Magazine Subscriptions and gun knowledge.

Use to subscribe to a number of gun magazines over the years. Guns and Ammo was a staple through the '70's and well into the '90s. Got Shooting Times if only because Skeeter Skelton was writing for them and his stuff was pure gold. Liked Guns and American Handgunner for their slick color photo layouts and decent writers. American Rifleman came with the NRA membership.

Nowadays the only mag I read is Small Arms Review and that's only if I'm waiting around the book store.

AlexanderA

It's been said that for a serious gun collection, a person should have a book for every gun.

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I have heard that said as well and I also subscribed to the notion that one should buy a book about guns every time they buy a gun. Doesn't have to be about that particular gun, just a book about something that's gun related.

I subscribe to a ton of them.
Many sort of repeat themselves, with an article about something new written in different mags over and over.
It doesn’t bother me, I like reading...and I like reading about guns and looking at the pictures, I like reading about hunts I’ll never get to take and places I’ll never get to go. It’s a bit of an escape, with subjects I like.

Gun Digest, the Magazine usually has a lengthy article on some gun to start off with, and often has multi-month feature articles like “Greek small arms of WWII” or “Guns of the Battle for Tarawa” or something like that. It’s historical and gun related... and usually has a bunch of stuff I never knew or thought about.

I’ve read a bunch of gun books folks refer to or suggest people read over the years, most with glowing recommendations. I’ve found, sadly, many, if not most, of the classics are an interesting read but are so far out of date discussing guns, ammo/equipment and tactics that they’re almost useless. The ones I got sort of tired of were the African hunter memoirs. By about the 20th elephant shot for ivory in each one I’m done.

Yes, subscription mags (other than Gun Tests) are ad driven. All media is. Knowing that going in makes me not believe all of the glowing words, as every gun always has some prickly points. Those that ignore them fall down my reliability scale.

The best part about reading a monthly magazine or two is one can gain knowledge about different gun-related things every month if one chooses to.

Stay safe.

I stick to Gun Test's. The other magazine's ? I don't put much faith in their reviews. How objective can an article be with a two page spread advertising the same gun in the magazine?

Over many years I subscribed to most of the gun and outdoor magazines. The only one left is American Rifleman because it comes with my membership. I discontinued them all a few years ago. I don't hunt anymore and my taste in firearms runs to traditional (or old fashioned), not the latest polymer wonder. I do subscribe to "Muzzleloader" for the guns, history and craftmanship articles and the gorgeous photography. Also, "Backwoodsman" which generally has a couple of firearms related pieces but mostly just because it is fun.

Jeff

I was looking for my February American Rifleman to get out the ballot to vote for the Board of Directors. I picked up the Nov. 2019 copy first by mistake but the Feb. 2020 and the Nov. 2019 have a plastic fantastic from two different makers that basically look like the same gun with the same background, posing it, etc. on the cover.

That is part of the problem right there. Only so many plastic fantastic pistols are interesting to me. Other problems are when you know what the writer is going to write before you read it.

I have a friend who is a writer for a lifestyle magazine. He goes on jaunts to Italy where the likes of Ferrari and Ducati put him and others up at fine hotels, wine and dine them at Michelin starred restaurants, and ply them with free gear while they review new models on the road and on the track.

Same for ski trips to tout ski resorts out west or in Europe, diving trips in beautiful places, all on the arm.

Write something negative and you won’t be invited back.

I notice many gun writers review a gun and like it so much they buy and keep the gun they reviewed, no doubt at a substantial reduction in price, or gratis.

I don’t believe any product reviews in magazines any more.

Every time my friend tells me of some new trip he’s taking, I never fail to tell him I’m jealous and I hate him. lol

I subscribed to a couple gun magazines in the 90's. At first it was fun reading reviews and gun related articles. But after two years, I noticed that the articles were mostly repetitive and formulaic. Since then I've just lived with The American Rifleman. For me, the magazines are pure entertainment. If I need serious information, then I'll do my research elsewhere.

Jim Watson said:

I only get magazines included with sanctioning organization membership,

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Same here. And even with those I rarely even look at the pictures, much less read them.

Riomouse911 said:

I subscribe to a ton of them.
Many sort of repeat themselves, with an article about something new written in different mags over and over.
It doesn’t bother me, I like reading...and I like reading about guns and looking at the pictures, I like reading about hunts I’ll never get to take and places I’ll never get to go. It’s a bit of an escape, with subjects I like.

