Gil Hebard’s Pistol Shooter’s Treasury

PRODUCT REVIEW

I was first introduced to The Pistol Shooter’s Treasury some twenty-five years ago having acquired a used copy at a gun show.  It gave me my first glimpse into competition handgun shooting and in particular Bullseye Pistol Shooting, and with that I’ll be forever indebted to Gil Hebard for taking me from the enjoyment of tin cans to the frustration of paper.

Gil Hebard's Pistol Shooter's Treasury

Technically The Pistol Shooter’s Treasury is a 128 page compilation of articles written by the experts of the day.  The lists of authors reads like the Who’s Who Of Pistol Shooting for the 50’s, 60’s, and early 70’s.  Names such as Bill Blankenship, Harry Reeves, Bill McMillan, Bill Tuney, and more are on the list of contributing authors as well as the list of  U.S. National Pistol Champions.  Also included are contributions from master pistolsmiths Dick Shockey and Jim Clark, the initial innovators of much of the accurizing still being done today.

For the new or developing bullseye shooter I doubt there is much else in information a shooter could want. It’s heavy on fundamentals as well as very informative on competition etiquette, obtaining classification, and other questions that universally plaque new shooters. More advanced shooters are served by articles such as Gil Hebard’s Buying Your Way To Pistol Mastery or Joe White’s Mental Aspects of Match Shooting or Dick Shockey’s explanation of  Why A Custom Handgun. 

I must admit though the publication is becoming a bit dated, it’s references to gun prices will add to your flinch considerably.  Also many of the base principles taught within the articles are beginning to come under some scrutiny.  After attending a Zins/Moody clinic I’ve also found myself challenging and changing some of the techniques it taught me years ago with respect to grip angle , cadence, and sight alignment.  I see this as more of a positive than negative though … it shows the sport is still active and evolving and even with that many of the contributors still have standing records.

Though I picked up my first copy of  The Pistol Shooter’s Treasury over 25 years ago I still find it an enjoyable and informative read and well worth the space it occupies in the bookshelf. To the new shooter I believe it is a must own publication as it’s probably the most comprehensive publication available for those entering the world of Bullseye Pistol Shooting.  We all owe Gil Hebard a great deal of appreciation for this piece of work and his countless other contributions to the Bullseye community.