So, a really really good version of this is "How Small Arms Work" from the 40s ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJzXG7MYX1c ). It was designed to teach, presumably, likely-undereducated draftees, and so it is very clear in its instruction.

A book which is somewhat similar is "The Way Things Work" (the old German one, not the happy mammoth one): http://www.amazon.com/Way-Things-Work-Illustrated-Encycloped...