collector grade publictions (11 résultats)

Hardcover. Etat : Fine. Etat de la jaquette : Fine. 1st Edition. 394 pages. Hardcover with a dust jacket. Over 500 illustrations. The first in-depth study of the six million German civilians who were mobilized in the last desperate months of World War II against the onslaught of the revengeful Red Army, which was advancing inexorably on Germany's eastern borders. The Volkssturm was armed with a catchall of sporting arms, captured foreign weapons and seven different types of Volksgewehre, all specifically designed and hurriedly manufactured by German industry. Other weapons, including the anti-tank Panzefaust ("tank fist") and Panzerschreck ("tank terror") were grudgingly shared with the Volkssturm on a limited-issue basis, and captured British Sten guns were issued and copied by numerous German firms (a memorandum speaks of "30 subcontractors and 14 assembly points"). An excellent reference. Former owner's name and telephone in pen on front end paper. Otherwise, a Fine copy showing only light use.

Hardcover. Etat : As New. Etat de la jaquette : Fine. Revised Expanded Edition, 691 pages. Hardcover with a Dust Jacket. A huge volume! Over 500 illustrations. The first edition of this classic work appeared in 2004, and went out of print rapidly. The author, a prizewinning military historian, has continued his research in the military archives of Germany an elsewhere and produced an expanded, revised edition, which contains the most complete and authoratative account ever published of the intermediate caliber assault rifle and the revolutionary 7.92x33mm Kurtz cartridge. It has been said that Adolph Hitler was the greatest general the Allies had during WWII, and several examples of his fatefully bungled tactical decisions are discussed. None was perhaps more significant than his refusal on three separate occasions to sanction the development and adoption of the intermediate caliber assault rifle as the general issue weapn of the Wehrmacht. Its acceptance and fielding proved to be a long, tortuous and never fully completed process and, as a measure of the complexity of the story, in all of German small arms history, no weapon was renamed so often within such a short period of time. The Sturmgewehr 44 (assault rifle 44) to give it its ultimate name, was belatedly approved by Hitler in October, 1944, after his earlier rejections had delayed the program for a full year, and by the time he changed his mind a genreal rearming was out of the question. Nevertheless, the Sturmgewehr was by far the most important and influential small arm and cartridge development of the war. Fully indexed. An outstanding and exhaustive study. Out of print and getting Scarce. The Book is in Fine condition with little use. The Dust Jacket has some very light creasing but it is still in Fine condition.

Hardcover. Etat : Fine. Etat de la jaquette : Fine. 1st Edition. 272 pages. Hardcover with a dust jacket. Almost 400 illustrations, over 250 in color. The most complete study of the Colt New Service Revolver ever published. A well-researched, entertaining and profusely illustrated guide to every aspect of this handgun. The Colt New Service was manufactured from 1898 through 1943 in a number of commercial and military models, with both standard and Target versions offered in on the civilian models. A total of over 356,000 were produced. There were eleven standard chamberings, and experimental models were made in .22 rimfire, .22 Hornet, and .41 Special. These handguns were also available in fancy engraved versions. There are 165 distinct models/versions depicted in this volume including some that are quite rare. In addition to a brief historical introduction and individual chapters on all of the models, including the top-of-the-line Shooting Master and the radically bobbed "Fitz Specials", plus Famous Users and Aftermarket Modifications, the author presents expert commentaries and reasoned analyses throughout on the value and usefulness of the New Service in the field and as a personal defense weapon, plus frank critiques and comparisons with contemporary Smith & Wesson products. An excellent reference book. Out of print and getting Scarce. Former owner's name penned in the front. Both the Book and the Dust Jacket are in Fine condition showing very little use. The Dust Jacket is protected with a "Mylar" type cover. An opportunity to own a beautifuly copy of an important reference book at a reasonable price.

