Rating: 
Summary: An important work
Review: " Pick up a rifle- a really good rifle- and if you know how to use it well, you change instantly from a mouse to a man.." writes the good Colonel. Its disappointing how few books there are on the most basic principles of marksmanship, and how to use a rifle efficently. There is lots of pelf written for people who fancy themselves as Green Beret Snipers, but very little indeed on the most basic principles of marksmenship. And there is this book. Anyone who uses a rifle will benefit from this book. A begineer could not get a better teacher. A person familier with rifles will get enough information to progress to expert. And an expert will still learn enough to make the book worthwhile, or at the very least be able to enjoy Col. Coopers unique writing style. A Parent wishing to teach their daughter or son how to shoot would be well served with this as a gift for them. There are 20 chapters covering safety (nice to see), firing positions, breathing, rests and so on. The Colonel does not usually go into much depth in the WHY of things- keep your barrel off the rest as it affects trajectery , without launching into a long discourse on barrel harmonics. Despite being reasonably brief there is a lot to comprehend and practice, so you will be dealving into it for some time. The only gripes I have is some- but not all- of the ample illustrations are a tad over and under exposed so they are not as clear as one would like. This is common, alas, with Paladin books. Generally the photos are good and the dust cover is handsome. Most highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: one quote is worth the price
Review: "As we enter the 21st century we find that rifle marksmanship has been largely lost in the military establishments of the world. The notion that technology can supplant incompetence is upon us in all sorts of endeavors, including that of shooting." A gun nerd friend of mine told me I had to read the book. I don't have any guns and I don't shoot so I frankly didn't find the information very useful. On the other hand, you have to admire this guy's fanaticism taking his granddaughters to Africa to blast away at Zebras. If he were a programmer, he'd be using Common Lisp. Anyway, I found the book valuable because of the above quote. People who run Web projects and think they can make up for their unwillingness to hire competent programmers by buying junkware/middleware need to read this.
Rating:
Summary: A must-read for any rifle owner
Review: Colonel Cooper gives great advice about how to improve rifle marksmanship, as well as sage advice about everything else. His knowledge is backed by experience, and he has a knack for keeping it entertaining as well as informative. Definately a must-read.
Rating: 
Summary: A Total Waste of Money
Review: Here's why: Basically, it's just a skimpy pamphlet for beginners that was blown up to book size by using huge text and giant margins on each page. To make matters worse, the subjects covered in the book are addressed in a very simpleminded manner, similar to a very short magazine article. There is very little of substance in the book. The book has 20 chapters. Each chapter covers a separate topic such as "Trajectory" or "Breathing". There are 97 pages, so that makes about 5 pages per chapter. But there are only about half as many words on each page as a normal book. So basically, you are looking at around 2.5 pages per chapter. Needless to say, you can't put across too much information in 2.5 pages, especially when there are also photographs taking up space. For example, the chapter called "Wind" is only 4 short paragraphs. You can read it in less than 1 minute. One paragraph is about how windy it is at the Bisley shooting range. Then the author says that heavy bullets are better than light bullets. Then you're pretty much done. (I hope the publisher doesn't mind me revealing all the fascinating information in the "Wind" chapter.) Another chapter is "Moving Targets". Again, the chapter is four paragraphs long. It basically says you have to lead a moving target. Then the author tells about how his granddaughter made a nice shot on a pig. Then you're done. That's it. Some of the longer chapters are a little better. The chapter titled "The Shooting Sling" has fifteen paragraphs. So it takes maybe four minutes to read. Again, the text is basically for beginners and has no real useful information. You would do a lot better to look around on the internet at the many websites devoted to rifle shooting. There are no diagrams or illustrations at all. Just a number of black-and-white snapshots. As a final gripe, I must say that the author uses a lot of space to gripe about stuff. The chapter on "Trajectory" has no diagram of a bullet trajectory. There is however, a two-paragraph complaint from the author that physics is no longer taught in high schools. (Why do people constantly harp about "the good old days"? I know a lot of people who went to school in "the good old days" and not one of them knows anything about physics.) This sort of commentary is not enjoyable to read and doesn't serve any useful purpose in the book.
