NASSA has prepared a list of Recommended Shooting Books for your review. If you are a new Silhouette shooter, many of these books can help you improve your scores through teaching critical basic fundamentals and help prevent beginner mistakes. If your desire is to make Master Class in Silhouette, these books can help refine your fundamentals and bring structure to your training regimen to get you there. If your goal is to reach the top of our Silhouette sport and win championships, absorbing the knowledge of these champion authors to formulate and refine your own path to success is critical!
We are fortunate these days that many new and great books on sports motivation, mental training, the physical aspects of shooting, rifles, ammunition, ballistics, wind doping, etc., are now being published everyday and many are included here for your review.
Bill Pullum, appointed in 1962 as Head Coach of the newly formed US Army Marksmanship Training Unit (USAMTU), was a pioneer in developing modern coaching techniques. Bill Pullum and Frank T. Hanenkrat, a USAMTU shooter and fellow instructor, would write a ground breaking book entitled Position Rifle Shooting. This book set the bar for capturing championship coaching fundamentals used by shooters such as Lones Wigger to great achievements. Two later books by Bill and Frank are included on our recommended reading list as must reading.
Our other authors of Recommended Shooting Books also have strong and diverse shooting backgrounds in complementary shooting sports such as ISSF Prone/3-P/Air Rifle, NRA High Power/Service Rifle, Long Distance Shooting or Shooting Sports Psychology. Their knowledge is directly applicable to Silhouette or it would not have been included!
We have labeled the type of content found in each book included, using the same subject matter categories used for our NASSA Blogs, i.e., Inspiration, The Mental Game, The Physical Game, Rifles and Sights, Ammo & Ballistics and At The Range. Many books cover multiple topics and a few only cover one topic such as wind doping, ammunition reloading, etc.
Over time, we will write more detailed reviews of each one of these books (see links under each book) and a few of the most important books may be written up as a blog within our NASSA Blog links. So enjoy your journey, build your library carefully over time and remember that Knowledge Empowers You!
Do you have some addition book suggestions for our Recommended Shooting Books Library? Click on the link below and tell us!
Title: Air Rifle Training & Competition
Authors: Heinz Reinkemeier & Gaby Buhlmann
Publisher: MEC GmbH, 1st Edition, Drensteinfurt, Germany, 2015
Availability: www.mec-shot.de
Subject Matter: Inspiration, The Mental Game, The Physical Game, Rifles & Sights, Ammo & Ballistics
While this book is geared towards ISSF 3-P Air Rifle Competition, the material on mental preparation, the shot sequence, rifle set-up and the physical mechanics of optimizing the standing position is excellent and very applicable for Silhouette shooting.
This book, together with Sports Psychology and Competition – The Psyche of the Shot, are written by Heinz Reinkemeier and Gaby Buhlmann who are well renowned as Sports Psychologists and World-Class Rifle Coaches. Published by MEC, the high tech shooting equipment company out of Germany.
Title: A Shot At History
Author: Abhinav Bindra with Rohit Brijnath
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, Uttar Pradesh, India
Availability: Out of Print – Buy on Amazon, eBay or abebooks.com
Subject Matter: Inspiration
A Shot at History is Abhinav Bindra’s autobiography and the only book listed for the single subject matter category of Inspiration. The book chronicles Abhinav’s journey in training for and capturing India’s first gold medal ever achieved at an Olympic Games. His relentless training for the Olympic dream and the accompanying struggles was inspirational and shows what one can achieve if the drive and desire is there. The truly remarkable story was how his 2008 Beijing Olympic Gold Medal transformed the nation of India. Today, there are many shooting academies in India and Indian shooters are now winning on the ISSF Championship Podium. Truly an inspirational story for the shooting community and the nation of India!
Title: Attainment
Author: Troy Bassham
Publisher: Mental Management Systems, Flower Mound, Texas, 2012
Availability: www.mentalmanagement.com
Subject Matter: Inspiration, The Mental Game
Troy Bassham states that 95% of the winning is achieved by only 5% of the participants. Troy Bassham’s book Attainment covers 12 critical mental elements that explain what is behind this elite performance by the 5%. Once you understand and start to visualize and practice these elements, you are now training for The Mental Game that gives you the chance to join the 5%. Troy also shares stories from some of these elite athletes that gives the reader the inspiration and motivation to further his or her journey into becoming a championship shooter. Ultimately, all books related to Inspiration or The Mental Game will help you develop your own personal methodology that works for you. You just have to start the journey!
