Customer Reviews

Massad Ayoob's Greatest Handguns of the World

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1 star:		(0)

 

 

As you probably know, Mas Ayoob is a veteran police officer, an accomplished defensive trainer, a prolific gunwriter, a respected shooting sports competitor, and an expert witness who is highly regarded in the legal community. I feel that his writings have tended toward the technical side of things, helping readers learn how to shoot properly, to address legal and tactical issues, and discussing the specifics of various guns. Ayoob is a great writer with a ton of valuable experience, and most of his writing - always masterly, captivating and informed - is intended to convey this very serious information for the _use_ of the reader.

Massad Ayoob's GREATEST HANDGUNS OF THE WORLD (286-pg, List $28, Amazon $18.47) is somewhat different. This book feels like a labor of love. GREATEST HANDGUNS OF THE WORLD evolved from a series of articles that Ayoob did for _The Accurate Rifle_ magazine. These weren't dry, technical articles (though there's plenty of technical info here), they were paeans to the art and implementation of handgun design. It's as if Dave Brennan, the magazine's editor, called up Ayoob and said, "Hey, Mas! Pull up a chair and tell us about the guns that you think are neat! What do you like about `em?" There's a warmth of personal interest in the writing, a heartfelt love of the material. GREATEST HANDGUNS OF THE WORLD is great fun to read, and it sure feels as if Ayoob found it fun to write.

The result is is gunwriting at its best - interesting, but also imbued with a personal connection, like that found in Keith's SIXGUNS or so much of Taffin's writings. In GREATEST HANDGUNS OF THE WORLD, Ayoob writes about guns that he likes. You learn why he likes the guns covered with each chapter touching on how and why the given model was developed and evolved, what made it great, anecdotes and interviews from a career of gunwriting about neat things that people did with these guns (both in using and in customizing them) and a master's tips for getting the best performance from them. It's a corker: I'm sure that Elmer Keith is smiling down on Mas from Heaven.

The topics covered are:

1. The 1911: The Once and Future King of Pistols
2. The Colt Commander (and its clones)
3. The Colt National Match Pistol (and its spiritual descendants)
4. The Cold Detective Special
5. Colt's Official Police
6. The Colt Python
7. The Colt Woodsman
8. The Glock Pistol
9. HK: A History of Innovation
10. The High Standard Sentinel
11. The Luger Pistol
12. The Ruger .22 Auto Pistol
13. The Ruger P-Series Semi-Automatics
14. Smith & Wesson's Military & Police Revolver
15. Smith & Wesson's K-22
16. Smith & Wesson's Chiefs Special and family
17. Smith & Wesson's .357 Combat Magnum
18. Smith & Wesson's Classic Model 27
19. Smith & Wesson's Highway Patrolman
20. Smith & Wesson's .44 Magnum
21. Smith & Wesson's Landmark Service Pistol

Most "gun guys" would agree that these are all classic handguns, and Ayoob's writing makes them all very interesting. I learned something in every chapter, and I'm by no means new to this hobby. The text is fascinating, relating Ayoob's substantial personal experience as well as information gathered from Jeff Cooper, Bill Ruger, Bill Jordan, Chick Gaylord, Bill Wilson and many others over the years. Photos (mostly color) abound on every page to compliment the riveting text. The pictures do a great job of illustrating the points discussed, but not all of them are of Ichiro Nagata quality - this is not designed to be a coffee table art book; it's a book on neat guns for people who like them.

Now, as often happens, the title of this book might be a little misleading. Don't get the idea that Ayoob's GREATEST HANDGUNS OF THE WORLD is an attempt to catalog and discuss _all_ great or important handguns. (Notably missing, just at a glance, are the Beretta 92 series, the Colt and Ruger single-action revolvers, the Browning Hi-Power, Ruger double-action revolvers, the SIG-Sauer classic semiautos, the CZ-75s, and the Walther PP series and P-38 semiautos. Perhaps we can inveigle a sequel from the publisher, Gun Digest Books.) Instead, the book makes a reader feel like he went to gun shows/stores/museums with Ayoob for a year, and then hung out in his living room talking with him about all the neat stuff. "How about that Colt Official Police with the 2" barrel? Pretty rare! Hey, and here's a prewar one with a two-line barrel marking!"