Gun Digest, the Magazine usually has a lengthy article on some gun to start off with, and often has multi-month feature articles like “Greek small arms of WWII” or “Guns of the Battle for Tarawa” or something like that. It’s historical and gun related... and usually has a bunch of stuff I never knew or thought about.

I’ve read a bunch of gun books folks refer to or suggest people read over the years, most with glowing recommendations. I’ve found, sadly, many, if not most, of the classics are an interesting read but are so far out of date discussing guns, ammo/equipment and tactics that they’re almost useless. The ones I got sort of tired of were the African hunter memoirs. By about the 20th elephant shot for ivory in each one I’m done.

Yes, subscription mags (other than Gun Tests) are ad driven. All media is. Knowing that going in makes me not believe all of the glowing words, as every gun always has some prickly points. Those that ignore them fall down my reliability scale.

The best part about reading a monthly magazine or two is one can gain knowledge about different gun-related things every month if one chooses to.

Stay safe.

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Anyone that likes African Hunting stories should pick up a copy of Peter Capstick's Death in the Long Grass, Death in the Silent Places, Peter Capstick's Africa or any of his other writings. I like his style and I do not find him boring.

I recall a passage in one of his books (Peter Capstick's Africa, IIRC) where a fellow professional hunter would pick up random soil samples when out and about on safari and would drop them off at a geologist friend for analysis. One sample he had held for an extended period (years) and when the friend analyzed it, he called him on the phone all excited because there was an unusually large number of tiny diamonds in the sample. The PH returned to the area a few years later to find a new highway had been constructed there!

In another, he visits a fellow PH friend that is recovering from being attacked by a leopard that had been wounded by his client. The description of the man's fight holding the cat by the throat at arms length with the cat shredding his arms and "kicking him in the knackers every time he raised his hind feet" was humorous and chilling at the same time.
Men like him are born with bark instead of skin.

JMHO - YMMV, though.

I subscribed to Petersen’s Hunting... but just to get one out of print article. I haven’t seen much to make me think I should continue my subscription.

Speedo66 said:

I have a friend who is a writer for a lifestyle magazine. He goes on jaunts to Italy where the likes of Ferrari and Ducati put him and others up at fine hotels, wine and dine them at Michelin starred restaurants, and ply them with free gear while they review new models on the road and on the track.

Same for ski trips to tout ski resorts out west or in Europe, diving trips in beautiful places, all on the arm.

Write something negative and you won’t be invited back.

I notice many gun writers review a gun and like it so much they buy and keep the gun they reviewed, no doubt at a substantial reduction in price, or gratis.

I don’t believe any product reviews in magazines any more.

Every time my friend tells me of some new trip he’s taking, I never fail to tell him I’m jealous and I hate him. lol

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I'm not sure that a trip to Italy would be so good right now.

Poper said:

Anyone that likes African Hunting stories should pick up a copy of Peter Capstick's Death in the Long Grass, Death in the Silent Places, Peter Capstick's Africa or any of his other writings. I like his style and I do not find him boring.

I recall a passage in one of his books (Peter Capstick's Africa, IIRC) where a fellow professional hunter would pick up random soil samples when out and about on safari and would drop them off at a geologist friend for analysis. One sample he had held for an extended period (years) and when the friend analyzed it, he called him on the phone all excited because there was an unusually large number of tiny diamonds in the sample. The PH returned to the area a few years later to find a new highway had been constructed there!

In another, he visits a fellow PH friend that is recovering from being attacked by a leopard that had been wounded by his client. The description of the man's fight holding the cat by the throat at arms length with the cat shredding his arms and "kicking him in the knackers every time he raised his hind feet" was humorous and chilling at the same time.
Men like him are born with bark instead of skin.

JMHO - YMMV, though.

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Some of the writers are good storytellers, Hemingway’s Green Hills and Capsticks works are fun and not repetitive because they hunted a variety of animals. The ivory hunting memoirs from WDM Bell, Frederick Selous, Robert Ruark even John Taylor are a lot of the same; ‘shoot the elephant, hack out the tusks, shoot the next elephant and hack out the tusks’ tales. I found those to be disappointing.

Sixguns and No Second Place Winner were nice to say I’ve read, but they and Cirilo’s Guns, Bullets and Gunfights are severely dated to be kind.

