Gun Magazines love or hate and why.

[Vigilante Sniper]

After seeing the 8 pages of post on upgrading BS, it made me think of Gun Mags. I used to love American Handgunner, it had lots of articles on our sport and great gun test data with a few knives thrown in. Now we have writers like Mike "Duke" Venturino with the same old lame articles published in about 4other rags. Always reports on reloading with lead, yet he test them with the same old Luger, .45 Colt, antique Bisley's etc. I quit reading Guns and Ammo because the gunwriters testing guns made ridiculous claims and never reported the bad about a weapon. For example they'll give an accuracy test and you see that in fine print that it was shot at 7 or 10 yards from a sand bag, well I can make any gun look good at that distance. Real test use a Ransom rest at 25 and 50 yards. I have always did better accuracy wise with the same gun and ammo in my test which makes me wonder about their ability to shoot. Also in the reloading section with J.D.Smith, his articles never have anything about .38 special, 9mm, .40, or .45, always some oddball rifle cartridge in a pistol. "Annual's" have the same pics and prices (that aren't up to date) of guns, no annual's have any meaningful info in the few articles they have. Now the rage in mags is "Tactical" or "Home Defense". What ever happened to writers like Skeeter Skelton, or Bill Jordan. I'd love to see a mag on just guns and ammo we use in our sport of USPSA, IDPA, PPM, Steel Challange, pros and cons of the guns and makers, and realistic test etc.

 

[Baldrik78]

Hate. I have yet to see one that didn't like a gun they got to test out. If I want to be lied to, I'll go talk to my congressman.

 

[Matchgrade]

Gun mags are advertising flyers for the gun industry. Three page articles on the latest and greatest, with a full page ad to pay for it. You can get better and more info from gun forums (well, at least from some of them).

 

[Tulse Luper]

I have not touched a gun mag in years other than Front Sight. There is an article in Gun & Ammo Combat Tactics Magazine written by member of HKpro on the P7 that I'd like to see. I think it's a special issue.

Anyone go it?

 

[kcinnick]

Mags are advertising flyers for the their industry. Three page articles on the latest and greatest, with a full page ad to pay for it. You can get better and more info from forums (well, at least from some of them).

.

 

[dzelenka]

I don't read any of them; but if I did, it would be something like Precision Shooting.

 

[whbonney26]

I used to love reading Skeeter Skelton's work. His son writes now also. I have tons of old magazines with Skeeter's work in them packed away.

Today's gun magazines are full of articles about the guns companies who pay their bills to make the magazine so you will rarely read a bad word about any of the guns in the mags.

I dont get a whole lot of magazines these days unless there is something that I just happen to see and want to read about. My favorite is Guns of the Old West. I enjoy the magazine and right now its my only subscription other than American Rifleman with the NRA.

 

[JR1572]

I read Small Arms Review. All The other magazines do not cater to my interests.

JR1572

 

[Tx_oil]

In the 80's I subscribed to a magazine called International Combat Arms..it was a rundown of the latest gee-whiz stuff from DARPA and the Fort Meade bunch. As a teen (in the mid 70's) I would read Guns and Ammo religiously..but it was worth reading then. I gave American Handgunner a try for two years, but I got really tired of Venturino's submachine gun fetish, Taffin's paean to the Ruger Blackhawk and the centerpiece of a one-off, handbuilt 10k+ platinum inlaid 1911/hi Power from a builder who will never accept any more orders.

EVERY MONTH.

I have gleaned MUCH more info from (selected) forums, which are available 24/7, and if I pose a question, I will usually get helpful info very shortly. No magazine can equal this.
If a good gun mag existed, with real articles, testing real guns and reporting their warts and misfires, I'd be tempted. Knowing that in the digital media age, print is just about dead, there is a real excitement to finding a new issue of a favorite magazine in the mailbox, and standing at the box riffling thru the pages to see what would be read first.
The flyers from JG Sales, Midway, Cheaper than Dirt and Brownells just don't pack the same wallop.

 

[Nolacopusmc]

I don't mind gun magazines, it is gun clips I can't stand.

 

[whbonney26]

I don't mind gun magazines, it is gun clips I can't stand.

 

[Guate_shooter]

I don't mind gun magazines, it is gun clips I can't stand.

That was classic ..........

 

[lsu fan]

I like my gun mags... American Rifleman comes with the NRA membership, and G&A is cheap.

Of course they aren't going to bite the hand that feeds, so I take their reviews with a grain of salt. Whether the guns suck or not, I like reading about them. There's plenty of info on the internet for me to do my own research before I buy a firearm.

 

[oleheat]

Personally, I like them. Lots.

I'm a fan of Sheriff Jim Wilson, Bart Skelton (was a fan of his Dad, also), Wiley Clapp, and the old school writings of guys like Bill Jordan & Col. Jeff Cooper- those two were real men who wrote from experience.

I don't have a problem with their advertising or sales pitches; I consider myself a Capitalist.

 

[Nolacopusmc]

I read them all because I like the pictures. Seriously, I am getting into photography and I like to see how they compose them. ALso, it allows me to see what the "current" fads are in gear and training.

To me it is 70% entertaining and 30% education / professional development. IF you look hard enough, there is some good info in there, somewhere around the ads. LOL

 

[70116]

I have a free digital subscription to Guns Magazine. They had an article a few months back on flying with guns that was full of inaccurate information. Since I fly with guns regularly, even through the New York City airports (JFK & LGA), I was appalled that they would provide so much misinformation.

I wrote a nice email to the Editor pointing out the errors and attaching both TSA regulations and various airline policies and operational procedures which showed how wrong their article was.

I never got an acknowledgement of my email and there were never any corrections in subsequent issues.

IM (not very) HO, these publications are OK to look at the ads but mostly worthless from an editorial standpoint.

[FLAME ON] I'm glad that the membership is against turning BS into a repository for over the hill writers who only try to promote themselves and have nothing meaningful to contribute. [FLAME OFF]

 

[oleheat]

I read them all because I like the pictures. Seriously, I am getting into photography and I like to see how they compose them. ALso, it allows me to see what the "current" fads are in gear and training.

To me it is 70% entertaining and 30% education / professional development. IF you look hard enough, there is some good info in there, somewhere around the ads. LOL

Probably old news to you, but if you appreciate the pictures (I sure do), it's really hard to beat the photography work in GUNS Magazine, as well as American Handgunner. Those guys are REALLY good at what they do.....

 

[Corregidor]

I really enjoy the articles in shotgun news. Well written product reviews (however Peter Kokalis can be annoying at times) that tell the good and bad, as well as current political events pertinent to gun owners. Plus, who doesn't enjoy the sale pages? Another magazine that I recommend is "Gun Tests". It is kind of low budget (almost all in black and white) and they provide very good product reviews and ratings of firearms and gear. Their magazine is does not take any sides with manufacturers, and to prove it they do not have a single advertisement for any manufacturer in their publication. Just honest feedback.

 

[SpeedRacer]

I cancelled all of gun mag subscriptions this year because I got tired of paying to read ads disguised as articles. I do still browse them occasionally just for the gun porn. I stick to the web and forums for anything of substance.

 

[Vigilante Sniper]

I have not touched a gun mag in years other than Front Sight. There is an article in Gun & Ammo Combat Tactics Magazine written by member of HKpro on the P7 that I'd like to see. I think it's a special issue.

Anyone go it?

You can probably get it online.