By Martin J. Dougherty.
Published by Amber Books Ltd,
74-77 White Lion Street,
Dept. TGM,
London N1 9PF, UK.
Price: $34.95. Available at many bookstores or Amazon.
This 224-page hardbound volume listed as a Collector’s Guide, features an illustrated Induction, six chapters from Early Handguns to The Cold War & the Modern Era, a short Glossary, and an Index.
It is lavishly illustrated with color and black and white photographs, drawings, and sketches. (Even the endpapers are illustrated with soldiers in uniform holding pistols across their chests.) A few of the illustrations are mis-captioned, such the M1903 Browning which was chambered for the .32 ACP and the slightly larger M1908 chambered for the .380 ACP (9mm Kurz, 9mm Corto, etc.) The illustration appears to be a slightly longer pistol of the same design known as BL model. Chambered for the 9mm Browning Long cartridge, it was intended as a military pistol; the listed cartridge case length (20mm) is about right for the 9mm Long , as opposed to 19mm for the 9mm Parabellum (Luger) case length. Never adopted by the Belgium Army, although small quantities were sold to other countries, FN production was stopped during WWI and finally terminated in 1927. Sweden liked the design and Husqvarna began its production in 1917, continuing until about 1942 after a total output of nearly 90,000 BL models.
The AMT Automag III is listed as chambered for the 7.62mm (.3in) Magnum, when in reality it was chambered for the .30 M1 Cartridge and is illustrated with such a cartridge. The original Auto Mag pistols were chambered for a rimless .44 Auto Mag cartridge, not for the rimmed .44 Magnum cartridge, and the .357 Auto Mag cartridge was a bottle-necked cartridge on the same case head and not the smaller rimmed .357 Magnum cartridge.
The gas-operated Wildey pistol, chambered for the .475 and .45 Wildey cartridges is mentioned briefly, but not illustrated, unfortunately; nor are the cartridges illustrated. The Soviet PSM pistol is illustrated, along with specs, on the pages devoted to Czechoslovakian Weapons, but is not mentioned in the text; nor is there any info on the diminutive 5.45mm cartridge, which reportedly was designed for assassination use.
Among the more unusual handguns covered are the Gyrojet and Dardick (tround) pistols of some threescore years ago. Both are illustrated, but rocket-powered cartridges and triangular-shaped rounds just did not catch on with shooters. The Gyrojet handgun weighed less than one pound, and the cartridges did not have much close-range knock-down power; the unusual-appearing open-chamber Dardick handgun did seem to have possibilities. With a 20-round capacity the Dardick could be loaded quickly, could have a caliber change by changing barrels and rounds, and could be converted into a rifle of handgun caliber, if need so desired.
The handgun illustrations are usually accompanied by a spec table listing the Country of Origin, Date, Calibre (Note English spelling) Weight, Overall Length, Feed/Magazine, and Range. The calibers are listed in metric (mm) and English (in.) sizes, the weight in metric (kg.) and English (pounds), the overall length in metric (mm) and English (in.) and the range in metric (m) and English (yds). This is true for even those handguns which are illustrated, but not covered in the text. (Not all illustrations have exactly the same amount of spec info, with some listing 9mm Parabellum (.3in) as the caliber, or 9mm Parabellum (.35in). This volume is not perfect, but it is still worthy of shelf space on any arms collectors reference shelf; just do not have it as your only reference volume on the subject. The illustrations are excellent for the most part, although no modern single shot—T/C Contender, Wichita, Merrill, Savage, Weatherby, etc.—pistols are featured, nor are some of the early American autoloaders, such as the pre-WWII Smith & Wesson pocket-size autoloaders in .32 ACP and .35 S&W, M1917 Savage, the High Standard line—the H-D Military High Standard pistol with the outside hammer was used during World War II by the OSS in a silenced version for clandestine operations—Colt Woodsman line of rimfires, and the post-World War II ill-fated Kimball chambered for the .30 M1 Carbine cartridge. Even some modern auto lines such as Wyoming Arms pistols, are missing. Yet it illustrates the British Mars, a most interesting design of five score plus years ago. If you consider the scope of the title—From 1400 To The Present Day—author Doughtery has done an exceptional job presenting the subject.—Larry Sterett
