BarryinIN Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 I think this is one of the better general shooting books ever. General Julian S. Hatcher was in Army Ordnance forever, saw the development of most of the small arms between the Spanish-American and Korean War, machineguns of all types, and other arms up through light cannon. After retiring from the Army as a Major General, he became the NRA's Technical Editor. And all the while, he experimented. His "Hatcher's Notebook" contains notes and articles about a wide range of shooting subjects. What happens when you shoot a rifle straight up into the air? What was the real story behind the low-numbered 1903 Springfields blowing up? How do different bullet profiles change trajectory and wind deflection values?I have a copy that I refer to often. I never have read it straight through, but have read all of it a few times over. It goes in and out of print, and when out of print, they get expensive. I just found it online for free. Help yourself to all 636 pages. http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/GeneralReference/Hatchers%20Notebook.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLH70 Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Thanks Barry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannow Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Thanks for a free version.He's a tad of a plagiarist 'though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryinIN Posted March 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 You're welcome. I saw it and thought everyone should have one.They also have Phil Sharpe's "Complete Guide to Handloading". It's from the late 30s, so not everything is up to date, but most of it is good info nonetheless. Anything from that group of Sharpe, Hatcher, and Whelen is a good read.http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/Gen...20-%201937.pdfThey have another I'm not familiar with, called "Handloader's Manual" by Earl Naramore, who I am also unfamiliar with. It's from about the same time period.http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/Gen...20-%201943.pdf He's a tad of a plagiarist 'though... Could you expand on that? I was not aware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trapper Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 While I understand Hatcher was in good position to record some of "his" findings, he's not a favorite of mine. I guess his support of the Pedersen rifle and lack of interest in the Garand is probably it for me. But to support a rifle that had a toggle action like a Luger and ammo that required lubrication so it would load is not exactly my idea of intelligent. But thanks many times for the link. I'll be spending a good amount of time reading his notebook and some of the other articles as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannow Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Originally Posted By: ShannowHe's a tad of a plagiarist 'though... Could you expand on that? I was not aware. At the start of the book, he states that he has a number of books that he referred to, and wanted to compile one volume that contained everything.Here in Lithgow, we (were) blessed with a great, gun friendly library. Used to have an area called the stack which was full of the "obsolete" books...alas, the stack is lost, and you need to request books by title/ISBN, and as "you don't know what you don't know", and can no longer browse by spine, is no longer a resource.Two that come to mind reading Hatcher are one on the development of the SMLE, and .303 british cartridge, about 700 pages of good guts. Lots and lots of internal/external ballistics, bullet shapes, CofG manipulation with wood/aluminium tips, volley discussions/improvements, timing issues for machine guns and propellor driven planes etc. Hatcher's work on improving the .30 cal external ballistics seems to (obviously) borrow some from the Brits. The other was a book written by another brit on the .22LR, and it's potential use for national defence when all of the military rifles are in Continental Europe.Alas, both names escape me at the moment.BTW, I'm not dissing Hatcher, sometimes someone needs to bring all of the strings together to move a subject matter forwards.As to castpics, it's a great resource...It's even got my recipes on it.http://www.castpics.net/Recipes/Harrissa.htmlhttp://www.castpics.net/Recipes/SourDough.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryinIN Posted March 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 I'd have to have a bit more than his 20-some acknowledgments and some works looking familiar to call him a plagiarist. Every major power was revamping their ammunition over that period and practically starting over from scratch, testing, experimenting, and generally playing around. A lot of people were doing similar things at similar times. I'm not saying he didn't "borrow" findings, as he could have swiped all of it for all I know. I just would need more to call anyone a plagiarist. FWIW, I'd almost say most U.S. "advancements" back then came from studying Mausers captured in the Spanish-American War than from any other single place.Yes, Castpics is a great resource (as is Casting Fellows). I probably refer to it at least once a week for something. I keep the old mould catalog reference page up in a window all the time.The link up to the main page follows. Even if one doesn't cast, the reloading info is still useful.www.castpics.netTasty looking recipes you have there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannow Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Sorry, I agree that Plagiarist was probably too strong a word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryinIN Posted March 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 That's OK. I'm sorry for being a bit short about it. I guess I'm still a little touchy after hearing Stephen Ambrose might have plagiarized some of his work. That was a downer indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannow Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Went to the Library after work and tried to find the book in question.I believe that it is the Textbook of Small Arms, although can't be sure until they get it out of storage for Wednesday arv.As to the greased cartridges, IIRC, one of the SMLE tests was to fire a MkVII service cartridge out of a rifle with no threads holding the barrel to the receiver sans seperation...Will reconfirm if the book I'm thinking is the one that shows up Wednesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryinIN Posted March 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 I know the title, but have not read it. It was trying to think of the author's name, but it was a military publication wasn't it? It was probably not put out under one person's name, which is why I have not even a vague recollection of a name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannow Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Yep, it was her Majesty's something or other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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