Ayoob's GREATEST HANDGUNS OF THE WORLD would make a great gift for anyone who likes guns. It feels a lot like Keith's SIXGUNS, but made more modern, relevant, and approachable. I can't think of higher praise - and I wish that I'd had this book to read when I was a kid. I know I'll be re-reading it until I get to go meet Elmer myself.

Massad Ayoob is one of those guys who, however well meaning, ends up being, at the end of the day, just another gun hack. He doesn't lack what Skeeter Skelton and Bill Jordan had (which was gazillions of personal stories) -- it's just that for whatever reason, he doesn't include them in his writing.

Having read many of Ayoob's books over the years, I find myself disappointed in how he skips over many salient points. I'll see a photo of a gun I want to learn more about only to find out that he covers it in just one or two sentences. In this book, he completely ignores the Ruger Security-Six which, like it or not, is one of the greatest handguns ever designed. Like Ayoob, I'm a huge fan of Smith & Wesson, but so many of their guns are mere iterations of each other, differing mostly in caliber. To fill a book on them, while ignoring other significant guns, doesn't appeal to me as a reader.


Skelton and Jordan enjoyed writing. Their articles always gave the reader the impression that they were getting a personal letter from their favorite uncle. Writing wasn't laborious to them; they obviously enjoyed it. Not so much with Ayoob. Although he has a wealth to draw on, he's been diminished by what ultimately does in many gun writers, and that's payola. Gun books and magazines largely rely on their covers to sell books, and Ayoob's covers are significantly better than the content. His writing is tired and largely uninsightful. This is sad, because he has the resources and he knows his stuff. But he doesn't appear to enjoy writing, nor does he seem to have an abiding love for the material. He'll tell part of a story and then lose interest in it, nor realizing that there's more than a point to be made. As a reader, if I see a photo of a gun in an article, I want to see more than just a reference to the fact that Ruger, or S&W, made the gun for six years between such and such dates. If it's important enough to show, it's important enough to tell.

All gun writers try to sell products -- that's why there are so few photos or references to guns no longer being made. Manufacturers make sure that good reviews are rewarded with cozy deals, which reviewers frequently take advantage of. It's not only rare, it's unheard of, to hear that a gun is poorly finished, inaccurate or jams. Most reviewed guns are "ringers" prepared and shipped for that purpose. And if one happens to not work, or malfunctions to the point of damage, which I've seen happen with review guns, then it's most often sent back for repair or replacement and no mention of it is made. You'll also see no references to the fact that S&W's stainless guns one actually buys looks as if they're sandpapered by chimpanzees, but the ones in the reviews are meticulously polished! If the bullet from a particular gun can't hit the broad side of a barn, it's said "not to be a target gun." These euphemisms are carefully contrived and used to hide what readers need to know.

Gun hacks are all part and parcel to this and I can't fault them too much, advertising being what it is. Still, many computer magazines rip to pieces various computer products, yet the advertisers still pay for advertising. Why can't the gun rags work the same way?

Ayoob's views of the "Greatest Handguns of the World" should be called the "Greatest Handguns of Ayoob's World." A book this size should include many more guns than it does, and many gun owners will be disappointed to find that their guns aren't included in Ayoob's world. As in many of his books, the photos are better than the text, but if you have the same interests as Ayoob's, you may enjoy this book. I found it lacking and slow paced. Hopefully, Ayoob will spice up his writing in future endeavors and pass on more relevant information.