Troy Bassham, son of Olympic Champion Lanny Bassham, is a 12 time USA National Champion in the international rifle discipline, setting 4 national records and won the CISM World Championship. He is a senior Master Instructor and Director of Junior Development at Mental Management Systems. Troy used these techniques to become an elite champion.
Title: Berger Bullets Reloading Manual
Author: Eric Stecker & Others
Publisher: Capstone Precision Group, L.L.C.
Availability: Various Berger Bullets Dealers – https://bergerbullets.com/products/loading-manual/
Subject Matter: Ammo and Ballistics
We have included this 1st Edition Berger Bullets Reloading Manual in our recommended books since Berger Bullets are used by a majority of the top (10) shooters at the 2022 NRA National HP Silhouette Championships. Every new shooters’ library should have some reloading manuals and this 1st Edition manual is packed full of great information for the silhouette shooter. The front end of this manual is full of great articles written by such experts as Bryan Litz, the ballistics guru we are following with much interest on social media. These article include such topics as basic reloading safety, powder lot-to-lot variation, handloading components and basics, statistics for reloading, COAL and CBTO effects, ballistic coefficients, analysis tools, etc. The back end is the loading data for all Berger Bullets that are on the market. A great first effort by Berger Bullets and a positive recommendation from us!
Title: Bullseye Mind
Author: Raymond Prior, PhD
Publisher: MomentumMedia Sports Publishing, Ithaca, New York
Availability: Amazon, Good Shooting Inc., and Creedmoor Sports
Subject Matter: Inspiration, The Mental Game
Bullseye Mind is written specifically for teaching shooters mental toughness and reaching peak levels of performance. The importance of mental toughness is very well explained in this book. This is crucial to move from success in practice to consistently performing at a top level in competition. The chapters are very thorough and easy to understand and each chapter concludes with a short excerpt from a top shooter or coach relevant to that chapter. Bullseye Mind also serves the subject matter of Inspiration in that understanding yourself better is high motivation to begin this journey!
Raymond Prior, PhD is a top peak performance professional having trained both athletes and coaches in multiple sports. He has a firm commitment to growing the shooting sports, providing peak performance training to many of the top collegiate shooting teams in the country.
Title: Competitive Shooting
Author: A. A. Yur’yev
Publisher: National Rifle Association (2nd Printing April 1987)
Availability: Out of Print – Buy on used book market such as abebooks.com
Subject Matter: The Mental Game, The Physical Game, Rifle & Sights, Ammo and Ballistics
Dr. Yur’yev’s book was originally published in Russian and was born out of the massive Soviet shooting program to dominate Olympic shooting in the early 1970’s. There was absolutely nothing like it in the Western world at the time. The information on shooting positions (standing for silhouette shooters!) and techniques, ballistics and in particular extensive sports medicine research related to understanding and optimizing your shooting performance. If you want to build a foundation of knowledge about shooting sports, this book delivers!
Title: Freedom Flight – The Origins of Mental Power
Author: Lanny Bassham
Publisher: Mental Management Systems, Flower Mound, Texas, 2008
Availability: www.mentalmanagement.com
Subject Matter: Inspiration, The Mental Game
This inspirational story tells of Lanny Bassham’s mental struggles after a “disappointing” silver medal performance at the 1972 Olympics. A long discussion on a flight to the World Military Championships (Cairo) with Team Coach Jack Sands would change everything. Jack’s experiences as a POW in captivity for over 6 years would give Lanny a whole new mental perspective and set him “free” on a path that would win him the 1976 Olympic Gold Medal that had eluded him in 1972. This short story is inspirational to the shooter who wants to excel and needs a strong mental approach to achieving their goals. Lessons from this book have been incorporated into Lanny’s Mental Management System.
Lanny Bassham won the 1976 Smallbore 3-Position Olympic Gold Medal, multiple World Championships and is a Distinguished Member of the US Army Marksmanship Unit. This is Lanny Bassham’s second book written after Lanny Bassham’s book With Winning in Mind. Both books form the foundation for his Mental Management System that has been training world-class athletes for years on optimizing mental control under pressure.
