Ammo & Ballistics

This book immediately begs comparison with "Cartridges of the World" by Frank C. Barnes. As Mr. Forker states himself in the acknowledgements of this book, Barnes' book is the one by which all other works on cartridges will be judged. "Ammo and Ballistics" is a great reference work in its own right, though, filling a slightly different niche than "Cartridges of the World." The writing, including cartridge history and current opinion, is better in the Barnes book. Also, the Barnes book has a full-sized photo of each cartridge, including obsolete cartridges. Barnes' work has a well-rounded, complete feel to it, and if the world of cartridges fascinates you, as it does me, you will find yourself reading Barnes' classic work for pleasure as well as for the wealth of useful information contained. This is why, for my uses, I prefer the Barnes book. But if you are a hunter, or for some other reason need the lowdown on exterior ballistics, for heavens' sake do yourself a favor and buy the Forker book as well. Mr. Forker supplies page after page of velocity, energy, and trajectory tables for each cartridge. There is a wealth of data here, well presented, covering factory loadings for each cartridge. Antoher useful tidbit of the Forker book is felt recoil factor of each cartridge, so a shooter can compare the felt recoil of each cartridge. No kidding, this book delivers the goods with regards to performance information. I also liked the guest articles by Graig T. Boddington, which are included. Anything Boddington writes, you can take to the bank.

Outdated and seriously lacking in useful information for today's firearms technology. Many current and popular calibers not included, even old ones. More of a history book than a manual for learning serious shooting knowledge.

Well written book. Great for handloaders or for comparison of commercial cartridges.

Better than advertised. Very happy.

This book is great for someone looking for all the data on factory loaded ammo and ballistics tables on how it all performs out to 500 yds. But, if you are looking for lots of information on the science of ballistics and how bullets are affected by nature in flight and on target, this book will not satisfy your hunger. Overall, a great book for hunters/shooters/reloaders looking for bullet data.

This has got to be one of the most useful books I've ever come across regarding the science of ballistics. It answere all of the questions I have when it comes to choosing factory ammo. I do not hunt; I'm mostly into very long range target shooting, where the target do not lie. After several weeks in the field and using the data in the book, my target hit rate greatly improved. Highly recommended