On Combat.   

Author David Grossman

The definitive guide to the physiology and psychology of lethal encounters. Col. David Grossman (ret), former Army Ranger and West Point Professor, explores the physiological and psychological effects of lethal encounters on the warrior and defines how the warrior can better prepare for the mental side of battle

Lethal encounters result in extremely high stress levels which in turn cause a sudden adrenaline and cortisol dump. This hormone dump causes profound physiological and psychological changes during the encounter. Some of these changes are beneficial to the warrior if they can harness their effects. Some are detrimental to the warrior's survival.

Understanding these effects and learning to harness these effects are a large part of developing the combat mindset necessary to survive the fight - and the aftermath. This book sets it all out. Definitely on our "A" list.

  Grossman, D. (2004) On Combat, Warrior Science Publications. www.warriorscience.com

Tactical Pistol Shooting

Erik Lawrence.

Tom and I had thought about shooting and writing an illustrated guide to the defensive pistol techniques for our students to take home as a reference for practice. During the planning stage we came across Tactical Pistol Shooting by Erik Lawrence - a former Spec Ops soldier. 

Beautifully illustrated, it clearly demonstrates all the techniques we teach in our Defensive Pistol Courses. So many of these "how to" guides either have great illustrations and poor writing, or poor illustrations and great writing. Not so this guide. An excellent production all around.  While we provide a study and practice guide for our Defensive Pistol Courses, if you are looking for a great visual reference to combat pistol techniques that are effective, look no further than this book.

Lawrence. Erik. 2004. Tactical Pistol Shooting.  Gun Digest Books.

Principles of Personal Defense

Jeff Cooper

Developing the combat mindset so critical to prevailing in lethal encounters takes forethought, determination, mental practice and the adoption of an attitude that is foreign to most of us. Survival of a lethal encounter requires us to develop a set of attitudes that our modern, politically correct society tries desperately to drill out of us.

Jeff Cooper, the Father of Modern Combat Pistol Techniques takes us through a step by step lesson on the attitudes necessary for survival. These principles of personal defense are an integral part of each of our advanced courses and form the basis of our philosophical outlook on self-defense.

Practical Shooting

Brian Enos

After you have gained high levels of basic marksmanship skill, you begin to realize that further improvements are mostly mental in nature: You begin to develop a higher level of awareness of what your body is doing during  your shooting exercises and through a trial and error process you figure out how to continue to improve.

Brian Enos takes you on a inner journey on the mental side of practical shooting. On first pass, it reads like a Zen Master treatise on shooting and it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.  But further reading and application to your shooting begins to reveal the genius of this book.  This book can eliminate much of the trial and error process and speed up your improvement. I re-read this book at least once a year and review individual chapters more often - it is that valuable.

Into the Kill Zone

David Klinger

Whereas "On Combat" goes into the physiological and psychological aspects of lethal encounters, this book shows exactly how these phenomena manifest themselves through a series of stories told by both the author and other police on the front lines. Through the perspectives and insights of police officers who have been through lethal encounters we get to see the effects discussed in On Combat in the stories of the police officers - the tunnel vision, the hearing exclusion, - all the stress effects show up in their stories.

We also get a taste of the psychological issues one will experience in the aftermath of the encounter. Klinger's officers also recount their thoughts about their encounters and how the reality of killing another human being affects their lives. We live, through their stories, their anger, their doubts, their guilt, and....their joy at their survival.

Inside the Criminal Mind

Dr. Stanton Samenow

The second edition of this book expands on the first edition. Dr. Samenow has worked with career criminals in penal institutions for 30 years and offers his insights as to the causes, motivations, and rehabilitation of criminal behavior. This books shows that many of the politically correct ideas about the causes of criminality - and their solutions -are totally bogus.

Gone are the ideas that extreme poverty and parental abuse and neglect are the prime drivers of criminal behavior in society. In the process of exploring criminality in America, Dr. Samenow reveals to us the true nature of the criminal's worldview and it is a chilling one. He takes us into the mind of the criminal - how they view their family, their friends, their place in society and most importantly how they view their victims.

Dr. Samenow's insights give us a peek into why criminal behavior often manifests itself in such brutal ways and the common world view held between the common street thug and the Bernie Madoff's of our world.

Green Eyes & Black Rifles

Kyle E. Lamb

Green Eyes and Black Rifles is to AR-15 shooters what Tactical Pistol Shooting is to pistol shooters. Again beautfullly illustrated and written, this book takes you through the basics of tactical AR-15 shooting and beyond into advanced skill sets. Kyle Lamb, former Special Ops soldier brings real world experience to this book which dovetails perfectly with the tactical techniques our own former Special Ops instructor, Chris Avery, brings to our AR-15 and Long Range Rifle classes.

Understanding Firearm Ballistics

Robert A. Rinker

Long range precision rifle shooting is an art - almost a black art. The variables involved are almost endless and in order to consistently put lead on target the long range rifle shooter must have a clear understanding of the physics involved in order to do it on the first shot. Robert A. Rinker does a yeoman's job of balancing complex math equations with down to earth verbal descriptions of the physics involved to give you a clear understanding of how the variables affect accuracy downrange.

The entire span of long range shooting is covered here from how techniques of barrel making can affect the impact point to how the gyroscopic phenomena of precession causes bullets to drift right or left depending on barrel twist.  Want to know why Bobby's .308 seems to have a recoil much worse than your own?  It's in here. Want to know why checking bullet concentricity with the cartridge case is imperative? It's in here.

More Guns - Less Crime

Dr. John R. Lott Jr.

THE definitive study on the effects of liberalizing or constraining concealed carry laws ever done. Dr. Lott looks at the implementation of concealed carry laws across the country on a county by county basis and determines their effect on all categories of crime.

The data he collected is controlled for variables and analyzed in multiple ways to come to definitive conclusions about liberalizing gun laws. While not technically a "warrior" book, this book conclusively provides the scholary ammunition for any gun rights advocate to refute the political myths propagated by the anti-gunners.