No comments about Firearms of the Islamic World: in the Tared Rajab Museum, Kuwait.

No comments about Fifteen Years in the Hawken Lode.

5 comments about Ammo & Ballistics II, Completely Revised and Updated: For Hunters, Shooters, and Collectors.

1. This is a great book for what it covers. I like how much data is listed, even the Taylor KO Index is interesting to compare. I have seen a larger than acceptable numbers of typographical errors, which concerns me because there may be some that seem like they could be legitimate ballistic numbers but they actually are not. Forker does mention that choosing what to list in the book was tough, and I look forward to further editions. I am surprised but glad he listed Lazzeroni's custom cartridges. I wish the 50 BMG, 408 cheytac, and 30-40 Krag were listed, and I'm sure the next edition will list 500 S&W.



2. This book is fantastic and loaded with so much hard data that picking the wrong, ammo for your hunting trip no mater where you are hunting the deserts of Arizona for small game with 17 Hornady V Max Magnum Rimfire, to hunting the top 5 in Africa with a 700 Nitro Express would be almost an impossibly. This book covers all the calibers that it is impossible for any one not to find the caliber (s) that they are in the hunt for. I am confident that any shooter if they are experienced or not, they will find this book and invaluable source of reference, and well worth the price.



3. This book is fantastic and loaded with so much hard data that picking the wrong, ammo for your hunting trip no mater where you are hunting the deserts of Arizona for small game with 17 Hornady V Max Magnum Rimfire, to hunting the top 5 in Africa with a 700 Nitro Express would be almost an impossibly. This book covers all the calibers that it is impossible for any one not to find the caliber (s) that they are in the hunt for. I am confident that any shooter if they are experienced or not, they will find this book and invaluable source of reference, and well worth the price.



4. I loved this book. I could not find the .223 Lapua data that jmrbldg in NJ talked about, but I do understand why he can not get the ballistic coeficient of the Nosler Partition bullets, as induvidually sold by Nosler, to match the ones as listed in this book. Nosler, and others, deliver slightly different bullets to commerical manufacturers as opposed to hand loaders. That and the fact that some bullets are made under license accounts for the difference. Is this book flawless? No but pretty darn near so. What it bassically shows you is the ballistics out to 1000 yards (bullet drop, speed, energy) of all commerically loaded hunting ammo sold in the US. This is an amazing collection of data, never assembled before as best as I know. For instance I went out squirrel shooting the other day with my .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire. I looked up the Hornady load with the 17 grain V Max bullet. The table showed when zeroed at 100 yards it is 0.2 inches high at 50 yards and 2.6 inches low at 150 yards. So I wrote this on a piece of paper and taped it to my rifle stock. I only needed to zero in the gun at 100 yards and I had all the data I needed from the book. It does this from the .22 Hornet to a caliber called .700 Nitro Express. (Probably made to kill Russian tanks.) And I do mean all calibers: 30-60, 270, 243, 338 etc etc. And there are dozens of factory loadings for the more popular calibers. The 30-06, for instance, has over 100 different factory loads listed. Flawless, no I am sure it is not. For instance they ommited to list the Ultramax 55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip in .223, and oversight I am sure. Overall I find this book so valuable that I can not understand how they can sell it below 20 bucks. The only disadvantage I can see is that you must buy new editions with some regularity as the factories always come up with new loads. For 20 dollars, try and make it yourself. Bargain of the centory. You pay more than twice that per month to get a high speed internet connection! I am sold and every shooter ought to have a copy.



5. I purchased this book trying to help a friend to find a
   hunting load. Upon closer examination I determined some of the
   information to be incorrect. e.g. in .223 Lapua has a listing
   with a 55gr.fmj with a ballistic coefficient of .412!!?
   In the book .30 cal. Nosler partitions have a b.c. of.354-.585!
   In truth Nosler has 3 different Partitions: one at .361 and
   2@.474. My concern is that some uninformed choices will be made
   based on what this book says and dangerous assumptions will be

   made.

No comments about Firearms curiosa.

1 comments about Winchester 94-America's Rifle.

1. Sam's book is focused upon the Winchester 94 but many chapters have equal value for the various Marlin or Savage models. His handload data is amazingly complete with performance on game info added to the standard velocity and energy figures.
   Sam lists low recoil and accurate practise loads. Additonally, he has an entire chapter on hunting plains game with several spitzer tipped 30-30 handloads. A chapter on game larger than deer explains jacket thickness, weight, and other factors in detail.
   Sam writes an entire chapter about Winchester Commemoratives and collectible 94 carbines.
   If you enjoy hunting or just simply shooting your 30-30 carbine, this is the book for you!

No comments about Firearms of the American West, 1803-1865.

2 comments about Sidelocks & Boxlocks: The Classic British Shotguns.