Rating:
Summary: A Total Waste of Money
Review: Here's why: Basically, it's just a skimpy pamphlet for beginners that was blown up to book size by using huge text and giant margins on each page. To make matters worse, the subjects covered in the book are addressed in a very simpleminded manner, similar to a very short magazine article. There is very little of substance in the book. The book has 20 chapters. Each chapter covers a separate topic such as "Trajectory" or "Breathing". There are 97 pages, so that makes about 5 pages per chapter. But there are only about half as many words on each page as a normal book. So basically, you are looking at around 2.5 pages per chapter. Needless to say, you can't put across too much information in 2.5 pages, especially when there are also photographs taking up space. For example, the chapter called "Wind" is only 4 short paragraphs. You can read it in less than 1 minute. One paragraph is about how windy it is at the Bisley shooting range. Then the author says that heavy bullets are better than light bullets. Then you're pretty much done. (I hope the publisher doesn't mind me revealing all the fascinating information in the "Wind" chapter.) Another chapter is "Moving Targets". Again, the chapter is four paragraphs long. It basically says you have to lead a moving target. Then the author tells about how his granddaughter made a nice shot on a pig. Then you're done. That's it. Some of the longer chapters are a little better. The chapter titled "The Shooting Sling" has fifteen paragraphs. So it takes maybe four minutes to read. Again, the text is basically for beginners and has no real useful information. You would do a lot better to look around on the internet at the many websites devoted to rifle shooting. There are no diagrams or illustrations at all. Just a number of black-and-white snapshots. As a final gripe, I must say that the author uses a lot of space to gripe about stuff. The chapter on "Trajectory" has no diagram of a bullet trajectory. There is however, a two-paragraph complaint from the author that physics is no longer taught in high schools. (Why do people constantly harp about "the good old days"? I know a lot of people who went to school in "the good old days" and not one of them knows anything about physics.) This sort of commentary is not enjoyable to read and doesn't serve any useful purpose in the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Look For A Better Book
Review: I am writing as an experienced SWAT operator, firearms instructor, and competitive 3-Gun Match shooter. This book is great for beginning rifle shooters or members of the Jeff Cooper Fan Club. However, there is nothing explained or taught in this book that I did not also receive in my very first basic rifle school. As with most of Mr. Cooper's writing, the text tends to become "preachy" and critical of modern society and technology. While I usually agree with most of what Mr. Cooper has to say and write, I am not one of his many acolytes. More to the point, I sincerely wish he would stop writing as if he assumes that the reader is a member of his fan club. The book was a disappointment. I felt that it was mostly a collection of large photos, stories, Mr. Cooper's opinions on a lot of non-shooting subjects, and a few shooting tips. Each of the sections could have been expanded a great deal. At least he didn't push the Scout Rifle concept too hard in this book. I respect Mr. Cooper and his accomplishments but his claim that "riflecraft is an art that has been completely ignored since WWII" is simply untrue. There are better books available on this subject.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading for the aspiring sharpshooter
Review: I enjoyed this book tremendously. It's great writing by one of the experts who's spent his life studying firearms and their practical uses. There are lots of practical tips on how to achieve better marskmanship, as well.
Rating:
Summary: The final word on the use of the rifle from the Master.
Review: I have read Colonel Jeff Cooper's book "Art of the Rifle" and just completed his General Rifle course. Anyone who desires to master the "queen of personal weapons" will be well on the way by studying this book. The entire spectrum of practical use of the rifle is covered in Colonel Cooper's usual style. After reading the book, you'll want to take the class. Buy one for your library, and extras for friends, children, and family. Future generations will thank you for it.
Rating:
Summary: Put the simplicity in perspective
Review: I think the part that people don't get about Cooper is that he is basicaly a military style training guy. His perspective is to give you the essence of what you need to know, drill you on that, and proclaim you more than fit to undertake the challenges of the world.
The fact is that you may be a more sophisticated shooter than what Cooper describes, but his measure is combat, dangerous game and hunting, all places where sophisticated techniques often fail, unless your life is boring enough to entail stuning levels of practice. Your race gun perspective may win out, or loose you the day, you won't know till it's too late whether it was really better. Cooper's stuff is solid and will give you a better chance of coming through alive or well fed.
It's like Cooper's views on fear, he recomends anger as an antidote. Now a sophisticated guy might recomend Zen Budhism in it's marchalist guise, but most people are extremely unlikley to get to a level where they can use that, and know it is tested for the situation they will enter.
Anyway this book is about rifle shooting, and it's all you need to know for hitting big targets fast. There are technical issues where Cooper is wrong, but if you keep the real world objective in mind, he is usualy right. For instance if you want to hit a 1 minute target at 100 yards, the accuracy of your rifle is a big deal, want to hit a 10 minute target at 100 yards, and realisticaly you won't find a rifle bad enough to mater, as long as it has a good trigers and sights. This stuff drives people crazy, because they spend thousands to build a race gun to win at play scenarios that just don't exist in the real world. Take those LA bank robers. The problem wasn't that nobody could engage multiple targets against the clock: hundreds of courageous officers couldn't engage two guys from point blank range, with ample time.
Rating:
Summary: The very short book for beginners
Review: I think this book is not really worth the money. However, if you are only interested in the basics and don't plan on buying any other books on this subject, it's worth it. The information in this book is something most people know already and I think I was mislead. This book seems to be too general about the art of shooting. But I still think that this book has a lot of value to beginners.
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