No more gun magazines to stack up in the corner

R

Robert Foote

New member
I just passed on a renewal for the last gun magazine I had a subscription to (initials, CH). Years ago some gun magazines had informative or interesting articles inside; as a matter of fact I have a substantial library of indexed articles from the Rifleman and others, some of which date back into the 1940. Today, however, the magazines simply shill for a confusing array of products, all of which are wonderful, and continue to write the same elementary articles over and over. The editorial pages are predictably hand-wringers over the latest gun control schemes--as if I hadn't heard all the details a month previously. It's too early to know for sure, but it feels almost as good as killing the TV a few years ago did. Now I have time to read some good books, on guns and other things...

------------------
 
I got sick and tired of em myself a few years back, after all how many ways can ya doll up the same ole stuff......its probably good for the younger shooters though..fubsy.
 
Shooting Times is still worth getting, IMO. They have credible writers and cover guns that aren't necessarily in the high profit mainstream. Although they do seem to have a thing for Taurus revolvers. Rick Jamison and Layne Simpson are still making wildcats and I always enjoy Sheriff Wilson's tales of heroes from the past. And they haven't caved in to PC reporting of hunting. If Larry Weishuhn (sp?) bags 8 different animals on a single trip, they have a full report on it.
 
I will agree that some (most) of the gun magazines have gotten pretty repetative. How many times can Chuck Taylor right the SAME article on the 1911?!? I have always liked the magazines from Wolfe Publishing out of Prescott, AZ. "Handloader" and "Rifle" magazines seem to be aimed (no pun intended) at a more informed audience and their articles are much more technical than what you will typically find in "Guns & Ammo" or "CH". As an added bonus, it looks like Ross Seyfreid just joined their staff as a regular. He was always the best writer at "Guns and Ammo". Looks like their loss is Wolfe's gain.

------------------
Mossyrock
I wasn't here. You didn't see me. Nobody can prove anything...
 
Agree completely. Anymore, I just go with the serious stuff and pass on the commercial pap.
Serious stuff(?): Handloader, Rifle, Precision Shooting, Shooter's News. Varmint Hunter for entertainment and 'cuz I'm a life member. sadly, American Rifleman is no longer serious stuff since that geek from the commercial rags took it over. IMHO -



------------------
The Bill of Rights, and the Golden Rule are enough for civilized behavior. The rest is window dressing. Shoot carefully, swifter...
 
The only one I get regularly anymore is "The Varmint Hunter." The rest of the gun rags are getting pretty tired and seem more like one long advertisement. Same ol' stuff, at least in my book.
Anymore, when the mood strikes me I just drive down to the local newstand. I'll flip through the gun mag indexes and see if something catches my eye. Usually I leave empty handed. Sometimes the "drive" is more interesting than the latest gun rag.


------------------
Just one of the Good Guys
 
LOL! Do you know how much money I have saved over the last 11 months sinse I have been a member here?

------------------
"America is a melting pot, the people at the bottom get burned while all the scum floats to the top."


RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
The Critic formerly known as Kodiac
 
Agreed, most of the mags recycle the same articles every seven years or so.

The only magazine I enjoy is Shooting Sportsman, a shotgun oriented mag that has many good writers and mostly has articles on wingshooting. The quality of the magazine is kept high and it only comes out 6 times a year, worth the money if this type of shooting is your bag. I am not a hunter but the quality of the writing is enjoyable to me.

Almost all of the other mags are a snore, I only buy if they have an article on something I am interested in. Like TV, they are boring.

The net will probably kill most of them off within the next ten years.

Geoff Ross

------------------
Damn!...I need more practice!
 
One mag I like is AMERICAN HANDGUNNER -
namely for it's photographer:
Ichero Nagata
(Did I spell his name right?)
That man is an artist - his photos are so good - just looking at them you get a sense of the FEEL of the gun... They are amazing.
Looking at some of his pictures you get a better look that by PICKING UP THE REAL GUN!
(well- almost)


------------------
"This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration! Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!"

-- Adolph Hitler
September, 1935

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
The Critic formerly known as Kodiac
 
George. Ichiro Nagata also does the photography for GUNS magazine. I agree. He is the best in the field. Looking at the quality, I would imagine he uses some kind of large format camera. I never was able to get that kind of sharpness from my equipment.(35MM and 2 1/4x2 1/4)
My favorite gun magazines are in this order top choice first, HANDLOADER and RIFLE, GUNTESTS, GUNS, SHOOTING TIMES, RIFLESHOOTER, AMERICAN HANDGUNNER, and last of all on the very bottom of the pile, GUNS AND AMMO. Since Robert Peterson sold out the outfit that bought it has screwed it up horribly. One of the writers who quit, and now writes for GUN WORLD, said they only want writers who look good in cowboy hats. It looks to me as if they are disposing of all the old writers, probably because they don't have to pay the newcomers as much. I do agree with one point. All they are now is salespersons for the various gun companies and related equipment. Why is it that they always get sub-MOA rifles, but the one I get couldn't his a bull in the butt if he was tied down? I have rifles that are sub-MOA, after I did a lot of tune-up work.
I have a friend who is an Alaskan big game guide, who had the doubtful pleasure of taking one of the big-shot writer out on a hunt. Caribou and moose it was. Tried a handgun first, a single shot type. Made a mess of that, and turned to the back-up rifle he was carrying, and messed things up even more. Finally, my friend had to finish the caribou off. The fiasco with the moose was not much better.
If I was that bad, and screwed up that much on any game animal, I'd sell my guns and never go out again.
It does go to show though, that the "egg-spurts" in the gun rags are not as truthful as we believed them to be.
I said nothing about the AMERICAN RIFLEMAN because I have noticed a slight change lately. They seem to be getting more "gunny" again. I'll reserve judgement for a bit and see what happens.
Paul B.
 
I had to give up my American mags (and, yes, I liked Guns and Ammo 'cause I could drool a lot).

Those we can still get here now cost between $10 and $15 a copy ...... I just can't justify that any longer.

B
 
I agree that I've saved a substantial amount by logging on, here. Fact of the matter is, although some of us don't write quite as prettily as some of the staff writers for the mags, the knowledge base here is every bit as good, and is interactive, to boot.

[gush]

If I haven't said it before; Gentlemen and Gentlewomen: it's a pleasure to learn from you all, and discuss what little I know with you each.
[/gush]

Thanks.

------------------
Will you, too, be one who stands in the gap?
 
Man, I got tired of the, "Well, despite this, this, and that shortcoming with the gun and if they fix the X problem, it's a great shooter, I'd buy it." articles long ago and have cut down the subscriptions to Gun Tests, Varmint Hunter (no cost-life member), Am. Rifleman (no cost-life member). Those Nagata pics are kick-ass.

- Ron V.

------------------
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top