Complete Book of Shooting: Rifles, Shotguns, Handguns

by Jack O'Connor, Roy Dunlap, Alex Kerr

This is a unique book in that it contains not only the fundamentals of sighting, trigger control, shooting positions, and shot placement, but many more subjects as well, those that shooters often wonder about but seldom find in the printed word. Significant contributions have been made by each of the authors – Jack O'Connor, Roy Dunlap, Alex Kerr and Jeff Cooper. The first edition was released in 1974 and an updated edition was released in 1982; approximately four years after Jack
O'Connor passed away.

Genres: Nonfiction

376 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1983

About the author

Jack O'Connor was best known as a writer for Outdoor Life, magazine, where he served as Shooting Editor for 31 years.

Jack O'Connor taught English at the University of Arizona, and became its first journalism professor. His first love was the outdoors and writing about hunting, firearms, and the natural history of big game animals. As the longtime firearms editor for Outdoor Life magazine, O'Connor hunted and collected trophies throughout the world, and introduced millions of readers to hunting and firearms. O'Connor moved to Lewiston, Idaho in 1948 and he lived there until his death in 1978.

O'Connor was well known among shooters and hunters as a proponent of the .270 Winchester and 7x57mm Mauser (.275 Rigby) cartridges. His knowledge of hunting and shooting was extensive, and he had a firm opinion on everything. He was one of America's greatest hunting and gun writers of the twentieth century.

Jack O'Connor authored over a dozen non-fiction books including "Game in the Desert" "The Rifle Book" "The Complete Book of Rifles and Shotguns" "The Big Game of North America" "The Art of Hunting Big Game in North America," and "Sheep and Sheep Hunting" He also wrote two western novels, "Conquest," and "Boom Town," and the autobiography of his formative years: "Horse and Buggy West: A Boyhood on the Last Frontier."

According to his son Bradford, in an introduction written for the 2004 book, "The Lost Classics of Jack O'Connor," Jack wrote more than 1200 articles for hunting and fishing magazines, and also wrote romantic novellas and articles for Redbook, Mademoiselle, Reader's Digest, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, the literary magazine Midland, and other magazines popular in the 1930s and 1940s.

Thanks to his education and teaching experience O'Connor's writing skills and style were far above the norm for outdoor magazines. An O'Connor story always taught the reader something about hunting, shooting, or sportsmanship. He had the ability to make the reader feel as if they were right there with him, and he usually closed a hunting story with a bit of humor or an exclamation by one of the characters, leaving the reader eager for more.

Reviews

[Checkman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic reference book.Jeff Cooper wrote the section on handguns while O'Connor dealt with rifles. Other chapters were written by Roy Dunlap and Alex Kerr. A multitude of subjects are covered; bore sighting, maintenance, ammunition, shot placement and so forth. For those who are long-time shooters it won't be anything new, but it still makes for a nice addition to one's library. For beginners there is a wealth of information. Originally published in 1974 it shouldn't be surprising that some of the info is going to be a bit dated - as is some of the writing. Jack O'Connor passed away in 1978 and an updated second edition was released in 1983. Both are very close to one another and it isn't worth going to any great effort to get the earlier or later edition. Personally my favorite Jack O'Connor book is The Complete Book Of Rifles And Shotguns: With A Seven-Lesson Rifle Shooting Course,but I own both books and they're keepers.

[Craig Schlossin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great spot teaches you how.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book with lots of info for the absolute beginner to shooting. If you aren't familiar with rifles, shotguns, or pistols, you should definitely read this book. However, that being said this book has a lot of outdated information and information that someone new to shooting might find overly technical or boring. There is one part of the book where the new shooter is advised to take an unloaded rifle or shotgun, hide in the woods near the highway, and practice swinging wingshots on passing cars without actually firing. Needless to say this will get you thrown in jail in a hurry these days. The complete history of every type of chamber and ammunition probably could have been saved for another book altogether. There were some informational gems in here though. I am not a novice shooter, but neither am I an expert marksman. The sections on trajectory and long-distance shooting were very helpful to me. I was already familiar with the different shooting positions, but having O'Connor's take on them was refreshing and informative as well. So again, if you are absolutely new to shooting read this book. Just be forewarned that a lot of the safety recommendations are no longer considered safe. You can probably safely skip the information on bullet weights, casing miscellanea, except as they pertain to trajectory. After you've read this book, go take a hunting or rifle safety course to get the proper information on gun handling and safety.