Update 26th January, 2010—  

• Wishing all our Friends and Visitors a Happy & Prosperous 2010! 

• Larry Riling of Ray Riling Arms Books advised us in November that he had declared bankruptcy with prime assets such as his apartment in Bridgeport PA under foreclosure. This is a sad end to a fine tradition commenced by his grandfather, Ray Riling, decades ago, and carried on my his late father Joe. Larry was absent from the last Tulsa OK show.
  More recent news however is more concerning... revealing substantial unpaid debts to many publishers & booksellers. Larry's www.rayrilingarmsbooks.com appears to be closed down, a more recent Amazon site www.amazon.com/shops/buckscountybooks2893 seems to have much of Larry's stock, maybe set up in another name? Buyers need to exercise caution before sending funds to Riling, links have been removed from our Recommended Websites page. A Google or Yahoo search for 'ray riling arms books' will show many disgruntled customers who sent money and received no books or explanation. See the internet ripoffreport, complaintsboard, &c. for more details. Caveat emptor

• Thai Burma Railway at Kanchanaburi is online now, just visit www.tbrconline.com
  The adjacent war cemetery is beautifully maintained, with the graves of so many British, Australian, Dutch and other servicemen who died as prisoners of war.

• We are now back home after US new books promotions and a detour via Canada. See our Gun Shows page for schedule. New titles in Oz, Europe & North America... 2009 'Collector', SAIS #23 (Lee-Enfield Parts Catalogue), 6 new Handbooks (Carcano, MAS 36, US Krag, Beretta, Hi-Standard & Glock Pistols) and Graeme Wright's 3rd edition of  'Shooting the British Double Rifle'. A new title is 'Australian Antique Arms - The Best of John Swinfield',  314 pages with 8 colour plates, A$59.50 or US$49.50. SAIS & Handbook series are priced in line with previous issues at A$12 and $8 ea., or US$10 and $6.

• John Swinfield's book launch was well attended, about 120 members at the AACSA meeting in late August. Ian Cummins, MC at the meeting, is shown introducing John, seated alongside the Shooters Party MP, Roy Smith, at far left.
   

• New book... 'Military Sun Helmets of the World' - www.militarysunhelmets.com by Peter Suciu in the USA and Stuart Bates in Australia. A full-size A4 hard cover of 93 pages in full colour, this makes a welcome addition for the uniform collector. The British issue is well enough known, but Suciu & Bates add the French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Belgian, Spanish, American, Japanese, South American and Vietnamese models too! Reasonably priced at AUD$45 and $35 in the USA. To order, go to their website, although we have purchased some stock ourselves for Australia. Contact Ian at idskennerton@hotmail.com

• Another new book of interest to many of us, even though it is not specifically about collecting... Ron Owen's 'The Range Officers Handbook' is much more than the title.
  On shooting, reloading, safe handling and general history of British guns. Over 530 pages with 1000 drawings & photos, full size A4 had cover. It is $75 Aust. and an enjoyable read because of Ron's renowned political bias and wry English humour. A great gift too. Check out the Owen Guns site at www.owenguns.com which offers much more too!

• A New website of interest... www.karkeeweb.com for webbing, bandoliers, &c.

• Another great new website on Aussie manufacture firearms... www.sportco.org.au 

• John Wray, former Army inspection officer at Lithgow SAF and more recent curator of the Lithgow SmalI Arms Museum, passed away in early January. A keen ammunition, bayonet and militaria collector, his contribution towards keeping much of the SAF history alive will be an everlasting memorial. John died after a long battle with a brain tumor.

• Another new website is Medals Gone Missing... useful for anyone buying medals.

• New titles from International Military Antiques NJ, are available in Oz as well as from Grants Pass. Guns of the Gurkhas, German Makers Codes, Hotchkiss manual, German Bayonets (Carter), Treasures of Nepal, &c. See our Reprints & Miscellaneous pages.

• Sizeable display of Lee-Enfields at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center at Cody, Wyoming. Two floors of firearms exhibits display 3,000 rifles & handguns, near the Buffalo Bill, Plains Indian and Draper Museum of Natural History. Near Yellowstone National Park and south of I-90 and I-25, the Cody Museum is certainly a reason to take a short detour to pay a visit. We saw a Marlin Model 1893 Musket fitted with British Patt. 1888 bayonet, Winchester Mod. 1904 musket and bayonet attributed to Australian Boy Scouts in 1912, and .351 Model 1907 Winchester self-loader with Springfield bayonet sold to France after the war.

• New internet gun auction site, this time in Australia. Organizers, Michael & Nathan King are offering an initial 'free-of-charge' setup. Go to http://gunauction.com.au and see what is on offer. You might even want to sell some of your own firearms or militaria.

• New book  'Blue Berg- Britain Takes the Cape', 207 pages of action-packed history, 18 colour illust. including battlefield map, early 1800s. Quality production, leather-bound edition also available. Inquiries: dominique@awsolutions.co.za or PO Box 11133, Blaauwbergrant Cape, Rep. of South Africa 7443. Tel. +27-21-557-6438 (work).

• New sites worth saving to your favorites list... www.rifleman.org.uk/Site_Menu.htm  and www.thegarrison.org.uk  Thanks to Alan Carriveau and Dennis Darmanin for the tips.

