Prone and Long Range Rifle Shooting — Book Review

by Mac Raven

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"When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes." ―Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus.

To start, I would like to explain why I am writing this book review and state that I am not receiving any compensation for recommending this periodical. After reading Prone and Long Range Rifle Shooting, by Nancy Tompkins I could not, in good conscience, not review it. If you purchase and read it, you will understand why I speak so highly of it.

When I first started competition shooting, I had this thought:

“Maybe someday, I will write a book on the subject.”

Over time, I slowly filled a binder with handwritten notes on the subject of competition shooting. Then I read Nancy’s book and thought, “There is no way anyone could ever top that!” And now my binder has retired to the shelf, where it is a dust magnet.

Prone and Long Range Rifle Shooting was written by Nancy Tompkins, a member of the first family of shooting. The amount of information she packed into 371 pages is mind-boggling.

She covers several subjects in this book that even I had never considered until I read about them. Anyone from a novice up to a seasoned pro can find insight within the pages.

When I write articles, I find myself going back to reference her book to make sure I haven’t inadvertently plagiarized anything. Let me tell you; it’s a difficult task.

My copy resembles a used book you would purchase from a university bookstore. It’s filled with different-colored highlighter marks, tears, unidentified food particles, and many coffee stains. I have hundred-year-old antique books that haven’t taken that kind of abuse.

I laugh to myself when I think of what Nancy’s reaction might be if she saw my copy: “What on God’s green earth did you do to it?” I would stare at my shoes and say, “Uhhhhhhhhhhhh?” lol

Depending on the climate where you live, you might have downtime between seasons. Reading Prone and Long Range Rifle Shooting is a way of making use of that idle time.

If you can’t shoot because of the weather, you might as well learn something that will help you perform when you are able to.

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