Hello! I am currently in a history undergrad. I am pretty confident in my ability to find good scholarly sources for mainstream topics, that is: just google it or type the keyword into Google Scholar or Jstor.

This semester however, I am taking a class "military history of Europe in the 19th century". A 15 page research paper is assigned and the topic is my choice as long as it pertains to 19th century Europe in some way.

Since my paper last semester for Historical Methods was on a slightly obscure topic (First gulf war propaganda) I thought I would continue picking another obscure topic and choose the history of firearms of the late 19th century, in particular the switch from breech-loading cartridge rifles to bolt action rifles.

I started my search and it surprised me how I could not find one recent scholarly book on the subject. I typed in multiple keywords in Google scholar, Jstor and even looked at the citations on Wikipedia. What I found was either very old books on the subject (that will probably be really good primary sources) or I find articles pertaining to very specific time periods or countries.

Obviously I am doing something wrong and that is why I am seeking advice on the method of finding scholarly books.

1. Any one know a good scholarly history books on late 19th century firearms?

2. How can I better refine my searches to find these books or books that even touch on the subject?

3. How reliable are older books? I find some from the 50s and 60s and do not trust them for some reason, is this ok? How do I tell if they are scholarly?

4. When should I abandon a topic? I was initially going to do this paper on the Fashoda Incident in 1898 but abandoned that after much worst results when searching.

Thank you everyone for your time, I apologize if I asked a dumb question.