So I'm a fan of doing things myself whenever possible, and to that end I make it a point to go out and procure a Chilton's manual for the vehicles I buy.  Surely someone, somewhere must have applied the same logic to firearms; gunsmiths can't possibly have a mental exploded diagram of every single firearm on the market.  Does anybody know of something like this?  Specifically, I'm looking for a publication that would cover my namesake Beretta Cougar 8045, which is a pretty obscure firearm.  Also, while I'm at it, let me ask for recommendations for AR15 manuals, and specifically one that's geared to the new guy who doesn't currently know a bolt carrier group from a gas key, and has only a marginal understanding of what "properly staked" means.

I don't know of any books (never looked for them), but you might be interested in the American Gunsmithing Institute videos.
http://www.americangunsmith.com/app/products/view/25/AR-15

The production is a little dated but the guy doing them knows his stuff and the gun hasn't changed since the video was made. Not the parts that matter, anyway.

I have the one for my pistol and rifle and I've seen a few others. He shows you how the gun works in detail - sometimes with cut away guns so you can see the internals working - then goes through disassembly and reassembly in detail.

I agree that a book would be handy to have. My plan was to get the AGI video for any of the shootin' irons I have and go through it with the gun several times so I don't need a reference to work on it any more. They aren't as complex as cars but they aren't intuitively simple either, for the most part. At least not for a non-gunsmith.

The AGI videos have a lot of info for the specific firearm covered by it. If you need more than a few, it might be worth the annual membership fee. You may also get a discount for buying more than 2 videos.   

Steve's page is as good as I can get.

http://stevespages.com/page7b.htm

I'm sure you meant to say Haynes manual. We don't mention the C word in polite conversation around these parts.

There's actually a lot available.

The NRA has firearms disassembly manuals which cover classes of firearms. 

Sample:

http://www.nrastore.com/nrastore/ProductDetail.aspx?p=BK+01616&ct=e

There's a "Book Index" right there in that link, too.

I've also searched online in the local library for manuals on disassembly and when my son and I were taking my Model 19 apart to put a new barrel on it, I found one for revolvers which included that model -see avatar.

There's also George Nonte's books on gunsmithing and firearms repair.  Example:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0811712656/?tag=2ahawaii-20

Also, many models are very similar or identical internally, and for instance, the one for the Model 19 also covered a bunch of other models that had the same lockwork, like the S&W Model 10.  The manual I got also included tips and hints for avoiding "gotchas" for various models, like the variations on barrel pinning and the like.

The library also had one on semiauto handguns, as opposed to just wheelguns.

However, some things I've wanted in the past had to be searched for in the entire CONUS library system and sent to my local library on the "interlibrary loan" database system.  One book I was looking for had to come out of the University of Idaho, not even a "public" library.  I don't know how that would work for the Islands, with the shipping problems, though.

And at least in my experience, a lot of librarian-types (forgive me for "profiling") are pretty anti-gun, even here in Colorado.

I remember seeing a sign on the library information desk at one library which touted the First Amendment (free press) as saving us all from tyranny, and when I offhandedly and without malice aforethought (honestly!) asked about the Second Amendment, she screwed up her face in a Ewww! expression and informed me that it was obsolete and should be repealed.

An obvious case of gunsisbad brainwashing.

Or maybe "braindirtying" would be a better expression.

Terry, 230RN