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AirGunEric · Site Admin

Earlier today I received my 2007 copy of the "Blue Book of Airguns, 6th Edition" by Robert Beeman and John Allen. Yes, it's a few months since its printing- but I wasn't in a big hurry anyways.

After thumbing through it- I give it a general "thumbs up" for its including a glossary, a few diagrams of airgun parts, its model crossover chart (for guns altered for specific retailers- but unfortunately not for "re-branded" guns like a Umarex sold under the Winchester name and such), it's reference list of airgun publications, its inclusion of the last known Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price, and its decent pictures of many airguns.

All that being said- I did not see any references to common problems with specific models or recall information, it's lack of Branded, cross-manufactured gun info (as mentioned above) and it's lack of production numbers of any given model (as in how many were manufactured/sold).

But my biggest overall complaint: It isn't a very good judge of the real 'value' of many guns. It appears as though it's pricing schema is derived using an accountant's formula- and this is especially obvious the newer a specific gun is, and exceptionally out-to-lunch on guns that are still available new in the market. For example, a gun that is still available has an MSRP, so the book lists it's used value in '100%' or "mint" but used condition as approximately 15-20% less than the MSRP- despite the fact such a gun can often be found from any retailer for significantly lower than MSRP brand new- like 40% below MSRP. So, the book might incline someone to pay more for a used gun than they could buy one brand new in a box, with a warranty, at their local sporting goods store for significantly less money.

Obviously, the book is less a "buyers guide" than it is an insurance valuation tool- as in a tool used to rationalize pricing to your insurer in the event of loss/damage to a gun/guns.

All that being said- I would buy another- in a few years when enough guns have come/gone from the market to make it worthwhile as a reference tool. Perhaps if some of the things I mentioned that aren't in it were included I would buy another immediately. For anyone that doesn't own one- for the $22 bucks it cost (plus shipping from the online retailer) it was worth the expense. I should mention, funny enough, it's own Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price is $29.95!

Anyone have anything to add, suggest, or point out that I may have missed?