Customer Reviews

Pistols of the World

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a fan of Ian Hogg. His "Military Small Arms of the 20th Century" is the definitive work in the field. This book, however, falls far short of that standard.
The text has none of Hogg's charm and lacks the details of development that provide insight into the weapons described. Additionally, the statistics we expect from Hogg are missing, leaving little more than catalog or manufacturer's PR brochure level material.
The illustrations are totally inadequate. for example, several photos of commercial Colt 1911 are included, though they are nearly identical. In contrast the Walther P99 and P22 have none.

This book is one of the best guides to handguns out today. As previously stated, it covers just about all the handgun makers, their offerings, and relevant information one could want. If a more updated version comes out, I fully intend to add it to my collection as well. The only real nit-picky things about this book are that it doesn't show photos of all the guns listed, and I'd have liked for some more detailing into "sub models" such as the Sig Sauer 226 Navy and Blackwater models but that is superficial when compared to the mostly empty content of the Jane's Gun Guide handgun section.

If you own a pistol or revolver, it's probably described in PISTOLS OF THE WORLD: A COMPREHENSIVE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE WORLD'S PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS FROM 1870 TO THE PRESENT DAY by Ian V. Hogg and John Walter. This is truly a case of the subtitle telling all.

I tested it by looking for information on a couple of old Colts (a 1909 in .45 Colt) and an "Army Special Revolver" in .32-20 WCF. Both entries were concise, but accurate. The entry on the .32-20 even included the information that this revolver was built on the ".41 caliber frame", a fact not mentioned in A HISTORY OF THE COLT REVOLVER by Charles T. Haven and Frank A. Belden which runs over 700 pages.

Information on other handguns was just as good. My "Finnish Luger", actually a Parabellum M. 1908 supplied to Finland for its army was the subject of similarly concise, informative entry (on p. 100). These were converted by the Finns to 9 mm from 7.65 mm. The Finns also added a 4.7 inch long barrel from their Tikkakoski plant.

My 4th edition was published in 2004 and is one of the last, if not the last, publication by Ian V. Hogg, one of the world's foremost authorities on firearms. This edition was finished up by John Walter, an authority on Lugers and other handguns. Hogg passed away in March 2002 and PISTOLS OF THE WORLD is a fitting monument to a long and distinguished career.

This book is illustrated by black and white photographs and it is 432 pages long including an extensive bibliography and a very useful appendix entitled tthe "Pistol Data Bank" which abstracts the contents of the book for quick refence. The body of the book consists of entries in alphabetical order.

This book is authoritative and easy to use. If you are interested in the shooting sports or in collecting pistols and revolvers, you'll enjoy this book. Hollywood scriptwriters and other authors should also keep a copy of this book handy since most of them clearly have no idea what kind of pistol or revolver their protagonists should be carrying.

I like this book and gave it five stars.

This book is great for the gun lover. It has a wealth of information. You will spend hours enjoying the information and photograph's.
Buy this for someone who love's guns, you will see the biggest smile come to their face. It is one of the best. I did plenty of online research about gun books before purchasing this one.

Thanks to Amazon for their wide range of books to chose from. This one is a winner.

I've had a copy of this book myself for some time and have found it very useful, which is why I decided to give it as a holiday gift to a friend who deals in guns and parts. He was thrilled to have a copy and has already found it to be particularly useful in identifying lesser known brands. I highly recommend this book to pistol enthuisiasts.