As somebody who enjoys machining and manufacturing just as much as shooting and handloading, the cutting of rifling has always been an interest of mine. If you look down the bore of your favorite firearm (keeping safety in mind of course), you will see the evenly spaced lands and grooves that impart the twist on the bullet. If you have a firearm with a polygonal bore, such as some of the older Glocks and HK pistols, you will see an interesting pattern of twist that does not look at all conventional.
Rifling can be cut by many different methods. This book discusses them all. If you want to know how hammer forged rifling is done, or what a rifling cutter looks like, Mr. LaBounty covers them all. The pictures and explanation are detailed an understandable, providing a foundational understanding to the curious mind. Drawings are present in the book, and if you study the information provided a reasonable attempt can be made to build a rifling machine.
In the advent of inexpensive CNC machines, rifling a barrel is becoming something that is a little more doable in a home machine shop. Something that I would very much like to do sometime in the future. With that said, this book does not provide a step by step how to in build a rifling fixture, or even how to rifle a barrel. However, the information is there if you wish to learn by trial and error.
There are some good topics discussed, including gain rifling, and Electro-Chemical Machining of rifling. There is also a few things I wish was discussed a bit more, such as polygonal rifling used in some firearms. The pictures are good, but sometimes the black and white can make it hard to understand what is trying to be shown. As with many books, I feel it is worth the extra cost to print/sell a copy with color photographs. I do wish there were a few more detailed drawings, but I can understand the authors intent and what has been shared enough that I can likely produce the drawings I need.
If you are someone who enjoys how things are made, and the challenges which are present in a given process, this book will be a good fit on your book shelf. Doubly so if you are interested in building your own rifling fixture. While it is likely not something you would do as a commercial enterprise, a man’s gotta have a hobby. For the average shooter, it is a good book to check out from the liberary and give a read, but it may not be one you purchase and keep on your book shelf.
As a mentioned under the photo, it is currently not available at Amazon, but you may have some luck here. Powell’s City of Books