One of the most comprehensive sources of information about cartridges available. A MUST have for you library of firearms information.

Steve Adams
AdamsQuailHunter on GunBroker and Ancientguns Forums

EXCELLENT BOOK FOR ALL SHOOTERS, FROM THE 22CAL. ON UP !! NOW I REALLY UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MY 9.3X57 AND THE 30/06 CARTRIDGE.

A lot of good information but the author seems to be behind in the modern day cartridges. Russ Haydon of the Woodchuck Den has really brought the 20 cal. into public view. With the several 20 cals. out there the author mentioned the 204 Ruger (an outstanding round), but very little else in that caliber.

Frank Barnes was one of the great old timers that we have lost. A gentleman of seemingly infinite knowledge concerning ammunition and firearms. Much like his late friend John T. Amber, he willingly shared it with all.

For much of the life of this book I would have easily given it five stars. Indeed if you have never read this book, and have more than a passing interest in cartridges, it still rates five stars. However I have been collecting and shooting guns for over fifty years, and have picked up a few prejudices along the way that color my judgment of the current work (11th ED.).

My main gripe is that the publishing company seems to be trying to turn this into their cash cow by printing new editions in such short order that they actually show little or nothing new.

The entire "Proprietary Cartridges" chapter is another problem. The chapter seems to be little more than an advertisement for JDJ/SSK Industries, Lazzeroni, A-Square, and several other minor players. What makes a cartridge "Proprietary" seems to change from cartridge to cartridge. Indeed some cartridges listed as "Current" would seem to be "Proprietary" and vice versa. Better to scrap this entire advertisement er... chapter, and put the whole mess under "Wildcats" and quit playing at semantics.

With all of the various Short Magnums and Super Short Magnums that have been introduced in the last ten years we seem to be once again in an era of reinventing the ammunition wheel. Whether any of these new cartridges will stick is still up in the air. You would think that this amount of change in the civilian market would spur any number of interesting articles in a publication such as this. Wrong. Instead we learn about the needle gun. Interesting, but hardly timely.

I suspect this publication will continue to flounder as long as the current set up exists. Hopefully someone will adopt the concept as their baby and completely rewrite and edit it closely. This is what it deserves, and what Frank would have wanted as well.

This is a great, encyclopedic review of more cartridges than any one shooter is ever likely to see, let alone shoot. Maybe Mr Barnes missed some cartridges, but I think he hit everything important and/or interesting. But why not use scale drawings? It would have taken little more effort to make all the technical drawings life-size, and it would have increased the usefulness of the book greatly. As it is, comparisons between cartridges require a scale and some math, which is a nuisance. Granted, a few of these rounds would need more space on the page, but not many of them. A 50BMG SHOULD have a bigger entry than a 30-30, but instead it's shown reduced. But this is a technical complaint about a very excellent encycopedia. The writing is entertaining, too.

This book is the latest in the line of Cartridges books. I'm not sure I'd put the information together the way they do but all the information you need is there.

If you shoot, you will eventually need to know a bit about ammunition. That's what prompted me to buy Barnes' classic CARTRIDGES OF THE WORLD.

I collect firearms and enjoy shooting them. I do some reloading and should exaplain right now that Barnes' book is NOT a reloading manual. Instead, it's a survey of ammunition.

I use it quite a bit and have always found it to be helpful. It doesn't go into the detail a good reloading manual will, but it does give you a pretty good idea of what the basic commercial/military loads are.

The best way to use this book is to treat it as a starting point. I recently got a Colt chambered for .32-20 Winchester and was delighted to find an entry for it including basic commercial loads and some historical notes. I hadn't realized that this cartridge was used as widely by police during the first half of the 20th century as it was.

I gave the book five stars and recommend it to anybody interested in learning more about the ammunition they're shooting.

This book does a really good job at being a GENERAL reference guide. A buyer will likely be a bit disappointed if the purchase of this book is being considered for a specific information. For example: You could not help buying a surplus nagant revolver or mauser 71/84. Now you're wanting to get Info on cooking up some Ammo. You'll not find any helpful data or deminsional drawings (except for very common cartridges) You'll get a bit of (not entirely unbiased) history that you already knew, a little load/ballistic data that you'd be better going to a loading manual for.

The organization is in such a manner that is difficult to find a certain cartridge. In fact, I would say that it's been over organized to the point that complication smites simplicity.. On the plus; I've never not found a round that I was looking for after some searching.

If you'll be doing a lot of work around ammunition This is a good buy, as general and random as it is, that you'll be cracking open again and again.

