Preface to the revised and updated edition<br >By Jim Carmichel， Shooting Editor， Outdoor Life<br > On the 200th birthday of the United States all Americans would<br >do well to reflect on our heritage of great firearms and the men who<br >used them. No history of the nation s development could be complete<br >without a detailed examination of American guns and， in fact， as<br >readers of this book will soon discover， the history of American fire-<br >arms is itself a rich chronicle of American achievement.<br > Such legendary figures as Daniel Boone， Andrew Jackson， Davy<br >Crockett， Jim Bridger， Wild Bill Hickok， Theodore Roosevelt， and<br > Sergeant Alvin York， to name a few， might never have strode into the<br > annals of immortality had it not been for their ability to use a firearm.<br > Had it not been for the rifle over the colonial mantel and a willing-<br > ness to use it in the cause of freedom， there would be no Bicentennial<br > -no America.<br > Along the way our language has become rich with the idioms of<br > the gun; going off half cocked， a flash in the pan， ramrod straight，<br > and dozens of others are common phrases everyone uses without<br > realizing their shooting origin.<br > Also， too few of us are aware that the greatest sports heroes of<br > the last century were competitive marksmen and that the rifle tourna-<br > ments held against other nations were banner headline news as well<br > as the most avidly attended sporting events of the day.<br > This is the story of American hunting and firearms， from the early<br > settlers who made their way into the "dark and bloody ground of<br > Kentucky"-the region which gave its name to the graceful long rifles<br > they carried-to the modern sportsman who has mastered the science<br > of giving back to nature what he takes from it.<br > f~<br ><br >