Revolver Bibliography?

[CountryGent]

What are some of your favorite books that deal exclusively, or at least primarily, with the revolver? Can be anything — history, gunsmithing, self-defense, make/models, military/law enforcement revolvers, handgun hunting, et al. — as long as it is about wheelguns.

Enjoy.

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[Nosferatu]

Elmer Keith; Sixgun Cartridges and Loads

 

[Greenbug]

Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson

 

[DB is Here]

Combat Revolvers: The Best (And Worst) Of Modern Wheelguns (And Worst Modern Wheelguns) https://a.co/d/amZVRmb

Interesting read.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

History of the Colt Revolver....Charles and Frank Belden
A most excellent book about the history of Colt..as well as catalog reprints...and the care of and shooting of Colt Percussion Revolvers.....The also has chapters on early Colt Pistols up to the 1911 Model.
Andy

 

[Cerberus Group]

Shooting - J Henry Fitzgerald

Pistol Shooters Book - Askins

 

[Bearskinner]

John Taffin has written quite a few great revolver books. I recommend them all, great reading and a history lesson

 

[thorborg]

Textbook of Pistols and revolvers: Hatcher....Juxtaposing physical and mechanical aspects of many different revolvers ads to functional understanding. When you know not just what things do but how things are supposed to work, how to identify, fix, or modify becomes more obvious.

No second place winner: Jordan... much worth while to consider and ponder both defense, and offence, when formulating what ultimately will work best for your life style.

If smithing the old ones; Professional gunsmithing: Walter Howe...Though not a specific section on revolvers, worth it for the do it yourselfer. Worth while cautions and admonitions if toying with smithing as a business too.

 

[ar addict]

The ones I am reading now.
Ed McGivern's - Book of fast and fancy revolver shooting
The secrets of double action shooting - Bob Nichols

 

[Cerberus Group]

Join up with American Fighting Revolver

American Fighting Revolver

americanfightingrevolver.com

A couple of guys that truly know what the modern day and classic fighting revolvers are.

Darryl Bolke and Bryan Eastridge

 

[CountryGent]

If, perchance, it is of any value to others, a few texts I will pass along. Some of these are "main and plain", while others a bit more niche.

• Supica, J., & Nahas, R. (2016). Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson. Gun Digest Books. This is an indispensable resource for all things Smith & Wesson, including their many revolver offerings.
• Mulin, T. (2015). Serious Smith & Wessons The N- and X-Frame Revolvers: The S&W Phenomenon, Volume Ⅲ. Collector Grade Publications. While pricy, it is a lavishly illustrated guide to Smith's really big wheelguns.
• Boorman, D. K. (2002). The History of Smith and Wesson firearms. Globe Pequot. I hesitate to recommend this one because some of the text is highly suspect. However, the photographic material is worth the price of admission.
• McHenry, R. C., & Roper, W. F. (1945; 2013). Smith & Wesson Hand guns. Skyhorse. This is an older resource that has been reprinted a few times. If one has the aforementioned, probably redundant, but still warranted inclusion.
• Maze, R. (2012). The Webley Service Revolver. Osprey Publishing. For a short (~80 pages) overview of the Webley service revolvers, this is a good introductory text.
• Stamps, M., & Skennerton, I. D. (1992). 380 Enfield No. 2 Revolver. As with the Webley text, a short guide to Enfield martial revolvers.
• Prasac, M. (2012). Big-Bore Revolvers. Gun Digest Books. This is a nicely illustrated guide to hand cannons.
• Taffin, J. (1997). Big Bore Sixguns. Krause. Ditto the work by Prasac.
• Long, D. (1989). Combat revolvers: The Best (and Worst) Modern Wheelguns. Paladin Press. The work from this author is often suspect, but this is a surprisingly good, if somewhat dated, text.
• Pegler, M. (2017). Colt Single-Action Revolvers. Bloomsbury Publishing. This is a short guide to the venerable Colt single-actions.
• Ainsworth, K. (2019). Handgun Hunting: A Comprehensive Guide to Choosing and Using the Right Firearms for Big and Small Game. Skyhorse. The focus is, naturally, on handgun hunting, but there is good coverage of big-bore revolvers.
• Gangarosa, G., Jr. (2001). Spanish Handguns: The History of Spanish Pistols & Revolvers. Stoeger. This is an excellent resource to automatic pistols, machine-pistols, and, naturally, revolvers from España.
• Long, D. (1995). Hand Cannons: The World's Most Powerful Handguns. Paladin Press. Just sort of a fun read, if not too serious a work.
• Cunningham, G. (2011). The Gun Digest Book of the Revolver. Krause Publications. This is a surprisingly good overview of the modern, double-action revolver for defense purposes.
• Publishers, A. M. I. (2006). The British Bulldog. This nicely illustrated, short text covers the "bulldog" revolvers of the 19th century.
• Winans, W. (2022). The Art of Revolver Shooting. Legare Street Press. A reprint of a much older text. Unlike the rest, I have not had an opportunity to read this one yet, but I figured inclusion would not hurt.

And I'm sure I'm missing plenty. To many hours of happy reading.

 

[CountryGent]

I thought I had missed some and farting about the library confirmed said suspicion. A couple others that may warrant inclusion:

• Webster, D. (1958). Suicide Specials. Stackpole. This is an excellent resource guide to those small, often inexpensive, single-action revolvers produced in great volume in the late 19th and early 20th century.
• Gates, E. (n.d.) (1988). The Gun Digest Book of Metallic Silhouette Shooting. DBI Books. This is a great overview to the sport, but it also covers revolvers appropriate for said as well.

Cheers.

 

[CountryGent]

I haven't had a change to read it yet, but today ordered a copy of The Custom Revolver Hamilton S. Bowen (with foreword by Ross Seyfried). It seems interesting in general, but the catalyst was two wacky revolver project ideas that I am looking to make come to fruition relatively soon. (More about that later.)

 

[BillM]

No Second Place Winner by Bill Jordan

 

[CountryGent]

• Winans, W. (2022). The Art of Revolver Shooting. Legare Street Press. A reprint of a much older text. Unlike the rest, I have not had an opportunity to read this one yet, but I figured inclusion would not hurt.

I did read this one last year and found it interesting. Should it be of interest, it is now in the public domain, and available for free download in various formats here.

Speaking of vintage texts, I acquired a reprint of one from the Interwar period entitled Sixguns and Bullseyes and Automatic Pistol Marksmanship by William Reichenbach.

 

[CountryGent]

As, to the best of my recollection, I hadn't read it, I just ordered a copy of No Second Place Winner by Bill Jordan. Looks like an interesting read.

 

[Aught Six]

I have all of Elmer's books and articles.