REVIEW OF AIRGUN LITERATURE

By Robert D. Beeman
10 April 2008

Relatively speaking, the literature of the airgun field is not yet extensive. In order to help you find your way at first, I often will give my blunt opinions. I hope that you usually find that these opinions reflect several decades of intense experience more than personal bias. This review largely will be limited to separate publications such as books, periodicals, and booklets, rather than individual airgun articles.

Certainly, in my opinion, the world leader in the airgun literature field has been the “dynamic duo” of Tom and Edith Gaylord. In their joint endeavors, Tom did most of the writing and Edith supplied the technical publishing support. Both have a great deal of hands-on experience in the shooting and collecting of airguns. This astonishing pair has produced several different types of literature. This material is outstanding, and unusual, not only for its breadth and lucid writing, but for its positive, balanced, frank, and fair approach - and broad perspective. Here is writing without elitism, without a private agenda, even without very much provincialism, and never reflecting the tiny cliques of the “nattering nabobs of negativism” and those few arrogant "talking heads" of airgundom whose wisdom is inversely proportional to the amount of their talking. Only very occasionally will Tom get carried away a bit by the current enthusiasms of some airgun cliques, but, given his own enthusiasm, that is understandable and forgivable. What is really important is that both Tom and Edith maintain an unbiased perspective and almost always manage to come back rather soon to the realities of the sport’s mainstream, the world of those hundreds of thousands of airgun shooters who just use and enjoy adult airguns - generally outside of the comparatively small world of organizations and clubs. The volume and nature of Tom and Edith’s output is astonishing and is supplemented by interesting material from some of the most experienced writers in the airgun field. All of the Gaylord’s publications are a must to anyone, anywhere in the world, who is seriously interested in adult airguns, their selection and use, as well as their history and collection. Their complete lack of advertisements meant that, unlike almost any other airgun periodicals, they were not beholding to any makers or sellers.

The Gaylords’ basic item was their Airgun Letter, a monthly newsletter of 12 to 16 pages, which remains as among the world's best reference material on "adult" airguns. In August 2002, Tom moved from the Airgun Letter and Airgun Revue to found a newsstand magazine entitled Airgun Illustrated. The first five issues, with Tom's input, were truly wonderful. Unfortunately, the success of those first issues emboldened the publishers to try to go it without Tom's incredibly competent direction. The publication folded in January 2004 - after they seem to have lost their way - going off into depth about American pump up and CO2 airguns and soft air guns. These areas, while interesting, generally are not dear to the hearts of most serious American airgunners - the adult part of the airgun market which will subscribe to such publications. Every year or so, the Gaylords produced a beautifully slick compendium of other original articles in an Airgun Revue of about 100 pages. They also published a fine soft cover book of 174 large pages, entitled The Beeman R1 Supermagnum Air Rifle (now an expensive collectible). Regardless of your areas of interest in airguns you must get as many of the Airgun Letter issues, Airgun Revue, and pre-2003 Airgun Illustrated copies as you can afford (the huge listings of Airgun Resources at the back of the Airgun Revue are, just by themselves, worth the price of admission). At least get one each of the Airgun Revue and especially the R1 book (even if you deprive yourself of the special pleasure of owing a real R1!). The R1 book is a basic, essential item for every airgunners bookcase. As if this wasn’t enough, the Gaylords used to host The Airgun Forum, an on line forum, until it became too much to handle and a few "air heads" took the fun out of it. Unfortunately, the Gaylords no longer have any of their publications for sale; you will have to search the secondary book market for these prizes. (Try FSI at 906-482-1685). We can rejoice that Tom has returned to the airgun writing world in the production of America's only airgun column in Shotgun News and other publications. The other publications of the Gaylords jump in value with every passing year!

