Blue Book of Airguns

[Garvin]

The Beeman Blue Book 8th edition is now on sale. I just got my copy and have had a flick through the bits of greatest interest to me. I have to say I'm disappointed so far because quite a few of the errors and omissions that I noticed in the 7th ed are still there.

Some of the values of guns are unbelievable too - occasionally even laughable - which further undermines it as a book of record. It's a shame because there's lots of good stuff in there and a bit more humility in the production - for instance one of the editors perhaps coming on the BBS and asking for corrections, suggestions and extra information - would have gone a long way to sorting out the above issues.

There are many notables in the airgun collecting world who have contributed and you can see their influence in some excellent introductory articles on the manufacturers. But as a reference work it still lacks the rigorous elimination of mistakes that you might expect from a book that has gone through so many editions.

Just one example will give a flavour of the omissions in this book, which raise questions about the quality of the basic research: there is no mention of the pre-War Haenel Model V, or the junior and other variations on this model. It's as if this gun never existed! I can't think of any excuse for such an omission.

[Josie & John]

The Blue book series is a great idea and has brought to light many models previously unknown to UK airgunners. However, there is a distinct lack of photos of many of the guns and major variations. I would also have liked to see more text and maybe less on valuations. Perhaps something more akin to Dennis Hiller's guides would be ideal.

Kind regards,
John

[Garvin]

The Blue book series is a great idea and has brought to light many models previously unknown to UK airgunners. However, there is a distinct lack of photos of many of the guns and major variations. I would also have liked to see more text and maybe less on valuations. Perhaps something more akin to Dennis Hiller's guides would be ideal.

Kind regards,
John

Agreed John. But I've had a better read of it now and the damn thing is riddled with stupid errors. Even the co-author's introduction (ie. R Beeman) refers to "WHG Smith's encyclopedia...." (not WHB....). I mean, purlease, who did the proofreading?

Mistakes carried over from previous editions - for example repeats of the same pic to illustrate to the two MGR rifles, a pre-WW1 BSA pic to illustrate an inter-War BSA CS model - have been reproduced, despite forum threads highlighting these errors in the past.

Other entries include some questionable 'facts' about model dates or features, with no attribution of the source, while others include some variations of a model while omitting others altogether in a rather random way.

Some of the valuations where it advises, eg. 'add 20% for xxx variation' appear to have been plucked from the air. One example of this is the Webley Service Mk2, series 3, where it says "add 10% for an extra .22 or .177 barrel". I find it hard to believe that has ever been true and it certainly isn't now!

The worst thing is, like I said before, that a bit of humility before going to press and consulting more widely with people in the know could have prevented these mistakes in the first place.

[slug-gun]

The Blue book series are typically American - big, brash and too ambitious in terms of the guns they try and cover.
Also and most relevantly they are pretty ignorant about European items, hence why the information is so thin.
The values are of course a complete nonsense and should be disregarded in many cases.
However one should not knock such too heavily, I guess it is better than nothing, and good for identifying unusual American air guns, but a 'catch-all' product such as this is always going to disappoint those who want really specific and accurate information.
It's a good job it was written before the 'British' (!) Petroleum disaster, in which case all English guns would no doubt have been air brushed completely!

[Jenny Dipple]

Do not forget that these are American market values; and most guns have a different name in the USA compared to world and European markets! Regards Jenny Dipple

[Garvin]

Points taken Chris and Jenny D. I don't really feel the fact that this book is American in origin is much of an excuse for ignorance, especially because several experts on European airguns are American themselves and are visible on the airgun forums.

I know several of them - more than one of whom is actually listed in the Blue Book's acknowledgments - who could knock out most mistakes about German guns in a matter of minutes. But they weren't invited to or, worse, their advice was disregarded.

I agree one shouldn't knock too heavily. But they've had seven editions to get their act together and on the evidence of the eighth still have a long way to go. I've just spent £20 on it so I'm feeling miffed! TBH I'd rather spend £40 and be confident it was 99.9% accurate (or better).

[DCL_dave]

Jean Marck has made it into the Blue Book

[fat man]

Hi Guys, where did you get youre copy from please!

[coburn]

I flicked thru a copy at the Bisley Arms fair last month and agree its pretty limited on info.

[Garvin]

Hi Guys, where did you get youre copy from please!

Plenty available through UK sellers here:

Abebooks.com

[ogilkes]

Does it still credit Webley with havig a modern computer controlled production line?

[fat man]

Thanks Garvin. atb Dave.