New Reference: Training Rifles of Third Reich Germany

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  • mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    -Let me preface this by admitting I love books. Lived in the library as a kid and the house is filled with reading materials. So for me to get excited by a book it's gotta be special. Robert Simpson and friends have been working on this reference for many years. Numerous trips to Germany, gathering lots of info from the collecting community and historical documents. No stone un-turned. The German training rifle community has been talking about and waiting for this roll out for a long time. I first heard about Bob Simpson gathering info for this book in 2012. So it's a long time coming. And worth the wait!
    -692 color pages in a massive reference work. You better do some upper body work at the gym 'cause this puppy is heavy. The dust jacket is embossed and a work of art of it's own. I don't know how he got this printed and can still break even selling it for $90. The only reference books that come close are Leo Antaris' Astra and Star pistol works.
    -Along with every possible 3rd Reich training rifle there are air rifles, .22 conversion kits and training rifles of foreign countries used by the Germans in WWII. Even goes into serious detail about the schools and organizations that used them. Tons of period photos and propaganda. As I close in on my 60th birthday I'm not sure I'll have enough time left on this Earth to read this thing cover to cover!
    -Those MDS members who have read many of my threads here know I'm big on spending to acquire knowledge (Knowledge Is King!). This reference is an easy buy if you're interested in German training rifles and the history of their use.
     

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    Jul 1, 2012
    5,711
    ... I don't know how he got this printed and can still break even selling it for $90. The only reference books that come close are Leo Antaris' Astra and Star pistol works...

    ... both of which cost a good deal more than this one :)

    Even though the subject is well outside my (current) interests, I'll probably buy this just because it looks like such a great reference :)
    I'm like you, books are the foundation... thanks for the thumbs-up review.
     

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    I will say this about Bob Simpson, he's one of us, a hard core collector. Love that he prices his books affordably. I got my new copy of Scott Meadow's US Military Automatic Pistols, Vol 1, for only $100, well below what everyone else sells them for. Seem to remember seeing a new P38 reference in the works too. Don't know if Simpson is publishing it.
     
    Jul 1, 2012
    5,711
    We've been eagerly waiting for the new P.38 book to be printed... for a few years now.

    from one of the guys on P38 forum a few weeks ago:
    "I know one of the translators and his part of the work has been turned in to Simpson's as they are the publisher."
    Apparently the .22 Trainer book had higher priority (understandable) so with that published, hopefully the P38 book will be soon - for real this time :)
     

    bpm32

    Active Member
    Nov 26, 2010
    675
    I will say this about Bob Simpson, he's one of us, a hard core collector. Love that he prices his books affordably. I got my new copy of Scott Meadow's US Military Automatic Pistols, Vol 1, for only $100, well below what everyone else sells them for. Seem to remember seeing a new P38 reference in the works too. Don't know if Simpson is publishing it.

    Not to derail, but if you're looking for Volumes 2 and 3 of Meadows, the NRA Museum bookstore still had all three volumes a few weeks ago. I got them there a few years ago and I want to say they were $70 back then (don't think the prices have changed). I try to stop in there when I'm in the area, since they always have weird stuff I never knew existed. Last cool book I found there was "US Military Match and Marksmanship Automatic Pistols".
     
    Jul 1, 2012
    5,711
    Got my "Training Rifles" copy today, ordered it Thursday eve so that's pretty fast.
    Sprang for one of the deluxe, signed 1 of 100 'cause I figure it may be a collector's item itself someday...
    look at prices on some of the limited edition ref books nowadays :)

    Also grabbed a copy of Warren Buxton's book on Russel Catron pistols, looks to be pretty interesting
    (and has a chapter on the Kimball pistol, pretty much the only real source on these).
     

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    We've been eagerly waiting for the new P.38 book to be printed... for a few years now.

    from one of the guys on P38 forum a few weeks ago:
    "I know one of the translators and his part of the work has been turned in to Simpson's as they are the publisher."
    Apparently the .22 Trainer book had higher priority (understandable) so with that published, hopefully the P38 book will be soon - for real this time :)

    This is what I was thinking of. Hope it's worth the wait. Simpson's mentioned this title was next on the priority list so if we're fortunate it'll get to press before the year is out.
     

    MilsurpDan

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 1, 2012
    2,217
    Frederick County
    These reference book posts made me realize how little I have in the way of gun books. In the past few weeks though I've picked up the new Carcano book, an old copy of "The German Rifle" and I have the Gewehr 88 book on the way from Amazon. German Trainer's aren't really my thing but for $90 I might pick it up sometime in the future.
     

    MilsurpDan

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 1, 2012
    2,217
    Frederick County
    By the way, it might be a good time to grab the Karabiner 98k & Kriegsmodell books before they sell out. I ordered the second to last set. These are supposedly the best books on the K98k. The Second Volume in the set is coming out this month but the authors (two of the most knowledgeable K98k collectors around) are not planning on printing the Volume 1 or 3 anymore. It's expensive but supposedly it's worth it if you're into K98k's like I am.

    https://www.thirdpartypress.com/category-s/1632.htm
     

    Dave_E71

    Active Member
    Nov 11, 2009
    110
    I received my copy today and so far it looks really nice. I ordered it last Sunday and in the "notes" I asked if Mr Simpson would sign my copy. Not only did he sign it, he also personalized it. I think it's pretty cool that he took the time to do that.
     

    simpsonltd

    Member
    Sep 22, 2017
    1
    Galesburg, IL 61401
    Thank you!

    Thank you for your excellent review mawkie! We are excited to see this book come to fruition after 30 years of research and it is fantastic to hear collectors are enjoying it. Thank you for the comparison to the Antaris books, which we also worked on.

    (Just to clarify, the trainer book was delivered to our publisher in February and we immediately began the P.38 translation project, so there was no overlap or delay.)

    As far as the P.38 book, things are looking great! Our final edit was submitted to the authors with requests for some minor clarifications. We are awaiting their response plus some additional content for the English version. Once we receive that, we will apply those changes to the master file and they will send it to print. The editing work was VERY intensive- 600 pages of text, photos, and charts were manually proofed without the luxury of spell check due to design program compatibility issues. But every book has its unique challenges. That being said, we promise the results are well worth the wait! The level of overall detail, analysis of variations, and volume of serial numbers recorded in Alexander Krutzek's work are really impressive and will be quite valuable to collectors.
     
    Last edited by a moderator:
    Jul 1, 2012
    5,711
    Awesome news on the P.38 book. Much anticipated!
    A lot of P.38 collectors (like me) champing at the bit to hand you money for it :)

    I haven't had a chance to do more than glance through the .22 Trainer book and it's an impressive piece of work.
     

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