Jane's Guns Recognition Guide - 3rd Edition

Rating:
Summary: INEXCUSABLE RIP-OFF! Contains no popular guns I've ever had!
Review: 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!

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

Rating:
Summary: Jane's Guns Recognition Guide, 2nd Edition-Product Improved?
Review: I was not altogether pleased or surprised at the changes/omissions in this edition of the "Guns Recognition Guide". What ostensibly started out as a guide to "making safe" weapons found or confiscated by enforcement officers, now shows signs of wanting to be a poor man's "All the World's Infantry Weapons", with attempts to keep up with the newest releases in commercial/military firearms development. Particularly unfortunate is the removal of information concerning many pre-1945 self-loading handguns from this second edition. Such weapons, purchased, imported, or smuggled throughout the world, are some of the most likely to be encountered by law enforcement and customs officers, especially in European countries. Also irritating is the change in listing the weapons. In the first edition, weapons were organised alphabetically by manufacturer/designation. In this second edition, they are organised by nationality. If you knew nothing about the weapon, would it not be handier to be able to look it up by manufacturer or designation, as they appeared on the weapon? Not all manufacturers stamp country of origin on their products..... It is also disappointing to see the continuing trend of captions misidentifying the photographed weapon (eg. pages 69 and 322). Whilst this is not life threatening in itself, it is a credibility issue. Hopefully, the trend towards including support weapons, as in this edition, will not continue to it's logical extreme. Though including anti-material rifles and heavy machineguns, whilst omitting shotguns (even just the military ones), grenade launchers, and the various easily concealed disposable anti-armor weapons, seems a little inconsistent, given the stated purpose of this guide. The publishers have the resources. They would much better achieve the book's stated aim, by focusing on the weapons most likely to be encountered, rather than those which most would not attempt to acquire.

Rating:
Summary: Best when used in conjunction with the 1st Edition
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Nice pictures, never before heard of weapons, OK research
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Nice pictures, never before heard of weapons, OK research
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent recognition guide, with photos and all
Review: this guide follows the jane tradition in recognition booklets. good information, tells all the specs about the weapons. packed full of sub guns, machine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, and virtually all small arms.

Rating:
Summary: A Guide to Significant Military Guns
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference
Review: This is an excellent reference book for the gun enthusiast. It includes one picture per model shown, specifications such as weight, length, etc., safety, loading and unloading instructions, etc. I personally would have liked more info, specially regarding countries in which it is in service, overall performance, etc.