by Chris Kyle
One of the first companies to use the bullet: www.lapua.com/en/story-of--338-lapua-magnum.html.
Chapter 6: The M1911 Pistol
“Beyond a doubt”: NRA Staff, AR’s Top 10 Handguns, http://www.americanrifleman.org.
Details of Alvin York episode are from Alvin York, Sergeant York, His Own Life Story and War Diary (1928); David D. Lee, Sergeant York: An American Hero (1985); Sam Cowan, Sergeant York and His People (1922); and John Perry, Sergeant York, His Life, Legend & Legacy (1997).
“It fits the hand like a trusted tool”: Brian Sheetz’s Top 10 Handguns, http://www.americanrifleman.org.
“The cavalry doctrine of those days”: Eduardo Lachica, “The Cavalry is Gone,” Wall Street Journal, June 20, 1984.
“the Colt is superior”: “The .45 Automatic,” American Rifleman, March 20, 1911, cited in Charles Bennett, “The 1911,” Law Enforcement Technology, August 1, 2012.
“To say he was the Edison”: Scott S. Smith, “John Browning’s Guns Hit The Bull’s-Eye,” Investor’s Business Daily, December 13, 2010.
“Make it strong enough—then double it”: Anthony Smith, Machine Gun (2003), p. 260.
John M. Browning, American Gunmaker by John Browning & Curt Gentry, 1964, gave insight into Browning and his inventions.
Chapter 7: The Thompson Submachine Gun
Attack on Al Capone in Cicero: Laurence Bergreen, Capone: The Man and the Era (1996), pp. 205–6.
“I am just a businessman”: Selwyn Raab, Five Families (2007), p. 42.
“I saw this gun myself”: Robert V. Bruce, Lincoln and the Tools of War (1956), p. 120.
“Give them grape”: C. J. Chivers, The Gun (2010), p. 32.
“Hang your chemistry”: John Ellis, The Social History of the Machine Gun, (1975), p. 34.
John Dillinger detail: Mark Holtz, Public Enemy #1, (2013).
“He liked to amuse bank customers”: Allen Barra, “A Gangster With Star Appeal,” Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2009.
“He had a baby face”: Bryan Burrough, Public Enemies (2004), pp. 102–3.
“Stupid son of a bitch”: Steven Nickel, William J. Helmer, Baby Face Nelson (2002), p. 173.
“I got one of them!”: Jay Robert Nash, Bloodletters and Badmen (1995), p. 212.
“I know who you are!”, “Nelson calmly aimed a machine gun”: Massad Ayoob, “Learning from a Cop-killer,” American Handgunner, July 2007.
“It was just like Jimmy Cagney”: Nickel and Helmer, Baby Face Nelson, p. 337.
“finally reaching the point”: J. Edgar Hoover, Persons in Hiding (1938), p. 149.
Willie Sutton quotes: Willie Sutton, Edward Linn, Where the Money Was (2004).
“It was the perfect weapon”: Mark Keefe, The Echo of the Thompson Gun, September 21, 2012, www.americanrifleman.org
Details of Thompson’s company and the gun’s development: Martin Pegler, The Thompson Submachine Gun, (2010). Additional information on the background of machine gun development was drawn from John Ellis, The Social History of the Machine Gun.
“Summers is a legend”: Stephen E. Ambrose, D-Day: June 6, 1944 (1994), p. 299.
Chapter 8: The M1 Garand
Franklin Koons at Dieppe: The account of Franklin Koons and the other action at Dieppe, France is based on Rangers at Dieppe, Jim DeFelice (2008), especially pp 116, 146, 153–8, 224.
Garand was not the first person to think of the idea: See some of the discussion, and how Garand’s machine gun worked, in Julian S. Hatcher, Book of the Garand (2012).
The U.S. Army produced an excellent film detailing the inner workings of an M1 Garand: M1 Garand—Principles of Operation, which is available on YouTube. Additional information on the Garand was drawn from the Army field manual for the weapon, “FM 23–5.”
“In my opinion the M1 rifle”: Jim Supica, Guns (2005), p. 186.
“one weapon that outgunned”: William H. Hallahan, Misfire (1994), p. 390.
Fetched ammo: See “Battle for Henderson Field,” article posted at Raritan-online.com: http://www.raritan-online.com/jb-henderson-field.htm. Basilone came from Raritan, N.J., which continues to honor his memory.
