Customer Reviews

Shotgunning: The Art and the Science

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is probably responsible for more people (including me) taking up shotgun shooting than any other book.It is considered "the bible" of shotgunning. It covers the basics, such as gun fit and learning to shoot,as well as several fascinating, and readily understandable technical sections on chokes, loads, shotstrings, velocities, and much more. If you read this book, you will get hooked by the most fun, challenging, and fascinating sport there is.

Bob Brister takes into account shot "stringing" and its effects on targets/gamebirds. Although most shotgun patterns are measured by the percentage of pellets striking a 30" circle at a measured distance; all pellets do not arrive at the same instant. Bristers method shows what really happens with a clever system that illustrates the effect of shot when applied to a moving target.Want to shoot better and have a better understanding of why you miss? Buy the book!

Bob Brister's excellent book, "Shotgunning: The Art and the Science" is a shooting classic. Brister was truly ahead of his time, and his work is as relevant today as it was during the '70's.
In fact, it is not uncommon to find repeated references to work done by Brister by many of today's shooting authors. Through a combination of intuition and hard work, Brister dispels many popular misconceptions of the day by applying science to a sport that has long relied on theories based on a tin can and a fence post.
If you have ever wondered what happens when you pull the trigger of a shotgun, read this book. If you are at all interested in the shooting sports, make this book your next. If you already own it, you know what I'm talking about. You will be reading it for years to come

Shotgunning: The Art and Science provides a good basic introduction to almost every aspect of shotguns and should prove especially beneficial for new shooters. That said, it comes up short in any substantial discussion of wingshooting technique--which was my primary need. And while the very detailed empirical discussions of ballistics and patterning are thorough and illuminating, much has changed in shotgunning technology since this book was published 30 years ago, and, of course, none of those changes are reflected. For instance, the move away from lead shot for virtually all waterfowling applications has had a profound effect on choke recommendations. Also, the birth and development of sporting clays has rejuvenated many shooters and brought countless other new shooters into shotgunning. Sporting clays is perhaps the most popular clays game being shot today, but it arrived after this book did.

In short, buy this book for its focus on the immutable fundamentals of shotgunning, but look elsewhere for a discussion of technique or a more up to date overview of new and emerging technologies.

WOW! I got lucky and picked up this book as my first book on shotgunning. Now I'm hooked! Brister's easy going presentation is combined with his technically complete analysis of exhaustive research to give anybody mildly interested in the shotgun a series of lessons they will cherish forever. From initial training to gun fitting to shot ballistics to international competition, this book provides it all!

I bought this book when it first came out over 20 years ago. I loved it then, and love it now. Much of what Brister wrote forms the bases for many current articles where his information is presented as "new" and he's not even credited! There's very little to criticize in the book. There's excellent chapters on guns, gauges, chokes, shooting styles, etc. It really was a comprehensive book at the time it was published.

That said, the book was written before the lead shot ban in waterfowl hunting, before widespread availability of choke tubes, and before the rapid rise in popularity of sporting clays. Thus the book really doesn't address these issues, and the reader will have to look elsewhere to find current information. (Well, it does talk about choke tubes some, but at that time most shotguns still were purchased with fixed chokes while the reverse is true today.)

This book should be in every serious shotgunner's library, and should be read, and then revisited every year or so, to remind the shooter that whatever recent article he/she just read was already covered by Brister!

Brister's writing style is clear and concise. The book was well edited. Most topics are explained in detail, and information is presented in such a way that most readers should be able to understand. In this day and age of computers, DVD's and other communication media, though, some younger readers may prefer a different approach.

I would love to see this book updated, with current photos and chapters covering some missing topics.

I thought Brsiter's work was very well written and showed how dedicated he was to the sport. For me, a person relatively new to shotgun sports and wing-shooting, this book is an excellent introduction to shotgunning fundamentals and why shooting a shotgun is so different than any other type of firearm.

In addition, Brister takes the time to provide perspective on various types of shotguns, and even more perspective on various shotshell loads. The summaries of his shotshell tests were very eye-opening for me, as they can teach beginners how shot spreads are affected by larger payloads and higher powder charges, and also, how various loads may affect your ability to produce clean kills in the field, rather than crippling game or causing a slow and painful passing for birds.