Title: Handloading for Competition
Author: Glen D. Zediker
Publisher: Zediker Publishing, Oxford, Mississippi
Availability: Out of Print – Buy on used book market such as Amazon, eBay or abebooks.com
Subject Matter: Ammo and Ballistics
While Handloading for Competition is primarily geared towards NRA Highpower, the book is a great primer for the new reloader with little experience. Glen says that “this is not exactly a reloading manual. This fills the gap between what most popular reloading manuals don’t go into and what some of the more esoteric opinionators out there may leave out or otherwise not very thoroughly cover.“
Title: Highpower Rifle
Author: G. David Tubb
Publisher: Zediker Publishing, Oxford, Mississippi
Availability: David Tubb’s Website – http://www.davidtubb.com/book-highpowerrifle
Subject Matter: Inspiration, The Mental Game, The Physical Game, Rifle & Sights, At the Range
David Tubb is legendary in the Highpower shooting discipline and successfully transitioned into rifle silhouette with 20 individual NRA National Silhouette Championships in both Highpower and Smallbore. David’s intent with this book was to pass on the knowledge he gained in both Highpower and Silhouette to make the reader a better shooter. Relative to the silhouette discipline, the book contains chapters on the basics of shooting, the standing position, range conditions, mental preparation, training and comments on various technical issues. David says the book is all about learning and that the learning never stops. If you read this book, you might agree with us that he successfully imparts much of his knowledge to you.
Title: Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading
Author: Neal Emery, Editor
Publisher: Hornady Manufacturing Company, Grand Island, Nebraska
Availability: Hornady Website – https://www.hornady.com/reloading/handbook
Subject Matter: Ammo and Ballistics
We have included this 11th Edition Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading in our recommended books since Hornady bullets are the second most popular bullets used at the 2022 NRA National HP Silhouette Championships. Hornady bullets are also quite often used for lever action rifles as well. Every new shooter’s library should have some reloading manuals and this 11th Edition manual has been improved over time and does not disappoint. What we particularly like is a reloading step-by-step guide that is particularly handy for the new reloader. Other helpful chapters include information on accuracy, pressure signs, bullets trajectory, ballistic coefficients, their online ballistic calculator and other tips and techniques for reloading.
Title: Mental Training In Shooting
Authors: Anne Grethe Jeppesen & Anne Marte Pensgaard
Publisher: 1st Edition Printed in Germany 2006
Availability: www.stenvaag.no
Subject Matter: Inspiration, The Mental Game, The Physical Game
Anne Grethe Jeppesen is an experienced ISSF shooter, coach and trainer. Anne Marte Pensgaard has a Ph.D. in sports psychology and taught at the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences. Together, they have written a powerful and practical book that “explains and provides guidance in the development of mental skills”. What we particularly like about Mental Training in Shooting is there are plenty of practical exercises which reinforces the knowledge they impart to the reader. Since mental training can be a bit abstract at times, the mental exercises also help inspire the reader to want to further explore developing your mental game. That itself is one of the most important aspects of learning to become a championship shooter!
Title: The Gun Digest Book of Metallic Silhouette Shooting
Author: Elgin Gates
Publisher: DBI Books Inc., Northfield, Illinois, 1979
Availability: Out of Print – Buy on used book market such as eBay or abebooks.com
Subject Matter: Rifles & Sights, Ammo & Ballistics
This book is one of very few books solely dedicated to the silhouette game. While the book is now very dated and heavily slanted towards handgun silhouette, we have included it for its perspectives on rifles, scopes and ammo loads in the early days of rifle silhouette. It is also one of the best sources for the early history of our sport, talking about the early champions and the organizational efforts to promote and sanction silhouette matches. If you want to know more about how silhouette started and where many of the trends today started, it is an interesting read.
Title: Prone and Long-Range Rifle Shooting
Author: Nancy Tompkins
Publisher: Nancy H. Tomkins, Prescott, Arizona
Availability: Nancy Tomkins’ Website – http://www.rifleshootingbynancy.com/index.html
Subject Matter: The Mental Game, The Physical Game, Rifle and Sights, Ammo & Ballistics, At the Range
Nancy Tomkins is an outstanding highpower shooter, winning many NRA National Championships in this game. She has also successfully shot in many other disciplines including highpower silhouette. Nancy is also the wife of the legendary Middleton “Mid” Tomkins. So you can imagine this book is chalked full of great advice and technical knowledge and you would be right! While the book does focus on prone shooting, the chapters on shooting fundamentals, goal setting, mental and physical training, reading wind and mirage, loading for long range and coaching are directly applicable to improving your rifle silhouette skills. This book in combination with others listed on this page will enable you with the knowledge to improve your rifle silhouette shooting.
