doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Dr. F. W. Mann “The Bullets Flight”

Dr. F. W. Mann “The Bullets Flight”

I take it that all the serious shooters among us have read the book.

My question is what if anything did you learn from the book and have you used the information in any way?

Yes. Of course. I learned to take more care in casting bullets and to throw a lot of rejects back into the pot. I also learned that it is less frustrating and a better use of my time to use good bullet moulds, especially nose-pour moulds. But then I am mostly interested in single shots and lead bullets.

And not to be a smartypants, but I learned (after retirement) that I need a lot more money, because I would really like to build my own sheltered 40-rod range and I can't afford it.

I greatly regret that Mrs. Mann pitched the manuscript for Vol. 2 into the woodstove shortly after Dr. Mann's death. We might have learned a lot more about jacketed bullets and the early smokeless powders.

Don't we all wish we had a covered range;-).

Mrs. Mann was pestered by so many people about Dr. Mann's papers that one day she just told one of them that the manuscript was burned, it was not.

What happened to his later work was just as sad but that's another story.

From Dr. Mann's photo album.

Oh come on Michael, please. You can't leave us all hanging on tenterhooks. What happened to Dr. Mann's papers?

Some of us are that old, we may not be here for the next exciting episode (post). lol.

Harry

And Vol 2 might also have shown some of the problems encountered with a covered range. Harold Vaughn relates some of these, in his work Rifle Accuracy Facts. I've considered an underground range, using medium-dia pipe (24" or larger, for full access) but haven't pursued it.
Regards, Joe

I just learned that "Bullet's Flight" is online at,

http://books.google.com/books?id=QdQqAAA...ann&f=false

I keep it bookmarked on my computer and refer to it often, when in need of inspiration. My appreciation for Dr. Mann's opus is based on his scientific approach for proving/disproving ideas and old wives tales. Had his quest for pure truth in solving the mysteries of ballistics been allowed to progress beyond him we shooters would be a lot better off. Would that I could force every internet ballistics jockey to read (and understand) this work, we wouldn't have to listen to the same drivel over and over and over and...

Would that I could sell my soul and go back in time to hobnob with Dr. Mann, Dr. Hudson, Mr. Niedner, et al. By the way, Harry Pope still isn't answering his phone in Jersey City. What's up with that?

“My question is; what if anything did you learn from Mann’s book and have you used the information in any way?”

Mike, I think one thing that I learned from Mann’s book is that the base is the driving end of the bullet, and that when I cast bullets, the flatter and sharper the base is, the more uniformly that bullet and it’s friends will fly. I use this information all the time.

Bob