“You’ll probably get yours”: Leroy Thompson, The M1 Garand (2012), p. 55.
“Guadalcanal is no longer”: Robert Leckie, Challenge for the Pacific (1965). P. viii.
“The most amazing thing about that M1”: Mark G. Goodwin, U.S. Infantry Weapons in Combat, http://www.scott-duff.com.
Battle of the Bulge detail: Martin K.A. Morgan, “The Men & Guns of the Battle of the Bulge,” http://www.americanrifleman.org; Gregory Orfalea, Messengers of the Lost Battalion (2010). Joe Cicchinelli’s memories of his war service are collected in an oral history collection online at http://www.joecicchinelli.com/home.htm.
M1 in Korea: Bruce Canfield, Arms of the Chosin Few, http://www.americanrifleman.org.
“bunk”: Springfield (Mass.) Daily News, March 19, 1963.
Chapter 9: The .38 Special Police Revolver
Attack on Blair House: Stephen Hunter and John Bainbridge Jr., American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill Harry Truman—and the Shoot-out That Stopped It (2005).
Valuable background for this chapter was provided by Massad Ayoob, Massad Ayoob’s Greatest Handguns of the World (2010).
“As a personal defense weapon”: ibid., p. 68.
“at a time when full power”: Jim Supica, Guns (2005), p. 31.
“This was smart”: “How the Glock Became America’s Weapon of Choice,” Fresh Air, National Public Radio, January 24, 2012.
Some information regarding the different pistols and their offerings is drawn from the catalogs of Smith & Wesson and Colt. Both companies also offer brief accounts of their history on the websites. General information on Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolvers was drawn from The History of Smith and Wesson Firearms by Dean Boorman. In addition, Patrick Sweeney’s Gunsmithing Pistols & Revolvers, 3rd Edition (1986), was very useful for understanding the evolution of some of the weapons. Some information on the Glock 17 is from the “Glock Instruction for Use” manual, and the Glock catalog.
Chapter 10: The M16 Rifle
“Brave soldiers and the M16”: Russell W. Glenn, Reading Athena’s Dance Card (2000), p. 172.
Ia Drang battle details are drawn extensively from Harold G. Moore, Joseph L. Galloway, We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young (1992); and also from The Battle of Ia Drang Valley, 1965, a documentary by CBS News that is available on YouTube.
“What we fear most”: Popular Science, August 1967, p. 70.
Information on the early political struggles and development of the AR-15/ M16 is drawn from American Rifle: a Biography by Alexander Rose.
Details of events of March 20, 2005 involving Leigh Ann Hester and her colleagues are from contemporaneous press accounts, especially: Steve Fainaru, “The Everyday Heroics of a Woman in Combat,” New York Sun, June 27, 2005; Multinational Corps Iraq Public Affairs videotape of Hester interview with CBS reporter posted on YouTube titled “Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester—First female soldier to win Silver Star since WW2”; and Recon Intelligence Report, “Conspicuous Courage Under Fire, Part 4,” posted on YouTube.
Technical data on the StG44 varies depending on source. These numbers here are from Ian V. Hogg and John Weeks, Military Small Arms of the 20th Century. There were a number of variations in the rifle family, which is one reason for the discrepancies.
Additional information on ArmaLite and the improvements in the various M16/M4 models is drawn from “A Historical Review of ArmaLite: Edition of 4 January 2010,” available online at: http://www.armalite.com/images/Library/History.pdf; and Ian V. Hogg and John Weeks, Military Small Arms of the 20th Century (2000).
Index
The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use your ebook reader’s search tools.
NOTE: Bold page numbers refer to picture captions.
