Important Links

If you have a firearms or militaria related page and you would like us to link to it, send us an e-mail. If we add your link, we request that you have a link to ArmsCollectors.com on your page.

Miscellaneous Interesting Sites

Arms2armor.com- An outstanding site loaded with FREE great info to help identify all sorts of swords, polearms, oddball foreign knives and clubs, etc with photos and descriptions and excellent bibliography. Willing to research your items FOR A FEE.

Army Munitions Plants - Good listing of various locations with links for each containing historical background. Good reference for collectors. [believe most military sites are shut down for the duration of the war].

AuctionArms.com - An auction site for those who like such things.

Bannerman Castle Trust - Dedicated to the preservation of what little remains of this historic bastion of the glory days of military surplus goods offered by Francis Bannerman. Interesting photos and invitation to support their efforts. Focus is on nostalgia and architecture of the structure, not the fascinating details of the contents.

Bayonet Page - Excellent site devoted to Scandinavian bayonets but with lots of other good info (e.g- Brown Bess)..

The Brothers Military Collectors - Nice Canadian site for the military historian or collector. Home for those interested in British No 4. "Spike" bayonets. Building a list of "FAKE & REPRODUCTION" bayonets to share the information (often gained at a high price) about what you might encounter. Your inputs will help.

Carbines for Collectors - Wonderful summary of information on various carbines (not rifles) of Mauser, Mosin-Nagant, SKS and many other foreign types. Great for identification and history of these interesting and often affordable collector arms.

Cartridge-Corner.com - Curtis Steinhauer has produced "The Worlds Largest Cartridge Collecting Web Site" which focuses on identification of cartridges. Massive tables showing dimensions, headstamps, makers, dates, etc with loads of photos. Very impressive and useful. Info also available on CD for your future reference. (Note- military 20mm and above are outside the scope of this site).

The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) - Formerly Director of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM). Info on how to buy M1 and some other items direct from govt. These are the folks struggling to keep the art of marksmanship alive both on the competitive level and to provide a basis to meet military needs. Frequent target of anti-gun zealots.

Civil War Artillery- Everything you want to know about cannons and artillery ammunition of the Civil War era. Authoritative and well researched.

Civil War Guns - Interesting site with info on Civil War small arms and artillery, much related to actual shooting of thes items, and the North-South Skirmish Association. Tired of reading about military history and want to actually live some of it? Check it out. They even have a 6 day Civil War Summer Camp for kids 15 and older (including much older) that includes participation in a reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg. The even offer "Homework Help" on Civil War topics.

Civil War Small Arms The Rifle Musket - Lots of history and many photos of both American made and foreign imports used during the War.

Collectibles Insurance Agency - Highly recommended source for insurance for your gun or militaria collection. Good rates, excellent coverage options, and prompt settlement of claims. They insure both collections and business inventory. In our opinion better than NRA coverage. (Note: Not currently available in California due to their unique requirements. If you like guns, you should be moving anyway and escape from la-la land.)

Colt Automatic Pistols Home Page - Everything collectors would ever wanted to know about M1903 (.32 ACP and .380 ACP) and M1908 (.25 ACP) colt pistols, the whole .45 ACP family, etc. Sam Lisker generously shares his thoroughly researched info with you. This is collector stuff, not shooter oriented.

Colt Woodsman Page - Bob Rayburn's comprehensive site devoted to the Colt Woodsman pistols in its many collectible variations.

The Company of Military Historians - Highly respected group focusing on North American military history, especially Civil War and earlier, with many experts on uniforms, flags, artillery, etc. Excellent Journal and annual meetings.

Contemporary Longrifle Association - Longrifles, accouterments and related items made in the twentieth century. These are as good as, or better than the originals.

Curio & Relic Listing - Information on C&R FFLs and has links on left side to BATF's full list of what can be sold to holders of Curio and Relic FFLs.

Firearms Technology Museum- An Australian museum focused on Tranter revolvers which has put their collection on line instead of being restricted to walk in visitors. Innovative concept. Lots of interesting links too.

