Fred Zeglin
I met Ken Howell back in the late 90’s. I bought a copy of this book from him in 1998 which he numbered and signed for me, NO. 627. As a gunsmith and owner of 4D Reamer Rentals I used that book hard. It has been a reference in my Shop/Office ever since.
Ken was an interesting guy. We talked about cartridges and guns when he stopped in Casper, WY while passing through. That was long before I picked up my pen seriously. I remember one thing he said that stuck with me when I started writing. “You don’t find time to write, you make time to write.” This was in reference to this book, many of his writer friends were asking where he found the time to write a book, especially such a detailed one?
When I started writing I remembered Ken’s comment and it helped me to stick to the task and get projects finished.
His book is still a great reference. He documented a lot of cartridges with dimensions from reliable sources, so when you are comparing cartridges or trying to identify a chamber this book is a must have. The drawings are in the format of a print as you might find in an engineer’s office or on a machinist’s bench. They are easy to read and are scaled accurately so that you can see what the cartridge would look like, unlike some books that do not accurately portray the shape of the case.
Over the years I have made a note or two in my copy of errors I have run into. To Ken’s credit there are darn few, that is amazing considering there are hundreds of drawings in this book. That’s another testament to Ken’s desire to produce an accurate a useful text for his readers.
Ken passed away in December of 2015.
In 2023 I found a pallet of Ken’s book for sale from Huntington Die Specialty so I bought them. Like many out of print books the price in the collectors market for this book in new condition had become inflated. I am selling these new condition books at a reasonable price.
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