Gunsmithing: Pistols & Revolvers

Patrick Sweeney is a prolific writer and accomplished gunsmith and very capable of passing that wisdom to the reader. This book is slightly dated and concentrates on some very esoteric gunsmithing functions for the average hobbyist or even professional gunsmith. Sweeney has always had an obvious preference for the 1911 style of semi-automatic and tends to lean his advice toward those guns. Granted, the 1911 is probably one of the more gunsmithed firearms out there, and maybe one of the most popular handguns, but many recent handguns don't benefit from the same work.On the other hand, Sweeney does approach projects in a rather logical process, determining the most likely cause of a malfunction and working to correct it. Some custom work is covered,, mostly with sights, grips and tuning your handgun. The proper workspace, tools and basic procedures are covered and there are several specific firearms, including the Glock and 1911 as well as Smith and Wesson revolvers, discussed. Overall it's a must-have book for the hobby gunsmith and many professionals, but not the only one you should have.

I knew very little about guns before this book. I know a lot more than I did a day ago but in no way do I think I am a gunsmith or will be in a year after reading this book. I think you learn a lot of general workings of a gun and I know how to clean and maintain my gun a whole lot better. I do not think I am going to weld or machine any gun which there are chapters in this book for,but I think I could identify some minor problems and take a shot at repairing it. Also it shows what to look for when buying a used gun,and identify what some bad reloads look like. I did not know some helpful info about certain popular guns either. To me it was alright. I am going to get some more books and videos specifically for certain guns. Overall I was satisfied with my purchase. I feel I got a good amount of helpful info and it got me interested in gunsmithing a whole lot more.

This review is for the 3rd Edition (Dec 2009). I've read the book from cover to cover, and when all is said and done, I'm really not sure what to make of it.1. This is not a textbook. It doesn't teach you anything about firearm internals, design, function, nomenclature, etc. You're assumed to already know that stuff, so this is certainly not a book for the novice.2. Upon thinking it over, though, I can't really call this a "how to" book, either. Oh sure, there are descriptions of techniques on how to do certain things with your pistols/revolvers, but the steps are glossed over, often times vague, and sometimes lacking in detail. In fact, a good way to describe the procedures presented in this book is to say that they're the condensed Reader's Digest version, leaving it to the reader to fill in the remainder.3. Speaking of "Digest"... I did not know this at the time I ordered, but this book is published by Gun Digest. You either love Gun Digest or you hate it, and I fall into the latter category; so had I known this in advance, I probably would have opted for something else.4. I have to say that this book is exactly what I was expecting, but unfortunately that is not meant as a compliment. The author, Patrick Sweeney, is a regular contributor to gun industry periodicals such as Handguns Magazine (to which I subscribe). He has been writing articles for decades; and as I was reading through this book, I couldn't help but get the feeling that the contents were simply a conglomeration of several of his past articles that were thrown together and loosely (poorly) tied together. The cohesion from one topic to the next--or sometimes even from one paragraph to the next--wasn't always there. At times, the subject flow takes wild tangents that leave you going, "Huh? Where did that come from?"5. It's a pet peave of mine, I admit, but it irks me to no end when, say, you take a pistol class and then have to listen to the instructor talk about "when I was on patrol we had this one incident where I...." 90% of the time it's irrelevant. In this book, there was a fair amount of "reminiscing" (for lack of a better word), or personal taste. I really don't care what your pet bowling pin gun is, or what your favorite practice load is. Just stick to the dang topic. It could have been a lot worse, but it also could have been trimmed down a bit (IMO).6. I also hate "walking advertisements". Most of the time whenever the author mentioned a particular brand of a product or a particular person, it was for good reason. On a few occasions, however, it seemed like the author would mention something either to name drop or because he's getting an endorsement check.7. I mentioned earlier about the book seeming to be a conglomeration of articles, and so it was with the photos accompanying the text also. Most of the photos were useful, showing a snapshot of a particular step in a procedure or a critical component of a certain pistol model. However, some of the procedural steps were out-of-sequence. Also, the majority of photos appear before the text that references them, sometimes pages before. So as you're looking at the photos pertaining to one portion of text, suddenly the next photo has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand, and then you realize later that it pertains to the subject covered in the next section. They could really be laid out better, and the unnecessary ones discarded (or replaced with something better). BTW, the photos and captions also add to the gut feeling that the whole book was constructed from several past articles.8. There were huge voids between useful chapters. I remember the first two chapters were introductory, then the 3rd chapter actually got into gunsmithing and began by listing some tools you would need, how to properly polish things using cloth-backed sandpaper and mineral spirits, etc; and then "somehow" it wasn't until like Chapter 15 that it started talking about actual gunsmithing again. When I realized what had happened, all I could do was scratch my head, and I'm still not sure what was in between. For example, there is a chapter devoted to power tools, and the brundt of the chapter is: don't invest in a lathe or mill due to the expense--not just the tool, but the stand, cutters, lubricant, etc--unless you REALLY think you can get a return on your investment. What you should do instead is "Take your pistol to a professional gunsmith whenever you need lathe or mill work done, or to a machinist who understands the nuances of gunsmithing." Same with the chapter on welding... "Find a welder you trust and let him do all your welding work." Heck, even when he does explain a procedure he will often qualify it with, "...but the cost of the fixture and tools is more than if you would just take your pistol to a professional gunsmith." Ironically, then in the later chapters of the book he'll say things like, "To do such-and-such you need to put the workpiece in your mill's vise clamp and use an end cutter to...." I don't know, it all just seemed weird and contradictory.9. I realize that up to this point, I've been rather critical of the book, but it was not without its merits. Once the "huge void" mentioned in Item 8 was bridged, then there was a wealth of information contained in the pages. The sad part is that, as I expected, most of it had to do with gunsmithing a 1911; or to be more precise, FITTING PARTS to a 1911. Nevertheless, Mr. Sweeney has been around the block a few times, and there is a lot of useful information in the last half (third?) of the book. FYI - About 60% of (the useful part of) the book is devoted to the 1911, about 25% to S&W revolvers, and the remaining 15% scattered about (Glock, Beretta 92/M9, Makarov, and CZ-52 as best as I can remember, and not much of any of them).Okay, this review got out of control, so let's just jump to the chase here. IMHO, I think you could learn more about gunsmithing by picking up one of the AGI Armorers Courses on DVD than you can from this book. I mean, it's a bad comparison because they're two different beasts (both in content and format), but the ratio of the amount of information received from the DVD for the time invested watching it compared to the information received from reading this book is much higher, albeit at roughly twice the cost. It's all trade-offs I guess, and I reiterate that this is just my personal opinion; others will disagree. One thing is certain, though... I will not be purchasing Mr. Sweeney's "Gunsmithing Rifles" book!

