Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Model 54 book

Has anyone here happen to purchase the new book that's out on the Winchester model 54? If so would you recommend it? Thanks. BCM

Purchased it when it first came out.
Great book to add to the library if you get a chance.
He has also been available on the phone to discuss a few particulars with me after I received my copy....

I have a copy, glad I bought it.

Where to buy and price?

From WACA :

David P. Bichrest
110 Sir Cameron
Lumberton, TX 77657

PH 409-504-7796

DavidBichresthotmail.com

$85.00 shipped.

Sounds like an interesting book, dont see many M54s around anymore. Every now and then a beat up 30-06 or 270 priced way more than what its worth, but the other calibers are seldom seen

I guess with a few grand invested in M54's I shouldn't bitch about $85 for the book. But I will.

Yeah, give us some more info. What's the title and who's the author?

Gnoahh: Back in 1982 I "invested" in 10 (ten!) books called "The Riflemans Rifle" and with that minimum of 10 books ordered I "qualified" to buy 1 (one!) Deluxe leather bound and cased and serialized (#118 of 500) Riflemans Rifle.
This book by Roger Rule is an in depth treatise on the pre-64 Winchester Model 70 - and original issues are quite valuable and sought after.
I have realized a profit of around 10 times of what I originally paid for the 7 (seven) of those 11 (eleven) books I purchased and sold!
The "Deluxe" edition last I saw was worth nearly 20 times what I paid for it - but I have decided to keep it for now!
Yeah $85.00 is a lot of money to "invest" in a book - but depending on the author and how well the book is researched and written it very well may be money well spent and could very well appreciate in value in the future.
I know I now wish I had bought 50 (fifty!) of the original Riflemans Rifle books instead of the 11 (eleven!) I did buy!
I am interested in finding our further info on this new "Winchester" book myself.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
P.S.: I did NOT report the "profit" I made on the 7 (seven!) Riflemans Rifle books I have sold to date (around about $2,000.00)!

I always laugh when people complain at the price of a really good book when I set up at a gun show. They will pay $125 for a rifle sight and whine at $80 for a book that contains information they can use for the rest of their life. I think the Winchester Model 1895 book will also turn out to be a sought after classic in a few years.

part I hate is when people go to great lengths to discredit an author....refuting info. what gets me is, if these people are so smart, why didn't THEY write the book?
writers being slammed by refuters on the high standard pistols comes to mind.

I was being facetious. I have spent a lot more than that on several books in my library- gun and fly fishing books, literature, and non-fiction. I could probably sell my 1000+ book library, including the first editions I once went crazy for, for enough to finance a 1st Class African safari.

Truth be told, I'm not a Winchester collector, but own and shoot a few 54's and early 70's. What I have gleaned from Rule frankly suffices for what I feel compelled to know about them. My curiosity is piqued though, and may well spring for a copy yet.

That $85 will cover a decent bottle of single malt, a half a brick of Eley Tenex, or all the crab cakes PoconoJack eats after the Baltimore Antique Arms show every year. Priorities, man, priorities!

I agree, for the most part. It does however take an ungodly amount of time and labor to craft a well written book. Few people can do it. That's especially true of a one-make gun book that explores the minutiae of the subject in exacting/excruciating detail- a lot different than weaving a good murder mystery tale. Being versed in a particular gun subject doesn't necessarily mean one has the ability to string that knowledge together to create a definitive book. What we get then is pure nuggets of "refuting" issued in dribs and drabs, and rarely "The Next Definitive Bible".

Then there's the financial side of it. You don't see the major publishing houses falling over each other for the chance to publish the next Big Definitive Treatise on RemWinLin leverautobolt rifles. Reason: there's not enough of we loonies out there to buy enough of those books to make it worth their while to fire up the presses. That leaves such works squarely in the realm of small publishing houses, and/or private publishing on the part of the author.

The obstacles are daunting, and frankly I'm surprised we get as many good solid books on gun subjects that we do.

gnoahhh!! !++++++

Gonoahhh and I were just discussing this a couple weeks with regard to the book - The Winchester Model 52: Perfection in Design by Houze

It's another one that is highly specialized about a subject that only us old farts distinguished gentlemen of chronological maturity appreciate. Not to say there isn't some 22 year old out there that doesn't yearn for knowledge on Win 52/54 but we're more likely the target of such books. Without us purchasing them occasionally it will be unlikely that they will ever get written or published by a publishing house with the quality standards that such a book likely deserves. That there are hard cover and soft cover versions is nice and the copy of the Roger Rule book I have is softcover and wasn't exorbitant in price.

I don't know where physical book publishing is going. Increasingly it's e-books and I'll admit I'm as guilty as others when it comes to the latest favorite author detective or thriller ending up on my iPad. Perhaps these books will only be published by specialty presses like Safari Press or others. I just bought both volumes of an aviation topic published by Ginter Press that's a well known for publishing obscure Aviation books. I did a lot of flying in support of and served in one of the squadrons covered so it was worth it to me. Ginter seems to be doing OK with their narrow subject line but it is also likely not going to continue past the lifespan of the founder who has passion for the subject.

Spoiler alert - I compromised on the model 52 book and bought a used hard copy (happy birthday to me) and perhaps by buying a hard copy the publisher is tracking that used price and will eventually print more copies at a price less than $300 for new hardback.

Alright Pugs- you get the 52 book and I'll get the 54 book and we'll discuss them at our next Book of the Month Club meeting (also known as the Distinguished Shooters, Hunters, Fliers and Fly Tiers, Beer and Bullshitters Society).

I handed a young kid a book....and he tapped the cover and couldn't figure out why it didn't come on.

hoy cow what a world.

Done! And for those here that have not sent in their memberships dues PM me for the address. Even if you're not a dues paying member of the DSHFFBBS you're welcome to join Gary and me and a couple other ne're-do-wells tomorrow at 1230 @ https://www.guinnessbrewerybaltimore.com

Beer- the glue that binds us together!

Alright, PoconoJack, I ordered the 54 book. You're on your own now for the crab cakes in March!