Though this book is almost 30 years old at the time of this review, ALL of the principles taught in it hold true today. Some argue that Brister was visionary when he wrote this book and I agree. Much of what is written could very well have had a huge part in shaping the shotgun and shotshell industry as we know it today.

I agree with the other reviews in that this is a very indepth guide to shotguns (but with an emphasis on trap shooting). Unfortunately this is not a good book for waterfowl hunting as Bob goes in depth about *lead* shot and how it performs. While his testing methods and insights on how to shoot are good, I really would care less how #4 would perform on ducks as I can't legally use it in the US. This book was written before the ban on lead shot and hasn't been updated accordingly! This book is good for the trap/skeet shooter who can use lead shot but much less useful for the waterfowl hunter. Other than this I like the book as its a good read with clear points.

The art and science is based on 1976 data. In buying the second addition I actually expected an update, copyright 2008. What I received is a reprinting of the original not a new edition. Until recently there were used copies at under $8 dollars. Keep looking for a reasonably priced used copy, it will have exactly the same text and pictures. The publisher of this "edition" has lost all creditibility.

That said, much of the 1976 data still holds true. You will find extensive testing concerning shot string, pattern density, and the relationship between shot speed (FPS) and penetration at typical shooting distances. Reading this book will probably change some of your beliefs about what makes an effective load. I have reread the original several times and enjoyed and learned from it each time.

One point of caution, Brister describes the use of common flour as a buffer to improve pattern density. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT FOLLOW THIS SUGGESTION. There are now much better buffers. Flour will draw moisture, may lock into a solid mass, and may create extreme pressures potentially blowing your barrel.

This book is an American classic and should be in every shotgunner's library regardless if the reader is a competitive clay shooter, a waterfowl hunter, or an upland bird hunter. This work is very strong on shotgun ballistics and does a very effective job of debunking folklore and myths regarding the capabilities of shotguns and their cartridges. Bob Brister, who sadly passed away in June 2005, was extremely qualified to write this book. He was the shooting editor of FIELD & STREAM magazine for many years and one of the finest all-around shotgunners in the world. Brister was blessed with a very remarkable sense of eye-hand coordination and won many clay and live-pigeon shooting tournaments. Visitors to his home were often in awe at the sheer number to trophies he had won over the years. It is not unusual for respected gun writers of today (Alex Brandt, John Barsness, John Taylor, Michael McIntosh, and, I believe, Tom Roster) to mention Brister and/or this book in their columns or in their own books -- deservedly and properly so.

SHOTGUNNING: THE ART AND THE SCIENCE gives the reader a concise but thorough, factual, and realistic look at shotguns and shooting that is written in language that is easy for a non-technical person to understand. For this book, Brister patterned thousands of loads to try to get to the bottom of what really does work and what doesn't in regards to shotgun shooting. Brister did this, in large part, with a fourteen foot patterning board pulled by car (driven by his devoted wife Sandy), and he clearly demonstrated the effect of shot stringing. (Brister showed that on a fast-moving target the pellets at the front of the shot string can have a significantly different impact point than those at the back at various yardages.)

One thing that needs to be remembered is that Bob Brister wrote this book in 1975 (it was published by Winchester Press the following year) and some of the shotgun loads he used are no longer manufactured but he did speak about steel shot which is important today to many shooters. It is too bad that in the thirty years after the initial publication of this book and his passing that Brister did not do a revised, follow-up second edition to reflect the new loads that have since come on the market (the various non-toxic loads in particular) as well as new shotgun barrel technology and chokes. Still, SHOTGUNNING: THE ART AND THE SCIENCE more than holds up to the test of time! Its conclusions and points have not diminished at all and should be part of the knowledge base of every serious shotgun shooter. As such, I highly recommend this book to all. (Note: I did see the so-called second/revised edition of this book at a local bookstore. From what I can tell, it is merely a reprint and not a very good one at that -- the print and pictures and not as sharp and clear as the original. I would opt for a first edition, used copy if I were a purchaser today.)