NEW! MAGNUM - The S&W .357 Magnum Phenomenon
by Timothy J. Mullin
$69.95

Deluxe First Edition, 2012
282 pages, 224 illustrations, 138 in color

Today, the most sought-after versions of the Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver are the pre-war Registered and non-registered models, and these are given pride of place in the first 16 of this book's 24 chapters, plus a detailed, 28-page serial number Database.

The .357 Magnum was the result of the two-pronged development of a new revolver and a new cartridge. The .38 S&W Special cartridge was developed to counter the shorter, weaker .38 Colt round, which was the government issue handgun cartridge at the turn of the 20th century.

Then in 1929 the Colt .38 Super automatic threatened the long-established popularity of the .38 Special M&P revolver as an arm of choice for law enforcement. This led to the introduction of a pair of new .38 caliber S&W revolvers called the Heavy Duty and the Outdoorsman's, both built on the massive N frame used for the .44 Hand Ejector series, and firing a more powerful cartridge called the “.38/44 S&W Special”.

The next step was a cartridge with even more pressure, velocity and power, which could well have been hazardous to fire in ordinary revolvers. The solution was to lengthen the .38 Special case by 1/10", resulting in a new round which was christened the .357 Magnum. The N-frame 357 Magnum revolver was announced, with deliveries beginning on April 8, 1935.

Coverage of the modern S&W .357 Magnums begins with the rare post-war long-action “transition” model. The new short-action Magnum was introduced in 1950, and numbers replaced names in 1957, the Magnum becoming the Model 27. K-frame Model 19 “Combat Magnums” were introduced in 1956; the first stainless steel Magnums in 1970; the new stronger L-frame Magnums in 1981; and finally, Magnums with cylinders made of titanium and frames made of exotic scandium-aluminum alloy. Today, tiny lightweight J-frame Magnums are available, weighing well under a pound.

Custom Magnums from the S&W Performance Center, and some interesting Magnums of other makes, both domestic and foreign, are also discussed and depicted.

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The FN49--The Rifle That Ran Out of Time
by R Blake Stevens
$59.95

Deluxe First Edition, 2011
256 pages, 361 illustrations, 141 in colour

The book begins with a historical overview of early FN self-loading rifles, all of which were discontinued not because of inherent problems but because of external events—usually wars—the overwhelming import of which took precedence over further development.

After the German occupation of Belgium in 1940, the British seized upon FN's new gas-operated self-loading rifle and beginning in 1943, RSAF Enfield manufactured at least 51 examples of what was generally known as the SLEM (Self-Loading Experimental Model).

Following the liberation of Belgium in late 1944 the self-loading rifle project was revived by FN, with comparative trials being conducted by the Royal Dutch Navy in 1947. The first commercial contract for what became the “FN49” was signed with Venezuela in 1948.

Further orders from a number of countries were forthcoming over the next decade, leading to a total production of approximately 176,000 FN49s. We present new colour images of a complete collector's catalogue of all the contract models, in chronological order, which sheds new light on the developmental history of this fine arm.

The book contains extensive details on the development of the Echo scope mount, which was designed and patented by the American gunsmith and machinist Edward Herkner, whose story is told largely in his own (previously unpublished) words.

The numerous component differences between the semi-automatic FN49 (the “SAFN”) and the selective-fire version, the “AFN”, are illustrated and explained.

Two chapters cover combat use of the FN49 by the Belgian Volunteer Battalion in Korea and by Belgian and colonial troops (the Force Publique) in the Congo.

A detailed retrospective of FN49 production includes the complete, official FN Order List, plus further breakdowns of production and deliveries by year and by calibre.

The book concludes with three chapters on Accessories and Ancillaries— handbooks, bayonets, cleaning kits, grenade launchers, scopes and slings—and a Bibliography.

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PISTOLE PARABELLUM - History of the "Luger System"
by Joachim Görtz and Geoffrey L Sturgess
$375.00

Deluxe 3-Volume slipcased First Edition, 2010
2,014 pages, 1,917 illustrations, most in colour

Comprising an Editor's Preface, Author's Foreword, Introduction, sixty-three chapters of profusely illustrated text plus a Bibliography, Glossary, and comprehensive 34-page Index, this is the most complete and authoritative account ever published of every aspect of the Pistole Parabellum—the world's most collectable handgun.

Volume I discusses and depicts the historical antecedents of the Parabellum with emphasis on the Borchardt C93, and documents the derivation of the Parabellum from the C93. The bulk of the volume is devoted to illustrated descriptions of all Parabellum prototypes and Old and New Model variations as adopted by the Swiss and German militaries and manufactured for foreign contract and commercial sale.

Volume II begins with an in-depth, historical discussion of the four Parabellum production lines (in Germany, Switzerland, and Britain) and all the military, contract and commercial models manufactured by each; the official production and military inspection and procurement procedures, plus an exhaustive, fully-illustrated study of markings (factory internal, proof, acceptance, serial numbers and unit), ending with a chapter on supplementary police safeties and selective-fire conversions.

Volume III covers all the many accessories and ancillaries produced for the Borchardt C93 and the Parabellum, including commercial, military and police manuals; holsters, magazine pouches and holster/stocks; magazines and drums; maintenance accessories; Swiss and German sub-calibre conversions; cases and cartons; and ammunition (7.65mm Borchardt and 7.65mm and 9mm Parabellum), including headstamps, special loadings, and military packaging and labelling.

This is the first and only Luger study to tackle head-on the vexing issue of fakery. The nearly two thousand sharp, clear illustrations in these volumes, mostly in full colour, painstakingly depict and compare the key details of hundreds of genuine examples of exquisite rarity with those of known fakes. In keeping with this as an ongoing theme throughout all three volumes, the exhaustive Index in the back of Volume III directs the reader to over 50 specific entries under the heading "Fakery".

See review below.

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Exceptional Review in Man at Arms!

The noted curator, author and researcher Herbert G. Houze has written an exceptionally lengthy and effusive review of our new three-volume deluxe cased Pistole Parabellum set, which appears in the June, 2011 issue of the prestigious NRA journal Man at Arms.

The full text of the review, which takes up an unprecedented page-and-a-half in the magazine, discusses the content and importance of each of the three volumes in detail.

Excerpts from this review, reprinted with permission, read as follows:

“. . These are books meant to be used, not merely admired . . All three [volumes] are jammed full of information concerning the pistols designed by Hugo Borchardt and Georg Luger. Further examination . .will reveal that the content has been organized in an accessible fashion . . From a technical viewpoint, the set displays wonderfully high production standards . . the illustrations are all uniformly of exceptional quality. These factors, in combination with the set's contents, have resulted in the creation of a reference work that is without parallel in its field.

. . extensive use is made of photographic plates illustrating comparative views of particular constructional details . . This is of particular importance to collectors, since it provides them with the means to quickly determine whether or not a particular arm has been modified . . the authors have used the same method to unmask fakes [and] have taken particular pains to expose the tell-tale characteristics that differentiate genuine Luger pistols from fakes . . the true value of the work will only become apparent when it is put to use by collectors.

. . by virtue of the depth of research it embodies and the wealth of information it contains, [this set] is an immeasurably important addition to arms literature in general.”