Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, 3rd edition
432 Pages, hardcover, 300 plus full color photos, 8-1/2 x 11, retail price: $39.99 plus P&H from Gun Digest Books, Dept. BNP, 700 East State St., Iola, WI 54990-0001. (888) 457-2873 ISBN #0-89689-293-X
You may also purchase autographed copies directly from Jim Supica.
Bullet 'N Press was very grateful to have reviewed the original Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson by Jim Supica and Richard Nahas, as well as the 2nd Edition, which appeared in 2001, so it is our great pleasure to present to you our report on this new, revised and very much improved 3rd Edition.
For new collector and sometimes even more advanced collector, one of the hardest parts of collecting the S&W revolvers has been just how do you get to know and to understand all the various models and types of revolvers they have produced since the late 1850s. For that reason alone, this book is the best guide ever written. Indeed, Standard Catalog of S&W 3rd Edition is the best, most comprehensive and up-to-date price guide on S&W available anywhere, it also is a terrific historical walk through Smith & Wesson's history. I found it very well thought out; firearms are listed according to the model and year(s) of production and are priced according to a sensible system, broken down into six grades of condition. The authors have also provided ample historical and production notes for each specific model which will greatly aid in determining a gun's rarity.
I especially liked the way the different types of weapons are separately explained (like Tip-Ups, Top-Breaks, Hand Ejectors & etc), then further taken down into categories (such as identiying model numbers/letters/sizes) along with terminolgy specific to each category (IE: Standard or Frontier, "5-screw", pinned barrel, recess chambers and the like.) This is done in such a way that the beginner will find it very simple to locate and identify any S&W. A word about the book's general layout; it is similar in ways to the lay-out used in Smith & Wesson Sixguns of the Old West by this author, I found it to be very user friendly and easy to navigate with one answered question leading directly into the next logical subject.
This book was written not only for the S&W collector, although if you fit into that category it will prove to be a genuine boon, one that you need for your library. I believe gun collectors in general, firearms dealers as well as all who share an interest in anything manufactured by S&W will greatly benefit from this excellent new volume. Over 770 models of Smith & Wesson guns in all of their many variations are covered here. More than that, the authors have extensively identified just about everything else S&W has manufactured since 1857, including casings, screwdrivers, accessories and more; placing them in the correct period of time for us, so it all makes perfect sense.
The authors of this book are two of the most respected men in their field and they have once again done their homework extraordinarily well. Jim Supica and Richard Nahas have written a superb volume which, like the first and second editions; has set a higher standard that other books of its type must now live up to. Standard Catalog of S&W, 3rd edition is the best reference ever written as an overview of the world of Smith & Wesson's and their values, it is simply a MUST HAVE for anyone who has, or wants to have anything to do with S&W firearms.
This gets Five Stars, hands down!
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