This book is a very personal list of Massad Ayoob's favorite handguns. While he make excellent cases for each as to why it should be counted among the greatest in the world, it is largely a matter of personal choice. And why shouldn't it be? Mr. Ayoob has a lifetime of real world experience as a police officer and firearms instructor, so I'm willing to take his word for it. While this book is thin on technical details, it does have a lot of charm, and is in fact an enjoyable read if you are at all interested in firearms, where a book that was more focused on the technical merits of the individual firearms might be too dry & boring.

I give this a strong recommendation because while it does possess some flaws [for one thing, it only covers about 20 examples, & some of them are very similar &/or repetitive], it is fundamentally a book you will enjoy rereading every couple of years, to compare the experiences that Mas imparts with any you have gained 1st hand.

The individual chapters are culled from years of articles that Mr. Ayoob had written for some gun rag or another, and are here pulled together & polished up to make a cohesive whole. Someone who has been around long enough to have read the original articles in the magazines for which they were first written will feel gypped, but it was all fresh for me & I've read pretty much everything gun related for the last couple decades. About the only complaint I can level at it is the repetition in every chapter about how he's figured out a way to get close to the same results from test firing off of sandbags as he would by testing the pistol in a Ransom rest. ZZZzzzZzzz [that much could have been edited to save everyone's sanity... and is a clear indication that these were originally written as free-standing articles which appeared a month (or more) apart.]

This would make a great gift for anyone who enjoys both reading & shooting, regardless of whether or not they are a pistol aficionado.

Perhaps the most interesting book on handguns I've read. Rather than ranking the best handgun, Mas concentrates on what HE thinks are the best around; giving you the history of the firearm and its use and his thoughts on how they feel and perform in actual shooting. Some real surprises in terms of which guns made the list and which didn't, but that only makes the book better. Plus, everything is in full color rather than the drab black and white other gun books have. I can only hope for a second edition!

Massad Ayoob is my favorite gun wrighter and this book is worth of reading. It may not contain tonns of usefull or new information but it is worth to read and have in a library. A lot of good illustrations. Highly reccomended.

Pretty good book, I must say. Didn't really expect it to be much more than a big gun magazine, ie, reviews of guns that the author finds no faults in. Massad Ayoob gives us his take on several models of handguns, and pulls no punches in his likes and dislikes. I love the fact that the Ruger P series of pistols was included in this book, as I feel it is the most under-appreciated series of auto pistols ever made. I have owned several over the years, and they have been the most reliable guns I ever owned, and my P90 the single most accurate .45 I ever owned, even more accurate than a lot of high dollor 1911s! I feel the "Six" series of DA revolvers from Ruger, as well as the GP100 and SP101 could have had at least one chapter, instead of the copious amount of Smith and Wesson revolvers that take up the end of the book. They are mentioned in the book, but as they applied to competition for the Smiths. Not saying the Smiths should not have been there, as I love them too, just that Ruger should have shared some of the glory. All in all, a good read, and I can recommend it.

No book is perfect but this one is well done and filled with good info for those wanting general info and perspective on popular models. I actually checked it out from a library and liked it enough to add a copy to my 100+ gun book collection. Highly recommended for new shooters.

Make no mistake, this book rules! If you like guns, you will dig this book. It's got loads of great full color photos, company histories, and personal stories about all the handguns featured. The author has a bit of an ego, and you'll find him on every other page, poised to win another championship. But no complaints here, I had to take a break from the book long enough to write this review. Upon my first reading, I was a little annoyed that over 2/3 of the book is devoted to Colt and Smith&Wesson. I would love a book that covers the more obscure brands like (Sig, CZ, Desert Eagle, Berretta. Bren-Ten, Walther, Steryr, Browning, Astra, and Taurus). But it's no sour grapes here, maybe just some inspiration for another new book that might cover these `off brands' with the same level off markmanship give to the majors. Great book! Hats off! Enjoy it ! Axel

It was o.k. but certainly misleading as far as the number of weapons reviewed.There are many, many more handguns that could have been reviewed.