Julian S. Hatcher was a pioneer in the establishment of ballistic data gathering methods and forensic firearms research long before forensics came to be a commonly used word...Never a seeker after personal glory, his aim was always the furtherment of his profession, whether in a military sense, or in the civilian applications to which his research took him...
Following his honors commencement from the US Naval Academy (yes, Annapolis), he completed a voluntary move from the Navy to the US Army for assignment to a coastal artillery regiment...His 37 year active-duty military career, culminating in retirement as a Major General, was marked with great success, beginning notably with his establishment of the Army's first machine gun school where countless lives have been saved simply by learning the proper purpose and techniques in the deployment of automatic weapons...
His book (and his many other publications) are invaluable whether the reader is furthering scientific knowledge concerning exterior ballistics; beginning or continuing an interest in handloading and ammunition production; or the history of military arms and their safe use (or, in some cases, unsafe and disastrous misuse)...My most recent reference to this masterpiece was in refreshing my knowledge of accidents involving firearm and ammunition failure due to excessive pressure...It's worth noting that Hatcher was not only a career soldier, author and investigator, but also a trained engineer...His skills in the latter field are obvious in all his writings...
Also worth noting is the atmosphere Hatcher created for his readers in that those wishing to learn in a scientific manner may do so without finding the political misdirection found in other articles which concern gun safety...His discussions illustrate many events from pre- and post-production of military rifles to munitions storage magazine explosions, with emphasis on their causation, effect and prevention...The photographs and diagrams included in his book are all from his own files, and might have been lost to history otherwise...
He not only knew many of the legendary names of the shooting world, but shared information with each of them...I would love to have been a fly on the wall during his meetings with Townsend Whelen, Melvin Johnson or John Garand (whose surname incidentally is consistently mispronounced even by knowledgeable people)...The expertise and experience passed back and forth during those meetings would be a priceless education for the fortunate observer...
General Hatcher was a meticulous researcher who wanted his findings to represent the absolute truth no matter how trivial the topic...I think I always find something new because every time I pick up my copy, I'm looking for something in particular and then wind up reading about something else that caught my eye...At any rate, I highly recommend it for the bookshelf of anyone who has an interest in shooting, handloading, guns in general or military history...
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