Title: Reading the Wind and Other Coaching Techniques
Author: M/Sgt Jim Owens USMC (Ret.)
Publisher: JAFEICA Publishing, Enterprise, Alabama
Availability: Jim Owens Website – https://jarheadtop.com/
Subject Matter: At the Range
M/Sgt Jim Owens was a member and coach for the Marine Corps Marksmanship Training Unit at MCAS, Cherry Point, North Carolina. Since then, he has been active in teaching shooters the fundamentals. This book is a classic and excellent primer on learning how to read the wind. As with learning any technique in shooting, Reading the Wind, along with the two other books on our wind reading recommendation list, serves as a basis for understanding and becoming proficient in the critical but often misunderstood science of wind doping.
Title: Rifle Steps To Success
Author: Launi Meili
Publisher: Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 2009
Availability: www.HumanKinetics.com
Subject Matter: Inspiration, The Mental Game, The Physical Game, Rifles & Sights, At the Range
This book focuses on attaining success in the ISSF 3-P Air Rifle discipline. As with The Ways of the Rifle (both published in 2009), the prone and kneeling positions are not relevant to silhouette. The section on the standing position is and can help to ensure your biomechanics are optimized. Other relevant information such as mental and physical training, preparation for match competition, optimum shot sequence and taking the shot are worth reading to help develop your own program.
Launi Meili won the Gold Medal at the 1992 Olympic Games and broke 3 Olympic Records. She was an assistant coach on the U.S. National Team, helped develop the International Coach Certification Program and was Head Coach of the University of Nebraska Women’s Rifle Team.
Title: Sierra Rifle & Handgun Reloading Data Edition VI
Authors: Ted Almgren, William T. McDonald, Sc.D
Publisher: Sierra Bullets, Sedalia, Missouri
Availability: Sierra Website – https://www.sierrabullets.com/product/sierra-6th-edition-rifle-handgun-reloading-manual/
Subject Matter: Ammo and Ballistics
We have included this Edition VI Sierra Rifle and Handgun Reloading Data manual in our recommended books since Sierra bullets are by far the most popular bullet brand used in HP Rifle Silhouette at recent NRA National Silhouette Championships. Sierra is also a very popular in Lever Action Silhouette. Every shooters’ library should have some reloading manuals and this VI edition is by far their best publication to date. With an expansion of their ballistic testing capabilities as well as a new testing range, Sierra was able to develop accurate velocity and pressure data for this new edition. Sierra also developed new testing procedures for developing very accurate load data for accuracy and safety considerations.
Title: Sports Psychology and Competition – The Psyche of the Shot
Authors: Heinz Reinkemeier & Gaby Bí¼hlmann
Publisher: MEC GmbH, 1st English Edition, Dortmund, Germany, 2013
Availability: www.mec-shot.de
Subject Matter: Inspiration, The Mental Game, The Physical Game
A highly recommended and inspirational book on the mental and physical aspects of competitive shooting and what it takes to win. While this book is geared towards ISSF 3-P Rifle Competition, content is directly applicable to Silhouette shooting.
This book, together with Air Rifle Training & Competition, are written by Heinz Reinkemeier and Gaby Bí¼hlmann who are well renowned as Sports Psychologists and World-Class Rifle Coaches. Published by MEC, the high tech shooting equipment company out of Germany.
Title: Successful Shooting
Authors: Bill Pullum & Frank T. Hanenkrat
Publisher: National Rifle Association, 1981
Availability: Out of Print – Buy on used book market such as eBay or abebooks.com
Subject Matter: The Mental Game, The Physical Game, Rifle & Sights, Ammo & Ballistics, At the Range
Bill Pullum was the legendary coach for the US Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) during the 1970’s and Frank Hanenkrat was a member of this unit. Both compiled this book summarizing the techniques and training that made the USA a dominant force in International and Olympic competition in the 1970’s and 1980’s. While the book is focused on the smallbore 3-position discipline, the principles are directly applicable to the standing position in silhouette. Chapters cover recoil, aiming and firing, vision, rifle optimization, weather and wind, the standing position, training and coaching. A great “early book” covering the key fundamentals when no one else in the Western Hemisphere was publishing anything close to this level of information in the 1980’s.
