I think I promised old gun sights last time, so old gun sights is what you’re getting…
Old Gunsights: A Collector’s Gude, 1850-1965, by Nick Stroebel. Krause Publications, 1998.
This covers non-scope (or what we commonly call “iron”) sights by various manufacturers, both those sold on the aftermarket (such as the famous Lyman tang and receiver sights) and those that came with guns direct from the manufacturer. (There’s a whole chapter on vintage Smith and Wesson sights.) It includes illustrations, reprints of catalog entries, and even estimated price information. (The price information is probably woefully out of date by now, this being a 25 year old book.)
For purposes of illustration, here’s part of the section on Lyman sights:
Old Rifle Scopes, by Nick Stroebel. Krause Publications, 2000.
And this is the companion volume, covering vintage rifle scopes and mounts in the same way. For purposes of illustration, here’s the Lyman Alaskan 2.5X:
And the Griffin and Howe tip-off scope mount, which was considered at the time to be pretty innovative.
I assure you, I picked those two examples just for illustrative purposes, and not because of any random gun crankery that might be coming down the pike soon-ish. Really. Wink wink. Nudge nudge.
Both of these are out of print, but highly sought after, and command somewhat high prices. I had some Amazon funny money from work at various points, and used it to get Old Gunsights for $45 (in used but “very good” condition, and I wouldn’t argue that estimation: I don’t see any flaws) and $90 for Old Rifle Scopes (used but “like new”, and again that seems accurate).
I view these more as reference works, even with the obsolete pricing data, than as reading material for the cold winter nights ahead. I have plenty of the latter anyway.
There’s also a 2008 book by Mr. Stroebel, Old Gunsights And Rifle Scopes: Identification and Price Guide which may be a compendium of both of these books. I can’t tell from the Amazon entry, and the price on that is ever more seriously outlandish.
Next time, possibly some new Samworths? I’m still working through the original backlog, and it got bigger while I was out of town…but I expect to get to that shortly.