For a long time, the only general references on airguns of the twentieth century were Smith’s Standard Encyclopedia of Gas, Air, & Spring Guns of the World (Smith, 1957) and the very British Air-Guns and Air-Pistols (Wesley, 1955). The original hardbound editions, despite the disorganization of the former and many errors, are now much sought after collector’s items. Later editions, even paperbound, have been produced, but are now out of print and also very expensive, if you can find one! Gerald Cardew’s good revision (Wesley and Cardew, 1979) of Wesley’s above classic was a very welcome improvement, but the work remains rather dated. In 1970, George C. Nonte Jr. produced the Complete Book of the Air Gun; somewhat light weight and now badly dated, but definitely useful. All About Airguns (Traister, 1981) was a pot boiler, formula book, largely derived from the then current Beeman Precision Airgun Catalog/Guide book. The National Rifle Association produced a small booklet entitled Air Guns: A Guide to Air Pistols and Rifles (Beeman, Banosky, Ford, Pitney, and Sexton, 1991). NRA’s booklet, despite the facts that it is what one might expect from a committee and that it greatly abbreviates and revises my original edited manuscript, is a useful, very basic introduction to the field and is a good introduction to the NRA’s many airgun shooting programs. Another little paperback, entitled Airgun Shooting (Herridge, 1987), gives a basic introduction to airgunning in England. The Airgun Book began (Walter, 1982) as John Walter’s British-based, but absolutely excellent, register of recently produced airguns but broadened its scope considerably in the fourth edition (1987). The third edition (1984) includes a section which probably is the very best ever survey of airgun manufacturing history from 1900 to 1984. Walther also authored a tiny hardback pocket book Airgun Shooting, Performance, Directory, and Index of Suppliers from A to Z (Walter 1985) which mainly is a data compilation on the then current array of adult airguns. It contains a surprising amount of other information packed into its tiny print, even including the only revelation on how the early Beeman company managed to obtain the highest quality of the various pellets on the market.

Another British book of note is Modern Airweapon Shooting (Churchill and Davies, 1981). Despite the fact that it is now somewhat dated and promotes the atrocious use of the provocative word "weapon" for airguns, it is an excellent introduction to formal target shooting with airguns. D. R. Hughes, a delightful and extremely knowledgeable former British airgun dealer, published a tiny series of booklets on particular airguns, such as the HW35 (Hughes, 1981). In 1990 John Groenewold printed a large listing of technical airgun articles (Groenewold, 1990). And if I do say so, I think that the best set of references for some aspects of the airgun field is a set of the Blue Book of Airguns editions. The Blue Books have pricing as only their third priority - airgun info, illustrations, specifications, and operation are the top matters - so you really must have all editions - they don't go out of date!

A general recent reference, absolutely excellent, but in German and restricted to air pistols, is Die Luftpistole (Brukner, 2000). Just the illustrations of this outstanding book are worth the price of admission, whether or not you read German. Walther collectors, or those just interested in that wonderful German brand, must obtain Manfred Kersten's (2001) 400 page English-language masterpiece Walther - A German Legend (first published in German as: Walther - eine Deutsche Legende), the absolute master reference on all of the Walther airguns and firearms. Its size and quality compare with the wonderful L. R. Wilson firearm books (Colt, Winchester, etc.).

American Air Rifles and CO2 Pistols and Rifles by James House (2002, 2003) pursues the theme that pellet guns by Daisy, Crosman, etc. should be seriously considered by shooters of all ages. These well-illustrated paperback publications give some of the best airgun ballistic information that can be found for airguns of this level. The author personally developed most of this data and information.

One of the extremely few publications on hunting with an airgun is the interesting, but severely provincial, small British paperback, Guide to Airgun Hunting (Shepherd, 1987). John Darling (1988) presents a "classic" view of hunting with an air rifle in England while more recent information on British airgun hunting is given by the Airgun Hunters Field Guide. Advice on the control, by airguns in England, of what Americans would call pest species, or varmints, is given in Vermin Control with an Air Rifle (Tyler, 1988). By far the best publication on hunting with an airgun is Tom Holzel’s delightful The Air Rifle Hunter's Guide (Holzel, 1991). Although mainly presenting crow hunting as a sport philosophically similar to fly fishing, Holzel gives a basic, but absolutely outstanding, introduction to selecting airguns for hunting, airgun hunting techniques, and the external field ballistics of magnum air rifles. I consider his chapter "Killing As Sport" to be one of the best presentations ever made on the morality or ethics of hunting.

