Third Party Press

Rough Forged Update 23 OCT 20

They arrived! An awesome addition to my growing firearm book collection, especially since they are signed by Darrin!

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Received my set today... nice to see my name in the credits again... Great work Colonel Weaver!!
 
Darrin has always done his best and the reality is there is no real monetary compensation that exists to compensate for the endless hours of research that it takes to bring this to fruition.
 
Got to thumb through and read a little bit of both books last night. These are really good books. I’ve already learned a couple of things just from the small amount that I was able to read. I also got to add to my G/K.43 listings with some of the photos.

I think everyone interested in these rifles will be very pleased.
 
Not to rain on anyone's parade or anything, but the SVT40 chapter in the book is...really really bad. The snipers are all (bad) fakes, the scope mounts are fake, the "SKT40" carbine he shows is fake, and the "German capture" SVT is also a fake. The "SNT40" designation for the sniper version appears to be completely made up, and I have no idea what the "Cyrillic П" sniper acceptance is. I have lots of other problems with this chapter, but its not my intention to catalog every single error in it. My intent is to call this out so collectors wanting to learn something aren't completely bamboozled by this chapter and all the fake crap and wrong info in it. I realize that it is not the book's intention to be a treatise on the SVT rifle, but it really is inexcusable how bad it is.

Obviously, I have not had time to read much of the book, but this does not bode well for the rest of it.
 
Thank you Matt and Ryan for stepping up and pointing out the issues with the SVT section. Very disappointing to see such fakes, as these, being used in a
top dollar collector book like this. I agree with what they have stated on that section, no need to repeat. Sad thing is, new collectors will read and see that and
think the information is correct.

Unfortunately, that hurts the credibility of the rest of the book too I feel.

As Ryan has said..."Not trying to rain on anybody's parade or anything.."...But, I have read mainly the G43 section of the book so far.

I have to admit that I was fairly disappointed overall in what I have seen so far. There is some new historical information, which is great to see! However, the quality of the pictures, on many (not all) is pretty poor..lacking in detail, where detail is needed, in many cases. In addition, I feel there are a few known facts, among other things not addressed...were they not known or just not placed in there, maybe there is a good reason? I cannot answer that.

I am sure some questions will come up as more people read their books.
 
Thank you Matt and Ryan for stepping up and pointing out the issues with the SVT section. Very disappointing to see such fakes, as these, being used in a
top dollar collector book like this. I agree with what they have stated on that section, no need to repeat. Sad thing is, new collectors will read and see that and
think the information is correct.

Unfortunately, that hurts the credibility of the rest of the book too I feel.

As Ryan has said..."Not trying to rain on anybody's parade or anything.."...But, I have read mainly the G43 section of the book so far.

I have to admit that I was fairly disappointed overall in what I have seen so far. There is some new historical information, which is great to see! However, the quality of the pictures, on many (not all) is pretty poor..lacking in detail, where detail is needed, in many cases. In addition, I feel there are a few known facts, among other things not addressed...were they not known or just not placed in there, maybe there is a good reason? I cannot answer that.

I am sure some questions will come up as more people read their books.

Perhaps you and the others should try to write a better book yourself ...
 
new book ...

... i received mine several days ago; & have read several sections. i think it compliments the previous edition on the german selbstladegewehr. no reason to re-print completely the first book. hit the previous high spots, & this book introduces the newer info on production, manufacturing, and resulting use by troops. also; .. speer, fritz todt, etc... behind the scene political issues to manufacture, ......... i like it...! ...... t
 
Thank you gentlemen for your constructive comments and critiques. Some of the above is not helpful and I'll leave those alone.

Of course, it is never my intention to let a fake or reproduction into a book, but I will study what you have posted and will make some corrections in the Errata page I am compiling. I have identified several typos, smudged printing plates, a cut off caption, etc. I also noted for instance that I referred to the automatic version of the SVT as the SNT40 when it clearly should have been AVT40, so we'll get that fixed. I'm not an SVT collector, and it isn't meant to be a treatise on the SVT series- someone needs to write a book on that, but not my area of expertise- and that chapter exists really to set up the later topics such as the G43 gas system. It doesn't differ much from the chapter in HGs or my article years ago in Military Surplus magazine, but clearly some of you have issues with it and I'll own that and work to correct.

