Every December I try to treat myself to a Guns and Ammo Annual if I can find it on our local newsstands.
I first saw one in December 1971 (I have since managed to buy the 1969 first edition, and ‘70 and ‘71) when the 1972 Annual appeared in a newsagent in Guildford where I was a student.
In those days it was full of articles of general interest to most shooters and collectors.
Since then, unlike myself, it has got distinctly slimmer, and the content had tended to concentrate on handguns and centre fire semiautomatic rifles which are now sadly prohibited in the UK.
On opening the 2026 Annual I was delighted to find the preponderance of articles were about bolt action and lever action rifles, with a very informative 4 part comparison of WW2 sniper riles. Even the semiautomatic rifle reviewed ( a .22 LR copy of the G36 German service rifle) is something that remains legal in the UK.
Sadly, nothing on shotguns (apart from an advert by Mossberg) unless you count the superb one third scale working miniature of a 3” Civil War Ordnance Rifle hand built by Rod Arndt with a complete set of Battery waggons. I finally understand the distinction between a cassion and a limber!
Last edited by Parabola; 12/21/25 02:00 PM.