Frank Higginson- Pre-1898 gun parts, especially Colts, Winchesters, US military/Civil War and similar items. Frank is an expert in this area with an extensive selection of mostly original parts at fair prices. Retired Marine and heck of a nice guy to boot. Highly recommended. (Not on line- phone and mail orders only)- (775)265-7009, PO Box 3023, Gardnerville, NV 89410-3023

Flayderman.com - The most respected name in the antique arms business. He wrote the book that the rest of us refer to constantly. Always an interesting variety of items in his 118 catalogs dating back to 1952, and now available on his new web site. Garry Fellers- Great guy with wonderful selection of iron sights, scopes and scope mounts. (817)346-9633.

Gatling Guns - RG-G, Inc- source for plans and parts for .22 caliber Gatling guns.

Gatling Gun Company - manufacturers of full size, hand made, replica, blank and live fire Gatling guns (mainly in the early "chamber" type instead of conventional cartridges).

GunHoo: Categorized Gun Links - Great links site to just about every firearms related thing out there. Well organized, good search system.

Gunindex.com - Wide variety of links well organized, including manufacturers, reloading supplies, gun parts, gunsmith tools, etc.

Gun Owners of America - Pro-gun activist group. "The only no-compromise gun lobby in Washington." Check their alerts and analysis of pending legislation. They waste a lot of effort maligning the NRA when they should be fighting the anti-gunners, but they stil have some good points.

Gun Parts Corp - The best and biggest place to look for gun parts Impressive on-line parts catalog. Good service. Pretty good operation that has been in business for decades (formerly Numrich Gun parts).

High Standard Collectors Association - Lot of info on all arms made by this maker.

Historical Parts & Militaria - German (K98k Mauser, G43), Italian and Japanese military parts and lots of other info related to such weapons. Great site if interested in those topics.

Horst Held- Antique Handguns - Loaded with a real variety of unusual antique (and some post 1898) handguns. Excellent photos let you appreciate some of the guns you probably will never see in person.

Jim Supica's "Arm Chair Gun Show" - Noted Smith & Wesson author, and all around good guy with extensive listing of guns that range from jewels to junk, and priced accordingly. Highly recommended. He has an auction site too: www.armsbid.com with loads of photos.

John C. Denner Co. - Well known Canadian dealer in arms, bayonets, and books. Highly recommended.

Johnson 1941 Rifle Page - Jim Pullen's superbly researched and detailed information on the least documented U.S. military rifle of the 20th century. Should be in print as well as on the web.

Keepandbeararms.com - Every gun owner must visit this site regularly. Daily summary of all gun related news stories (and full archives) and excellent archives of examples of lawful self defense with guns. No compromise "attitude" sometimes annoying, but I check this site EVERY day.

K98k Bayonet Collectors Network - For collectors of SG 84/98 Mod.III Bayonets, German Militaria, Imperial, Weimar, and other German Era Bayonets.

Liberator Pistol - Brief info on crude WW2 oddball pistol made of stampings and tubing for drop to resistence fighters. Sone by the author of the definitive book on the subject. Great book, great collection and research to back it up.

The Maddox Collection - Excellent bayonet site by one of the foremost collectors of knife (not socket) bayonets. Great details on a few items at a time.

Mannlicher-Schoenauer Collectors Association - Classy site devoted to this fine rifle.

Matini-Henry Page - Loaded with good info about these interesting old rifles, their acccessories, ammuniton, etc. Many great links to related topics.

Midwest Gun and Civil War Show Calendar - Name does not begin to describe the wealth of great stuff here. Excellent detailed coverage of vaious CivilWar era weapons in the Collectors Archives section. CW enthusiasts NEED to visit this great site.

Military Rifles in the Age of Transition - Exceptionally useful site loaded with info on non-U.S.black powder, metallic cartridge military rifles (1865-1888). Well researched info (usually only found scattered peicemeal in obscure books) and photos to identify most models fromthis period. Info on parts, ammo, and some items for sale too. Keith Doyon deserves special thanks for this great site.

