Volcanic Book

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Was at a big gunshow yesterday. Yes, I picked up a nice little S&W No. 1, 2nd Issue, but that's not the point of this post.

I was passing one of the book dealer's tables and I noticed this book. Volcanic Firearms, Predecessor to the Winchester Rifle, by Edmund E Lewis and Stephen W Rutter. Published in 2011. I had never seen this book before, so it caught my interest.



It was sealed in plastic and the dealer would not allow me to unseal it to take a good look. Should have kept walking, but I was intrigued. Didn't know whether it was just another coffee table book or if it was something that would have good information in it and deserved a place in my library. I gambled and paid the $49.95 for the book. I sat down at lunch and started reading it, got completely engrossed in the first chapter about Hunt and Jennings. Didn't get as far yet as Horace Smith and the Robbins and Lawrence Armory (a place I have visited and highly recommend if you are ever in Vermont). Didn't even page through the rest of the book until this morning. Anyhoo, I highly recommend this book if you are interested in the history of Volcanics and Henrys, it is chock full of great coffee-table-book quality photos of many Volcanics. The book categorizes the different models made for easy identification, has several pages of patent drawings and period advertising.

It is available at Amazon and I think it is $5 less than I paid for it, but of course there is shipping to pay.

[matt45]

It is a great book.  Is the man who actually shoots Volcanics on the board?

[Fox Creek Kid]

How much of a "tie in" is there in the book between these & the Henry? Anything new & novel on the early Henry design?

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[Driftwood Johnson]

Only one chapter at the end of the book is about the Henry. Have not read it in detail yet, so I dunno if there is anything 'new' that we don't already know about the Henry.

But the rest of the book is fantastic, with tons of photos and information about Volcanics, particularly the pistols. Have learned lots and lots already that I never knew about Volcanics.

[matt45]

It ties in nicely w/ Quick's Henry book.  Realizing I should note this @ the Henry forum, I would make the observation that B. Tyler Henry did not do very much to the basic S&W design.