Guns of the Old West: An Illustrated Guide

I mostly enjoyed reading it. But it’s a little strange that some parts are explained in tiniest details and some (rather important in my opinion) are mentioned only in passing. There’s more than obvious preference to the Colt’s arms history and very little about Smith n Wesson. Some chapters tell interesting stories history wise, but then add little on the firearms themselves.The e-version of the book is inconvenient in terms of photos. You have to swipe between pages to either read a description or look at a corresponding image.I like author’s diligence though, it is obviously a colossal labour done.

Since this is a reprint of a 46 (1961) year old publication my main criticism is that it was just copied and all of the original omissions and mistakes are presented again, just as they were in 1961. As a collector of 19th century Smith & Wesson's and it's predecessors, this book misses the factual marks of that manufacturer repeatedly. It lists the products of the first Smith & Wesson company (1852-1854) as being produced by another company (Volcanic Arms) and it plays down the significance of the development of self-contained cartridge firing handguns by Smith & Wesson throughout it's presentation. It truly glorifies the development of the cartridge firing revolvers by Colt's and almost ignores those by Smith & Wesson even though the number of Smith & Wesson revolvers produced prior to the turn of the 19th century was far greater than the number produced by Colt's. No wonder most uninformed people believe that the Single Action Army revolver was the only gun popular in the Old West when there were far more Smith & Wesson's produced and sold during that time period.The sections on pre-Civil War arms was well done except I did notice the very limited mention of the U.S. Model 1841 so-called Mississippi Rifle which was very important during both the War with Mexico and the Civil War.If you are looking for a definitive reference on the Guns of the Old West, this really isn't it, however some of the background information and stories are wonderful.

I had been hoping to replace a big reference book with a blot of technical photos and historic information, but this book was inadequate. There's really not much new information here that you don't already have in other books. There were not enough good illustrations, and the coverage was spotty and not comprehensive. I will look elsewhere.Sorry.

It was a good book the only issue I had was I did not know how accurate the information wasBut I did enjoy reading it

This is just a republishing of an older book (same title) available here. Still an excellent reference book

Great Book

Overall a good book with lots of information on the subject. A few of the pictures in the book were labelled with the wrong descriptions. Otherwise, worth the money.

Well if your a gun nut or collector interested in a resource of actual firearms used in the old west than this has detailed information not normally available in other books.

Great Book! Very detailed and great for a beginner as well.

pas mal de textes mais aussi une multitude de planches de photos

Vous avez une excellent histoire de l'évolution des armes à feu dans l'Ouest sauvage mais les illustrations fournies sont des plus médiocres : on dirait des scans en faible résolution de photocopies de planches originales. Au bilan, il est difficile d'imaginer ce à quoi ressemble telle ou telle arme. C'est décevant d'autant plus que ce point n'a pu échapper à l'éditeur et que rien ne semble avoir été fait pour y remédier.

What an excellent book, lots of detail & history & organised by chapter is a concise fashion. After reading this book you will have a clearer background from flintlock developments onwards, I am now considering whether to buy a kentucky copy for the shooting experience.

I purchased as a reference for weapons of period but the background stories in this book make for a very enjoyable read