock & Barrel- A Complete Step-by-Step Fully Illustrated Guide to the Art of Gunsmithing, 2nd Edition [Paperback]

John Traister (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1996

John Traiser has revised his highly successful book to give the home gunsmith the very latest techniques as well as his tricks of the trade in repairing handguns, rifles, and shotguns.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Gunsmithing At Home: Lock, Stock & Barrel is a complete step-by-step fully illustrated guide to the art of gunsmithing. Gunsmiths repair, refinish and/or customize any type of firearm. In the majority of cases, it's a matter of replacing broken or worn out parts. The remaining 25% of a gunsmith's work deals with customizing existing firearms. Gunsmithing At Homeisn't just for the professional; it's designed to give comprehensive assistance to many levels of expertise. Hundreds of photographs and illustrations tied into the clearly written text will guide the gunsmith through setting up his shop to solving the problem at hand -- including cleaning firearms, installing and adjusting rifle sights, trigger adjustments and repairs, firearms disassembly, soldering and brazing, metal hardening and tempering, making and fitting replacement parts, rebluing and browning gun metal, metal polishing, stockwork-shaping, and more! Gunsmithing At Homeis the do-it-yourself reference guide and "how-to" book for anyone interested in the art and craft of gunsmithing. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Stoeger Publishing Company; 2nd edition (February 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0883171902
• ISBN-13: 978-0883171905
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #528,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Familiarization not instruction, July 1, 2000

By 

Joe D "RealGuns.Com" (Raymond, ME) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Gunsmithing at Home: Lock, Stock & Barrel- A Complete Step-by-Step Fully Illustrated Guide to the Art of Gunsmithing, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

For a novice who would like to get a grasp of firearms gunsmithing vocabulary, or get a very superficial understanding of tasks a person might encounter while taking a firearm into a shop for service or repair, the book does an adequate job. There is no section, other than firearm cleaning, that provides enough detailed information to actually accomplish any of the tasks covered.

There is a section that defines the general process of hot bluing, including the fact you would need to disassemble the firearm, clean and polish it, tank it and finish it. It does not mention several thousand dollars of tank equipment, caustic out gasing, facility environmental consideration, how to disassemble, or even how to polish the parts being blued. The references to chemicals and process are less than the steps outlined on chemical containers. But if you read the section, you would know what hot bluing is.

There is a section on trigger work, including references to stoning camming surfaces, but there is no reference to stoning alignment fixtures, grades of stones, cut angles, dimensions, etc. But if you read the section you would know generally what constitutes a trigger job.

The section on stock making dedicates three pages to types of wood, two pages on forend and grip cap trim, three pages on tools - then half a page on stock shaping.

If you're a novice and you are looking for definitions, the book is okay. If you are experienced and looking for actual instruction for a task, you won't find it here. There are much better listings to select.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars gunsmithing at home lock stock & barrel, September 16, 2009

By 

Cowhand (Ragley, La) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gunsmithing at Home: Lock, Stock & Barrel- A Complete Step-by-Step Fully Illustrated Guide to the Art of Gunsmithing, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

i enjoyed the book. some of it was useful and some was just interesting to read about even tho i would not try doing some of it. i have no regrets about buying the book and would recommend buying it to others.

14 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for those interested in gunsmithing, April 6, 2000

By 

"watsonplace" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gunsmithing at Home: Lock, Stock & Barrel- A Complete Step-by-Step Fully Illustrated Guide to the Art of Gunsmithing, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

I have really enjoyed this book. It is not written in some gunsmith code word language. The instructions are very clear easy to grasp. I especially was impressed with the section on hot bluing your items yourself.