The Shooter's Guide to Classic Firearms

Well, Guns & Ammo magazine's THE SHOOTER'S GUIDE TO CLASSIC FIREARMS is perhaps a little misleading in its title. It's a series of short, nicely written reviews of shooting a number of interesting old guns. Some of these gun are undoubtedly "classics," whereas others are just sort of neat. (They're all at least sort of interesting.) And many unquestionable classic firearms (1911, S & W double-action revolvers, Colt SAA, Remington 870, Winchester 94) are not mentioned at all. (See below for a list of firearms discussed.) This is not to say that THE SHOOTER'S GUIDE TO CLASSIC FIREARMS is not a fine book. Most of the firearms aficionados I know would enjoy having a copy. It's not really a reference book, just sort of a well-illustrated (superb color photography throughout) romp through shooting three dozen or so guns. The book is split up into sections for military rifles, sporting rifles, military pistols, civilian pistols, and shotguns. Each article is written by a well-established G & A author and has a little historical information, a little personal story about how the gun was of interest to the author, several clear and well-illuminated photos showing features of interest, and technical data, along with a shooting report. There is usually some information about field-stripping the gun and the gun's accuracy in actual firing, and sometimes chronograph information as well. The articles are collected from G & A's "Classic Test" column, and - though I'm generally less impressed with the depth of coverage in G & A when compared to other gun magazines - I found every one of them to be worth a read. I'm glad to have this book - it's fun to pick up and read for a few minutes while I wait for my wife to finish getting ready. It would be good for light bedside reading before heading off to the Land of Nod. I think that anyone who has an interest in firearms would appreciate the book - I've been at this hobby for some time and have quite the firearm library, but I enjoy the well-written articles (by Garry James, Steve Comus, Wiley Clapp, J. Scott Rupp, Jeff John, Philip Schreier, Rick Hacker, Payton Miller and Phil Spangenberger) and superb photography in this book. Can't say I've learned a TON from it, but I've learned some, and I've enjoyed it. A person newer to the subject (I've been at this for a while and managed a gun store for a couple of years between college and law school) certainly would learn a bit - and I think that anyone who shoots would likely enjoy the book. Just so that potential buyers get an idea of what's covered, THE SHOOTER'S GUIDE TO CLASSIC FIREARMS contains articles on the following guns: Military rifles: Martini-Henry Trapdoor Springfield Mauser 71/84 1886 Lebel Long Lee-Enfield 1909 Argentine Mauser SMLE Winchester 1895 Russian Type 99 Arisaka M-1 Garand Johnson 1941 sporting rifles: Sharps Borchardt Winchester 1890 .22 WRF 1903 Springfield Sporter Winchester 88 Winchester 71 military pistols: Webley-Fosberry 9mm C

From the editors of Guns & Ammo Magazine comes an authoritative guide to historic and modern firearms in THE SHOOTER'S GUIDE TO CLASSIC FIREARMS, which offers a 'classic test' series to consider the history, technology and operation of selected world firearms. From performance specs and capabilities to history and design, color photos pair with excellent articles and history.