Peter Alexander's Book

[Ken G]

I used Dixon's book along with Alexander's book for years.  In my opinion they compliment each other very well.
Back to the original post .......  $400     Wow.  I'm sure several folks on this board will part with thier copy for far less. 
Cheers,
Ken

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

CK...I agree about the dimensions.  In my case, there was only a very small step from the rod to the tail of the pipe, so I made it to work that way.  I'll bet there's only 1/16" of wood along the bottom of my stock.

[whitebear]

But - NOTHING has been more instructive to me than THIS site ALR.
BTW - Thanks...................Lynn

Lynn I couldn't agree more.  Ask a question here and you can get 15 different knowledgeable answers in just a few hours and question these answers if you want to and get more knowledgeable answers.

[LynnC]

The books only act as a guide so you know just what to ask 
This is The Place for knowledgeable answers.............Lynn

[pathfinder]

I have to agree that this is THE place to learn and the afore mentioned books do lead you to ask the right questions. The work I see here from these folks is absolutly humbling. If ever I start to think I am good gun builder,I come here,look at a few guns you guy's have built,go back to my "cave" and realize I've a lot to learn!
When I saw $400.00 for the Greenville book I thought the same,darn it,I only got $45.00 when I sold my extra copy!

[razor62]

Waiting for Alexanders' book to be re-printed. When I saw the price tags on Ebay  I had all I could do to keep from sending the seller a note telling him that he or she ought to be ashamed of themselves. As far as I'm concerned they can keep their books and use them for TP!

I do have a couple of other books that have helped me learn a great deal. I find that instructional videos are a big help too.

[Mike R]

I haveat least 4 books on building the longrifle, icluding the Alexander book and the 1st ed Recreating the Longrifle book.  Pete's has the advantage of more illustrations, but truly, no book can teach a beginner better than a 'hands on' mentor in the shop with you [or you in his shop].  A person would learn much faster alongside a master, books aside...like others, neither Pete's nor any other building book is worth $400. $400 would go a long way towards parts for a rifle....

[Rootsy]

I started with Dixon's book and it is fine for generalities of the basics of building.  I still have it in my library.  I had Alexander's book for a while and had to re-read parts often to fully decipher.  In all, beyond the inletting and securing of components one must learn and master I find that photography of contemporary and original pieces answers more questions with regard to shaping than any of the "building books" I've read.  After one or two guns, to get the basics ingrained, the references, for me at least, are boredom reading for lull periods between projects.

I will admit I ebay'd my Alexander book a few months back for a few times what I paid for it originally.  With the proceeds I bought RCA I & II.  A worthwhile move IMO. 

[holzwurm]

   . . . . and to think I've lost two of the Alexander books. I hate to think that someone at Friendship might do it, but I'm pretty sure one of them disappeared off my work bench when I was there building stuff for crowd entertainment. Sigh