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What are the top 5 (or 10) books in this field

Birdseye

Birdseye

BOCN Contributor
"field" can be defined as broadly as you like. What 5 (or 10) books are essential to a library?

I'll start with one that is beautiful as well as informative. The Treatise of Ammunition, for my interests, a pre WW! edition.

Let me make an observation. It seems to me that in the States there is a greater interest in Black Powder/Muzzleloading projectile collecting than in the UK or Europe generally. Does that seem like a reasonable observation? If this area is included in our definition of "field", I would have to include Ripley's Artillery and Ammunition of the (US) Civil War.

What do you folks think?
 
That very much depends on what your interests are.

If you mainly collect commercial rifle and pistol rounds, 'Cartridges of the World' is a good starting point and quick reference (it includes some military rounds as well).

If it's military rifle and MG cartridges, then Jean Huon's book on this subject (now in a French-only second edition) is also very good.

For automatic cannon (12.7-57mm) I can think of one which covers in outline the field of ammo and guns too, but modesty forbids... :tinysmile_hmm_t:

For bigger stuff there really isn't one good reference, although Hogg's 'Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ammunition' is a good general starting point.

Beyond this there are the books which cover narrower fields, such as Labbett's books and booklets on (mainly British) military small arms and cannon ammo, or Hogg's on German Artillery of WW2, or Hogg & Thurston on British WW1 artillery, or 'The American Arsenal' (WW2) edited by Hogg (a very productive author!).

And for modern military and police ammo (all calibres) there's Jane's Ammunition Handbook! :crossedlips:
 
For me Chinn is a really good start.....thousands of pages of detail on all sorts of cannon rounds........plus Tony Williams range of books of course!!

Dave.
 
For the British fuze collector it has to be British Bomb and Rocket Pistols and Fuzes by Dave Andrews and Alan Swan.
 
I must add that the book named BOMB DISPOSAL and British casualties of ww2

by Chris Ransted is a very riviting read,and its only a tenner.

Cant put it down.

best satan
 
For History of Bomb Disposal Designed to Kill by Major Arthur Hogben takes some beating
 
The Treatise of Ammunition books do they have colour pictures

thanx lee
 
Hi Lee the 1915 Treatise on Ammunition the first 30 + pages are in colour all the rest are line drawings
 
thanx steve theres one on Specialist at the moment i will get it

regards lee
 
books

I'd go with Tony W's choice but add a couple I've got - Handbook on Ammunition 1915 an Admiralty publication, Textbook of Ammunition 1936 both have lots of diagrams and charts but 1936 is too early for WW2 introduced items. For Birdseye and his US colleagues try Whitworth on Guns and Steel by himself 1873 lots on trails he made and Rifled Ordnance by Lynall Thomas 1863 mainly theory on guns not a lot of identifying info though.
 
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