America's Great Gunmakers: The World's Standard Firearms Reference Book

by William S. Jarrett, Stoeger Publishers Staff, Wayne van Zwoll, et al.

If ever a book deserved the designation of a classic, this big, bestselling volume does. Although it retains the fearures that hunters, shooters, gun collectors, and dealers have known and used, its annual revision provides the reader with fresh and exciting information year after year.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B003GCW3Y0
• ISBN13: 9780883171622
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Stoeger Publishing Company
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.0" x 9.9"

Customer Reviews

Great for lovers of American history, biographies, or guns

All the major American firms are well covered, along with a few newer companies that have made a contribution to the gun industry in the U.S. A biography of each company founder is provided to a moderate level to explain how and why the company started, but not too much so that this is not only a book about individuals. Rather, the industry beginnings and how each firm started, including financing, are included, along with the key firearms and product lines and successes and failures of each company. One thing I found particularly interesting is how the many inventors of firearm designs not only competed but also worked for each other (for example, Smith and Wesson worked for and helped develop the lever action for Winchester before starting their famous company). Another aspect of history that is fascinatingly covered by this book is how patents help shaped the destiny of not only these companies but of the history created through firearms. America's Great Gunmakers is a good place to learn about not only the firearms industry in America but also what the times in the 1800's and early 1900's were like in this country. This book has whetted my interest to learn more about some of these companies and their founders in books specific to them. My only criticism is that the book falls short in some technical explanations by using terms that may not be familiar to the reader. A chapter describing modern gun actions and ammo sizes could have helped increase an understanding of some of the differences between the many models of guns discussed.