Model 1911A1.com - If you like U.S.military .45 autos this is the place for you. Great photos and details to check originality of pistols. Also has WW2 Ithaca shipping records and can provide "factor letter" on these guns. Highly recommended.

Mosin-Nagant Page - Loaded with great info on these rifles including input from ALL the top researchers on the subject. Excellent reference source.

Non-U.S. Black Powder Metallic Cartridge Military Rifles - The Rifles of the "Age of Transition" (1865-1888) Very comprehensive and nicely done by Keith Doyon. Great collecting field with lots of variety. Good links to related sites.

North-South Skirmish Association - Well established large group of clubs who enjoy shooting original and reproduction Civil War rifles, pistols, carbines and cannons in competition. Good links to find local units (all east of the Mississippi). Many links to other Civil War sites and living history topics. Everyone should visit their "shoots" in May and October near Winchester, VA and take some kids to expose them to Civil War history.

NRA (National Rifle Association) - Check "news" files to keep up with events on national or state level. We urge you to join NRA today! Also sources of information on shooting competition, firearms safety, the NRA Museum, etc.

Old Rifles - This site is dedicated to rifles, handguns and bayonets 1850 to 1950. Growing site showing representative examples from many countries.

Peter's Shot Shell Collectors Page - Popular ammo collecting specialty, nice site. Offers CD-ROM price guide and collector guide to the field. Many photos.

Precision Gunstocks - Makers of very nice quality reproduction stocks for Winchester, Marllin, Stevens, Remington and Colt rifles. This is where we would go if we needed one.

Replica Percussion Revolver Collector's Association - A four year old group promoting interest in the collecting of modern production replica, black powder, percussion revolvers as used in the Civil War and on the early Western Frontier. A great field for the beginning collector with a llimited budget.

Research Page for Collectors of Lee-Enfield Rifles - Run by some of the top collectors specializing in Lee Enfields. Good links to related military history sites.

S&S Firearms - Superb source of original and high quality repro parts I have used for years. Only "Military Americana" items basically Charleville thru Krag with excellent selection of books and also accoutrements, etc of interest to reenactors and shooters.

Single Action Shooting Society - An international organization created to preserve and promote the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting™. SASS® endorses regional matches conducted by affiliated clubs, stages END of TRAIL®, THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF COWBOY ACTION SHOOTING, promulgates rules, procedures to ensure safety, consistency in Cowboy Action Shooting matches.

Small Arms Review- Absolutely the best source of info on collectible and currently used machine guns and submachine guns, and also legal matters related to them. Their printed magazine is great, and web site is loaded with good solid info on the subject. Editor Dan Shea is well known and highly respected among the class 3 world. They also publish a number of excellent MG/SMG books.

Swiss Rifles - Everything you would ever want to know about Swiss cartridge rifles (VETTERLI, Schmidt-Rubin, SIG, etc) related ammunition, bayonets, disassembly, etc. Exceptionally well done and worth checking out just to see how informative a site can be.

Sword Collector Homepage - Excellent site loaded with helpful information on identification, specialized links on swords, etc.

Sword Restoration Services - Tom Nardi can straighten guards, rewrap grips and replace the grip wires. Site has an excellent guide to sword values (U.S. military types) and a link to a very helpful photo guide to ID swords.

Thunder Ranch - Probably the finest shooting facility available to the public, comparable to the best military and law enforcement facilities but more innovative and fun. A highly respected professional operation, with most offerings oriented to law enforcement, military, or serious self defense people. Recently added offerings for collectors/historians/authors focusing on pre-1900 weaponry (Cowboy type stuff) and old rilfes (any old military or civilian rifle pre-1950) for serious work with older arms and techniques. Great site and reminder that all this hardware was made for serious work, not just for collectors to fondle. Check out the "Thunder Ranch Articles" for excellent advice that may save your life in a variety of tactical situations (like defending your home).