1. While information on this subject is hard to find and nearly any book is a welcome addition to it this one just misses the point. Having several old english muzzleloaders I was disappointed to find no information on them. What information there was was slim to say the least. Though British shotguns were so popular in early America there was little to add to our knowledge of our collections. Even the famous Ketland and Whatly and Barnett makers were hardly mentioned. Too bad...



2. Anyone wishing to use this book to help research and decide which English guns to consider for purchase, will be disappointed. I expected a book detailing strengths and weakness of the various English makers and their products, past and present. Unfortunately, this is not the case. This book is a litany of English makers, but little attempt is made to discuss their respective strengths and weaknesses, nor to categorize them into quality divisions. Pictures are disappointing; no color plates are included. The problem this book had meeting my expectations (misconceived or not) may be due to the multitude of makers and limited existing records. Much is made of company history when available, and readers who contributed information to the author. One would expect a noteworthy English author with over 40 years of exposure to the various maker's products to provide more comparison and analysis, and in the process, help those wishing to expand their knowledge of British double guns. Worth adding to your bookshelf if you have everything else on your list, but not as a first book. I have not read any other books by this author and was greatly disappointed based upon his reputation. Worth the Amazon.com price of $24.95, but not worth #35.95.

3 comments about Mannlicher Model 95 Rifle and Carbine : The Royal Italian Infantry Manual.

1. This is a good book as a primer if you are going to own a M95 or the later rebuilt M95-30/31s. The only thing that changed between the two was the barrel length and the ammunition nose. This combined with one or two other reference books is great and this one is handy enough to bring to the field during live fire or reenactment.



2. As we approach the centennial of the Great War, I have been reading up on it so that I can astound my friends with my encyclopedic knowledge of that tragic war. One of my favorite Great War books is about an Austrian soldier who is the spiritual ancestor of Sad Sacks the world over. He was the creation of a Jaroslav Hasek and is immortalized in the novel THE GOOD SOLDIER SCHWEIK which was promptly banned by armies all over the world as soon it was published in the 1920s.
   
   Now, Terence W. Lapin, the highly respected authority on firearms brings us a manual for the rifle Schweik and his chums carried in that catastrophic war to end wars. I have an M-95 infantry rifle and bayonet and was delighted to have this manual.
   
   Lapin's translation is excellent and his comments are useful. Careful reader that I am, however, I noticed that he translated this manual out of Italian into English. The last time I was in Austria, they were speaking German (sort of.)
   
   The title page includes a jarring notation that this version of the manual was originally published in 1937 -- "Anno XV" [Year 15 of the Mussolini's Fascist Calender] in Rome by the State Poligraphic Institute Library. This was apparently derived from an earlier manual by the Royal Italian Infantry.
   
   Anticipating nit-pickers like me, Mr. Lapin explains that the manual was developed because the Italians were on the winning side in World War I and got a lot of Austrian rifles and carbines as reparations supplementing the ones they'd captured during the war itself. OK, that makes sense. They'd need a manual because the Austrian M-95 is a straight-pull bolt-action repeater quite unlike Italy's M-1891 Mannlicher-Carcano infantry rifle which is a turn-bolt repeater.
   
   Although Lapin's translation answered my questions about my M-95, it raised another question. Why not use the Austrian manual?
   
   Although the answer may be as mundane as availability, I'd like to think that there is a story in all this somewhere. The Austrians were world-class bureaucrats and seemed to have manuals on everything from buttons to boots. Surely they had all kinds of helpful, beautifully illustrated, leather bound, gilt edged manuals for their main infantry rifle? If not, that's a pretty good story in its own right.
   
   Anyway, I gave Lapin five stars for his expert comments and smooth translation.



3. Yet another translation by Terence Lapin that is a must for every collector's shelf. The manual includes all the original text that will help you maintain your Mannlicher. It also has notes from Lapin about changes to the rifles since the time the original manual was written. Lapin also adds technical notes to the manual that demonstrate his familiarity with the actual rifle and provide even more assistance in maintaining your collector's piece.

2 comments about The Gun Digest Book of the .45.

1. Grennell was an old-time writer, a man who was re-building M1911 .45's and making them more than the sum of their parts, long before the world assumed a box-stock Kimber was a "custom 45." For those interested in uncommon custom tricks that time has lost, as we now have a pretty much "standard" list of .45 tricks, Grennell is well worth reading. Together with Ace Hindman, he developed the powerhouse .45 Super cartridge, and Super aficanados will find the history fascinating. Written in a warm, yet not anecdotal style, it's info-packed yet easy to read.



2. The author spends most of the book describing the history of the Colt .45 and the various forms of the model 1911. There is a short, useful section, on .45 ammunition. A short section on .45 revolvers. Other manufacturers of .45 auto pistols rate little or nothing in coverage.

   The author is obviously a Colt .45 fan and writes this book for others with the same interest.

No comments about Gun Digest Book of Exploded Firearms Drawings: Third Edition.