Title: The New Position Rifle Shooting
Authors: Bill Pullum & Frank Hanekrat
Publisher: Target Sports Education Center, Oak Harbor, OH, 1997
Availability: Out of Print – Buy on used book market such as eBay or abebooks.com
Subject Matter: The Mental Game, The Physical Game, Rifle & Sights, Ammo & Ballistics, At the Range
A later published book by Bill Pullum (legendary coach for the USAMU) and and Frank Hanenkrat that is very similar to the Successful Shooting book listed above. The New Position Rifle Shooting is probably the better of the two books as it was published 16 years later and has newer content. Chapters cover optimizing vision, self-image and performance, visualization, cognitive strategies, affirmations, fear of failure and success, shooting gear, range conditions, training & conditioning, the standing position and coaching. This book is an updated and improved version of an earlier 1973 publication entitled Position Rifle Shooting.
Title: The Rifle Shooter
Author: G. David Tubb
Publisher: Zediker Publishing, Oxford, Mississippi
Availability: David Tubb’s Website – http://www.davidtubb.com/book-rifleshooter
Subject Matter: The Mental Game, The Physical Game, Rifle and Sights, At the Range
The Rifle Shooter was written after David’s first book entitled Highpower Rifle (also listed above). The difference between the two books is largely the passage of time. New lessons learned are written about in The Rifle Shooter as David continues perfecting his techniques, his shooting position and why the changes. Although each book stands by itself as a great reference tool, this one adds further to the knowledge curve. In particular, there is more information on ammunition, barrels and rifle design/fit. Yes there are differences between the Highpower and Silhouette disciplines, but the fundamentals are the same and the David’s journey described within will add significantly to your overall knowledge.
Title: The Wind Book for Rifle Shooters
Authors: Linda K. Miller & Capt. Keith A. Cunningham
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Availability: Out of Print – Buy on used book market such as Amazon, eBay or abebooks.com
Subject Matter: At the Range
Regarding this book, our own silhouette shooter Emil Praslick III (ex-USAMU coach) states “The skills and tactics you need to be a successful shooter in the wind are all clearly laid out. A Classic”. There is indeed a great amount of information contained in this book. While geared for long distance shooting, the principles are applicable to understanding winds conditions in both smallbore and highpower silhouette. Reading the wind is probably one of the most misunderstood and important skills a silhouette shooter must master. The book starts with wind basics, the thought process regarding how to deal with the wind, techniques and tactics, words of wisdom from various experts and an appendix with various tools you can use to develop your wind doping capabilities. An overall excellent book on this subject matter.
Title: Ways of the Rifle 2009
Authors: Gaby Buhlmann, Heinz Reinkemeier, Maik Eckhardt, Bill Murray & Abhinav Bindra
Publisher: MEC GmbH, 1st English Edition , Drensteinfurt, Germany, 2008
Availablility: www.mec-shot.de
Subject Matter: Inspiration, The Mental Game, The Physical Game, Rifles & Sights, Ammo & Ballistics
When released in 2009, this was a groundbreaking and comprehensive book on the ISSF .22 3-Position (3-P) discipline. While chapters on the prone and kneeling positions are not relevant to silhouette, the extensive chapter on the standing position is and can help to ensure your biomechanics are optimized.
The authors are a mix of world-class shooters, ex-Olympians, and Sports Psychologists who have come together to produce a wonderfully illustrated work.
Title: With Winning In Mind
Author: Lanny Bassham
Publisher: Mental Management Systems, 3rd Edition 2011
Availability: www.mentalmanagement.com
Subject Matter: Inspiration, The Mental Game
With Winning In Mind is one of the best selling books on motivation and optimizing your mental shooting game. The techniques taught in the book are used by many successful elite shooters and highly recommended to silhouette shooters to shape your own customized mental training program! Many valuable sections include such topics as understanding and using match pressure as your ally, mentally rehearsing you shots, setting the correct goals to both develop/win and learning to be decisive. The book also seres as Inspiration to get started on the journey!
Lanny Bassham won the 1976 Smallbore 3-Position Olympic Gold Medal, multiple World Championships and is a Distinguished Member of the US Army Marksmanship Unit. Lanny Bassham’s book With Winning in Mind formed the foundation for his Mental Management System that has been training world-class athletes for years on optimizing mental control under pressure.
(Under review by junior shooters in the South Central Region)