Recommended reading (Ayoob and like)

A

alberich

New member
Any tips for my next Amazon order? I'm into books written by people who were actually in a life threatening situations when firearms were involved. Be it SD, war or whatever. Memories and experiences of LEOs, soldiers (with an accent on the combat tactics, not exactly the military life in general) and so on. I'm not much interested in Gun defence manuals written by people who shoot a lot, compete a lot but were never in a real gunfight. I think I have already a good idea how to hold a pistol, hit an alpha zone or get a popper down, so I'm looking for a lesson two.

Any book titles and web links are very welcome, thanks in advance.
 
Bill Jordon's NO SECOND PLACE WINNER is good, and should be required reading for anyone going into LE.

McBride A RIFLEMAN GOES TO WAR, for rifle, this one should be required reading for anyone going into the military.
 
I'm just about finished reading The Gun Digest Book of Concealed Carry by Ayoob. I've really liked the information in there. There's a lot of information, some was old to me but there was more than enough new to keep me reading.
 
Guns, Bullets, and Gunfights by the late Jim Cirillo. Jim details several of his gunfights and spends time talking about very important issues and tactics.

Combat Handgunnery by Ayoob. Don't know if he's been there, but he has sure talked to a lot of people who have. His book uses real life examples to provide sound gunfighting skills.

Street Survival by Remsburg (calibre press). This is a tactics text for police officers but there are chapters devoted to gunfighting. This book is almost thirty years old but I still love to re-read it.
 
Tactical Pistol Shooting by Erik Lawrence - if I could have only one book on pistol shooting and use this would be it. Loaded with information.
 
Shots Fired In Anger by John B. George

Texans, Guns and History and Unrepentant Sinner by Charles Askins

Hell, I Was There by Elmer Keith

Stressfire and Stressfire II by Mas Ayoob

C Stories and To Ride, Shoot Straight, And Speak The Truth by Jeff Cooper

That ought to keep you busy for a while... 8^)

lpl
 
bababooey ~

No gunowner bookshelf should be without Ayoob's In the Gravest Extreme. That's the classic.

alberich ~

I can't believe no one has yet mentioned David Klinger's Into the Kill Zone: A Cop's Eye View of Deadly Force. Klinger performed extensive and detailed interviews following a little over 100 deadly force incidents where cops shot criminals in defense of self or others. The study was performed under a grant from the DOJ (you can find it by going to www.killzonevoices.com and following the links from there) and under the terms of the grant, Klinger was required to protect his interviewees' identities. Those guys & gals gave him some amazing, fabulous first-hand accounts of using deadly force, and those stories are published in narrative form in the Kill Zone book.

pax
 
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bababooey32

The best book that Mass ever wrote was "you spending the cash to take his LFI-1 course", that's my opinion. Nothing takes the place of nose to nose communication.

In these days of common hard times, $800 dollars is a bunch of cash. So, my most dog-eared Mass book is Stressfire (in general) and Stressfire II (if you are inclined toward scatterguns for gunfighting).

To add to your list, I really appreciate Louie Awerbuck, I have had the fortune of spending time with him "off range" and he is both entertaining and a great fellow. Try Tactical Reality and More Tactical Reality, please remember that folks from East Africa have a different slant and humor on life.

Good Luck in your quest, and Be Safe
 
I personally like some of the older books, even when they seem a little dated, like Chic Gaylord (I think I'm remembering the name right) but the only serious criticism I can give is that different authors have different standpoints on, well, gunfighting. Older books tend to ignore the legal aspects of shootings but they also tend to gloss over some of the more mundane aspects of gun handling. For instance, I think that Fairbairn was very frank and realistic in his book (and he liked the .45 auto) and gave very good reasons for his line of thinking, yet somehow managed to leave out precisely how he expected his policemen to draw and chamber a round with a Colt .45 Automatic from a flapped holster and do it quickly. I guess he covered that in his training. But he never suggested you needed to shoot a hundred rounds a week to remain proficient even though he practically invented action shooting (the funhouse).

All these books can be surprisingly thin, too.

I love Elmer Keith's writings but somehow I don't feel he has much real practical advice for a suburbanite when it comes to guns. He lived in a different world than I do and so did Jeff Cooper. I guess most of the others did, too, for that matter, to be honest. Applegate comes across a little harder in a way the others usually don't.
 
Scattergun Bob,

The best book that Mass ever wrote was "you spending the cash to take his LFI-1 course", that's my opinion. Nothing takes the place of nose to nose communication
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more! I took LFI-1 in 2004. Took me a long time to be in a position to afford it but it was worth the money!
 
I'd say, after a period of time, to get all the above books. And then some!

“In The Gravest Extreme” would be the first in my opinion. It's not one on tactics but your mindset.

Then branch out and get one of shooting and one on what I call 'personal adventures'.


Tactical Pistol Shooting by Erik Lawrence is petty good, as well as Gabe's book The Tactical Pistol. And "Surgical Speed Shooting: How To Achieve High-Speed Marksmanship In A Gunfight" by Andy Stanford, SECRETS OF A MASTER GUNFIGHTER by Cirillo.

Tons of personal accounts that have lots of technical advice:

"Shots Fired In Anger" by John B. George

"A RIFLEMAN GOES TO WAR" by McBride



are both really good.

Once you become proficient at shooting, then go farther. Yes Applegate, Fairbrain, Bill Jordan, Jeff Cooper, Charlie Askins (he wrote a few on shooting, I know cuase I have 'em.)

You can get quite a library that way, and it's much better than sitting on your posterior watching TV!
 
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