Smith & Wesson Hand Guns Paperback – Illustrated, June 4, 2013

Great reference, covers all models - from the first to current,

Smith and Wesson, among my favorite mechanical devices, wheel devices are fun, and adequate. this is a good addition to my mechanical library. CC46

Absolutely a great history of not only the work, but also the mindset of these great men. It also gives a good overall view of the firearms industry in that time period.Once I started it I just did not want to put it down, and was maybe a little sad when I did finish. So I read it again, and picked up even more.A great..great..great read.

I’m half way through this book and it’s a wealth of information I must admit, it does have an annoying feature however. There are numerous plates / pics/ renderings ,etc… in the back of the book but he almost never refers to them during the text making it difficult to get a visual of what’s being described. I also found the chronological order of things a little difficult to follow. Finally I found it odd that he didn’t go deeper at the beginning of the book on the specific talents of Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson. Having said all of that…the detail in the book is rather amazing, especially the connection to the cartridge side of the story as the firearms are being developed. . Solid book overall.

A very informative history of Smith & Wesson firearms from the origins of the company in the 1850's until 1945. I was particularly pleased by the information about Smith & Wesson firearms (and imitations made by other companies) during the Civil War period and the subsequent period of Western expansion. I had assumed that few metallic cartridge handguns were used in the Civil War. The book indicates that, while they were not military issue weapons, they were widely purchased by officers and soldiers as personal weapons. I was also interested in learning that Smith & Wesson brought out a large caliber metallic cartridge revolver, the 1870 American model, three years before the famous 1873 Colt Single Action Army, and that this and other Smith & Wessons were used by gunfighters like Jesse James. (Replicas of period S&W's are finally showing up in Western movies, something which was overdue.) The book is a real bargain on Kindle.

Had hoped for.more detailed info, but nice book.

It's very troublesome to find what I'm looking fore. It's a good information book, but not a handy reference Guide

A very good, detailed history of S&W revolvers (and some early automatics). A bit lighter on the evolution of S&W gun technology.