Three thoroughly Texan tomes on airgun hunting have been written by Ron Robinson. If you really are interested in hunting with regular and big bore airguns (and some with bows and firearm pistols), and willing to wade thru some hearty, but interesting, jawing to get to the meat, there is excellent material in A Sporting Proposition (2003), Airgun Hunting and Sport (2001), and The Manic Compressive (1998). Ron is enamored with customized domestic airguns and the latest oriental big-bore airguns, but his true inner intelligence does shine through when he features a Beeman SS-2 scope on the cover of his first book and refers to the Beeman R1 as "THE (emphasis his) modern spring-piston sporter" and indicates that the trimmer, lighter R10 "falls just within my preferences". Of course, I don't agree with every opinion, but my hat's off to this real hunter and real character!

Mike Wade, a British engineer, produced a small, technical booklet (Wade, 1984) The Weihrauch HW 80 and Beeman R1 Air Rifle, A User’s Guide to Higher Performance.

An excellent book, for those who can read Japanese, is Takenobu Kishi’s The Magnum (Kishi, 1999); a very through coverage of magnum adult air rifles. Its material on ballistics is especially interesting and detailed. Because it is Japanese, you may have trouble locating it; try the ISBN number 4-7733-6563-3 C0075. Also, even if you can't read Swedish, you also might find Av Kenth Friberg's Luftvapen (2001) interesting for illustrations of several airguns generally not well known to American collectors.

Over the entire world, only a handful of periodicals currently deal exclusively with airguns. In the U.S. we had the outstanding Airgun Letter and its sub-publication, the Airgun Revue, both discussed above (followed by the late Airgun Illustrated magazine), and the former Rimfire and Airgun (which replaced U.S. Airgun) and the former American Airgunner (which replaced Airgun News & Report), while the British publish the monthly Airgun World and monthly Airgunner (both by Romsey Publishing Co., 4 The Courtyard, Denmark St., Workingham, Berkshire RG402AZ, England). The Airgun World articles of Roy Valentine (under the pen name “Harvey” in the 1970s) and later, those of John Atkins in Airgunner and Tim Saunders in Airgun World, are especially valuable to the collector and airgun student.

No sooner had the dust settled from Airgun Illustrated's downfall but another airgun magazine was born. However, this magazine was on-line and we expected a better chance of survival due to the economies of such publication. The illustrations can be much better and in color, with almost unlimited article size, for no extra cost! Wayne Trapp and his wife Dena established the on-line "e-zine" Addictive Airgunning in January 2004. It was putting out over 110 pages per issue, but died after only one year. In October 2004, we saw the very welcome arrival of what is now America's only airgun periodical, Airgun Hobby. Published by genuine airgun enthusiasts Ron Sauls and Jim Giles (www.airgunhobby.com), this quarterly is a somewhat less glitzy presentation ( black & white images, etc.) than some of the previous airgun periodicals, but far superior in reporting airgun shows and events and information on airgun collecting. It is a must item for all airgunners. This new publications is well worth supporting!

In addition to the above, there have been several other English language airgun periodicals which have come and gone. Some of these issues have very useful and valuable articles. The Philippine Airgun Shooter produced only four quarterly issues, plus an annual, in 1989. Trevor Adams and Trevor Morris produced the New Zealand Airgun Magazine from February 1986 to April 1988. There also was an Air Rifle News published in India in 1979 - many of its articles were lifted from early Beeman catalogs! Airgun Journal was published by Beeman Precision Airguns from 1979 to 1984. Many of the articles are still valuable to collectors. If you are aware of others, in any language, please let the author know at BlueBookEdit@Beemans.net .

At the time of this chapter’s publication, the world’s very best coverage of airguns in a general gun publication is to be found in the lavishly illustrated, prestigious German language magazine, VISIER, Das Internationale Waffen-Magazin. VISIER Specials, such as the 1996 Special Number 4, are completely devoted to some of the best written, and certainly the best illustrated, airgun articles ever presented. The British gun magazine Guns Review formerly carried excellent articles on airguns; especially noteworthy was the pioneer research of the late Dennis Commins in the period around the 1970’s. These are well worth researching at the library and buying as rarely available.

