Gunsmithing Books from Fred Zeglin

If you are looking to learn more about gunsmithing, and want to learn from one of the best, you’ll want to check out the books and other resources from Fred Zeglin. In this article and video, we’ll look at four of Zeglin’s books that I have in the shop!

Who is Fred Zeglin?

Fred Zeglin is a master gunsmith with over 30 years of custom rifle building experience, an instructor, and an author. Fred Zeglin has taught classes for the NRA Short Term Gunsmithing program at three separate colleges and is the Coordinator/Instructor for the Firearms Technology Program at Flathead Valley Community College.

He has published numerous books, and has also contributed to numerous publications. Fred has worked with American Gunsmithing Institute to produce two instructional DVDs, Taming Wildcats and Reloading A to Z. More about Fred at his website.

Now let’s take a look at some of Fred Zeglin’s books that I have in the shop!

Chambering Rifles for Accuracy

Chambering Rifles for Accuracy is a book that I use on a frequent basis! Every time I chamber a rifle in fact (great checklist inside).

This book is split into two parts:

  1. Accurate Hunting Rifles (Fred Zeglin)
  2. Extreme Rifle Accuracy (Gordy Gritters) – see note below about Gordy!

Regardless of whether you want to build the most reliable and accurate hunting rifle, or if you want to build a super-accurate bench rest rifle, you’ll find very in-depth information about machining and chambering your barrel, plus a ton of other information about building and tuning accurate rifles.

Gunsmith Tools, Cutters & Gauges, A Primer

Gunsmith Tools, Cutters and Gauges is a very complete source of information that explains chambering reamers and other cutting tools and gauges in-depth.

Here are some of the topics covered in this book:

  • Chamber reamers in depth
  • Custom reamers
  • Reamer lubricants
  • Reamer holders and stops
  • Reamer prints
  • Chip welding
  • Throating reamers
  • Neck reamers
  • Carbide -vs- HSS reamers
  • Forcing cone reamers
  • Shotgun reamers
  • Headspace
  • Crowning and muzzle tools

Understanding Headspace for Firearms

Understanding Headspace for Firearms addresses a very frequently misunderstood topic – headspace concepts and measurements.

Here are some of the topics Fred discusses in this book:

  • What is headspace?
  • Headspace methods (for all cartridge types in common use)
  • Headspace and pressure
  • Ackley Improved cartridges and headspace
  • Headspace gauges
  • Standards and tolerances
  • Shimming gauges
  • Headspace interchange chart

Chambering for Ackley Cartridges

Chambering for Ackley Cartridges addresses yet another topic frequently misunderstood- gunsmithing and validating rifles chambered with Ackley Improved chambers.

From Wikipedia:

Parker Otto Ackley was an American gunsmith, barrel maker, author, columnist, and wildcat cartridge developer. The Ackley Improved family of wildcat cartridges are designed to be easily made by rechambering existing firearms, and fireforming the ammunition to decrease body taper and increase shoulder angle, resulting in a higher case capacity. Ackley improved not only standard cartridges, but also other popular wildcats, and was the first to create a .17 caliber (4.5 mm) centerfire cartridge.

Safely chambering rifles for Ackley Improved cartridges (and checking headspace on existing Ackley Improved rifles) involves understanding specific concepts, and careful attention to detail. These topics and more are covered in this book!

4D Reamer Rentals

If you are looking to rent chambering reamers or other gunsmithing tools, look no further than Fred Zeglin’s 4D Reamer Rentals!

From 4D Reamer Rentals:

We have over 1500 chamber reamer rentals in stock and ready to ship. We also rent headspace gauges and many other gunsmithing tools. Our tools are well maintained and inspected before and after each rental to assure you receive the highest quality gunsmithing tools. Our staff has over 35 years of professional gunsmithing experience, setting us apart from the competition.

Please Welcome Fred Zeglin and Gordy Gritters as Ultimate Reloader Partners

From left to right: Gordy Gritters, Fred Zeglin, Gavin Gear (me)

I wanted to take this opportunity to announce two new partnerships for Ultimate Reloader! I’ve recently partnered with Gordy Gritters of the Extreme Accuracy Institute, and Fred Zeglin. This is exciting for me because of the awesome collaborations we’ll be working on. Plus, we are all three of us very much like minded, and have a lot of fun together. Good times ahead!

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Thanks,
Gavin

One thought on “Gunsmithing Books from Fred Zeglin”

  1. Thanks Gavin, for another great review.

    I inherited a heavy 6.5-284 that Gordy put together for my Dad about 15 years ago. This is perhaps as close I’ll ever get to meeting him.

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