My interest is the the early single shot competitions that started with the muzzle loading rifles and ended with the out break of World War One. Many of the classic names in rifles competitions came from this time. Names we still use in modern events – Creedmore, Palma. The Long Range rifle built by British firms such as Rigby and Gibbs are amazing works of craftmanship. Later, with the influx of German immigrants into the USA, the Schuetzen discipline became a major shooting sport. Men that are still revered by shooters worked in this period: Pope, Zischang, Schoyen, Hubelek
To me, American Schuezten shooting the first shooting discipline to really enjoy the gadgets and accessories that modern shooters take for granted. The great names from this era would build the rifle and all the accessories needed to make the rifle perform – bullet mold, bullet sizer/luber, powder measures, etc. The book show above is rather expensive, but displays an amazing collection of the early muzzle loading rifles and their accessories. Well worth the investment.
For the classic single shot era (pre-WW1) there is no single book to read. Certainly there are books devoted to the major action manufactures of the era – Remington, Bullard, Ballard, Stevens, and Winchester. Also there are books covering a range of single shot actions and their development – Frank De Hass comes to mind. Harry Pope was one of the magical names to come from this era. He worked on more than just Schuetzen rifles. To read about him and his amazing exploits this book is a good read.
A good on-line resource is the American Single Shot Rifle Association. The have an active forum that cover all aspects of single shots – collecting, restoring, building, shooting. Their forum has active user base and is very educational.
Hatcher's Notebook 