User:AliveFreeHappy/Reliable sources (firearms)

WikiProject Firearms reliable source recommendations and advice on compliance with Wikipedia Policies and Guidelines


 * Please note that the WikiProject Firearms g uidelines below are not an official Wikipedia G uideline at present, nor among the deletion-actionable notability criteria enumerated at Deletion policy. It therefore should not be relied upon in the article deletion process, which is subject to the WP Policies and Guidelines, not WikiProject recommendations.

This WikiProject guideline depends upon and is not intended to conflict in any way with Identifying reliable sources criteria for reliability. Rather, it guides article creators/editors on the application of Wikipedia Policies and Guidelines, including Verifability, as they apply to the firearms articlespace and categoryspace. In particular, the intent of this guideline is to help editors avoid using sources that that are likely to be removed for failure to meet notability guidelines. It is entirely possible that a subject that does not appear to qualify as reliable under the terms in this document is in fact reliable under the WP:RS.

The purpose of this page is to provide a list of links that can be used to research Category:Firearms and Category:Ammunition information. Part of the aim is to enable more reliable accurate firearm and cartridge information by providing connections to websites which have reliable firearms information.

Books
With books you need to look to the publisher. If it's self-published, it usually fails WP:RS. If it's from a mainstream or well-known firearms publisher, you're generally in good territory. Watch out for off-topic books that mention firearms - for example don't use a fictional or humorous work to detail specifications for the Colt 1911. Some broad helpful books in specific are mentioned below.

Notable cartridge books

 * good info about a huge number of cartridges - any particular edition will do.
 * Interesting stuff about lots of mainstream and wildcat cartridges. BEWARE the load and performance data is known to be flaky.
 * nteresting stuff about lots of mainstream and wildcat cartridges. BEWARE the load and performance data is known to be flaky.
 * Very accurate cartridge dimensions
 * Very accurate cartridge dimensions

Notable firearms books

 * Shooter's Bible No. 90 1999 Edition; Stoeger Publishing Company, 1998, ISBN 0-88317-205-4
 * Wood, J.B., Firearms Assembly / Disassembly Part I: Automatic Pistols Revised Edition, DBI Books, 1990, ISBN 0-87349-102-5
 * Wood, J.B., Firearms Assembly / Disassembly Part II: Revolvers Revised Edition, DBI Books, 1990, ISBN 0-87349-103-3
 * Wood, J.B., Firearms Assembly / Disassembly Part III: Rimfire Rifles Revised Edition, DBI Books, 1994, ISBN 0-87349-152-1
 * Wood, J.B., Firearms Assembly / Disassembly Part IV: Centerfire Rifles Revised Edition, DBI Books, 1991, ISBN 0-87349-123-8
 * Wood, J.B., Firearms Assembly / Disassembly Part V: Shotguns Revised Edition, DBI Books, 1992, ISBN 0-87349-124-6
 * Wood, J.B., Firearms Assembly / Disassembly Part IV: Centerfire Rifles Revised Edition, DBI Books, 1991, ISBN 0-87349-123-8
 * Wood, J.B., Firearms Assembly / Disassembly Part V: Shotguns Revised Edition, DBI Books, 1992, ISBN 0-87349-124-6

Magazines, etc.
Nationally published magazines are generally presumed to be reliable. Do pay attention to columnists pieces versus regular articles, as there is a difference, especially when looking for technical information. Some examples are:
 * Guns&Ammo
 * Rifle Shooter
 * Handloader
 * American Rifleman

Web sites
Web sites related to firearms come in a wide variety. There are many shooting, hunting and reloading sites that have an abundance of user-edited information related to firearms, cartridges, and firearm topics. Unfortunately, many of the sites fail basic wiki guidelines and policies, such as WP:RS and WP:V. This is an attempt to pre-list the most common ones to save people grief later on because of disuptes over reliablity, notability, verifiability, and deletion.

This list in no way overrides policy at WP:RS and questions can be directed at the firearms project talk page or the reliability noticeboard. This is just helpful hints and pre-assessment that hopefully will make editors lives easier.

Reliable
There are some websites that are inherently reliable (as long as you're not talking about their forums). Some may be considered a primary source for issues like notability, but are accurate and verifiable for technical specifications. This generally includes major publication sites, major manufacturers, etc. IE you can use a major manufacturer for specs (10" long and green) but not for claims (fastest, best-smelling).


 * good for info about cartridge performance and specs about their rifles.
 * good for info about handloading, but that normally shouldn't be used in performance specs. Cartridge specs are excellent. Opinion and history of various cartridges.
 * looks like reasonable articles from an online magazine.

Caution required
There are sites that are useful for certain things, but not for others. Many of the serious web commentators / web-based publications end up in this category either because they have user-contributed facts, or an unknown fact-checking and publishing process, or they are opinion pieces. Here are some well-known examples.


 * Generally a reasonable site, but if I had a choice, I'd get cartridge measurements, load performance, etc from somewhere more verifiable. Be aware that many of his statements about effectiveness and comparison of various firearms is opinion. There are definitely places to use this site and places to not use it.
 * Neat articles, but not sure about cartridge dimensions.
 * needs to be looked at - claims to be reliable but doesn't seem to meet WP:RS

Not reliable (forums, blogs, etc)
Some sites are interesting, fun, and full of information, but that information is partially or full user contributed such as forums. People say all kinds of neat stuff, but it's not reliable per wikipedia guidelines. Some common examples are:


 * - very active forums, but you can't use anything there as a reliable source.
 * Unknown sources
 * User-edited data, so who knows. Much of their cartridge history comes from other sources like Cartridges of the World so try that instead.

Adding new links
Please add new firearms sites after either having discussed it at the firearms project at the RS noticeboard, unless it's a very clear-cut case. If you have questions, feel free to ask on the talk page.