Great articles, written by great gun writers, about classic rifles! The Gun Digest Book of Classic American Combat Rifles presents a unique compilation of articles on the greatest American combat rifles developed since 1776, and as they originally appeared in Gun Digest. Since the first issue of Gun Digest in 1944, combat rifles have made regular appearances in the magazine, in articles on the romance, design, performance, historical, and technical significanceand#151;and even the shortcomingsand#151;of many rifles used by American troops in battle. Now, you can take a walk down memory lane, thru this volume of the best of these articles, written by the most respected writers working in the field during the second half of the 20th century: On the Springfield rifleand#151;Col. Townsend Whelen On the rifles of World War IIand#151;Charles T. Haven On the M-14and#151;John Lachuk On the AR-15/M16and#151;Christopher R. Bartocci Most shooters recognize names like Springfield, Colt, Armalite, Sharps, and Spencer. Those rifles made it to the top and stayed there, while many other rifle designs were tested and adopted by the U.S. military only to slide into historical oblivion. Yet all are part of the history of the American combat rifle, and you'll find these various type of rifles and their stories in this exciting book.