I purchased this book in conjunction with another book, not knowing wich would better suit my needs. If I had to choose I'd keep the other, "The Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions" Check the reviews to help in making a selection if you havn't already.

Great book full of information on calibers unknown to many of those who love to shoot.Good price. Shipped and received quickly.

This is the best book on cartridges I have ever read and I have read 100s of books on cartridges.

This review of commercially-manufactured cartridges will teach you about the history of firearms and introduce you to some unusual types.

This book is a generally decent review of most of the commercially manufactured cartridges of the world, plus good sections on obsolete, military and wildcat cartridges. It's a good first resource for finding basic information about specific cartridges and serves as a starting point for further research.

The wildcat section is interesting and has tidbits about some of the most unusual cartridges but there was a total lack of discussion of the plethora of 20 caliber wildcats available. No mention was made of the 20 Tactical or 20 Vartarg, or several other fairly popular 20 caliber wildcats. Yet four major bullet manufacturers make a range of bullet sizes in this dimension and several quasi-custom rifle makers chamber rifles in these calibers. I found this annoying that while considerable space was "wasted" on 10 to 14 caliber cartridges, which virtually no one except a few individuals make bullets or arms for, no space was allocated to the 20 calibers which are rapidly gaining popularity. It's a pretty large oversight.

This book did not live up to expectations. The discussions of the rounds did not tell the reader enough useful information. There were a lot of fun to know facts - amaze your friends and all of that - but not enough information on how to use the round, good ranges to sight in the various rounds versus potential uses, reloading insights (best loads, best rifle twists for what bullet weight) and more of that kind of technical information. That is why I only gave the book two stars.

Every reloading manual has tidbits of info on each cartridge included in it, and that is the sum total of what this book is. Half page of tidbits on a cartridge (creator, date, type of firearms that use it) any some very basic reloading info, but not enough to call it a reloading manual.

It does have every cartridge that I can think of. The author has focused on including nearly every cartridge, but there is very little info on any one.

I rate it as 3 stars as it is a useful reference for an enthusiast to have on the book shelf, but its appeal is limited only to that group.

If you don't already have an earlier edition, this book is a must for any shooter, collector, or student of the history of firearms. Since 1965, Cartidges of the World has been the most comprehensive readily available source of information on the history, uses, and performance of rifle, handgun, and shotgun cartridges. This new edition includes dimensions, illustrations, a short history, and sample loading data for each of over 1500 different cartridges, including virtually every significant cartridge introduced since the early 1870s, with separate chapters on rimfires, shotgun shells, sporting rifle cartridges from the United States and Canada (with separate chapters for modern and obsolete), Britain, and Europe, plus handgun cartridges (both modern and obsolete), military cartridges, and limited production "wildcat" and "proprietary" cartridges. Covers calibers from 0.1 inch to 0.95 inch, and cartridges as up to date as the 460 S&W Magnum, the 204 Ruger, and the 338 Federal (but not the 475 Ruger). If the book has a weakness (except for a few dimensional typos in tables and a totally incorrect photograph of an obscure British cartridge), it is in its omission of many 17 and 20 caliber wildcat and proprietary calibers; it covers interesting but uncommon cartridges in 10, 14, and 19 caliber, whose future is problematical at best, and almost all the new 50 caliber long-range target cartridges, but ignores roughly half of the much more common 17 calibers, and all but one of the dozen or so increasingly popular 20 calibers. (For these, see Todd A. Kindler's The Sensational Seventeens and The Terrific Twenties.)

This book is absolutely complete, I enjoyed the layout with European, British, American, etc., cartridges grouped, so as to be simple to find. The index is extreemely good with the cartridges listed under the various calibres. I have an old Speer manual [1970s] & another reloading manual [1960s], & the loads listed in 'Cartridges of the World' are very much the same. The book identifies cartridges that are rare & obsolete as well as wildcats! A truely amazing work; excellent reference work!

artridges of the World, authored by Frank C. Barnes and edited by Stan Skinner, is always a fun read and generally a good reference book, however, I believe the franchise publishers may be getting a little impatient in releases. The 11th edition was released only 10 months after the 10th edition, while the 10th edition was released almost 3 years after the 9th edition and with more appropriate timing based on new cartridge releases. In short, there wasn't much new included that shouldn't have easily made the 10th edition.

