Gun Digest 2006 [Deluxe Edition] [Paperback]

Ken Ramage (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Gun Digest | Publication Date: July 15, 2005

The world's greatest gun book just got even better. This favourite among shooters and collectors now features more than 230 pages of colour that showcase the latest products and articles on the newest firearms from around the world. Expert firearms writers offer all new, carefully researched articles and fresh new product reports. This 60th anniversary edition will exceed all expectations with the latest offerings from the firearms industry. The incomparable firearms catalogue section includes specifications, factory options, model descriptions, photos and retail prices, with coverage of major firearm brands as well as other lesser-known brands. Scopes, metallic sights, laser sights, and reloading presses are also catalogued. Additional coverage lists ballistics and prices for commercially available rifle and handgun cartridges, and shotshells are listed with loads and prices.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ken Ramage has been involved in the shooting sports for more than 50 years and the firearms industry for 30 years. His first book was published in 1975. He edits "Gun Digest" and other firearms books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Krause Pubns Inc; 60th Anniversary edition edition (July 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896891682
• ISBN-13: 978-0896891685
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #974,600 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 2005 Repeat, November 29, 2005

By 

ABH457 (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gun Digest 2006 (Paperback)

If you have a copy of the 2004 or 2005 editions of Gun Digest, definitely don't bother with GD 2006. If you have none at all and need to browse the market for guns, the 2006 edition is a start -- but be aware, it's a limited one. The cover states; "Since 1944, GD has delivered the very latest in firearms product information..." Well, GD may try, but it simply doesn't (any more!). Mainly, it is incomplete, but it also contains errors.

I was really disappointed to have spent money on this book. I usually buy the year's GD every two years, to keep up with what's going on. But browsing the lists of available rifles, shotguns, handguns etc in the 2006 edition it felt, this time, as if I was still reading the 2004 edition -- the one that has had to suffice this past two years. It read like the same data, the same guns with, often, the same prices. It's as if the editors added a few color-paged articles and photos at the front, and then just hit the "Print 2004 edition" button on their printing press. They certainly haven't reviewed their old data this year.

Several of the latest (and existing) guns are unmentioned, to my knowledge, and probably more that I don't know of are also overlooked. I needed the spec's and prices of, for example:
-- the new Beretta Cx4 Storm rifle
-- the Blaser K95 single shot rifle
-- the new Sako Quad rimfire with interchangeable barrels
-- the full line of Hammerli target pistols (only two shown)
-- the Kimber Tactical 1911 handgun
-- the Anschutz 1720 in WMR
-- the new Remington bolt action in 22LR
-- etc., etc., etc. They don't exist in GD 2006.

And there are errors: the Kimber Super Match II is shown as having a "7-shot magazine" when it is an 8-shot, or a 10-shot with the relevant mag. The so-called "Reports from the Field" which are intended as a rundown of what's new this year, are a once-over-lightly, incomplete reviews, that at times are just vehicles for the reviewer to show several shots of himself on his latest safari beside dead animals plus the rifles he used -- even though they often have little or nothing to do with the new products of that year!!

The glossy pages are fine, but only if they're filled with something valid. Most articles cover mainly arcane topics -- interesting to some no doubt -- but frankly, I am not that interested in the 400 Brown Whelen "maverick" rifle, or the Remington 700 in 8mm Mauser. I thought the articles on 60 years of ammo development, and the one on custom engraving were interesting but could have done with a mainstream article or two as well.

One final grouch! Seems the publisher doesn't use his own books after they are published. If he did, he'd notice that the plastic glazing on the front and back covers shrinks once in use, hand warmth causing the covers to curl up in the most annoying fashion. This is not the first year of this problem. If you do buy this year's GD, keep a heavy weight on the cover to keep it flat -- temporarily. But it'll curl up again soon enough.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Major Disappointment, January 3, 2006

By 

Dennis Walter Kirsch (San Antonio, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gun Digest 2006 (Paperback)

As a very long-time GD reader, I have seen good issues and fair issues. This is the first issue that I would consider poor. Editorial content is weak to the extreme, and there is little of interest for the gun enthusiast beyond updates of what's new on the market. The first article is about the .400 Brown Whelan (Why should anyone care?) The second is about modification of a Ruger #1 to .32-40. This is a pure vanity piece, of no interest unless for some strange reason you want to do the same. The third article is entitled "The Automatic Question," which sort of covers the development of semi-automatic sporting arms, touching on the question of advantages over other types of arms over the years. It's only mildly interesting. The next is a long story about the Bowie Knife. Maybe I'm mistaken, but this is not the "Knife Digest." Following is a story about "Premium Bullet Performance." The conclusion is simply that they are all pretty good. Ho-Hum. Next is a long picture piece on engraved weapons. Fine if you like pretty pictures, otherwise, a yawner. Next is a very long article covering the last 60 years of revolver development. It's moderately interesting. I think you get the idea. Anyway, it seems the effort was more on publishing a lot of slick pages in full color than in offering interesting articles that used to be GD's stock in trade. If I could return my copy to Amazon for a refund, I would. My assessment is simple - donate the cost of a copy of GD 2006 to the NRA. Your money will be much better spent.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Old Standby Now Printed in Color, September 8, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gun Digest 2006 (Paperback)

The tag line for the Gun Digest is "The World's Greatest Gun Book" and that pretty well sums it up. This is the bible of the gun hobby. It has a series of articles that range from an analysis of the 400 Whelan, to a major article on the Bowie knife. As usual, it has a summary of what's new in handguns, rifles, shotguns and accessory items, and finally it has a complete catalog of all of the offerings of all the gun companies. I have each annual volume of Gun Digest in my library going back more than 50 years. I can't imagine doing without them.

One really big change in this year's edition is that the front half of the book with the articles is printed on slick paper and in color. This really improves the appearance.

As for changes in the guns themselves for this year, the big news is the sunset laws that removed the Assault Weapons Ban. This means that large (or as the Gun Digest says) full capacity magazines can now be sold again, and the evil appearing nasty looking rifles can be sold again.

The one complaint that I might voice is that in the pistol section there appears to be nothing but 1911's shown. Regardless of the manufacturer, these all look the same. I'd like to see some of the more unusual guns pictures. For instance: the Olympic Arms .223 pistol, the Steyr, the Wilkinson Sherry and Linda. I guess what I'm really saying is that we need another hundred pages or so.