Inspection, ARMS!

Starting Your Arms Library – Part I

By Tim Prince · Originally published June 2017 · pp. 12–13

I was recently asked to provide a book review for Civil War News, and this got me thinking about the books in my rather extensive arms library. As a reader of this column, I assume that you have at least a passing interest in Civil War era firearms and might be a collector of those arms, or may be thinking about diving into the hobby of arms collecting. As a result, I thought it might helpful to some of you if I put together a list of books that I consider indispensable references for those interested in Civil War arms, particularly for the novice or budding collector. The result of this exercise is a list of 10 “must have” books for the Civil War gun collector. In general, the books listed below are rather broad topic, general information books and are not the extremely detailed reference works that a collector who specializes in a specific make, model or type of firearm would rely upon for detailed information. In fact, I specifically avoided suggesting any book that was limited to a specific make or model; if you have no interest in Colt firearms, you probably don’t need a book that only covers Colts. However, many of the books below provide at least a little bit of information about Colt firearms. The books are listed in no particular order, with the exception of the first one on the list, which should be your first purchase if you do not have an arms library. In fact, if you are a Civil War arms collector and you don’t own a copy of Flayderman’s, I might have to revoke your collector’s credentials! Some of the books below are out of print, but can usually be found on various used book sites or via Amazon’s rare book service. Shop carefully, and you won’t have to pay an arm and leg for most of them. #1 Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Arms… and their values, 9th Edition, by Norm Flayderman. If you collect (or plan to collect) Civil War era guns, you need this book.

Flayderman’s guide has been the “bible” of antique gun collectors (and dealers) since the first edition came out in 1977. In the ensuing three decades the guide has only become larger and filled with more information and more current pricing. Although the last edition to be published came out in 2007, and the pricing is now somewhat dated, the information is still quite useful. The book is laid out logically, so you can quickly find the gun you need to look up. Additionally, the bibliography provided in each section can be used to put together a top-notch arms library. Norm’s advice to collectors, both novice and advanced, remains as sage today as it was when it was first written, and is worth the price of admission on its own. With Norm’s passing in 2013, the future of the Flayderman’s Guide is uncertain, and there may never be a 10th Edition. No matter, the entries provide sufficient information to verify markings, configuration and basic facts on just about any American gun made prior to 1900, and a few that were made well into the 20th century. #2 Civil War Guns by William B. Edwards. This was one of the first books to cover Civil War small arms in a fairly comprehensive manner. Whether your interest is in rifles, muskets, carbines or handguns, there is something for you in this book. This was also the first Civil War arms book to dedicate a reasonable amount of space to imported arms, an important area that was given short shrift in most other “comprehensive” works until the last few decades. While some of the information is dated and some more recent scholarship provides more accurate information in some areas, for a basic overall book about Civil War small arms, and the procurement process of both sides, this book remains a classic and should be on everyone’s book shelf. #3 American Military Shoulder Arms Volume III by George Moller. While the two previous books provide broad, general information, this detailed volume provides almost any information you need about American Civil War era percussion (or percussion conversion) muzzle loading small arms made at U.S. arsenals or by U.S. contractors. While breechloading arms and imported arms are outside the scope of this work, the amount of detailed information about the arms covered makes this book indispensable. Covered are all of the various percussion alterations of earlier pattern flintlock rifles and muskets, armory pattern rifles and muskets and non-armory contract arms. Some of this information was previously only available in rather obscure locations. For example, the treatment of all the Harpers Ferry alterations of Mississippi rifles to long-range sighted with saber bayonets was previously only available in a single source if you had Howard Madaus’ book, The Warner Collector Guide to American Longarms, a long out of print and rather esoteric tome. Similarly, the information on the many variations of Eli Whitney Jr’s “Good & Serviceable” arms, as well as his various “Enfield” pattern arms was only available in Volume II, No 1 (1988) of ARMAX, The Journal of the Winchester Arms Museum. This very scarce and highly coveted work (also by Howie Madaus) is very difficult to find, but now this information is available in Mr. Moller’s book. If you have any interest in earlier pattern American military arms, then you should consider buying all three volumes in Mr. Moller’s series. The first two books were out of print for a long time and became very expensive, but with publication of Volume III, Volumes I and II were reprinted as trade paperbacks and are now quite affordable. If you have a real interest in the American made percussion muzzleloading rifles and muskets of the Civil War period, you need this book. #4 Firearms of the Confederacy by Claude Fuller & Richard Steuart. Originally published in 1944, Firearms of the Confederacy was the first comprehensive book to cover this daunting subject. It is worth noting that it was written at a time when Confederate veterans were still alive, and the hobby of Civil War arms collecting was very much in its infancy. Most of the guns that are used to illustrate the book were from the authors’ personal collections, and many are now in public collections. Claude Fuller’s collection is now part of the National Park Service’s collection and most of it is displayed at the Chickamauga NPS Visitor’s Center. Richard Steuart’s collection now resides at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond, where much of it is on display as well. Like Edward’s Civil War Guns, some information in this book is now dated and some is no longer accurate. However, this remains a very good introduction to the subject of Confederate small arms that is well written and covers the subject adequately without getting mired in too much minutia. #5 Civil War Pistols by John D. McAulay. This is a fairly short book by one of the leading scholars in the field of 19th century military arms, especially Civil War arms. It covers the most widely used U.S. handguns of the conflict like the various Colts and Remingtons, odder revolvers like the Pettingill and Savage and even includes imported pistols like the Lefaucheux, Raphael and Perrin. While it does not cover Confederate made or purchased handguns, it does a very nice job with the pistols used by the Union, and manages to straddle the line between providing enough information without getting lost in the weeds of too much detail. Any collector would do well to own every book written by Mr. McAuley on the subject of small arms, and he is the only author to be listed twice on my list of the 10 essential books for a Civil War arms collector. Due to space limitations, I will continue this article next month, when I will cover books #6-#10 from my list. Tim Prince is a full-time dealer in fine & collectible military arms from the Colonial Period through WWII. He operates College Hill Arsenal (www.collegehillarsenal. com), a web-based antique arms retail site. A long time collector & researcher, Tim has been a contributing author to two major book projects about Civil War era arms including The English Connection and an upcoming book on southern retailer marked and Confederate used shotguns. Tim is also a featured Arms & Militaria appraiser on the PBS Series Antiques Roadshow.