Percussion Pistols and Revolvers: History, Performance and Practical Use [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

I count this as one of my better acquisitions in the field of 19th Century firearms books. There is an awful lot of good, hard to find information packed within, including details on maintenance (including assembly/disassembly procedures), general use and loading instructions, specific load results with different powders, and observations on the quality of various reproductions. As the authors state early on in the book, they pull no punches when giving their honest assessment of the quality of the various reproductions out there.

One also finds valuable suggestions on improving the reliability of various reproductions, such as gunsmithing tips for the pocket percussion revolvers to prevent cap fragments from binding up the cylinder. Very useful stuff.

I also love the colour graphic on the cover - it immediately attracted my notice when I was skimming through the myriad "recommendations" on Amazon.

I do have some suggestions for improvement for a 2nd edition, in the highly unlikely event the authors ever read this droll review and actually want to go for a 2nd edition...:

1. There are a number of minor, but noticeable typographical and administrative type errors in the book, such as using "heals" instead of "heels." Basically needs a sharp-eyed editor to go through and insure proper word usage.

2. While the black and white illustrations are generally adequate, they are a bit grainy (owing to the resolution and also, I think, the paper used) and are often too small. Indeed, some are actually quite tiny. This is usually not a serious problem, but in some cases when they are used to illustrate an important detail (such as the LeMat pictures on pp 144-145 and some detailed mechanism shots on pp 92-94) it is hard to make out what is being shown. In such cases it is a bit of a problem.

I would suggest, then, that a 2nd edition of this fine work at least have larger and sharper black and white photos. Further, if possible, select illustrations should be done as sharp, full colour plates. One that comes to mind is the photo of an original Colt Walker at the beginning of chapter 12. I would have loved to see a full-colour, full-page plate of this wonderful firearm. Surely 6-12 colour plates, perhaps focusing on original firearms such as the aforementioned Walker, bound into the centre of the book should not be too great a challenge? At the least the cover illustration could be sharpened up a bit (it is great, of course, but could be a bit better).

3. If possible, an appendix that goes into more detail of the various reproductions and their manufacturers, with discussion as to reliability, attention to detail, overall quality, etc.

4. Also of great use would be an appendix that gave contact information for and brief descriptions of companies that make accessories, such as replacement springs, etc., for percussion revolvers. A further help would be a similar list of gunsmiths who specialize in repairs, tuning, etc. for these magnificent firearms.

5. Something that may or may be of interest to the authors (and, thus, may or may not be within the scope of this book) are certain experimental percussion revolvers. For example, one company (Big Iron Barrels) can bore out Dragoons and similar revolvers up to .58 (!!!!) calibre (reducing capacity to five shots). Such conversions are unhistorical, but interesting nonetheless. If the authors were interested in this, an appendix discussing it might be in order.

6. On a purely trivial note, it might be of interest to use 19th Century fonts (such as Baskerville Old Face) and formatting conventions on both the text and cover to give the book a more Victorian Era appearance. Not important, but it would seem to fit well with the subject matter of the book (and I did like the font used with the captions).

I hope the foregoing does not give a negative impression of this treatise. If you are a percussion revolver enthusiast I think you will find this book very useful, and really ought to procure a copy for your collection.

Much more real information than you will ever find in slick gunzines so beholden to their advertisers...Mssrs. Bates and Cumpston pull no punches and give fair and accurate descriptions of the guns, the makers, shooting techniques, near everything the intrepid shootist might want to know before embarking on a journey to The Dark Side....and they do this at the same time they provide a rollicking and entertaining ride through history...an exceptional book destined to be read and reread....

I love this book. :-) Great historical data whether you shoot black powder for historical re-enactments or for "plinking" trips for fun on the weekends, this book has great info, including ballistic data, on every percussion-cap black powder revolver (or modern reproduction thereof--there are lots of them for reasonable prices on the sporting goods market) you might run into or ever want to shoot. Great historical anecdotes in the back pages, plenty of illustrations. Recommended!