Hardcover. Etat : New. Etat de la jaquette : New. 1st Edition. 546 pages. Large volume. Very detailed and comprehensive. Hundreds of original previously unpublished company documents have been discovered, most of which have not been seen since the end of World War II, which give an unprecedented insight into the Mauser firm almost from its inception rigt through both World Wars and the post-WWI occupation period. Among many other things these documents include actual production and sales data for all types of Mauser products from 1884-1946; inventory lists covering completed arms, components and tooling inventory from 1900-1940, and the complete factory inventory of cartridges and components for 1928; cost and sale price calculations showing the actual cost of production of several arms types; order/offer book entries for the period 1928-1936 describing hundreds of different sporting and military variations; and, sales and running account ledgers covering the period 1887-1927. In addition to all this new data some 300 fragile glass plate negatives have survived which depict a variety of hitherto unknown Mauser sporting models in their original configurations. There are also over 80 full color views of high-grade Mauser sporters. An outstanding study. Now out of print and getting Scarce.

Hardcover. Etat : Fine. Etat de la jaquette : Near Fine. Second Printing, 350 pages. War Baby! Comes Home continues the amazing saga of the U.S. .30 Caliber Carbine - the most popular military shoulder arm in American History. Accourding to the Director of Military Training eighty-five percent of the troops in the U.S. tactical and operational units were armed with M1 carbines by early 1945. The U.S. Army jealously guarded its 'critical' supply of carbines during the war but with peace distributed this universally popular arm lavishly among allies and erstwhile enemies alike. With the termination of the carbine manufacturing program in 1945, the ongoing task of maintaining and refurbishing the nation's carbines and the manufacture of new spare parts and further experimental developments devolved upon Springfield Armory. The popularity of the carbine is further attested to by the large number of official military accessories and ancilliaries which were produced and fielded in its support, as well as the nmerous types of .30 caliber cartridges developed for the carbine. In the 1950s, International Aid distribution of U.S. military carbines abroad and the consequent availability of large stocks of .30 caliber carbine ammunition spawned the development of several interesting foreign weapons, some direct 'clones' of the U.S. carbine itself, but others of completely different designs which had in common only the .30 caliber carbine cartridge. An outstanding reference. Long out of print, and getting Scarce. The Book is in Fine condition with very little use. The Dust Jacket has light wrinkling at the top of the spine and around the top front edge. Overall the Dust Jacket is about Near Fine. A very nice copy of a Scarce title at a reasonable price.

Hardcover. Etat : New. Etat de la jaquette : New. 375 pages. Hardcover with a dust jacket. Black Rifle II is a sequel to the perennially popular Collector Grade title The Black Rifle. Considering the storms of controversy which have surrounded the program in its early days, the M16 has gone on to become the most effective combat weapon in the world, the longest-serving shoulder arm in U.S. history, and the benchmark against which any new military rifle must now be compared. This second volume covers all of the new third and fourth generation rifle and carbine models introduced by Colt and Diemaco since the Black Rifle was originally published, and describes and depicts the myriad of enhanced sights and rails systems. An excellent reference. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE BOTTOM BACK CORNER WAS SLIGHTLY BUMPED IN SHIPPING. AS A RESULT THE VERY TIP OF OF ABOUT THE LAST 50 PAGES ARE VERY SLIGHTLY BUMPED. OTHERWISE THIS IS A NEW UNREAD COPH. NOW OUT OF PRINT AND SCARCE.

Hardcover. Etat : Fine. Etat de la jaquette : Fine. 2nd Edition. Revised Second Edition, 340 pages. Hardcover with a dust jacket. US Rifle M14 remains the classic, in-depth examination of the life and times of the last wood-and-steel ("lock, stock, and barrel") battle rifle to be issued to US troops. Chapters include: Part One: Heroes and Villains. Chapter 1. Springfield Armory and the Garand Rifle; Chapter 2. Wartime Experiments with the M1; Chapter 3. The M1 Learns to Rock and Roll; Chapter 4. A Whole New Ball Game; Chapter 5. Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch; Chapter 6. The Life and Death of the Harvey Rifle; Chapter 7. The Rifle that "Grew Like Topsy"; Chapter 8. "U.S. Rifle 7.62 mm, M14"; Chapter 9. The M14 Rifle Production -- a Tragedy in Four Acts; Chapter 10. Gotterdammerung. Part Two: Motherless and (M)21. Chapter 1. The Apocrypha; Chapter 2. A Silk Purse From a Sow's Ear; An Orphan in Vietnam. An excellent, in-depth study. Long out of print. A Fine copy in a Fine Dust Jacket with only light use.

