Customer Reviews

Weapons of the Navy Seals

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

 

 

This book missed it release date many times. I had hoped it would be up to the standards of the authors previous book Weapons of the Navy Seals Volume 1 from a few years ago (there never was the promissed V2). However this book falls short of the mark. The information is dated and there are very few illustrations. The information presented on pre 1990 is pretty good, however the lack of photos and supporting data is a great detraction. I really hope the author does follow up with better supported title. Until then I reccomend Pushies book on Weapons of the Navy Seals.

As the title suggests, this is a book about the weapons used by that elite fighting force - US Navy Seals. According to his short biopic, the author is a gunsmith and weapons expert with some, albeit rather obscure, military and operational experience. Nevertheless, all things considered, he does appear well qualified to tackle this particular subject.

Weapons are included by general type. Consequently there are chapters on; Knives, pistols, submachine guns, shotguns, rifles, knock knock, hand grenades, ambush, machine guns, shots in the sandbox, 40mm grenade launchers, explosives and explosive devices. The product comprises 518 pages of mostly text plus an extensive index. Curiously, there are no decent photographs to be found anywhere within.

As an example of the technical content, the section on knives includes full details of 19 weapons of which there are two "Leatherman" type folding tools and one Swiss army knife in amongst others devised for more deadly purposes. Sixteen submachine guns are included in another chapter with all the technical details any person might require. Only 10 of these, however, include a photograph of the weapon and the layout leaves the reader uncertain as to whether or not each of these pictures relates to the weapon described before that illustration or to the one which follows. All photographs are black and white and approx. the size of a large postage stamp. With only a few exceptions, captions are confined to "Source U. S. Navy" (or whatever). Those which are exploded views of the item in question, particularly suffer from the minute size of the illustration.

On a positive note, the book contains plenty of detailed text incorporating the history of the SEALs and is clearly written by a man who has closely studied the subject. First published in 2004, the work was probably the definitive article when it first appeared. Since then, of course, the weapons used by this particular fighting force will have continued to evolve.

Altogether, useful for those with an interest in the subject.

NM
British Army major (Retired)

If you are an author looking for information about various weapons ranging from knives to to rifles, to explosives and some basic information about most but not all of them featured in this book then I would highly reccomend it. It gives a decent history of each catagory and how it relates to the seals and there for-runners the UDT's it also includes technical specs for various weapons, and explosives, including the ultra rare suppressed shotgun.

If you are looking for an entertaining story look somewhere else, you wont find it here, this is a tech guide/history book, not a non-fiction novel.

I keep this book in my library as a reference guide only.