Trapdoor Collector - New site by Al Frasca, author of the best books on the subject. Full description, photos, details of standard and experimental versions from 1865 to 1890. Discussion board on trapdoors, stuff for sale, Highly recommended.

U.S. Army Rifles of the Twentieth Century - Superb! Loaded with info on US military rifles from the Krag to the M16 and beyond. Extremely well done and documented. Photos, descriptions, history, links to sites with info on conflicts used in, etc. Plan on spending some time to take it all in. A virtual museum. You gotta visit this one!

U.S. GI M1911/1911A1 Service Pistols - Great site with loads of info on all the collector details you want to know about, including even the latest MEU(SOC) variations being issued. Lots of photos to illustrate the many important points.

U.S. Military Combat Handguns of the Twentieth Century - Superb! Loaded with info on US military handguns from the Colt 1889 models right up to the latest issue pieces. Extremely well done and documented. Photos, descriptions, history, links to sites with info on conflicts used in, etc. Plan on spending some time to take it all in. A virtual museum. You gotta visit this one!

U.S. M1910 Style Canteen - Superbly detailed and ilustrated and really interesting info on all the variations from earlierst aluminum to latest plastic as well as their covers. Kudos to Skip Stratton Of the North Idaho Military Museum on a great job.

The Vest Pocket Pistol Collector Excellent site with detailed history and completely disassembled parts photos of wide variety of pocket semi-autos. Text is in both German and in English (click on "text E" for English). Listed on archive page as a very long file alphabetically by country. Excellent resource to identify pistols and their dates of manufacture, and what missing/broken parts should look like.

Vietnam War History Page - Comprehensive and thoughtful look at this conflict which bitterely divided our country as brave troops sacrificed all in the field while the politicians micromanaaged us to defeat.

Manufacturers

Ames Sword Company - Interesting site with lots on swords and how they are made, etc from one of the famous old companies

Freedom Arms - Makers of very high quality, collectable handguns.

Rock Island Arsenal - U.S. Army site with info on their great museum and historic military post. HQ for most current Army weapons programs.

Springfield Armory National Historic Site - National Park Service info on their great museum and many other attractions in area. Lots of special programs, speakers, etc. Plan your vacation pilgrimage now! Web site includes schedule of special events; tours of the collection not on display; some manufacturing dates & serial number info; on line info about many collection items and archives they hold.

Books

OldGuns.net - Large selection of mostly out of print books on firearms, military manuals, reference material and military history books. Also new copies of some of the best arms reference books.

IDSA Books - one of the largest mail order seller of new gun and military related books. Highly recommended.
IDSA Books, PO Box 1457, Piqua, OH 45356 (937)773-4203

Man at Arms - Premier periodical for arms collectors. Nice selection of past articles, books they publish, links. Recommended.

Military Books - Out of print and used books on military history and some firearms offered by Richard Wililams of Washington, DC..

Military Rifle Journal - Web page has a sample of the diverse topics covered by this respected newsletter that gets into all sorts of obscure and remote rifles and ammuniton and related items. Driven by member submissions, it is a real asset for anyone interested in the topic and we recommend you subscribe to the hard copy version.

Military/Info Publishing - Fantastic source for photocopies of all sorts of obscure and out of print US military manuals and a few military books. On line catalog. If you need a manual for information, not as a disply item, this is the place to go! Be patient, they take a while to deliver but it is worth the wait.

Rutgers Book Center - one of the largest mail order seller of new gun and military related books. Highly recommended.

S.P. Fjestad's Blue Book of Gun Values - You can order one of the most popular guides on gun values. Good on modern stuff, but Flaydermans is better for older items.

Scott A. Duff Publications and Historic Martial Arms - Scott is the noted author and expert on the M1 Garand. Besides his books, also offers good assortment of U.S. military arms and related items. John has known Scott for years and rates him as one of the most ethical dealers in the business today. Highly recommended site.

Shotgun News - Subscription info for publication loaded with ads.. Many collectors subscribe to see all the latest ads from dealers and other collectors. Some like Gun List better, but Shotgun News has more wholesale ads.