accuracy
of Colt Revolver
s, 68, 225
evolution of firearms and, 32
of Hawken rifles, 96, 98
of LeClair customized weapon, 138–39
of long rifles, 5–6
of M1 Garands, 196, 199, 205, 214
of M14 rifles, 210, 211, 241
of M16 rifles, 241
of Mk11 rifle, 251
of muskets, 7
of Remington Rolling Block rifle, 100–101
rifling and, 3
of Sharps Big 50, 98, 99
of Sharps rifles, 44, 100–101
of Spencer rifles, 40, 47
of Springfield 1873 Trapdoor carbines, 103
of Springfield M1903 rifles, 126
of Tommy Gun, 168–69
Accuracy International, 137, 138, 139
ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) cartridge, 153, 175–76
Adobe Wall, Texas: Indian attack at, 99–100
Afghanistan conflict, 162, 213, 249
Air Force magazine: Baggett story in, 161
Air Force, U.S.: assault rifles of, 238, 240
AK assault rifles, 204, 209, 210, 238, 244, 247
Alamo, Battles of the, 25, 26, 27, 29
aluminum rifle, 238
Ambrose, Stephen, 187
American long rifles. See long rifles, American/Kentucky
American Rifleman: top ten guns of all time named by, 149
ammunition/bullets
armor-piercing, 254
for assault rifles, 237, 239–40
blowback breech system and, 175
for Colt 1851 Navy Revolver, 74
for Colt Single-Action Army Revolver, 71
for family of .38 caliber, 224
hollow point, 228
for long rifles, 8
for M1 Garands, 195–96
for Mausers, 123, 126
Minié‚-ball, 32, 34
for muskets, 7, 32
Ordnance Corps decisions about, 123
police department requirements for, 221–22
post-Spanish-American War design of, 124
in Revolutionary War era, 6
for rifles, 32, 34
Rocket ball, 35
as same for rifle and revolver, 96
size of, 126–27, 195, 228
on Smith & Wesson M3 revolvers, 68
“Spanish Hornets,” 116
for Springfield M1903 rifles, 126, 137
for 338 Lapua Magnum, 139
for Tommy gun, 175–76, 184, 186
for Winchester M70 rifle, 137
for Winchesters, 91
See also type of ammunition
Antietam, Battle of, 45
AR-1 assault rifles, 238
Ar-5 assault rifles, 238
Ar-10 assault rifles, 239–40, 274
AR-15 assault rifles, 240–41, 251–52, 253, 254–55, 274. See also M16 rifles
Argonne Forest (France), 143–46, 147–48
Arisaka Type 99 (Japanese rifle), 196
ArmaLite, 238–39, 240, 274
Army M24 Sniper Weapon System, 137
Army Ordanance Corps/Department, U.S., 121–23, 169, 174
Army, U.S.
AR-15s and, 240–41
basic/official weapons of, 65, 151, 196
Colt Revolvers/pistols for, 65, 68, 69, 71, 149, 151, 223
and handgun face-off, 150–51
Indian Wars and, 100
M1 Garands and, 196, 202
and M4 Carbines, 246
M14 rifles for, 239, 241
Maxim guns and, 173
modification of Springfield 1873 Trapdoor carbines by, 102–3
in Philippines, 149
Rangers in, 192, 198–200, 201
and Smith & Wesson revolvers, 68, 69
Springfield M1903 rifles and, 269
Tommy gun and, 176
See also specific person, battle, or war
arsenals, U.S., 121–23
assault weapons
ammunition for, 237, 239–40
cartridges for, 239–40
definition of, 237
evolution of, 237–41
German, 237
scopes for, 238
as standard military weapons, 236
in Vietnam War, 236
weight of, 237, 238
See also specific manufacturer or model
Atlanta, Battle of, 45
aught-six. See Springfield M1903 rifles
aught-three. See Springfield M1903 rifles
Austin, Stephen, 60
Auto-Ordnance Corporation, 175, 176, 178, 183–84
automatic weapons, 55, 209. See also specific manufacturer or model
Ayoob, Massad, 79, 157
Baggett, Owen, 160–61
Ball, Charles, 87–88
“Banana Wars,” 157–58
bank robberies, 85–93, 181, 183, 252, 254
barrel
aluminum, 238
of AR-10 assault rifles, 239
on carbines, 44, 248
on Colt Revolvers, 58, 71, 224, 225
and double-barreled shotguns, 80
of Gatling guns, 171
and gun-making in revolutionary America, 3
of Hawken rifles, 96
of long rifles, 3, 5, 6, 7
of M4 Carbines, 248
of M16 rifles, 246
