Reading List
Blog reader Bob R. asked for a list of books I recommend reading – here are a few.
– Shooting to Live by Fairbairn/Sykes
– The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
– A Rifleman Went To War by Herbert McBride
– Ordnance Went Up Front by Roy Dunlap
– The Bullet’s Flight From Powder to Target by Mann
– Infantry Attacks by Rommel
– Seamanship and Small Boat Handling by Chapman
– The Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian (except for the ones where Aubrey is on shore because they’re boring and even harder to read)
– Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
– Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
– Starship Troopers by Heinlein
The Shores of Tripoli by James L. Haley
I would HIGHLY recommend “On Combat” http://www.amazon.com/Combat-Psychology-Physiology-Deadly-Conflict/dp/0964920549 and “Warrior Mindset” http://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Mindset-Dr-Michael-Asken/dp/0964920557 by Lt. Col Grossman and others. Both go into the psychology and physiology of the military and law enforcement and violence. Covers: During a firefight you can literally pee or poop in your pants, how to handle the stress of the fight, how to prevent and handle PTSD, and mental toughness and training for the fight.
Andrew, My Name is Robert Miller and I am the CEO of a company called Teludyne Tech Industries. Is it possible you and I can talk about the possibility of you evaluating on of our guns? I just finished reviewing your blog and I like the attention to detail and objective assessments with no sugar coatings. Breath of fresh air. My email is RMiller@Teludyne tech.com and my mobile is 864-200-0227. Please feel free to call anytime. I was also a medical guy is the service. Thnaks in advance and keep up the awesome work brother. V/R Rob Miller
Atlas Shrugged
Fidler’s Gun and Fidler’s Green
Johny Tremain
English Creek
Atlas Shrugged SHOULD be required reading for every patriot, but unfortunately not everyone will be able to finish the book. It took me six months, and I’m an avid reader, just because working through her writing style took so much out of me, and I’d have to stop for a few days. It was definitely worth it, though…
Haven’t read “Atlas shrugged” and won’t do. But everyone who hails this book should know that Alissa Sinowjewna Rosenbaum (Ayn Rand) who preached capitalism without restrictions, self dependancy and ethical egoism got her free education in sowjet russia, and wasn’t shy getting her lung surgery paid by medicare after decades of heavy smoking.
Thats what I call a hypocrite.
None of that makes her wrong.
You seem unable to take part in anything requiring logical progression. Your quip merely shows a capacity for critical thinking that is sadly impaired. Actions make the person and nothing truly worthwhile to mankind can proceed from the intellect of any self-righteous and self-absorbed hack – regardless of topic chosen or nom de plume used.
This is not the sort of vitriol I want to see in my reading list comments.
I see this argument quite often, and while there are plenty of good criticisms against Ayn Rand (not just her long-windedness), this one is just silly. Speaking out against the predations of the welfare state and then trying to pull back some of the value taken from oneself is no different than trying to recover any other form of property taken by force.
By your argument, someone who is burgled could either rail against the evils of burglary or try to take their burgled property back – but not both.
If you want to rag on her for hypocrisy there are better examples from her love life, or how she excoriated mindless religious followers in her writings and then demanded similar unquestioning fealty from her own circle (resulting in modern Objectivists beginning and ending every argument with “because Ayn Rand said so.”).
That being said, I still have enormous respect for her as a writer and a thinker. She called bullshit very early on with regards to a lot of topics that desperately needed it: especially the so-called “selflessness” and “empathy” of progressives. She was a feminist in the best possible sense – that women could accomplish intellectual and business feats equal that of any man (change the world, run a megacorporation), but without denying or weakening their femininity. This was radical stuff back in the 1940s and 1950s. Is she worth reading? Absolutely. It doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything she wrote, said, or did in her personal life.
I threw away my copy of Atlas Shrugged, hated it.
Page Smith’s People’s History of The United States
Daniel Boorstin’s The Discoverers
Neil Stephenson’s The Baroque Cycle
Swinton’s The Defense of Duffer’s Drift
Max Velocity’s Contact!
U.S. Army Ranger Handbook
Chris Cocks’ Fireforce
Philip Dray’s There Is Power In A Union
Radley Balko’s Rise of the Warrior Cop
What exactly did you hate about it? Yes, it’s a big book, and yet, her writing style is very hard to read, but it’s still eye opening…
Hi, I was wondering if you could answer this question. I built a 16″ mid length upper with syrac ord adjustable gas block. I tested it with a R GUN and SPIKE BCG. I tuned the gas low enough to lock back with TULA .223 ammo. When i switched the bolt with a fail zero bolt. the rifle stopped locking back and would sometimes short stroke. When I put the R GUN and Spike Bolt back in the carrier, it functioned again. How can a bolt affect how a rifle locks back??? the bolt of the only thing that was changed.
Think of the AR15/M16 gas system as a “stationary” piston (the bolt) and a moving gas cylinder (the carrier). Since you have adjusted the gas pressure to a minimal amount to function and lock back the action, any slight variation in the parts that contain and utilize the gas pressure will affect the function.
The bolt, with it’s gas rings, or whatever equivalent is installed in their place, can have slight variances
in gas sealing ability, dimensions, actual mass, etc. In your case, possibly, more gas may be blowing by the rings and into the vents of the carrier. Extractor tension, actual bolt lug engagement angle, headspace,
etc. all figure into it. That’s why, for example, in adjusting a FAL pattern gas system, the adjustment is “two clicks” more closed, i.e. more pressure, than the minimum needed to lock the bolt carrier back. Hope this is helpful.
For leisure,
Fields of Fire
Chickenhawk
I read and like the report you did on muzzle brakes. For more than seven years, I been looking for testing on flash levels of muzzle brakes. I would like to send you one to add to your testing, but you do not need to add it to your report. Just would like you to see and try it.
Thanks for the suggestions Andrew. I’ll look into them as soon as I finish (and I highly recommend) 1776 by David McCullough. Hope they’re all available on Kindle, I only buy the “dead tree” versions after I read them and determine their worthiness. Weird, I know, but bookshelf space is limited.
“We were Soldiers Once…and Young” by Col. Hal Moore
A very honorable dude!!!
The Short Timers by Gustav Hasford
Blood Sport by Robert F. Jones
“Col. Hal Moore” became Lt.Gen.Moore BTW,,,
As a former PILOT: I recommend the “Rolling Thunder” series by Lt. Col.(ret.) Mark Benret, an my friend Mike Durant’s Books, Esp. “In the Company of Heroes”
Army Aviation Branch/Special Operations Command 1979-1991
NSDQ(NIGHT STALKERS DONT QUIT!!!)
Good list. I read through half of it already. The next one on my personal list will probably be “The Bullet’s Flight”. So handy that they offer an ebook version as well.
I also recommend Blood Sport by Robert F. Jones. A great read. Thanks for the list!
I recommend “Once a Warrior Always a Warrior” by Col. Charles Hoge.
Neil Stephenson: “Cryptonomicon” – a generation-spanning tale of cryptologie, crypto-currencies, WWII, Gold, Guns and a Marine Raider.
Surprisingly up-to-date for that it’s written in 1999.