Book review

[pohill]

I just got MEC's "Percussion Pistols and Revolvers" from Amazon.com (slow shipping - not MEC's fault). I have a collection of books on the subject - Wilson, Fadala, Chicoine, Rosa, Albaugh, Adler - but I gotta say, MEC's book is right up there with all of them. It covers exactly what I want to know about BP revolver/pistol shooting. It's a simple book, black and white pics (which is fine) but it's loaded with information that I wish I had when I first got into this sport. Colts, Remingtons, Rugers, Lemats, pistols, deringers, a timeline, history...it's all there. And...AND...the author is accessible via this forum. Can't beat that...
Newbies, this is the book for you (and old timers, too).
I bought it new, though you can buy used copies.

 

[Steve499]

How do you expect mec to continue to live his rich, dissipated lifestyle if you advise people to buy his book used?

Steve

 

[pohill]

New is alot better - no coffee stains, or peanutbutter & jelly smears, no boogers sticking the pages together.
I thought he was more the starving artist type...

For a few bucks more, buy new. Keep this book alive.

 

[Steve499]

Just joking, pohill. Mec probably makes enough off his book to have coffee twice a month, maybe.

Steve

 

[gvass]

Hi,
I also bought this "Percussion pistols and revolvers" book from Amazon (2 weeks delivery to Hungary from USA, not bad) The shipping and custom cost are more than the book itself:-(().

The book is well-written and informative, the historical perspectives are catching my imagination. What I really loved is the "tell-the-truth" standpoint, no gun-rag pro-advertiser junk.

However I have some complaints. The photos simply unacceptably low-res in the 21st century, sometimes I can not read the text on them (which is also not a good idea).

The other thing that while the revolver section give an adequate sample of US market, the single-shot pistol scene is only scratching the surface.

BUT: I loved the book, nice work!

 

[mec]

I say get it at a favorable price because this is not a money making project. Never planned to break even on it or the next one. I'm going to insist t hat the pictures in the next one cover one half page at tthe smallest with some set up for full pages. This will make them easier to see but they will still be copied on non-photographic paper. Its a matter of budget and the desire to be accurate about some of the negative aspects of the industry. The big publishers with high tech printing capabilities are aligned with the industry and would not publish or be able to distribute the information in this book. Still, the photographs are clearer than a lot of the low budget books published in the 1990s and before.

 

[pohill]

For good pictures, get COLT BLACKPOWDER REPRODUCTIONS AND REPLICAS by Dennis Adler. Great pics, good info on repros (comparing Colt to Pietta, Uberti, Ruger), but the book is basically a giant info-mercial for Colt and any company who contributed info (Texas Jacks, Dixie Gunworks, Cabelas, etc).

 

[mec]

"New is alot better - no coffee stains, or peanutbutter & jelly smears, no boogers sticking the pages together...."

Oooo, yuck! This guy thinks like me.

The iUniverse publishing co has done a pretty good job of putting this thing in world-wide distribution. I can track the majority of sales by watching Amazon.com . Google book search has picked up on it after about a year in print .Some of the industry gun books are in a fairly long list of public libraries. This book seems to have made it to only three or four but interestingly enough, it is cataloged in the Smithsonian Institution collection now. Most recent gun related books aren't in the Smithsonian but there are titles by Cooper, Askins and Elmer Keith.

 

[Steve499]

Pretty good company there, mec.


Steve

 

[Ferret]

I think that I have now read MEC's book at least a half dozen times. Each time, I am picking up more information from it. This book is fantastic, and I recommend it to all.