This is a review of Steel Helix written by George Bulliss, the Editor of Village Press Publications. Mr. Bulliss’ review appeared in the December 2013/January 2014 issue of Machinist’s Workshop magazine (Volume 26, Number 6). I am very grateful to Mr. Bulliss for reading my book, writing a review for his readers and granting me permission to post the review here on my website. It’s not easy for a self-published author to get recognized by the industry professionals and I am honored to be given such recognition.

             If you’re not already a subscriber, please visit the website for The Home Shop Machinist and Machinist’s Workshop at the link below. These magazines are full of great ideas and projects for the home machinist. Machinist's Workshop is also likely to become one of the best resources available for gunsmiths. Mr. Bulliss told me that the readers' response to the gunsmithing articles published so far has been very positive, and he plans to publish a lot more of them in the future!

http://www.homeshopmachinist.net

Book Review by George Bulliss

Steel Helix: A Gunsmith Machinist’s Answer to the Question of the Rifled Barrel

             For many home machinists, building a gun in the home shop means assembling various purchased and shop-made components, with the barrel topping the list of items requiring purchase. However, there are plenty of home gunsmiths interested in doing it all, including making a rifled barrel, and this book will provide the information needed to turn out quality barrels in the home shop.

             While the book is aimed at readers already possessing an understanding of machining, Chapter One, “The Barrel Maker’s Machine Shop”, does a good job of answering questions a newcomer may have. Looking to make a barrel but need to learn machining also? This chapter will clue you in to what skills and equipment you will need and, along with the bibliography, will get you pointed in the right direction to start learning those skills.

             After a little discussion on the various methods used to drill and rifle barrels, the book moves on to the meat of the subject; the construction and use of the drilling/rifling machine and the various tools that go with it. I found this section of the book fascinating and liked the approach the author took in describing the machine and its use. Rather than simply providing a step by step process to complete a machine identical to his, the author thoroughly covers the design considerations of the machine's features, along with various options. This approach allows the home machinist maximum flexibility; build the machine exactly as the author did, or make modifications to better suit your resources, shop, and intended work.

             Arriving at Chapter Eight, “Understanding Barrel Steel”, I paused. Memories of a long ago college night course on metallurgy flooded back and I recalled the trouble I had staying awake while the instructor droned on about crystal structure. Fortunately, Mr. Moore is much better at conveying a rather dry subject (for me at least) than my instructor was and it ended up being my favorite chapter.

             Although I never had any intentions of making a rifled barrel of my own, reading this book left me with a strong desire to go out to the garage and build a drilling/rifling machine. With what I feel to be just the right balance of subject matter and depth of discussion, and with everything presented in a style that was easy and enjoyable to read, this is one of the best machining books I’ve read in some time; highly recommended!

 

 

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