of Mk 12 Special Purpose Rifle, 251
of muskets, 3
of Sharps Big 50, 98
of Sig Sauer 516s, 255
of Springfield M1903 rifles, 126
of Tommy gun, 184, 186
Barrett, Paul, 230
Basilone, John, 158
Batraville, Benoit, 157
Battle of the Bulge, 205–8
bayonets, 8, 19, 21, 124, 126, 134, 208, 248, 274
Bean, Roy, 69
Beaufoy, Henry, 10
Belleau Wood, Battle at, 128–29, 131–36, 135
Bemis Heights, Battle of, 10
Benet guns, 173
Benet, Stephen Vincent, 123
Bennet, T.G., 153
Berchtesgaden, Germany, 208
Berdan, Hiram, 43, 44
Berry, Ben, 133
Billy the Kid, 69
bird guns, 24
Birdzell, Donald, 216, 218
Black Hawk Wars, 34
black powder, 5, 6, 41, 61, 66, 106, 107, 116–17, 124, 147, 224, 259
Black Rifle. See M16 Rifles
Blakeslee cartridge box, 39
blowback breech system, 175
“blunderbuss” muskets, 24
bolt-action weapons, 116, 123, 124, 137, 202. See also specific model
Bradley, Omar, 136, 206
Bragg, Braxton, 45
breechloaders, 29, 42, 45, 48, 52, 54, 100, 122. See also specific model
British
Enfield muskets of, 33
Koons medal from, 200
Lee-Enfield rifles of, 201
M1 Garands and, 200–201
in Revolutionary War, 1–3, 8, 10–12, 13–16, 13, 18–23
Revolutionary War era guns of, 7
Tommy gun and, 184, 185
Vickers guns and, 173
in World War I, 128, 129
Broadwell, Dick, 87, 90, 91
“Brown Bess” musket, 7, 24
Browning, Bruce W., 153, 155
Browning, John Moses, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 161, 173, 195
Browning, John (son), 151–52
Browning Auto-5 Shotgun, 153
Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), 153, 182, 186, 271
Browning Hi Power pistol, 153
Browning M2 machine gun, 153
Browning M1900 pistol, 155
Bruce, Robert, 53, 54
buffalo hunting, 98–99, 100–101, 101
Bull Run, Battles of, 41, 45
Bullard, Robert Lee, 136
bullets. See ammunition/bullets
Burgoyne, John, 2, 3, 10–11, 12, 13
Burma: M1911 in, 160
Burnsides, Ambrose, 41
caliber<
br />
definition of, 6
See also specific model
California Highway Patrol: shootout with, 227, 228
“California Joe” (aka Truman Head), 43
Cannae, Battle of, 21–22
cap and ball pistols, 61–62, 74
caplocks. See percussion-cap guns
Capone, Al, 165–66, 167, 168, 178
carbines
for cavalry, 24, 39, 44
in Civil War, 44, 51, 52, 102
during Civil War, 44, 51, 52
on frontier, 44
lightweight, 190
rifles compared with, 44
in Texas Wars, 24
See also specific manufacturer or model
Carlson, Evans Fordyce, 186
Carlson’s Raiders: in World War II, 186
Carson, Kit, 65–66
Carter, Jimmy, 220
cartridges
ACP, 153, 175–76
for assault rifles, 239–40
black powder, 107, 116–17, 124
for Chauchat machine guns, 174
Colt Single-Action Army Revolver as first Colt pistol to use, 68
copper, 35
for hunting rifles, 99
for M14 rifles, 210
for M16 rifles, 245, 246
metallic, 99
for muskets, 7
Pedersen’s design and, 195
post-Spanish-American War design of, 124
and redesign of Mausers, 123
rimfire, 35, 40, 222, 266
self-contained, 222
for semi-automatic pistols, 228
for Smith & Wesson .357, 228
for Smith & Wesson M3 revolvers, 68
smokeless, 107, 118, 124
for Springfield M1903 rifles, 126, 127, 269
for .338 guns, 139
for Tommy gun, 175–76
for “Union Repeating Gun,” 169
for Volcanic repeating pistols and rifles, 222
for Winchester M1873, 96, 106
for Winchester Magnum, 137
See also specific gun manufacturer or model
Cassidy, Butch (aka Robert LeRoy Parker), 69, 71
Catlin, Albertus Wright, 113, 128, 129, 132, 133
cavalry
carbines for, 24, 39, 44
in Civil War, 39, 44, 47, 48–50
handguns for, 58, 150
at Little Bighorn, 102–6
muskets used by, 7
in Revolutionary War, 7, 19, 21
Spencer Repeaters for, 55
See also Rough Riders
Cemetery Ridge, Battle of, 48
Chancellorsville, Battle of, 54
Charleville muskets, 7