doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Best gun writer

Another thread is addressing the pros and cons of American guns. When I last looked it had spiraled out of orbit and was dealing with springs. There were a lot of opinions about springs, some of them just that, and some based on fact. Over the years I have read a lot of articles by renowned authors who simply did not have their facts straight, e.g. that at one time or another John Browning has been credited with having designed every gun Winchester ever made. Other writers have plainly revealed themselves to have never taken a class in simple high school Newtonian physics.

So, the question is this: of all the gun writers you have come across, past and present, which one or two do you have the most respect for in terms of accuracy and lack of bias?

I like Dave Petzal at Field&Stream. I don't know that he's ever written a book but he seems to know his stuff in his monthly column there..Geo

#1. Gerald Burrard. #2. Our very own Larry Brown, Dig Hadoke, Walt Snyder, Drew Hause, MD and Vic Venters, not necessarily in that order.

I'll wade in. I like techie stuff. Pose a question, use scientific method to address it. So, Gough Thomas Garwood is worthy of a mention in my view.

Also, I like Angiers. I read them all as available, in the context of their times, and what people were thinking.
It's really hard to pick if you include non-english language writers as well.

There are so many, and writing isn't always their strong suit.

Not only is writing often not their strong suit, gun knowledge is also often lacking. Literacy and gun knowledge is often found in Double Gun Journal authors, such as Sherman Bell. Although not specifically a gun writer, Bob Brister was something to behold in print. He was one of those rare birds who could entertain while still knowing what end the shot comes out.

A second to Bob Brister. I read his newspaper writings in addition to F&S and his books for 30 yrs. There was none better and the man could shoot a gun like very few can; hand pitched live birds. He bought a house in a nice neighborhood in west Houston from his winnings!

My favorite is still McIntosh.

He may not have been the most technically correct, but he was a great writer. And he cranked the stuff out.

Vic Venters stuff is also great. More readable than Garwood.

Burrard was technically correct, but he's boring. He reported. McIntosh wrote.

OWD

Not shotgunners particularly, but I liked Ken Waters and do like John Barsness a lot for their American plain style and writing pretty much at my (not very elevated) level of technical understanding.

In the shotgun world I miss Wallace Zabrisky.

I like Steven Bodio for his ability to communicate his love for gun sports and the outdoors, and even the mania of falconers. Gives me a whole new outlook on the "natural hunters" that hunt along with us when we're out in the field. (Although I'm still sore about a sharpshinned hawk that stole a quail from me in the Snake River Breaks once....and a horned owl that stole my watch cap when I was working a rabbit squeaker for 'yotes!).

The "Technicana" columns McIntosh and Trevallion produced together for Shooting Sportsman magazine and compiled in the "Shotgun Technicana" book were a really good marriage of good gun writing and technical expertise.

Jay

I don't know who to nominate as the "best", but I like reading stuff by Don Zutz and Mike George.