I've been looking for a while to find a book on revolver smithing. Most gunsmithing boils down to basic machinist skills, but there are a whole lot of details that are easier to learn than figure out. This book describes tasks and custom tools in adequate detail for the savy to know exactly what he's getting into. For those with the capability, most of the tasks/tools can be done/made with basic milling and turning equipment. Definitely worth the $5.

Understanding the mechanics of weapons and how they are assemblied put toggether and modified can only make you a bette shooter and weapon owner..Some peeps get a kick out the bang and only the bang. Safe Careful and NRA instructions do not do justice to the engineering of weapons or the lack of engineering ...Good reference

I wanted the book to specifically learn more about the 1911 but unfortunately, for me, I had it delivered to my Kindle - big mistake now I will go back and see if I can get it in hard copy.Excellent book for the revolver and/or semi-auto enthusiast with good details and tips from an experienced gunsmith.

Overall, it's a good book. The chapter on troubleshooting is worth the price of the book, since what was going wrong with my revolver wouldn't have been something I would have looked for.I do agree with other reviewers that it could have been clearer. Simple arrows drawn on some of the pictures would do a world of good. Some of those pictures have captions like "You can see here that..." to which my response is, "I wish I could! All I see is a tangle of little metal pieces!" He could also do a better job explaining jargon on the function of things like "hands" and "trigger return springs."It can't be your only book on the subject. You'll have to augment it with others to get the whole story.

A really good book and resource

This book makes a good addition to any library but especially for those interested in the correct maintenance of their firearms and want to 'take it to the next level'. Very suitable as a gift.

Per la manutenzione e le messe a punto delle mie armi leggo spesso libri. Gunsmithing Pistols & Revolvers aiuta a migliorare la propria attrezzatura ma non è il manuale definitivo in merito.

Great no holds barred book on pistol smithing. Sweeney even added material on other than mainstream pistols. Now in the next edition if he could cover how to fit a Star model B hammer and safety I would be really blown away!

Moyen