Hardcover. Etat : New. Etat de la jaquette : New. 1st Edition. 349 pages. Hardcover with a dust jacket. Over 750 illustrations, 40 in color. The history of all models of smallbore sporting, target and training rifles produced by the legendary Mauser-Werke of Oberndorf am Nackar, Germany, Fifteen chaptes and two appendices full of previously unpublished photograhs and original factory charts and drawings. Mauser's first .22s produced after WWI in response to Allied restrictions on the further manufacture of military arms were soon upgraded with improved triggers, better ations and longer barrels. Full coverage of te DSM34 and KKW training rifles, precision Olympic target models; .22 cartridge investigations; and postwar production (Models 45 and 46) for French forces. Another outstanding Collector Grade reference book. Long out of print and highly sought after. Both the Book and the Dust Jacket are in Very Fine New condition. An opportunity to own a beautiful copy of a scarce publication at a reasonable price.

Hardcover. Etat : New. Etat de la jaquette : New. 1st Edition. 511 pages. Almost 600 illustrations, many in color. Hardcover with a dust jacket. Huge volume. This is a well-informed discourse by a professional self-defense expert covering all aspects of the famous k-frame revolver, the tried-and-true cornerstone product of the prestigious armsmaking firm Smith & Wesson, Inc. of Springfield, Massachusetts. From its antecedent .32 caliber Hand Ejector model, introduced in 1896, through well over a century of production, the S&W K-Frame, revolver has long been the most perennially popular sidearm in the company's catalog, with production totals in excess of all other S&W models combined. K-Frame S&Ws have proven to be exceptionally versatile throughout this unprecedentedly long period. Fixed-sight M&P versions have provided much peace of mind to those who carried them as duty guns or who kept one handy for home protection, while the adjustably-sighted target models have performed with great reliability and precision in matches fired by a vast number of target shooters> both types have proven themselves over time to be dependable companions in wild and dangerous places. It is most interesting to consider, as we do in this book, how safety features on Smith & Wesson revolvers have been a recurring theme over the years. Obviously right from the beginning everyone connected withe newly-developed Hand Ejectors was familiar with the danger of a weapon firing when dropped if a cartride was under the firing pin. We have documented the repeated efforts by Smith & Wesson to ensure that their revolvers were free from this hazard, with the most recent modification being added in 1944 in responnse to the incident of a sailor who was fatally shot by his dropped Victory Model during WWII. A sequesl to Volume I, Magnum - The S&W Phenominon. The page and figure numbering in this book continnues on from wher Volume I left off, and a comprehensive Index to both volumes appears in the back of this book. An outstanding new reference. Excellent. Out of print and scarce. A New copy.

Hardcover. Etat : Fine. Etat de la jaquette : Fine. 1st Edition. 340 pages. Hardcover with a dust jacket. Over 450 illustrations. Very detailed and comprehensive. "This book presents a comprehensive chronology of handgun development and production at the famous armsmakers Mauser-Werke of Oberndorf, Germany from 1877 through to the end of the French occupation period which followed WWII. It is well known that Mauser manufactured a number of pistols of the firm's own design. These included the locked-breech, self-loading C96, blowback pocket pistols, models of 1910, 1914, 1910/34, 1914/34, and 1934, two versions of the WTP "vest pocket" pistol, and the double-action HSc pistols. Mauser also manufactured several handguns which had been designed elsewhere, including Reichsrevolvers, Parabellum (Luger) pistols, including lange Pistolen 08 ("artillery" Lugers) for Persia and Siam, and versions fitted with 120mm barrels for the Swiss and for Swedish trials in 1938, plus many P38s during World War II. In addition, a great many other pistol models were developed in the Mauser V-Abt (the Experimental Department) which for various reasons were produced as prototypes only or in extremey limited quantities. An important reference for collectors and historians. Very Scarce and long out of print. The publisher is no longer in business. Both the Book and the Dust Jacket are in Fine condition with only the lightest use. A beautiful copy of a hard to find book at a reasonable price.