Two American gun magazines, The Rifle and Guns, have featured airgun columns, while most American gun magazines, such as The American Rifleman, Guns and Ammo, Sports Afield, etc. have only occasional airgun articles. The magazines Precision Shooting and The Accurate Rifle, perhaps the best shooting magazines in the English language, frequently present excellent article on airguns. The National Rifle Association, as part of its new program to promote airguns, promises to have one airgun article in at least one of their several publications each month. Rarely, airgun articles will be found in other outdoor magazines, such as the beautifully illustrated, but strangely captioned, article on some of the Beeman Airgun Collection items in Gray’s Sporting Journal (Atkinson, 1992). By all means, seek out that article just for its gorgeous color photos of some remarkable antique airguns. All airgunners should obtain each volume of The Air Gun Digest; the first edition by Robert Beeman (1977a), and the second and third editions by Jess Galan (1988, 1995). A small monthly publication, Airgun Ads (Box 1795, Hamilton, Montana 59840), consists completely of advertisements for airguns and accessories, primarily vintage and modern working specimens, and sometimes antique models. Political correctness forced airgun sales off eBay and Yahoo, so, for sales of old and new airgun models, check the very dependable www.ActionArms.com and www.GunBroker.com websites.

In addition to following the current airgun periodicals, one cannot remain current without consulting the latest editions of airgun catalogs from Beeman Precision Airguns, Dynamit-Nobel (RWS), etc.. The reader should take caution to note that although there are a number of really excellent airgunsmiths and dealers, there definitely are some “companies” who have little or no real substance but who may look much more significant, in printed ads and on the Internet, than they really are. The loudness and dogmatic nature of advice and opinions in our interesting field generally is inversely proportional to the competence and real status of the individuals concerned. One good clue: you can be pretty sure that you are dealing with a poor operator if he tries to denigrate certain other persons, or companies, to make himself appear larger or more important.

Sooner or later, most airgun enthusiasts begin to gather a variety of airguns. For some, the gathering begins to become a collection. For others, there is a growing interest in the development and history of airguns. It is not easy to see where to start looking for information on vintage and antique airguns, so a comment on entering the available literature might be appropriate here. Certainly an airgun collector or student will have gathered, and will be using, many of the general airgun books, catalogs, and other publications mentioned in this chapter. Referred to as essential, and which many consider as the starting point of perhaps most of America's airgun collections, is the introduction to airgun collecting in The Art of Airgun Collecting (Beeman, 1977b). At this time, your best starting point may be the article on airgun collecting in the First Edition of the Blue Book of Airguns and on the www.Beemans.net website. The “Rare Air” article in the edition one guide brings the previous introduction to collecting up to the year 2001. From there, what literature to seek will depend on what kind of airguns have become of greatest interest to you. For American BB and pellet guns, the most basic references are The American BB Gun - A Collectors' Guide (Dunathan, 1971) - a true, and highly collectible, classic (the old prices now are awesomely low - try increasing them by at least a compounded 10% per year and adding significant premiums for highly desired models), The American BB Gun -A Collector's Guide (Thomas, 2000) (basically 75 photocopied pages of Dunathan's work briefly updated), Know Your Sheridan Rifles and Pistols (Elbe, 1992), the real classic: It’s a Daisy! (Cass Hough, with Jack Powers, 1976), and bound collections of Crosman and Daisy factory literature and ads compiled by Dean Fletcher (1996-98).

Daisy airgun fans, and their numbers are legion, were delighted with the November 2002 publication of Neal Punchard's Daisy Air Rifles & BB Guns, The First 100 Years, a 156 page hardbound book which features 300 color illustrations. Delightful as Punchard's book is, the dreams of "Daisy people" (at least those even slightly interested in the Daisys made in Plymouth, Michigan)  were answered in 2007 by Gary Garber's An Encyclopedia of Daisy Plymouth Guns! This monumental 414 large page tome, about the same size as recent issues of the Blue Book of Airguns, stands as the BIBLE of Plymouth Daisys. It also stands as a model of what we want for each brand of airgun in the Blue Book! Despite a delivered price of over seventy dollars, this gem sold out in just a few weeks after publication.  Collectors and airgun historians eagerly await the second edition or they plan the ambush of one of the present lucky owners!

