http://www.fieldandstream.com/...angerous-game-rifles

Petzal Reviews the Second Edition of Terry Wieland's "Dangerous-Game Rifles"

There are only a few books on guns that are worth a damn, and to make matters worse they are rarely updated* and become less valuable over the years. Such is the case with Warren Page’s The Accurate Rifle (1973) or Jim Carmichel’s The Book of the Rifle (1985)--still eminently worth reading, but now quite dated.

Happily, this is not true of Terry Weiland’s Wieland's Dangerous-Game Rifles. It appeared in 2006, established itself as the definitive work on the subject, sold out its first printing, and then sold out a second printing. Now, Terry has done a complete revise, which is not only up-to-the minute, but more complete than the original.

Wieland is a writer of the first magnitude, and his book is an irresistible combination of nifty (and mostly very expensive) machinery, high adventure, gore, lots of excellent photos, and plenty of very sound advice which you can use even if you never hunt anything bigger or more dangerous than whitetail deer. He is careful, scientific, does not rely on hearsay, rumor, or innuendo, and lets you know if he does not know something, which is almost unheard of in this business.

DGR II also contains one of the best quotes on marksmanship that I’ve ever come across:

“A good shot is the man who shoots well when he is shooting badly.”—Major J.E.M. Ruffer

Real-world price is around $29 from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and the usual suspects. It’s published by Shooting Sportsman Books.

*If you’d like the experience of writing a book and then revising it without going to the trouble of actually doing so, gouge out your right eye with a rusty screwdriver for the sum of $34.88. Then gouge out the left one for $12.09.

The all time classic was left out African Rifles and Cartridges by John Taylor.Unless you are hung on a lot of new cartridges which are all with very few exceptions attempts to duplicate all time classics like the .416 Rigby,465 NE,470NE,500 Jeffery, 375 H&H, to name a few.You will find out that John Taylors book has a lot of value in a lot of respects...even though it was published in 1948, it still remains the true classic.If there is a 'Bible' on Rifles and Cartridges that spans Big Bores to the deer rifles , it is that Book.He was ahead of his time and when you read about how much he recognized Elmer Keith way back then as being in a class by himself as far as reloading "rolling his own" to quote J'P'T way back then,I recommend it as a must read for all Big Bore enthusiasts.I have read and re-read it countless times and by practical elimination have come to agree with that great 'rascal' on his views on a lot of Cartridges.Terry Wieland books are informative and nice but they wont hold your attention repeatedly like African Rifles and Cartridges by John 'Pondoro' Taylor. $29.00 well spent.

And weiland is a gunwhore.

Rich
DRSS

What struck me most about the first edition was the complete absence of serious coverage of the CZ 550 Magnum line. That line of rifles has, along with the Ruger Safari Magnum line, completely reinvigorated the 416 Rigby in the United States, and the 550 remains the most afforable magnum sized action on the market. That Weiland didn't give the CZ a serious look--he mentions CZ in passing in the chapter on Mauser clones--was very telling, in my opinion.

probably because they didn't give him one.

Never believe what any gunwriter for the same magazine or publishing group writes about another one's books. They spend so much time puffing each others' work up they all have to carry a six-pack of Chapstick.

There is one exception. One.
What anybody says about Craig Boddington's books. We have all read enough of his work to know it will be entertaining and educational. Just an old-fashioned good read.
My lovely wife bought me Craig's book on Hunting the Spiral Horned Antelope for our twentieth wedding anniversary. Hard to believe somebody could put in twenty with me, and re-up. Anyway, I had been to RSA hunting Kudu six weeks before. Reading the chapter on Kudu brought back a lot of pleasant memories.

Rich
DRSS

quote:

Originally posted by Oregon45:
What struck me most about the first edition was the complete absence of serious coverage of the CZ 550 Magnum line. That line of rifles has, along with the Ruger Safari Magnum line, completely reinvigorated the 416 Rigby in the United States, and the 550 remains the most afforable magnum sized action on the market. That Weiland didn't give the CZ a serious look--he mentions CZ in passing in the chapter on Mauser clones--was very telling, in my opinion.

