The Gun Digest Book of Combat Handgunnery, 6th Edition

This review if for The Gun Digest Book of Combat Handgunnery, Paperback, 6th Edition by Massad Ayoob.Before I begin the review I want to note this book is written for those who already understand the basics of guns. Before reading you should know a pistol from a revolver and understand how each works. It would also be helpful to understand common gun terms and abbreviations. If you are searching for a beginners text look at Guns 101: A Beginner's Guide to Buying and Owning Firearms by David Steier. After reading the Gun101 book you should have no problem understanding this one. On to the review...First the good.The author is from a law enforcement background so he has daily real world experience the topic of handguns, daily carry, and gun combat. The information in this book is sound and well grounded. The author sites reputable sources and in issues with controversy he makes the case for both sides leaving you to make the final judgment. In cases where good practice has been decided he says so and explains exactly why you do what you do.A wide variety of topics are covered in this book. This includes gun, ammo, and accessory selection, and close quarters combat techniques. See the Table of contents in the preview for a full list. I found it very helpful that the he discusses non-optimal hardware and attack situations in detail. While an attack sometimes happens on a warm sunny day it just as often happen on a cold moonless night and you need to be prepared for both.I particularity like the in depth descriptions on hardware because he gives the real strengths and downfalls of their design. These little tips are the sort of stuff you can pick up from the guys at the range but it much easier and faster to read it here.Many high quality gray-scale pictures are provided to make the points in the text clear. If you're in doubt what the author means a quick glance at the pictures puts you right back on track.I found when I was done reading this book I knew more about the subject of handguns in general then most people I met at the range. And while no book will make you an expert overnight this book is a solid foundation and you'll find you will have deeper conversations with more experienced shooters and ask better questions to your range master and gunsmith.Now the downside.This 6th edition book is from 2007, but this is really a lightly updated 5th edition from 2002. While much of the content such as safe handling etc is timeless other things like the weapons mentioned and pictured are getting dated.There are some gaps in coverage.I feel Glocks aren't given enough attention. I don't say this because I'm Glock fan boy, I say this because they are by far the most purchased gun for concealed carry today.I was very disappointed this book has virtually no coverage of handguns under .38 / 9mm. While not optimal, many people carry .22 / .25 / .32 etc for self defense or as backup guns, but almost no effort is put forth by the author as to how you maximize the use of these anemic guns. I realize these smaller caliber are somewhat ineffective but would like to see the data presented for them like he did with the larger calibers so you can see exactly effective or ineffective they really are.It should also noted on the opposite end of the spectrum .50 is not covered in detail either. Given that .50 is almost exclusively used in hunting or combat and the word “combat” appears in the title one would expect some data to be presented.I found it slightly irritating that the author felt the need to sprinkle uncommon terms like “fait accompli” throughout. Maybe I'm not as sharp as most readers but I didn't know what this meant off hand. In most cases you can gather the meaning from the surrounding text so it's more an annoyance then a real issue.There is little coverage of target shooting here. Given the title this isn't a bad thing but I wanted to mention it. So if you're looking for target shooting tips this book isn't for you.So why 4 stars?The number of stars was a hard decision for me. The one star reduction is for the light coverage of Glocks and non-existent coverage of smaller caliber guns. I feel this a big issue. I was very tempted to knock another star off for the material being dated but I didn't. To be fair, prospective readers can see the 2007 publication date and can't expect data on then newest guns.Overall.This is the best book on handguns in general I have read to date. I would buy this again and I would recommend this to a friend. There are probably better subject specific books out there but this is a good general reference for anyone looking to take that second step in the use of handguns. More experienced users may find much of this a review but I think almost anyone will learn something for this book.

This is a tougher review than my review of Tactical Pistol Shooting. I will start by saying, I liked this book. Rather, I liked what I learned in reading this book. The author clearly knows his stuff but he is going to let you know he knows his stuff. In other words, he goes around the corner to give you something he could have handed you through the window.For example, he gives you the history of several types of firearms and devotes a fair amount of material to the proper pre-purchase evaluation of a used pistol. After you digest all that information, you find out what most experienced police departments will tell you - for a personal defense pistol, go buy a glock. If you desire to carry a back up gun (and the author feels you should) go buy the smaller version of that same caliber glock (longer glock magazines from larger frame glocks fit smaller frame glock pistols in the same caliber). Used glocks are probably fine. If you can't afford a glock, get the best weapon you can afford. (In fairness to the author, he states that the best weapon for you is the one you have the most confidence in.) As for me, I have spent a lot of money and time on various semi-autos, and I could have saved both by starting with a glock.The bottom line is this book is chalked full of great information...you are just going to have to read a lot of trivia to extract the jewels.

This book will allow you to look at what is available in the current field of combat handguns. The book covers pistols, revolvers, larger frame.service size handguns, compacts, subcompacts, and little "mouse" guns. Also covered is the most popular self defense calibers and suggestions on the best loads for your favorite caliber. Also covered, as a primer really, how to carry your weapon and some product suggestions. There is also a section introing the reader to drawing your weapon and shooting your weapon. Some shooting sports is also covered.Mr Ayoob has done a great job of putting together a complete book on the top choices in handgun seceltion, caliber choice, and load offerings from his own persoanl experiance and from other well know professionals in the shooting/defense field. There is $400 to $100 handguns in here, something for everyone's budget. The book is ment to be a primer for the novice, but experiance shooters can learn also.Alot of the chapters are sometimes a "refresher" from Mr Ayoob's other books on shooting and self defense. I've read all of his books and I haven't found a bad one yet. The beginner is well advised to search out his other books as well.

This is a great book for a beginner/intermediate shooter who is thinking of purchasing a handgun (or has purchased a handun(s)), holsters, belts and other asociated clothes and gear. The author is obviously experienced and the style the book is written in gives lots of information in an easy to read and understandable style. This is the second book I've read by Ayoob and I think he links up the old-school shooters with the new-school shooters very well. By this, I mean that an older (but new) shooter like me can learn what the major developments in handgunnery have been over the past 30-50 years reading this book. The book contains a lot of information on both new and more traditional handguns and gives the reader the info to choose a weapon (and ammunition) according to the look, feel, recoil, ammunition, affordability, use (and even wardrobe)that goes with such a major life decision. The book also answers a lot of questions on the appropriate concealing, deploying and use of a weapons in the average everday situatuions that a citizen finds themselves in. Great read!!

Learned a lot from this book