James Rupley is a book publisher, professional photographer, former practicing attorney, hunter, fisherman, and amateur competitive shooter. He is a founding partner of two separate publishing companies – Mott Lake Publishing and Headstamp Publishing – both of which are industry leaders in the firearms reference genre.
James is the co-founder and producer of the Vickers Guide series of premium coffee table reference books (published by Mott Lake Publishing), in partnership with U.S. Special Operations combat veteran Larry Vickers. The Vickers Guide book series revitalized the firearms reference book genre, and its sales have set a new benchmark for the firearms publishing industry. James and Larry have traveled to multiple public and private collections around the globe, researching and photographing historically significant small arms which have largely been inaccessible to the public. As of May 2024, Mott Lake Publishing has published sixteen critically-acclaimed titles in the Vickers Guide series on a wide range of firearm topics.
As Headstamp Publishing's creative director and founding partner, along with N.R. Jenzen-Jones and Ian McCollum, James Rupley helped reinvent the traditional high-end reference book. Headstamp Publishing’s first title, Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles, 1866 – 2016, was pre-released in May 2019 via Kickstarter and became the second-highest grossing publishing category Kickstarter to that time (of 30,200 total publishing category releases at that time), grossing in excess of US$800,000 in its first 30 days. Headstamp Publishing’s third title, Pistols of the Warlords: Chinese Domestic Handguns, 1911 – 1949, released via Kickstarter in 2021, surpassed all of its prior releases, bringing in US$1.54 million in its first 30 days and thereby becoming Kickstarter’s third-highest funded publishing category Kickstarter to that time (of 53,800 total publishing category releases at that time). Headstamp Publishing continues to publish new books on an increasingly wide range of topics, which can be seen in the list below.
James Rupley has also served as a firearm subject matter reviewer and proofreader of the five most recent novels by New York Times Bestselling Author, Jack Carr: Savage Son, The Devil’s Hand, In The Blood, Only The Dead, and Red Sky Mourning published by Atria/Emily Bestler Books.
James Rupley is also a regular photographic contributor to Watches of Espionage.
A graduate of The Citadel (The Military College of South Carolina) Honors Program (Magna Cum Laude) and Tulane University Law School (Cum Laude), he has practiced law in the New York City offices of a large international law firm and has served as general counsel for a retail and wholesale business. He has held memberships to the legal Bar Associations of the States of New York and Tennessee. He has had his photography and commentary published in a multitude of publications. Mr. Rupley has also held a commercial drone pilot license through the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
FULL LIST OF PUBLICATIONS AND ROLES:
Vickers Guide
Vickers Guide: 1911, First Edition
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: 1911, Second Edition (Volume 1)
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: 1911, Second Edition (Volume 2)
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: AR-15 (Volume 1), First Edition
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: AR-15 (Volume 1), Second Edition
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: AR-15 (Volume 2)
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: AR-15 (Volume 2), Second Edition
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: WWII Germany (Volume 1)
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: WWII Germany (Volume 2)
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov (Volume 1)
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov (Volume 2)
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: SIG Sauer (Volume 1)
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: SIG Sauer (Volume 2) [in production]
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: Heckler & Koch (Volume 1)
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: Heckler & Koch (Volume 2)
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: Heckler & Koch (Volume 3) [at printer]
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Vickers Guide: Heckler & Koch (Volume 4) [in production]
Co-author, photographer, editor, and publisher
Walther Pistols, Models 1 to PPX (Third English Edition)
Layout specialist and publisher
Headstamp Publishing
Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles, 1866 – 2016
Photographer and publisher
Thorneycroft to SA80: British Military Bullpup Firearms, 1901 – 2018
Photo editor and publisher
Pistols of the Warlords: Chinese Domestic Handguns 1911 – 1949
Photographer and publisher
Swords of the Emperor: A Guide to the Identification of Imperial Japanese Swords, 1873 – 1945
Publisher
Tobacco of the Emperor: A Guide to Imperial Japanese Cigarettes, Pipes, Matches & Accessories
Photographer and publisher
Publisher of the current reprint
Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler
Publisher and photo editor
Publisher
Small Arms of WWII: United States of America
Photographer and publisher
Small Arms of WWII: Soviet Union [at printer]
Photographer and publisher
Rifles on the Danube: Hungarian AK-Pattern Firearms, 1959 – 2002 [final phases of production]
Publisher, photographer, and photo editor
Licensed Troubleshooter Vol. 001 – The Guns of James Bond [in production]
Publisher and photographer
A History of American Silencers [in production]
Photographer and publisher
The Emir’s New Rifles: A History of the Kabul Arsenal, 1885 – 1925 [in production]
Photographer and publisher