The Quackenbush airguns and firearms of America are beautifully covered in a classic work, Quackenbush Guns, by John Groenewold (2000). Old models of German airguns of the early 20th century have a very brief coverage by Detlef Behrend (1999) who published a small, 35 page booklet with photocopied black and white illustrations of models from Diana, Haenel, Tell, Fritz Langenhahn (F.L.Z.), Mars, Em-Ge, Roland, and Stern. For those interested in a wider geographic range of modern airguns, one must have Dennis Hiller’s Airpistols (3rd edition, 1993) and Air Rifles (4th edition), although those now discontinued guidebooks report quite dated gun values that are far more depressed in Britain than in America and they are severely short of information on American models. John Knibbs (1986) did a wonderful coverage of the British BSA air rifles in his B.S.A. and Lincoln Jeffries Air Rifles book. Unfortunately there isn't yet a good book covering the wonderful Webley air rifles, but the very rich collecting field provided by the wide range of Webley air pistols is beautifully presented by Gordon Bruce (2000). Bruce's book, Webley Air Pistols, which features almost 300 illustrations of these great guns. The noted airgun collector Bill Johnson (2003) has expended tremendous effort to produce the definitive work on the Bailey and Columbian Air Rifles (often referred to as the Heilprin airguns). Johnson's book is especially noteworthy for presenting all of the guns in 1/4 and 1/2 scale detailed drawings, supplemented by 160 photos on a CD. Ernst Dieter (a pseudonym) (2002), a former top engineer at Haenel, diligently compiled Luftgewehre und Luftpistolen nach 1945 aus Suhl und Zella-Mehlis ("Air rifles and air pistols after 1945 from Suhl and Zella-Mehlis") covering the post-WW2 airguns from Haenel. Though only 143 pages, it presents very valuable information on almost 60 (!) different models.

Finally, it should be noted that many astute collectors, now most notably Doug Law, have realized that airgun literature itself has become a key field of collecting. Unlike the airguns themselves, the literature, especially the airgun company literature, generally is quickly lost. Thus the literature becomes both a challenge to collect and a vital link to the special history of the field - which like so many histories, soon becomes very hazy. As every year passes, this literature becomes harder to find and more valuable in several ways. Many readers will quickly find that many, if not most, of the references mentioned here have been printed in only limited editions and cannot be purchased “not for love nor money".

Where should you look for these various publications? Do try gunshows and the special order desks of Barnes and Noble and Brothers book stores, but your best bet is going to be on the search services of their websites and those of www.Amazon.com, www.Alibris.com, and especially www.AddALL.com Used and Out of Print books. A few are available at www.Beemans.net. Also check out the website of Ray Reiling of New York who undoubtedly has the world's largest selection of used and out of print gun books. He sometimes has a few airgun books - but generally these books are not going to be easy to find and you should act fast when you do find any.

PARTIAL REFERENCE LIST

Adler, Dennis. 2001. (Edited by Dr. Robert D. Beeman and S.P. Fjestad). Blue Book of Airguns, First Edition. 160 pp. Blue Book Publications, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Atkinson, R. Valentine 1992. Air Looms. Gray’s Sporting Journal Sept. 1992: 35-41.

Baker, Geoffrey, Collin Currie.2006. The Construction and Operation of the Air Gun. Vol. 1 - The Austrian Army Repeating Air Rifle. Revised Second Edition, 102 pp., Vol.2. The Walking Stick Air Gun, 79 pp. geoffrey.baker@virgin.net

Beeman, Robert D., 1977a. Air Gun Digest. 256 pp. DBI Books, Northfield, IL.

Beeman, Robert D. 1977b. Four Centuries of Airguns, pp. 14-26. The Basics of Airgun Collecting. Pp. 218-235 (Later reprinted together as The Art of Airgun Collecting by Beeman Precision Arms in 1986, 23 pp.)

Beeman, Robert and M.J. Banosky, John W. Ford, Randy Pitney, Joel Sexton. 1991. Air Guns, A Guide to Air Pistols and Rifles. National Rifle Association, Washington, D.C.

Beeman, Robert D. 1995. The Odyssey of the Beeman R1. Chapter in the Beeman R1 Supermagnum Air Rifle, pp. 1-9. GAPP, Inc., PO Box 2478, Fort Worth, TX 76113

Beeman, Robert D. and John Allen. 2002 , 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007. The Blue Book of Airguns, Second to Sixth Editions. Blue Book Publications, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Beeman, Robert D. 2006. Meriwether Lewis's Wonder Gun. We Proceeded On 32(2): 29-34. Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Association. On the Beeman Girandoni: “this rifle, in fact, was the one carried on the expedition.”

