Pre-order your copy of “American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms” by former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle who was tragically killed earlier this month. In this book co-authored with William Doyle, the book makes the argument that America has been shaped by the gun as the authors use various firearms as a backdrop to discuss our Nation’s history.
The 10 Guns that shaped America – The American long Rifle (aka the Kentucky Rifle): used to open the American frontier and by soldiers in the American Revolution; The Spencer Repeater: designed during the Civil War, this first repeating rifle cut reload time by 80%; The Colt Single Action Army (aka Colt .4 5): the handgun that defined the Old West, used by Buffalo Bill, Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok, Doc Holliday, and other iconic gunslingers; The Winchester 1873 Rifle: the Gun that Won the West was a staple in the late nineteenth-century Indian Wars and a favorite a prop in countless Westerns; The 1903 Springfield: designed at the request of Teddy Roosevelt, this superior rifle gave U.S. forces an edge during WWI; The M1911 Army Pistol: the official U.S. Army sidearm from 1911 to 1985, the King of Combat Pistols is still used by today’s elite Special Forces units. The American Machine Gun: including the Browning Automatic Rifle and the Thompson Sub-machine Gun, the Gun that Made the ’20s Roar, was the weapon of choice for lawmen and gangsters during the Prohibition era, including Machine-Gun Kelly, Elliot Ness, Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger, and others; The M1 Garand Semi-Automatic Rifle: the Gun that Saved the World, used by U.S. forces again Nazis and the Japanese during WW II; The American Police Handgun: from the .3 8 Special revolver to the Glock pistol, this chapter is a tour through police firearms history; The M16 Assault Rifle: made famous during Vietnam, this platform is still the standard used by U.S. military weapons including the H&K M4, the firearm that killed Osama bin Laden.
