Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson

I suppose my rating gives away the surprise doesn't it? Well that's never stopped me before. This is a great reference book. It literally lists every single firearm model (as well as other products) manufactured and/or marketed by Smith & Wesson. Each model is described in detail, with all the possible variations listed. There are photographs (many in color) with each listing as well. As the title states this is the third edition. I also own the "2nd edition Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson" which is also a well done book, but the amount of additional data between the two editions is astounding.Mr. Supica and Mr. Nahas are not supermen. Over the years they have reached out to the S&W community requesting any additional information as well as helpful criticism. I am pleased to state that I made a small contribution to this edition as well. If you look on the list of acknowledgements you'll find me. Well you will find my avatar name "Checkman" from the Smith & Wesson forum. This speaks well for the writers. They acknowledge that the field is vast and that there is no way they and a couple researchers can possibly cover all the bases. S&W has been in business since the 1850's and is still going strong. That is a lot of firearms.If you are a budding S&W collector get a copy of this book. If you are long-term collector (and evidently been living under a rock if you aren't familiar with this catalog) get this book. If you're just a gunbuff and have a love of firearm trivia get this book. It isn't cheap, but it is money well spent.

Best book on Smith & Wesson ever! Outstanding detail. Has helped my collecting in a big way.

This is a great reference for anyone looking for information on Smith & Wesson Firearms. It is unbelieavable how much information is in this book. It will keep you reading for a long time.

I had the previous 2nd edition of the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson and used it extensively for research and information on S&W firearms. When the new 3nd edition was released I thought I'd better buy it to stay up to date and because it includes newly researched information on newly released S&W firearms. The new 3nd edition is infinitly superior to previous editions. It is printed on a high-quality grade of paper and bound in a heavy hardbound binding with an attractive dustcover that really sets it off. The book includes all color photographs and detailed and extensive information on all Smith & Wesson firearms and products to date. Information on history, description, serialization, condition, and production is all contained in this book. It is a MUST book for any serious collector or firearms enthusiast. My hat is off to the authors for this fine addition to their excellent line of books on Smith & Wesson.

In my opinion, this book is the definitive reference source on the manufacturing history and types of Smith and Wesson pistols and revolvers. It probably has no equal. It is thoroughly documented, well-illustrated with photos where necessary, and reasonably well written. The only small gripe I have is with the authors' occasional excursions into the NRA political philosophy on topics like government regulations limiting the magazine capacity of semi-auto pistols. I find them to be off-topic and out of place in such an authoritative resource.I chose the Kindle version in order to have it conveniently available without lugging a bulky book. I don't regret that choice of format, although some students of Smith and Wesson products might find this version a bit harder to navigate.

As a Gunsmith and owner of Franson Firearms and fransonfirearms.com I am often asked very specific questions about guns but with over a million different guns out in the market I don't quite know everything about each one.This book is the only source of the proper information about Smith & Wesson firearms. The primary reason I bought the book is because I need serial number information quite often, most manufacturers' serial numbers and dates of manufacture are posted somewhere on the web but because of the unique method of setting up serial numbers at S&W their serial number base is not something that can simply be posted on the internet in an understandable way.As an added bonus I found the history and photographs to be invaluable when evaluating used guns and diagnosing problems as well as having an accurate representation for visual comparison when doing restorations.The book does give a range of prices for the guns which I find are not as accurate as the "Blue Book of Gun Values" which is the guide we use in the gun business when setting the price on guns and as such gives an inaccurate idea of the volatile nature of gun prices.

"Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson" is an invaluable guide for any S&W collector or gun shop owner! One of the first firearms I owned was a K38 Masterpiece and my fondness for the older wheel guns has only grown since we opened a small gun shop. We get a lot of trade-in or appraisal requests and typically use the "BlueBook" to judge condition and value, but there are a lot of generalities and omissions that make that hard to use for older firearms.This book has never let us down in pinpointing exactly what we had, when it was made, and what it should be worth.Highly Recommended!CFH

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I guess since I bought two of these (one was a gift for a friend), Amazon figured I should do two reviews. Not much I can add to the original review other than to reinforce that this is the definitive source when it comes to all things S&W. That is not to take anything away from Roy Jinks' excellent books on S&W's, as you should really have both of his books in your collection too, but Roy centers on earlier Smiths, where this book covers both old and new (as of press time), plus it contains pricing guidelines, and reports what some of the rarer books gathered at auctions. And also as I stated in the other review, it will make an excellent Christmas present for the S&W person in your life.

Purchased as a reference to all S&W hand guns, and did exactly what was expected of it.Would recommend to any S&W buff.Absolutely brilliant.

Ein absolutes Muß für S&W Sammler und Interessierte. Sehr detailliert werden alle Modelle beschrieben und abgebildet. Varianten ebenso wie Sammlertipps und Anhaltspunke für den Wert (in verschiedenen Zuständen). Leider sind Angaben wie auch das ganze Buch in englisch, was die Kenntnis der englischen Sprache und Fachausdrücke voraussetzt. Dafür erhält man ein wirlich fundiertes Buch, das sich sogar über Details wie Seriennummernbereiche, Griffschalenvariationen und Originalkartons von S&W ausläßt.