The "bible" of the firearms industry for accurate value information and descriptions of rifles, pistols, and shotguns. The industry standard for over 25 years!
It all started because of a rifle. The Rifle is an inspirational story and hero’s journey of a 28-year-old U.S. Marine, Andrew Biggio, who returned home from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, full of questions about the price of war. He found answers from those who survived the costliest war of all -- WWII veterans. It began when Biggio bought a 1945 M1 Garand Rifle, the most common rifle used in WWII, to honor his great uncle, a U.S. Army soldier who died on the hills of the Italian countryside. When Biggio showed the gun to his neighbor, WWII veteran Corporal Joseph Drago, it unlocked memories Drago had kept unspoken for 50 years. On the spur of the moment, Biggio asked Drago to sign the rifle. Thus began this Marine’s mission to find as many WWII veterans as he could, get their signatures on the rifle, and document their stories. For two years, Biggio traveled across the country to interview America’s last-living WWII veterans. Each time he put the M1 Garand Rifle in their hands, their eyes lit up with memories triggered by holding the weapon that had been with them every step of the war. With each visit and every story told to Biggio, the veterans signed their names to the rifle. 96 signatures now cover that rifle, each a reminder of the price of war and the courage of our soldiers.
For anyone engaged who buys, sells, or trades antique firearms, this guide addresses three basic areas--positive identification of the firearm in question, a knowledge of the gun's characteristics in order to spot repairs, modifications or "fakes," and how to place a value on the firearm.
This book attempts to recapture the glory of vintage Indian cannons. It is the first ever endeavour at compiling the details of ancient guns and presenting them within the bounds of a single cover.
This authoritative guide to British-made shotguns looks at individual makers, their products, and the selling points of particular guns. In some cases Wieland also notes negative points or product limitations. While the book will be welcomed by gun collectors worldwide, it is particularly useful to those who are curious about British makers whose production was or is substantial enough that their guns would have crossed the pond into North America.
Despite a long history of involvement in the design and production of firearms, the Birmingham firm of Webley & Scott is probably better known to the general public for its manufacture of airguns than for any other product. Until now, there has been no published reference that concentrates exclusively on the history and development of Webley air pistols. This book has been prepared to offer a comprehensive guide for all those interested in the subject and who appreciate the traditional British craftsmanship entailed. It embraces all models based upon the same initial patent, which were produced between the years 1924 and 1999, commencing with the original 'Mark 1' and progressing through twelve other models to the final 'Webley Tempest' introduced more than half a century later. In addition to the pistols themselves, there are sections of the book relating to pellet styles and various shooting accessories produced by the same company. The whole work is divided into twenty-two sections, the text being accompanied throughout with 226 original photographs and over 70 line illustrations, each of which has been prepared by the author.
Thoroughly updated and greatly expanded from its original edition, this three-volume set is the go-to comprehensive resource on the legal, social, psychological, political, and public health aspects of guns in American life. The landmark 2002 edition of Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law was acclaimed for helping readers get beyond the sometimes overheated rhetoric and navigate the overwhelming amount of unbiased academic research on gun-related issues. Now, in light of the steady rate of gun violence and several high-profile shooting incidents, this extraordinary three-volume work returns in a timely and thoroughly updated edition. With over 100 new entries, the latest edition of Guns in American Society is the most current resource available on all aspects of the gun issue, including rates of violence, gun control, gun rights, regulations and legislation, court decisions, pro- and anti-gun organizations, gun ownership, hunters and collectors, public opinion toward guns, and much more. With expert contributions from the fields of criminology, history, law, medicine, politics, and social science, it gives students, journalists, policymakers, and researchers a foundation for their own investigations, while helping readers of all kinds make decisions as family members, potential gun owners, and voters.
This is the second volume of a two-part encyclopedic reference to firearms in the 19th-century American West, offering both technical information and historical narrative. Covering the period from the close of the Civil War to the modern period, it draws on advertisements from newspapers, catalogues, and other primary sources to discuss the military and civilian firearms used in the settling of the West, including rifles, shotguns, and handguns, as well as the guns used by the Native Americans. Illustrated with some 500 photographs of the weapons and of the people who used them. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR