Gun Tales is going to paper.

Folks, we're excited to announce that our first book is almost ready. The rough draft is nearly wrapped, the proofreading is underway, and the printers are warming up.

From the beginning, Gun Tales has been written with a different standard in mind. The goal has been to tell stories that hold up against time itself. A number of readers have asked the same thing: when will you write a book?

That idea came up often enough that we decided to take it seriously.

There comes a point when a man begins to notice how little of what he reads stays with him. Most writing today is made for the moment. You read it, you move on, and it disappears without leaving anything behind. That may be fine for passing time, but it has never seemed right to us.

There was a time when gun writing served a different purpose. It was not written to fill space or to keep up with everyone else. It was written by men who had spent years in the field, who understood their subject through experience, and who took the time to put that experience into words in a meaningful way. Those pieces were not concerned with being immediate. They were written to last, and many of them did.

That kind of writing has become harder to find. The pace has changed, the incentives have changed, and much of what is produced now reflects that. There is more information available than ever before, but less of it carries the weight of a lifetime behind it. There are more opinions, but fewer that have been tested in any meaningful way.

Gun Tales was founded in response to that shift. We are not interested in specifications or in keeping up with whatever happens to be new. We are not interested in producing content for the sake of filling space. We do not use artificial shortcuts to generate what we publish. The work you see here comes from men who have lived what they are writing about, and who understand that a story is only worth telling if it is worth sharing with the next generation.

There is also something to be said for the act of reading itself. It has changed the same way as the writing. It has become faster, more fragmented, and more easily interrupted. The habit of sitting down with a piece of writing and giving it your full attention is no longer assumed. It is something that has to be chosen.

We still believe that is still worth choosing.

For that reason, when readers began asking for a book, it did not feel like a departure from what we were doing. It felt like a natural extension of it. A book is not simply a different format. It is a place where this kind of writing belongs, and where it has the best chance of being read the way it was intended.

What's Inside

The contents of our first book have been selected with care. Not every story belongs in a book, and not every story improves when it is printed. But we believe these do.

Alongside those are several original pieces that have never been published anywhere. They will never appear on the site. If you want to read those, the book is the only place to find them.

You'll read about...

⭐ Unique Flattops that changed history

⭐ Musings on pocket revolvers

⭐ Heroes and villains of the West

⭐ Single action revolvers for the working man

⭐ Lever rifles in the modern world

You'll also help preserve...

⭐ A wonderful culture in its sunset

⭐ A way of writing that comes from true experience

⭐ Standards that don't bend to convenience

⭐ A record of knowledge that would otherwise be lost

⭐ Independence from the modern content machine

You can expect...

⭐ A classic U.S. royal 6x9 paperback

⭐ 250 pages to enjoy at your own pace

⭐ Color photos that accompany many stories

⭐ Never-before published stories from Jim and Shane

⭐ Stories from select guest writers that share our vision

From the desks of Jim Wilson and Shane Jahn

"Thanks to our subscribers, GUN TALES has been very successful. So we are now moving into phase two of our project. We will soon be offering Gun Tales: Volume 1 which is simply some select articles from our internet magazine along with some new stories. Stay tuned because we'll be posting ordering information in the near future." —Sheriff Jim Wilson

"It’s a privilege to soon offer you Gun Tales: Volume I. After launching GunTales.net we knew we had to bring it to print form. While the digital world is huge part of our lives these days, there’s just something about holding a good book in our hands. Print media elicits feelings and connections that cannot be experienced from the screen of a computer or phone. Writing these stories is not a burden. It’s a pleasure. Each time we pen an article it’s like sitting down with old friends over a good drink, sharing stories, swapping yarns, and telling tales. Thank you for sitting around our campfire. We hope you enjoy the first of what we hope will be many Gun Tales books. We appreciate y’all!" —Shane Jahn

And one more thing...

We're not just writers. We have spent just as much time on the other side of the page, reading the work of men who understood how to tell a story properly. Over the years, you begin to recognize what makes a piece worth returning to, and what makes a book one you keep within reach instead of putting it away.

We're sure that Gun Tales: Volume 1 will stay on your coffee table forever. Enter your email below to be notified as the book gets closer to release. Thanks for being here with us—you'll hear from us soon.