[.ca] Jane's Guns Recognition Guide - 3rd Edition (ISBN 000712760X)

Best when used in conjunction with the 1st Edition:
The first edition of Jane's Gun Recognition Guide (1994) was an excellent resource for information on firearms used by military and paramilitary organizations, despite some minor mistakes and spelling errors. I was pleased to see the second edition earlier this year, and bought it on the spot. I was greatly disappointed. My first question, did anybody proof-read this thing before they printed it? Spelling errors abound on seemingly every page. Technical details that were wrong in the 1st edition remained unfixed, and new and more interesting errors were included. Despite this, there is still a great deal of useful information. I feel it is important to have both the 1st and 2nd editions together, not only to cross reference information that may be incorrect from one or the other, but to include firearms that were simply dropped from the 2nd. Taken together, the information is approximately 97% accurate, if you don't count the spelling errors. It's intended purpose as a _recognition_ guide remains valid except in cases where the wrong firearm is pictured (as mentioned by previous reviewers), such as a thumbnail of a Beretta 92 beneath the entry for the Smith & Wesson M39, a subcompact Glock pictured where only the full-size and compact versions are mentioned, and the US M4 Carbine entry uses a picture of a Commando Carbine. As a firearms expert, I am embarrased for Jane's for this edition, and would encourage them not to rush the next edition when the time comes. If you're looking for a handy guide that you can throw in your cruiser, it's not a bad choice as long as you keep in mind the limitations of it's scope and the possibility of minor technical errors.

Nice pictures, never before heard of weapons, OK research:
This addition of Jane's Guns Recognition guide deserves both praise and criticism. It covers a magnificent spectum of weapons from all over the world, but stops short of including new weapons, has inaccurate details (the caliber of several weapons is completely wrong). If you have a working knowledge of firearms already, don't waste your time. If you are just getting started, it might be worth you while.

A Guide to Significant Military Guns:
This is a reasonably good guide to guns of present or historical military importance. Saturday-night specials are not included! Complaining that a piece of #@#@ like the Tek-9 is not included is like complaining that a book on classic cars does not include your Yugo!

Not A Janes I Hope... Nooooo!:
I got the first edition and was very disapointed. Didnt even come close to what would expected from a Janes Book.

INEXCUSABLE RIP-OFF! Contains no popular guns I've ever had!:
Complete rubbish! I looked for the guns I've owned -- modern, popular guns, and they're not in there! There are VERY few guns in there! They don't show one single gun I've ever owned! They mention the Colt Mustang Plus II as a variation, but don't show it. They don't show the Colt AR-15 Lightweight Sporter (or the other one I've seen, a .23), and they don't even mention other guns I've had -- a Tek-9, 2 Davis pistols, and a Lorcin LT-25. The organization could hardly be worse. The pieces are listed by the model name, not the manufacturer, and there doesn't seem to be any alphabetical order to them by manufacturer in each section. The book, "first printed" in 2000 and "Fully updated," talks about something that's supposed to happen come 1995. Waste of money!