I first bought this book in my late teens but traded it off to my first platoon sgt for some other books. Recently picked up a first edition book in perfect condition.

I have a lot of books on rifles and shotguns, but this has got to be the definitive work on shotguns, 44 years after its first publication. His experiments on shot stringing were both ingenious and simple.

Brister has long been favorite gun writer. This book is definitive and after many readings still has much to offer.

Gough Thomas (G. T. Garwood) is equally as expert and informative.

Now it is possible with a doppler to do what Bob and Sandy did dragging that pattern board behind the station wagon. I think he would get a chuckle out of that, because their method involved a whole lot of work.

quote:

Originally posted by Alec Torres:
Brister has long been favorite gun writer. This book is definitive and after many readings still has much to offer.

Gough Thomas (G. T. Garwood) is equally as expert and informative.

Alec:

With Gatogordo's passing, you have become my favorite shotgun source on AR.

quote:

Originally posted by squeezenhope:
Now it is possible with a doppler to do what Bob and Sandy did dragging that pattern board behind the station wagon. I think he would get a chuckle out of that, because their method involved a whole lot of work.

Actually, I think you would need a software app to model the speed of the target as well - his target in tow was not very sophisticated, but it sure captured the nature of shot strings.

If you liked Brister's book then you should take a look at "Sporting Shotgun Performance" by Dr. A.C. Jones. He takes everything up to another level and he tends to 'shoot down' some commonly held beliefs. It is a very analytical look at how a shotgun works.
C.G.B.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

quote:

Originally posted by Alec Torres:
Brister has long been favorite gun writer. This book is definitive and after many readings still has much to offer.

Gough Thomas (G. T. Garwood) is equally as expert and informative.

Alec:

With Gatogordo's passing, you have become my favorite shotgun source on AR.

Wow... High praise indeed. Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by squeezenhope:
Now it is possible with a doppler to do what Bob and Sandy did dragging that pattern board behind the station wagon. I think he would get a chuckle out of that, because their method involved a whole lot of work.

That's interesting... I have heard that the Doppler radar chronographs don't work with shotguns. Is this true or not? I have been planning on purchasing one for use with my rifles and 'double duty' would be appealing.

Lab Radar will not work with shot shells. They say so in their ads and I tried it and it doesn't. I would bet that with some software fiddling they could get muzzle velocity but so far it is a no-go. Right now I am experimenting with a Magnetospeed chronograph just to use with shotguns. So far it seems to be working ok and it is a lot easier to use than my old optical unit.
C.G.B.

Pretty sure they can measure first and last pellet in a shot string. Not sure about the breakdown of everything in between. What the pattern gurus seek is to shorten the shot string and thus increase the lethality. I have watched a couple of them work and it is more art than science. Before Brister, one of the Brit's tried to measure shot string by towing something behind a kite. I think it was Percy Stanbury. I bet that was a comedy.

quote:

Originally posted by squeezenhope:
Pretty sure they can measure first and last pellet in a shot string. Not sure about the breakdown of everything in between. What the pattern gurus seek is to shorten the shot string and thus increase the lethality. I have watched a couple of them work and it is more art than science. Before Brister, one of the Brit's tried to measure shot string by towing something behind a kite. I think it was Percy Stanbury. I bet that was a comedy.

The cool thing about Brister's work was him illustrating why shot string is important but the long strings of shot on his trailer mounted targets. Even if you could measure with Doppler radar, it doesn't tell you how that shot string interacts with moving targets.

As for LabRadar, mine has a tough time measuring .224 caliber bullets, so I would be surprised if it measured shotgun pellets (and IIRC there is no velocity window option for shotguns).

I would think high speed cameras could measure shot strings pretty effectively.

AZW, I can sure comprehend Brister's pictures better than I can some of the statistical breakdowns I have seen. He effectively demonstrated indisputably that the leading and tailing part of the shot string cannot be very effective, barring a head or neck shot on birds or the "golden bb" on clays. It gets very complicated when you introduce multiple angles.

quote:

Originally posted by Alec Torres:

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

quote:

Originally posted by Alec Torres:
Brister has long been favorite gun writer. This book is definitive and after many readings still has much to offer.

Gough Thomas (G. T. Garwood) is equally as expert and informative.

Alec:

With Gatogordo's passing, you have become my favorite shotgun source on AR.

Wow... High praise indeed. Thank you.

Heed wisely the words of a man who owns a Perazzi...or two.

I've also enjoyed his book.

Unfortunately for me, I'm way too much an instinctual shotgun shot, and while I "get" what he says, getting me to internalize it is a different matter.

IIRC, Saeed shot with Brister, and as I recall, from what Saeed says, he twitted him a lot... because Saeed was shooting better than him.

John Olin was also a proponent of the short shot string. He measured shot strings with a rapidly rotating disc-type device, which he invented and for which he obtained a U.S. patent.

"Shotguns and Cartridges" by Gough Thomas is also worth a read. He talks a lot about loads, pattern efficiency, importance of a gun fitting and a host of other topics. The Brits have been shooting shotguns a lot longer than us Yanks, and we can learn quite a bit from them!

I agree. Gough Thomas is, in my opinion, THE authority on shotguns. Anything that he wrote is worth reading.