Category Archives: Reference Books

Reference Books

Favorite Book on Assault Rifles – “The World’s Assault Rifles” by Gary Johnston and Thomas Nelson

This book rounds out my two most used reference sources (the other being Iannamico’s “AK-47: The Grim Realer) when it comes to looking for photos on AKs plus other assault rifles.

Coming in at over eight pounds and 1200 pages, this book has a ton of photos, very clear text and is organized by country.   The book covers over 500 weapons from 51 countries with over 1,000 photos in fact and was a massive research effort.

Without a doubt, it covers a ton of material and what I like is that it is well organized.  There is a good table of contents up front and a detailed index at the end.  You can go search by country alphabetically even.  This is one of those books, where you can even just flip it open and learn something.

There are special sections on operating principles, ammunition as well as more detailed write ups on certain weapons of interest such as the German FG-42 and Sturmgewehr, the Russian AK family, and US arms such as the BAR, Lewis, M1 Carbine and M16/M4 family.

This is definitely an excellent reference book

 

AK & Related Rifles, Reference Books

Best AK Reference Book – AK-47: The Grim Reaper 2nd Edition

Folks ask me what is the best reference book to learn more about AK rifles and the variations that are made all over the world. The Grim Reaper Second Edition book by Frank Iannamico is, hands down, my number one recommendation and I say that based on owning somewhere over a dozen books on the AK rifle.

The first version of the book was very good and with the second he improved the guidance and increased the number of photos.  In it, he provides:

  • Development of assault rifles
  • Production facilities in the USSR/Russia
  • The Russian AK-47 – Production, Type 1, Type 2, AKM and AKS
  • The Russian AK-74 – including the base AK-74, AKS-74, AK-74N, AK-74M, AKS-74U
  • The AK-100 series and AN-4
  • Related Russian AK designs including the RPK
  • AKs produced in Warsaw Pact and other countires – the coverage by country is something I find very valuable
  • AKs in America
  • Accessories including magazines, bayonets, optics and more 

This is definitely a book you will want to add to your library.  I literally keep it on the right side of my desk for quick access when I need to look something up. 

The bad news is that the price of these books always go up. The first edition did and the second has as well. As of 2/19/2024, the second edition is going for around $364 in new condition and the first edition is going for around $330. Why? Simple – supply and demand. With both books they produced a limited number and then everyone wants a copy because they are that good.

There are some good alternatives but they do not have the sheer breadth and depth of coverage that the Iannamico books do:

There are plenty of other books including user manuals, technical manuals, buyer guides and how-to building books that I’m not listing. The above is really to give you historical information to better appreciate the design.

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