Beeman, Robert D. 2007. Air Power Diplomacy: Lewis’s Assault Rifle. Blue Book of Airguns, 6^th Edition, pp. 16-22. “New study …..has not only removed all of the objections to such a rifle being carried by Captain Meriwether Lewis but has identified the actual rifle”.

Behling, Larry. 2006. Air Machine Guns. 324 pp. Pub. by L. Behling. rte6larry@alltel.net.

Bruce, Gordon. 2000. Webley Air Pistols. 224 pp. Robert Hale, London.

Brukner, Bruno, 2000. Der Luftpistole. Second edition, 230 pp.. Journal Verland Schwend.

Brychta, Frank S. 1994 a. FSI Airgun Ballistic Tables. 88 pp. 1994b. FSI Advanced Airgun Ballistics. 52 pp. Firearms & Supplies, 514 Quincy St., Hancock, MI 49930. (www.AirgunsUSA.com).

Cardew, G.V. & G.M. Cardew, E.R. Elsom. 1976. The Air Gun from Trigger to Muzzle. 96 pp. Martin Brothers, Birmingham, England.

Cardew, G.V. & G.M. Cardew. 1995. The Airgun from Trigger to Target. 235 pp. Privately published. ISBN 0 9505108 2 3

Chapman, Jim. 2003. The American Airgun Hunter. 234 pp., African Airgun Safari, 2006 (but undated), 144 pp. Chapman, Jim and Randy Mitchell, 2003. The Airgunners Guide to Squirrel Hunting. 128 pp.  Jaeger Press, 67 Sentinel, Alviso Viejo, CA. www.geocites.com/echochap/airgun_hunter.html .

Churchill, Bob & Granville Davies. 1981. Modern Airweapon Shooting. 196 pp. David & Charles, Devon, England.

Darling, John. 1988. Air Rifle Hunting.160 pp. Crowood Press, Wilshire, England.

Dieter, Ernst 2002. Luftgewehre und Luftpistolen nach 1945 aus Suhl und Zella-Mehlis. 143 pp. WTS Waffentechnik in Suhl GmbH, Lauter 40, 98528 Suhl, Germany.

Dunathan, Arni T. 1971. The American BB Gun: A Collector’s Guide. 154 pp. A.S. Barnes and Co., Cranbury, N.J.

Eichstädt, Ulrich 2007. Corpus delicti, Die Suche nach der Lewis & Clark Windbüchse. (Body of Evidence -The Search for the Lewis & Clark Airgun), VISIER Jan.2007:135-143. Europe’s leading airgun historian and author says: “the puzzle about the legendary airgun carried by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark from 1803 to 1806 appears to have been solved.”.

Elbe, Ronald E. 1992. Know Your Sheridan Rifles & Pistols. 79 pp. Blacksmith Corp.

Fletcher, Dean. 1996-98. The Crosman Arms Handbooks, 259 pp.; and The Crosman Rifle 1923-1950, 265 pp., The Crosman Arms Model “160” Pellgun, 144 pp., 75 Years of Crosman Airguns, 223 pp., Crosman Arms Library (CD). Pub. by D.T. Fletcher, 6720 NE Rodney Ave, Portland, Oregon 97211. (For more Crosman info see Eichstädt, Ulrich and Dean Fletcher. 1999. Eine Unbekannte Größe. Visier, Feb. 1999:52-57 and Oakleaf, Jon B. 1979. Vintage Crosmans. The Airgun Journal 1(1): 1-3, 1980. Vintage Crosmans II. The Airgun Journal 1(2):1-7.)

Fletcher, Dean. 1998c. The Chronology of Daisy Air Guns 1900 - 1981 & Daisy Toy and Metal Squirt Guns. 18 pp. 1999. The St. Louis and Benjamin Air Rifle Companies, 305 pp Pub. by D.T. Fletcher.

Friberg, Av Kenth. 2001. Luftvapen.191 pp. Karlshamm\Göteborg, Sweden. (K. Friberg, Ekbacken 3, 37450 Asarum, Sweden).

Galan, Jess I. 1988. Airgun Digest, 2nd Edition, 257 pp. DBI Books, Northbrook, IL.

Galan, Jess I. 1995. Airgun Digest. 3rd Edition. 288 pp. DBI Books, Northbrook, IL.

Gaylord, Tom. 1995. The Beeman R1. 174 pp. GAPP, PO Box 2478, Fort Worth, TX 76113