When I think about early writers and the classic bolt action custom rifle I think of Whelen, Crossman, White. Unfortunately I know them mostly from the writings of others, such as O'Conner, and have almost no access to their original writings. I just found a copy of Whelen's 1918 book, "The American Rifle" to download from the web. His chapter on stocking was very interesting as he essentially describes the classic stock as his ideal. How important was this book and what other early writings could be described as "seminal"?
Jerry Liles
