Shotgunning: Trends in Transition

by Don Zutz

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0935632867
• ISBN13: 9780935632866
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Wolfe Publishing (SC)
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A solid standby book

I purchased this book soon after it first came out in 1989 and it is still on my bookshelf today. Sadly, author Don Zutz is no longer with us (he passed away while still in his 60s) but had he lived longer I feel he would eventually have done a follow up second edition. What makes this book so useful, as the previous reviewer pointed out, is that even though the work is now over twenty years old the advice and observations are still relevant and worthwhile. Here are some of my favorite chapters in the book that I still reread every now and then and would recommend to others: Ch.6 Gun Collecting Facts and Fallacies (everyone needs to see this) Ch.7 Modified Choke -- Myth and Confusion (nicely done and reasoned) Ch.8 Our Sophisticated Shotshells (good historical analysis here) Ch.9 Exploding Some Ballistics Myths (I have been in favor of this). Zutz never gets too technical for the reader to follow but at the same time does include enough numerical data and facts to bolster his case -- a sign of a good writer. While it is true that many new loads and shotguns have appeared on the market since this book was published in 1989, I always sensed that Zutz was on the mark in most of his conclusions. Zutz weaves historical background with the then current situation in an effective manner creating a nice flow for the reader -- especially one who is able to remember some of the developments in question. I'm sure some of the developments in shotguns, shooting sports, and their ammo during the last ten years would have interested (and maybe surprised) Don Zutz but this doesn't diminish his book in my view. Indeed, he predicted, or at least implied, some of the changes in his book. SHOTGUNNING TRENDS IN TRANSITION is a wide ranging work touching on a large number of relevant topics -- which is one of its strengths. The book is not perfect though. Chapters 19 & 20 are not as effective as the rest of the chapters and the book definitely could have used an index. These are modest quibbles however. I sincerely recommend this book as a good read full of thoughtful advice for shotguners and their shooting -- it should be on the bookshelf of every serious fan of the sport.

Among the Best you could buy

Don Zutz's "Shotgunning: Trends in Transition" was "overdue" in the shotgun world when it first came out in the '80s and is still a very informative and valuable resource for any shotgunner. One of it's major, and most enjoyable, strengths is Don's ability and willingness to dissect long-standing myths about the guns, ammo, and shooting thereof in easily understandable terms. Zutz raises the "ante" even higher by giving a cohesive, expert, but not tedious, look at how the guns and ammo and lore have developed, and how and why they have waned. An "industry insider", Zutz had plenty of experience and access to the collected data and thinking of the gunmakers as well as the gun users from the target fields to the bird fields and on to the lakes and sloughs. It all comes to the fore in "Shotgunning: Trends in Transition" and I would have to consider this book one of the four or five most important, and easily useful books on Shotgunning in the 20th century. Though products change, this book contains so much more than product knowledge - so much plain, clear shotgunning knowledge that doesn't change - it will serve readers well for years to come.