About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

This book is a useful resource for the hunter or shooter who would like to learn more about modern high performance muzzleloaders. Those interested in newer guns will have to wade through - or skip - the obligatory historical information, and if you are looking for straight data without frills, this is not the book for you. There is plenty of good info included, but it's somewhat diluted at times.

Pros

• Written by a veteran user of muzzleoading rifles.
• Contains info on the latest rifles, bullets, and propellants as of late 2004.
• Common-sense advice on cleaning, bullet selection, and more.

Cons

• Like every other muzzleloader book in the world, it includes unneeded history info.
• Could have benefitted from a good editing before publication.

Description

• High Performance Muzzleloading Big Game Rifles book by Toby Bridges.
• Hardcover book, 155 pages plus index.
• Chapters include: The Evolution of Firepower; Modern Reproduction Guns;
• Modern Bore-Sized Conical Hunting Billets; In-Line Ignition Revolution; Smokeless Muzzleloading;
• Saboted Hunting Bullet; Choosing a Powder; Chapters on the 45, 50, and 54; Loading for Success;
• Coping with Muzzleloader Trajectory; Scoping Your Rifle; Maintenance; Muzzleloading for Deer;
• Bigger Game; Muzzleloading Regulations; and Muzzleloading into the Future

Guide Review - High Performance Muzzleloading Big Game Rifles by Toby Bridges

This book is a useful resource for the hunter or shooter who would like to learn more about his new high performance muzzleloader.

Those interested only in newer guns will have to wade through - or skip - the obligatory opening pages of muzzleloader history, and the author often digresses into "the good old days." If you are looking for straight data without frills, this may not be the book for you. Plenty of good info is included, but it's somewhat diluted at times.

This is not a book dedicated to inline rifles and how to get the best performance out of them. In that, I was disappointed because that's what I was expecting. The information is there, but it's not laid out in a quick-and-dirty format - and it's intermixed with the history of rifle twists and conical bullets, among other things. To get the most out of this book you will need to read it from cover to cover and keep notes as you go.

It may sound like I'm down on this book, but I'm not really - after all, I gave it 4.5 stars. While a good editing could have improved its readability, it's a good read for the most part, and includes a lot of common-sense info that you won't find just anywhere.

This book was written while Bridges was a fan of the Savage Model 10MLII smokeless muzzleloading rifle (which I love), and contains a good deal of info on that rifle, including history, recommended powder & loads, and more. That was a bonus for me, because I got this book to learn more about my new Savage "smokelesspole."

- Russ Chastain