Collector Grade Publications

[Slater]

Reading the Facebook page of Small Arms Solutions, Heather Bartocci relayed some news about Collector Grade Publications (the publishing company behind the "Black Rifle" books and many other great books).

According to her, Susan - the widow of Blake Stevens - has been running the company since he passed away a few years ago. Apparently she's decided to exit the business, and their books are all going out of print. Black Rifle 1 is now out of print and BR2 is headed that way if not there already. It appears that Susan has decided not to sell the publishing rights to any of those books.

I would imagine that prices are going to climb steeply if all this is accurate. But I'm sure they'll be around on EBay for some time to come.

[SteyrAUG]

Glad I snagged all mine when I did.

[lowprone]

Ditto !

[Slater]

Looks like Chris and Heather Bartocci are trying to raise enough money to purchase the publishing rights to "Black Rifle 2" and follow it up with an updated edition or a "Black Rifle 3".

Considering the proliferation of AR manufacturers since the 2004 publication of BR2, and the profusion of developments in ammunition, optics, accessories, and AR configurations, the next volume could be a sizeable one. Unless they restrict it to military developments (US, Canada, etc.) only.

[ABNAK]

Glad I snagged all mine when I did.

Me too. Kind of like ammo.....got it while the gettin' was good!

I have the M-14 one, Black Rifle 1 & 2, War Baby 1 & 2 (carbines), and the FAL book.

They are all detailed as hell and I have fallen asleep many a night reading them in bed. Excellent resources.

[SteyrAUG]

Me too. Kind of like ammo.....got it while the gettin' was good!

I have the M-14 one, Black Rifle 1 & 2, War Baby 1 & 2 (carbines), and the FAL book.

They are all detailed as hell and I have fallen asleep many a night reading them in bed. Excellent resources.

Yep, and of course Roller Locking. Funny though, mine tend to keep me awake at night.

https://i.imgur.com/6xPQTy8.jpg

[The Dumb Gun Collector]

Some one needs to buy the rights to" Full circle." The prices for the title are now outrageous.

[Diamondback]

This could be an opportunity for Brownells or Gun Digest... acquiring the entire Collector Grade business would be a formidable addition to either's portfolio.

[SteyrAUG]

Some one needs to buy the rights to" Full circle." The prices for the title are now outrageous.

Yep, that is one where I definitely don't have buyers remorse. Grabbed it when DSA was selling those books and I "think" I paid $80 for it. Now copies are going for $400 and up. Same thing happened with Project 64 and Heckler & Koch: The official history of the Oberndorf company (which can be hard to find in english). Hell even the picture book HK: The Gray Room goes up to $400 every time it goes out of print. That was the first time I ever "flipped" a book. Bought it originally for $69.95 and sold it for $400, then they came out with another run and I grabbed a replacement copy for $130.

I've got a signed copy of Project 64: The MP5 Submachine Gun Story, never gonna sell that one. But all of those books, except The Gray Room which is mostly just a photo reference of damn near everything they ever made are a wealth of important, detailed information that goes a long way to counter crap published by the likes of Duncan Long and other famous idiots.