Jack,
You are right, Mr. Brown is a nice guy, well informed, and he has helped me out in the past. I do feel his books are good as far as they go, but I think he kind of missed the boat on the second edition. I would have liked to see things included such as how to figure out the balance and over all weight of a new rifle in advance. Regulating tricks, of which there are many, that were not included. I'm also sure that during the intervening years between the two books that he has come up with new and better methods that weren't included.
I guess my main complaint is that through the title " Building Double Rifles on Shotgun Actions", he leads us to believe that this book will tell you how to do exactly that, but then inside he has the disclaimer that this is more for entertainment and not meant to be a "How to Guide".
My belief is that if he is going to get people all worked up about building double rifles then he should go ahead and make it the best "How to Book" that he can. It seems to me that in some areas, he gives us just enough infomation to get us started but not enough to keep us out of trouble. I did not go to gunsmithing school, I could not afford it at the time, but I have worked on guns for over forty years and have learned many things from my gunsmith friends who were good enough to help me out. If it hadn't been for them, I might have gotten myself into trouble right off the bat. Even though I didn't go to gunsmith school, I have still managed to convert eight shotguns into useable, nice looking rifles. And I did it in my shop which is in a converted garage.
As a final thought, I feel we all own a debt of thanks to Mr. Ellis Brown for opening up this subject and informing many people who now have successfully made rifle conversions on shotguns.
Bob H.