I recently ordered this book from Scandinavia, having run into its Norwegian author, Oyvind Flatnes, asking very good technical questions on some Civil War forums.
Oyvind has written a very engaging survey of arms from the origins of gunpowder through the gonnes and the pre-flintlock actions on through the development of systems to come -- flint, percussion, early paper and then BP cartridge. While this is a lot of ground to cover, I am surprised by just how much depth Oyvind manages to weave into his narrative with very useful sidebars on such things as making your own slow match or how to make and use "jaeger balls." I've been rattling around the world of firearms ancient and new for a half century and learned a surprising amount from this volume. It's also refreshing in that it is written from the more cosmopolitan perspective of a European who is not totally obsessed with North American history to the exclusion of all else -- although we get our due. It's just interesting to see illustrations of European and Scandinavian martial arms that I would bet most Americans have never heard of-- and the illustrations are profuse. There is a nice chapter on the percussion target rifles -- the Gibbses, the Whitworths and their kind -- and even a brief chapter on black powder hunting. I had absolutely no idea that there was such a reverence for the legendary Norwegian bear hunters, who protected the farmers and villages in times of crop and fishery failures.
"Bear hunting was considered tantamount to suicide," Oyvind writes. "According to a royal decree, hunters killed during bear hunts were not allowed burial in consecrated ground."
Anyway, I have read my copy and would like to send it on to delight and inform the next black-powder enthusiast. It is in virtually new condition. $35 shipped.
Oyvind has written a very engaging survey of arms from the origins of gunpowder through the gonnes and the pre-flintlock actions on through the development of systems to come -- flint, percussion, early paper and then BP cartridge. While this is a lot of ground to cover, I am surprised by just how much depth Oyvind manages to weave into his narrative with very useful sidebars on such things as making your own slow match or how to make and use "jaeger balls." I've been rattling around the world of firearms ancient and new for a half century and learned a surprising amount from this volume. It's also refreshing in that it is written from the more cosmopolitan perspective of a European who is not totally obsessed with North American history to the exclusion of all else -- although we get our due. It's just interesting to see illustrations of European and Scandinavian martial arms that I would bet most Americans have never heard of-- and the illustrations are profuse. There is a nice chapter on the percussion target rifles -- the Gibbses, the Whitworths and their kind -- and even a brief chapter on black powder hunting. I had absolutely no idea that there was such a reverence for the legendary Norwegian bear hunters, who protected the farmers and villages in times of crop and fishery failures.
"Bear hunting was considered tantamount to suicide," Oyvind writes. "According to a royal decree, hunters killed during bear hunts were not allowed burial in consecrated ground."
Anyway, I have read my copy and would like to send it on to delight and inform the next black-powder enthusiast. It is in virtually new condition. $35 shipped.
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