Gunsmithing at Home Lock Stock & Barrel: Lock, Stock & Barrel

Rating:
Summary: Familiarization not instruction
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource for those interested in gunsmithing
Review: 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.