In general, I noticed no particular attempt by the author to update or correct entries that appeared in earlier editions. The 357 SIG is still listed as a new cartridge , with the suggestion that time will tell if it will succeed. The 357 SIG is chambered in almost every performance non 1911 autoloader and in heavy use with Federal agencies including air marshals and the FBI. The 376 Steyr carries an association with the Scout rifle which has not been available in that chamber for years. The Remington SAUM line and the WSM line read like a new introductions. There are some showcase articles on sub .22 caliber rifle cartridges and the Chinese standardization on the 5.8 caliber, although I am hard pressed to know why as the information is of little practical use and of interest to a very limited audience. I would have been happier with a review of the concepts behind the past few years of cartridge releases and the prospects for the future.

Some of the categorizing or editing has gotten a little sloppy and there is a decent amount of redundancy in listings. Virtually every cartridge that appears under the military heading and has found its way into sporting rifle use, is also listed under "Current American Rifle Cartridges; the 7x57mm Mauser, 8x57mm Mauser, 30-06 Springfield, 7.72 NATO, etc. Usually this dilemma of listing is handled with the least appropriate heading get an "See under x Category". Things got a little more foggy with the inclusion of the 303 British under "Current American Rifle Cartridges" with text describing it as the "official British military cartridge until the adoption of the 7.62 NATO" then goes on to indicate it has never been popular in the United States. I am not sure what the term "Current" means as the definition offered by the book makes no sense at all. According to COTW, current cartridges include those where ammunition is still available, even if only by special order, and only if chambered in modern guns, although not necessarily in guns manufactured and sold in the U.S. I guess this also explains the 8mm Remington Magnum and 375 Winchester being listed as current. Under the "Obsolete American Rifle Cartridge Category" you'll find the 405 Winchester, even though ammo and a current rifle is produced, and the 358 Norma Magnum which is not an American cartridge. The 38 Casull is listed as a mainstream handgun cartridge, as is the 32 North American, the latter cartridge I am only aware of being available in the North American Arms Guardian pistol. The 440 Cor-Bon, however, is listed as a proprietary cartridge, as is the 475 Linebaugh, the latter which is chambered in a number of firearms and available outside of the originator as brass and loaded ammo. Proprietary typically means supplied by the manufacturer for use only in their firearms. Based on some of the COTW definitions, the 257 Roberts would be a proprietary cartridge rather than a commercialized wildcat. Where rifle cartridges have the designations "current" and "obsolete", handgun cartridges carry the page heading "handgun cartridges of the world and there is an in page break heading "obsolete" in the middle of the listings - something easy to miss and also inaccurate. As an example, I shoot a Russian Nagant 7.62 revolver with some routine. The cartridge is listed as obsolete, rather than military and I buy newly manufacturers Fiocchi ammo routinely from suppliers.

That said, if I didn't have an earlier edition of Cartridges of the World I would buy a copy of the current release. If I had the 10th edition, I am not so sure. It is a good general reference book and there are few that offer the same. It is just not a book of great detail and sometimes with uneven listing.

This updated manual contains much needed recent developments, especially new cartridges for Smith and Wesson firearms.

A fantastic book, the only one you need. Covers all cartridges and tells all there is, and a little more.
My warmest recomendations.

This book is all it should be: a complete listing of all sorts of cartridges, handgun, rifle, obsolete, current, its got it all. Great source for specs as well as being just plain fun to read.

The book was excellent. All that I expected. It contains information on thousands of cartridges, current and obsolete, along with loading info. (Valuable for obsolete cartridges as a guideline.) The shipment was very fast. The best is that the book was on sale.

The collector and also the sports enthusiast/gun owner who will find Frank C. Barnes' CARTRIDGES OF THE WORLD, 11TH EDITION provides a complete reference to over 1,500 cartridges for guns, providing ballistics and load data, information on modern as well as obsolete cartridges, military rifle and proprietary cartridges, and more. Each listing comes with a good-sized black and white photo of the cartridge, with historical background accompanying general specs and information.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Very good description about cartridges and some other important information about this topic. This book changes the way to analyze basics about Ammo.

This book is a useful addition to any firearms enthusiast's library. It covers a wide range of pistol, rifle and shotgun cartridges, both modern and obsolete. The only thing that would make this book better is dimensioned illustrations of all the cartridges listed.

The 10 th Edition is a worthwhile addition to the library. The newer cartridges are here as well as the obsolete ones, including the Military stuff. Section leads are updated to include the latest information avaiable on the cartridges as well as the manufacturers and users. As usual, advice is provided for possible parent cases or sources for new cases to reload for the obsolete rounds.

the rifle was a peabody-martini creedmoore "what cheer", with no caliber identification...after a chamber cast was made it turned out to be a wildcat called the R-2 Lovell...could not have identified this beautiful old rifle without this book ! wayne wagner