Please feel free to email me at my address with your questions, corrections and concerns. Overall, the book has been well-received despite the several blips that unfortunately don't always appear to the proofreaders or myself until it's in print. But, if you're disappointed and want to return for a refund, by all means, please do so with no questions asked.

Warm regards,

Darrin
 
Perhaps you and the others should try to write a better book yourself ...

Yea, that’s not how this works. The very purpose of this forum, why it was founded and how it differs from places like WAF or wherever else, is to prevent book writing “gods” and collectors from running the hobby, and then ruining the hobby. It’s why XRF was discussed here and nowhere else.

I expressed concerns back in March based on what I was reading here, about people not being contacted or responded to. Like it or not, there is a seriously flawed chapter that could’ve been resolved easily. People have the right, and are right, to call it out.

My earlier post:

http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?40428-Rough-Forged-A-History-and-Collector-s-Guide-to-German-Self-Loading-Rifles-of-WWII&p=298326&viewfull=1#post298326


And if you want to get cute with me as say “maybe you should write something,” I’ll say that I am work on a book on a different topic. And have been working on it for years. It’s tiring, and I respect those that do it. Part of it is acknowledging what I don’t know, and contacting those that do.

https://www.forgottenweapons.com/japanese-type-97-20mm-anti-tank-rifle/

I think an errata page will help remedy some of this, but the information is already out there.
 
Since it takes some more time to get the book over the big pond I can't comment on the content this far - but I have a suggestion for those who find errors: why not open an own and new thread where errors should be "reported", so that Darrin can set up correction sheet?

I don't blame him - one cannot know everything in every detail, and I assume the usage of fake sniper rifles was not the goal/he was under the impression or has been told it is original. It is much more helpful to know exactly what is wrong rather than generally claiming a whole chapter to be wrong.
 
Gentlemen,

I do genuinely want to hear about mistakes, typos, disagreements, et al. So, please don't think I do not. After six books, I realize that that there is no perfect book, there will be disagreements and mistakes no matter how many people look at it or how hard you try and I have fairly thick skin about it. I just ask that you are civil and constructive. I already have a half-page of Errata and of course the community will find others that I missed. Look things over, send me an email if you'd like, and I'll put out as complete of an Errata page as possible both digital and hard copy in a couple of weeks.

What I won't do however is get into lengthy discussions and arguments on the forums for several reasons and I ask you to respect that.

Warm regards,

Darrin
 
For what it is worth...

I appreciate the amount of effort to write a book.., I’ve contributed on books on SHP (special high performance) Chevrolet’s and know it is often difficult and has to be a labor of love.. or you hate life

That said after spending more time with the books... my critique is centered around 2 points..

1) Format — I’d rather have a format showing each manufacturer and year... showing multiple detailed photos of known original rifles and their components. I really like the format of the K98 books and was disappointed this series didn’t resemble them in this area..

2) Detail— Details make the difference and given the nature of this series.. there should have been many, many more detailed color pictures and descriptions. Which would have “made” this book the “bible” I feel it is trying to be

Candidly it is a nice series but IMO missed the mark to really put a definitive stamp on the G/K rifles like the K98 books did
 
Gentlemen,

I do genuinely want to hear about mistakes, typos, disagreements, et al. So, please don't think I do not. After six books, I realize that that there is no perfect book, there will be disagreements and mistakes no matter how many people look at it or how hard you try and I have fairly thick skin about it. I just ask that you are civil and constructive. I already have a half-page of Errata and of course the community will find others that I missed. Look things over, send me an email if you'd like, and I'll put out as complete of an Errata page as possible both digital and hard copy in a couple of weeks.

What I won't do however is get into lengthy discussions and arguments on the forums for several reasons and I ask you to respect that.

Warm regards,

Darrin

Darrin

You're a class act.

Tom
Captain, U.S Army
Ordnance Corp
1981-1991
 
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