Greenville County

[Woodstock]

I have been looking for a copy of the Gunsmiths of Greenville County. From what I have read about it on this forum and other places it is the best book for gun builders. I called the publisher (Scurlock) mid January and again early this month. They do not know when it will run again. My question is what would be your number one and number two choices for a beginning gun builder?  Eventually I would like to have a copy of all of them. I would like to know, in you opinion what would be the best for now until I can get my hands on the one I really want.
Thanks,
Patrick

[brokenflint]

woodstock
give the Kings MOuntain national park a call, there where a couple of copies of "The Gunsmith of Grenville County - Building the American Longrifle" in their book store.  Don't know if they are still there or whether or not they will ship, but no harm in calling for sure.  Make sure you tell them the correct title / author / publisher

[Roger Fisher]

1st Chuck Dixon's book on building the Pa rifle...\Walks you thru it.

2nd Pete Alexander's Gunsmith of Grenville County.  More detailed; but jumps around in the process of building.,

[G-Man]

I would start with a simple concise book with the basic layout of assembly and a good reference book on originals so you know where you are headed with your build.  

Two of my personal favorites for the first "how to book" would be Chuck Dixon's "The Art of Building the Pennsylvania Longrifle, or even "Building the Kentucky Rifle" by Jim Johnston.  Both are concise and have great basic layout drawings and most importantly, present the steps in a logical, clear progression.   For specific things not covered in the book you can always get good advice on this board.

For the reference on originals I would get Shumway "Rifles of Colonial America" while it is currently still in print.    If you have some particular styles you are interested in, Dr. Whisker's books are great as each one focuses on a specific  "school" or region and allows you to get a feel for the common things, as well as the variations, within a specific style or region.

Finally - seek out mentors - find a builder near you to bounce ideas off of and critique your work, or just to help "measure twice, cut once" before tackling some of the major steps.  Go to shows, talk to good builders, and handle as many originals and good contemporary pieces as you can.  Books are great, but first hand study is even better.

Guy

[Larry Luck]

I have Peter Alexander's book and turn to it frequently as a guide and sometimes just to read because it has a wealth of information.

A second book I have is "Gunsmithing Tips and Projects" which contains a number of articles by John Bivins from Rifle Magazine dealing with longrifle building.  Not as comprehensive in scope as Alexander's book, but very good on the topics it addresses.  

Bad news is it is out of print, but you can find a copy via Internet (at a premium):

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=Gunsmithing+Tips+%26+Projects&x=46&y=6

Larry Luck

[omark]

what they said ,  and recreating the american longrifle by buchele, shumway and alexander. i have it, art of building the penn longrifle and gunsmith of grenville county.  seems what one doesnt cover, one of the others do. also sometimes different ways of doing the same thing.   mark

[Bill of the 45th]

Google the title, and you will probably find a copy.  For a beginner, it might be too much info.  But it is a great resource.  I would get Chuck Dixon's  book on building as a second less technical guide.  Dixon's or Track of the backorder should have it.  There are a couple of other good ones out there as well.  And don't forget the building DVD's from American Pioneer Video, which is another resource, especially if you are a visual learner. I would go for both the Ron Silver, and Hershel House Vid's.  I would wait a while before you get the barrel forging, and rifling video's, as there is a slightly longer learning curve   The point is you really should have more than one source of info.  Also for Pete Alexander's book, you need to be able to read Canadian.

Bill

[Eric Krewson]

This place appears to have a copy but I didn't click on the "buy now" tab.

http://www.filedby.com/search/results/title/

[The other DWS]

Kings Mtn had 2 copies left when I called them, now they have one.  but they are going to see if the other NPS gift shops have any.

[Eric Krewson]

I was mistaken, the place was not a book seller but a search engine for other book sellers, no copies found.

[Woodstock]

BINGO!!
The book is on the way. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.
Kings Mountain had the book.  It was kinda funny when I made the call. A feller named Ken answered the phone. I told him I was looking for a particular book. He said let me guess “The Gunsmiths of Greenville County”.  Someone named Wayne bought a copy and told them to get ready for a bunch of calls. Apparently they have gotten them. Ken said they had two copies left when I placed the order  about 30 minutes ago. I started to buy all of them but I figured why be greedy.  If anyone out there wants a copy you need to get on it quick.
Thanks again,

[horseman]

Amazon Books.  Chuck Dixon is my choice, as well.  Good luck.

[David Veith]

Log cabin still has it listed.David Veith

[nc_cooter]

Woodstock, Ken is a nice young'un but he can't remember names too good. I was the one who told him about getting some calls. Had mine about a week and still reading. Lots to learn.
Mike Broach

[The other DWS]

I suspect that more than one of us told'm to try to find more copies