• For handgun enthusiasts, check out Hans Horst's site at www.horstheld.com

• New pix of the wartime Long Branch factory are now posted on the internet. Just go to
  www.pbase.com/mrclark/long_branch_factory_production_photos : post a message to say thanks to Mr. Clark for posting them too!  And from Afghanistan, another hoard of guns... http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p296/rlanicek/CFD%2002-13-2008/?start=all

• Brian Labudda, myself and a retired SAS regiment sniper did a shake-down in a range test of A.I.A. rifles on the long weekend, with some surprising results. In comparison, we used my .308 Savage Mod.10 FLP (tactical, heavy barrel, left hand action). Check out the Field Test page at www.australianinternationalarms.com.au  More out on video soon too...

• New website for collectors arms on the east coast of the U.S.A.... David Prawdzik's new www.antiquegunroom.net is up and running now. Check it out for goodies.

• BSA Shirley FTR'd and converted No.4 rifles after the end of WW2, utilising new parts dated 1954-58. Recently noted in the US, a keen observer logged a number of Mk 1/2 'hung trigger' rifles. The broad arrow mark and finish is a little different to WW2 and immediate post-war production, likely a War Office contract for another country, possibly in Africa.

• L42A1 update... Seen in Iraq in both wars, some carried by security contractors now. The 6x power L13 Schmidt & Bender scoped L42A1 is confirmed at Bisley, courtesy of Fultons. Also confirmed, the 7.62mm Palma match 155gn bullet rather than 144gn service 7.62mm L1, L2, &c. & F4 cartridge. Ammunition is applied with L-prefix designations as are sights & other items. A recent 7.62mm L42A3 RG round is dated 2007. NATO packet and headstamp shown at top is RG 19 May 2004, with special bullet for sniper rifles. The L42A1 was issued in the 1st Gulf War; a UK collector has a chest with Marines Commando tags and regimental details, more proof of active service during the 1990s.

• Simpson Ltd. at Galesburg IL now have one of the busiest websites and some Enfields are often on offer too. So list the www.simpsonltd.com site as a favourite.

• The Lee-Enfield's superiority as a battle rifle: British Sgt. Snoxall recorded 38 hits on a 12-in. bull at 300 yards in only sixty seconds. Proficiency... the rifle was rapidly loaded in order to fire as many rounds as possible in one minute, dubbed by participants, 'the mad minute'. No other hand-operated bolt action service rifle can claim such a record.

• Bisley shoot with Lee-Enfield Rifle Association in late June was named 'The Skennerton'. Others by the LERA include 'The Fulton' in recognition of the family's competition record and their gunshop at Bisley, along with 'The Reynolds' to honour Major E.G.B. Reynolds for the first 'Lee-Enfield' book way back in 1960. The new historical Skennerton shoot is held at 300m & 500m, restricted to No.1 and No.4 rifles. It is planned that ranges will be expanded to 1000m later. Ian is planning to present prizes at Bisley in the summer of 2008.

• Our new 36 Handbooks ... .30 US Krag, Carcano, MAS 36, Beretta Pistols, Hi-Standard Pistols, Glock Pistols, .303 SMLE, British No.4 Rifle, M17/P14, Mauser Rifles & Carbines, Winchester 12 ga Mod. 97, Winchester 12ga Mod. 12, M1 Carbine, M1 Garand, 1903 Springfield, FN FAL, M14, AR15/M16, 9mm Browning Hi-Power, C'96 Mauser pistol, .45 Colt ACP, 9mm Luger, Walther P-38, 9mm Makarov, AK47, SKS, Mosin-Nagant, Mod. 70 Winchester, Mod. 94 Winchester, .22 Mod 61 Winchester, Jap Service Pistols, 6.5mm T38 Arisaka, 7.7mm T99 Arisaka, S&W Revolvers, Walther PP & PPK, .22 Ruger Mk I & II.

• Check our website at www.enfieldcollector.com site; it will eventually have specific pages on .577 Enfield, Snider-Enfield, Martini, MLM & MLE, SMLE, Rifle No.4, &c.

• Proofed Action Assembly numbers confirm the original fitting of a breech bolt & body on many SMLE actions, especially Lithgows. This number was stamped prior to the serial number, upon the body, barrel and bolt groups being proof fired. The PAA (Proofed Action Assembly) number was stamped in small engineers stamps underneath the bolt handle and on the corresponding area at the rear, right of the action body. However, not all SMLEs are PAA marked; this is yet another indicator for an overall picture in the markings scene.

L-E Parts Catalogue

SniperRifles

Buyer'sGuide

US Krag

CarcanoRifle

7.5MAS 36

HiStandard

BerettaPistol 

GlockPistols

NOW ~~~  Small Arms Identification Series   new releases ... $10.00 ea.
SAIS #21 .30 Browning Model 1919A4 covers US and Commonwealth issues of the Model 1919, L3A3 & L3A4 series from US, British, Canadian & Australian sources.
SAIS #22 British Empire Sniper Rifles with parts, line drawings, mounts & scopes.
New information on the Canadian, Australian & Indian conversions.

'MP-The First In'...  $15.00