Gunsmithing: Pistols & Revolvers Paperback – December 3, 2009

I have a number of Sweeney's textbooks and I have always enjoyed each one. They are very detailed and have a lot of good instructional, detailed pictures. Makes for learning gunsmithing fun and expanding my knowledge easier. Will be getting more Sweeney books in the future.

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.

ANOTHER one of Patrick Sweeney's great books. He explains everything in detail,with great photos.He also tells you some of the tools needed for certain projects. Thank You!!! Iwould recommend PATRICK SWEENEY'S book's to anyone interested in firearms,and firearms maintenence. THANK YOU !!!!

The book is very well written and provides the reader with sufficient information for anyone who wants to learn to do basic maintenance on their handguns. There are allot of step-by-step examples in the book. What the book does not do is replace the need for a competant gunsmith for more complex problems.

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.

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.

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.

Very easy reading, Patrick Sweeney breaks down the steps into very easy to follow. Great book for the beginning gun smith