The Machine Gun: History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons. Volume III, Parts VIII and IX

"The series of books entitled 'The Machine Gun' has been prepared with the belief that the next best thing to actual knowledge is knowing where to find it." Chinn's study remains the essential English-language reference on the mechanical evolution of automatic weapons, prized by arms historians, ordnance engineers, and militaria collectors alike. Individual volumes of the set circulate independently and irregularly in the trade; Volume III, covering the wartime and Korean-era material, is markedly less often offered than Volume I. The third of five volumes in Chinn's monumental five-part study of automatic weapons development, prepared under U.S. Navy Bureau of Ordnance authority and originally restricted CONFIDENTIAL - a classification long since lifted, the work having become a standard reference in the field. First edition. 657pp., extensively illustrated throughout with photographic plates and technical line drawings. Original blue cloth, gilt-lettered spine and front board bearing the Bureau of Ordnance seal stamped CONFIDENTIAL to cover and running heads throughout. No dust jacket as issued. Lightfoxing to the prelims and edges of the book block. Previous owner's name inked to title page.…