Secondhand, no dustjacket, G Condition, original owner name on fly.
1st published in Great Britain in 1881 & revised 9 times between then & 1910. Traces the fascinating history of weaponry. The classic, authoritative reference of interest to marksmen, hunters, gun collectors, & military or industrial history buffs. 400 B&W photos & engravings; 846 pgs.
Covers the obscure, ancient origins of the slingshot and the bow, the invention of the crossbow, possibly around 1000 AD; the introduction of gunpowder into Europe in the fourteenth century; the development of sporting and military guns over the centuries thereafter; and the rise of modern, mass-produced firearms in the early twentieth century.
Chapters cover early to modern handguns; gunpowder ignition methods from fuses and flintlocks to percussion fulminates; shotguns; hammerless guns; ejector guns; the history of the firearms industry; manufacturing methods and their development in Britain, America, and elsewhere; how to use and handle different types of guns; ballistics; the development of rifling and smokeless powder; and much more. Copiously illustrated with photographs and marvelous engravings.