I totally agree. In fact I think the reference to the Brno rifles was done in a single sentence, which is an apalling oversight considering it's the most commonly carried rifle by African game wardens and PHs.

You cannot watch African hunting videos without seeing those rifles carried by hunters or their PHs.

Otherwise, it's a good read.

"probably because they didn't give him one"

They might not have been able to run fast enough to catch him to give him one!

Aggie,

you need to take a trip to Africa sometime. The CZ is more popular over there than it is here.
Unlike terry wieland, the CZ is the real deal.
Besides, that phattie can't run fast enough to free stuff.

Rich
DRSS

quote:

Originally posted by babaode:
The all time classic was left out African Rifles and Cartridges by John Taylor.Unless you are hung on a lot of new cartridges which are all with very few exceptions attempts to duplicate all time classics like the .416 Rigby,465 NE,470NE,500 Jeffery, 375 H&H, to name a few.You will find out that John Taylors book has a lot of value in a lot of respects...even though it was published in 1948, it still remains the true classic.If there is a 'Bible' on Rifles and Cartridges that spans Big Bores to the deer rifles , it is that Book.He was ahead of his time and when you read about how much he recognized Elmer Keith way back then as being in a class by himself as far as reloading "rolling his own" to quote J'P'T way back then,I recommend it as a must read for all Big Bore enthusiasts.I have read and re-read it countless times and by practical elimination have come to agree with that great 'rascal' on his views on a lot of Cartridges.Terry Wieland books are informative and nice but they wont hold your attention repeatedly like African Rifles and Cartridges by John 'Pondoro' Taylor. $29.00 well spent.

Couldn't have said it better myself about John Boy.

Though I give it a try in the next book.

Had Wieland's first edition. Sold it. Still have Taylor and Boddington.

Once I found out how Terry bad mouthed Butch Searcy and his rifles that was enough for me. I have his first edition and for me this is the last book I will purchase from him. I agree that Boddington writes great stuff and I almost wore out my 1st edition of Safari Rifles now the 2nd it getting worn out.

Just My 2 Cents

Brad

What I want to know is what people found when they compared his writings on California Riby in the two editions...

Guys, this is going to get moved to 'Books and Videos' unless it stays germane to 'Big Bores'.

George

Will be interesting to know which BIG BORE rifle company he will pimp in this addition now that he and Miller are on the rocks.

Did he put an Empire on the cover this time?

I'm out $8500 from Empire, and I'm not happy about it. I bet if I ordered a Searcy I would have a rifle to go hunting with.

I thought he did a pretty good job writing about bullet selection, cartridge selection, reliablilty issues, bullet impact velocity issues, but as he seem to be in love with George Sandmann and doesn't like Butch Searcy, and George owes me $8500 my opinion of Mr Weiland has ben lessened.

I'd save my money and not buy a WEE WEE Weiland Book and use it to buy more ammo-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by Jim in MI:
Did he put an Empire on the cover this time?

I'm out $8500 from Empire, and I'm not happy about it. I bet if I ordered a Searcy I would have a rifle to go hunting with.

I thought he did a pretty good job writing about bullet selection, cartridge selection, reliablilty issues, bullet impact velocity issues, but as he seem to be in love with George Sandmann and doesn't like Butch Searcy, and George owes me $8500 my opinion of Mr Weiland has ben lessened.

Jim,
I have not seen many negative comments about the Empire rifles. What is the story with yours? I read some of your old posts and see you have been waiting for a while.

Jim what every happened with your empire rifle you ordered? I looked up your last post about it because I remembered you bringing this up before. If I understand the situation correctly you ordered a gun from him over 3 years ago now and put $8500 down? It looks like about 18 months ago they lost your order of something and you still have not got this straightened out? Don’t know them at all except I have stopped in their booth at the shows a couple of times….

Mac

Idaho Sharpshooter,

I have been to Africa a couple of times, and never seen a CZ in camp, so "needing to go to Africa sometime" probably won't prove anything to me.My remark was meant to be tongue-in-cheek,and is just how I personally feel about CZ.You need not be offended if others don't like the same guns that you do,unless you personally made those guns, then I can see it offending you.

