It is something of a small hobby of mine to collect firearm blue prints and to use Solid Works to model the firearm detailed. So when I cam across this book I was excited, it would be a new project for me to work through.
There’s a few things you should be aware of prior to purchasing this book. I did not find the drawings to be complete. In particular the striker assembly and the trigger assembly left out key dimensions which made modeling it as drawn impossible.
The trigger assembly also left a lot to the reader’s imagination and was not completely detailed. Now this is not to take away from the book as a whole. You can indeed build a rifle from the designs in this book, however I believe it cannot be your only source of information.
The book was published in the early 2002’s and while the AR-15 was a popular sporting rifle at the time, it had not yet taken off to the levels it’s at currently. That explosion in the market of the AR-15 and variants such as the AR-10 has let to a cheap source of parts. Particularly receivers. I wonder if Bill Holmes was still alive today if he would have incorporated such a receiver in his design as has been done in more recent builds.
My bottom line takeaway is that this book is an excellent read as to one mans take on how to make a larger caliber rifle. However you cannot build a rifle using this book a lone. You will need additional experience in machining and Gunsmithing in order to make up for some of the details which are lacking. Even if you are able to find and watch the DVD’s detailing and explaining the building of the rifle.
Someday I hope to take on such a build but that will be a long time coming. For now, I read and study what others have done. As with any book, it can tell you how to do everything but it cannot impart you with the ability todo it. That comes from years of practice and experience in the trades.