I'm sure the CZ is popular, as are all of the other makes, depending on who/ where you poll.Again, just because someone has a different opinion of them shouldn't have any bearing on you.

I don't know Terry Wieland personally. I have bought and read his book. I thought it was well-written, contained a lot of research, and is a great resource concerning dangerous-game rifles (as are Boddington and Taylor).However, I doubt very seriously that his lack of coverage of CZ has much if anything to do with them not giving him a "freebie". With that mindset, that would mean that he received a free gun from every other manufacturer of mention in his book. That is highly unlikely.

Weiland thought that Geoff Miller's Rigby's were "uncompromising best quality" until Mr. Miller wanted his money for it.

http://www.americanrifleman.or....aspx?id=2011&cid=25

MJC,

Interesting article/ blog reply. If true, that would make Wieland a thief, and/or such an egotist that he could actually think his industry position would put him above such a petty notion that he should pay for his rifles like the rest of us.

Either way, if true, I do find that despicable.

Having said that, I still found a lot of useful information in his book. A shame that the man might sink to such a level toward others.

The matter of Wieland vs. Miller is in Federal Court in St. Louis, and the truth of the matter will be determined by a Federal Judge, not by rumor and innuendo on the internet.

TT

To me, Wieland, like Ross Seyfried, can come across as being very high browed in his style of writing. This may not, in fact, be the case for either man on a personal level, but like I said, that's the impression that I get from his writing.
Despite this, I have learned a thing or two from both gentlemen. On another note, Wieland seems heavily biased toward most things brittish, in terms of firearms, and the projectiles launched from them. He did, however, recently write an interesting article about the shooting tradition of an old German town in south Texas that apeared in Rifle Magazine, so what do I know?

It is fun and informing to read some of this stuff but better yet, go buy a gun and some reloading equipment, a chronograph and develop your own loads and find out for yourself the capabilities of your gun and cartridge. It does provide you with a since of satisfaction. You can read Michael458 terminal bullet performance and probably find more test data on bullet performance than in any book albeit lab data it is still objective.
Your recoil threshold may have the greatest impact on your big bore selection and price point.
It is also fun to attend the DSC and SCI to get a on hands feel for the firearms available.
I prefer FACTS and hard data a to opinions;

EZ

Whew.....all that said and more....I have his book, "Spanish Best," and it is a gem. Will sell it there is any interest.

Aggie,

wienieland seems to always have rumors floating around at SHOT Show, and SCI that I can personally vouch for.

I have known Ross Seyfried for more than twenty years, ever hear anything less than complimentary about him?
I have know Craig Boddington about half that long, ever hear anything uncomplimentary about him?
How about Dave Scovill, or Ken Waters, or John Taffin, or Brian Pierce, or most of the more well known names?

He IS in federal court over the rifle and some other issues. The Rigby situation is well known.

There are always rumors concerning him. The books are not groundbreaking, just a compendium of gun businesses that have paid to have him tour their facilities and do writeups.


Rich

I once got a very sage piece of advice. It was to believe only half of what I see, and absolutely nothing that I hear. We might all be better off heeding that advice.

TT

Gladys Knight and the Pipps!

Ross Seyfreid also worked as a PH in Africa and has killed Elephant with his custom 45LC handguns.
Quite a difference, I'd say...

Rich

The folks in Africa must use what they can get. I am pretty sure if they use Brno rifles it was because they could get them from the European union easier than the USA. Most of the ph's I have hunted with were using Winchester rifles or Mauser rifles. Many had converted military mausers that were converted to more modern cartridges.Just 10 safaris to Africa. Not much experience.

quote:

converted military mausers that were converted to more modern cartridges.Just 10 safaris to Africa. Not much experience.

And far more 17 and 14 enfields in various calibers then I would have thought. And I lived there and worked for Panduka safaries for a spell if that counts

I cannot recommend Wieland's writings.

Too much in them is wrong or wrongheaded.

he seems to have no passion, they read more like a series of book reviews that were padded to make a book to sell for money.

Read Boddington, this man lives for the hunt, and can share that delight.

Rich