Stay safe.

The only ones I get now are:

American Handgunner- Pure entertainment, nothing else. I love seeing pictures of stuff I will never be able to justify spending the money for. Lottery dreams.

American Rifleman- Its free, sometimes there is an interesting article, sometimes it goes right in the trash.

Hand Loader- There is sometimes some interesting stuff that I can use, sometimes it’s just oddball cartridges. Oddball to me, still interesting.

Guns & Ammo- My father in Law got me the subscription like forever ago. I keep renewing it, so I must like it. If for Gary James if nothing else.

ApacheCoTodd said:

I'll sound old as dirt and just 'bout as gritty but I gave up even browsing mags when the last of the old school writers and editors bowed out.

Art was lost and enjoyment waned rapidly. I miss; Skeeter, Jordan, Keith and their ilk. When those fellas said-so.... It WAS so and fun to read to boot!

Todd.

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Yessir! 100%!

I liked that triad and pretty much the order in which you named them.

I subscribe to Handloader Magazine.

bannockburn said:

Skeeter Skelton

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I read a lot. And skeeter is the only gun writer I'll say I ever enjoyed reading. There are others I read and feel like are worth reading. But skeeter is the only one I actually enjoyed and looked forward to.

Nowdays it's "the sear moves .00137 inches before releasing the hammer at 37.3 mph. The trigger creeps .125 inches, followed by a tactile click........the Hornady ammo goes bang sending their excellent tactical FBI HRT barrier defeating Hollow point into a 1 inch grouping at 75 yards with little effort......."
It's just not very entertaining to read IMO and only once in the last 20 years have I read anything really critical. (Apparently the new desert eagles chambering wouldnt function worth a crap)

well like most gave up my subscriptions to Guns and ammo, shooting times, outdoor life, Handloader, gun test.
I continue with Field and Stream--I like Dave Petzal the gun writer, and Phil Bourjolay shotgun guy,, I like Petersons Hunting. i also get American Hunter but it isnt very good.
All these magazines have become very thin!!
most of the gun mags are all about black guns and race pistols which i have no interest in. Most of the stuff especially gun reviews are not reliable rarely will a gun writer say anything negative about a reviewed gun. the exception is Randy Wakeman --he tells the truth if he get malfunctions he says so or he finds problems with a gun he say so. very reliable reviewer!

Bull

crestoncowboy said:

I read a lot. And skeeter is the only gun writer I'll say I ever enjoyed reading. There are others I read and feel like are worth reading. But skeeter is the only one I actually enjoyed and looked forward to.

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Agreed 100%
His son is pretty good, too, but there's nothing in the mags now that comes close.

Guns & Ammo and the Rifleman.

crestoncowboy

More than anything else I have read over the years that had to do with guns of some sort, Skeeter Skelton's "Hipshots" column and his feature articles were always the highlight of my day! His humorous and humble persona found it's way into everything he wrote and his lifelong enjoyment of guns (especially Colt and S&W revolvers), inspired many a reader (myself included), into sharing this passion! I was deeply saddened when I learned of his passing as I knew there would never be another gun writer and firearms aficionado like him ever again.

crestoncowboy said:

Nowdays it's "the sear moves .00137 inches before releasing the hammer at 37.3 mph. The trigger creeps .125 inches, followed by a tactile click..

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You must have really hated Peter G. Kokalis' gun reviews, then. It's called technical writing, and it isn't written to amuse, it's written to inform. Skeeter Skelton was amusing, but not very technical. Kokalis was technical , but only amusing when trying not to be. As a gunsmith and former Armorer, I found Kokalis' writing style more informative than his successor, Fortier. BTW, I loved Skeeter Skelton's writing, too.

entropy said:

As a gunsmith and former Armorer, I found Kokalis' writing style more informative than his successor, Fortier. BTW, I loved Skeeter Skelton's writing, too.

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I too work occasionally as a gunsmith (from home shop). A trigger job or something similar once every couple of weeks, mostly on 1911 or p series sigs it seems lately. Not a gunsmith by trade by any means. I do work professionally as a technician on automated industrial machinery. I know the value of technical writing and specs/diagrams/nomenclatures etc. but I feel like most of the things in today's articles is just to sound technical rather than actually be technical if that makes sense. Listing the tactile click of the reset in decibels down to the fifth decimal is useless information to anyone. And if it were useful would vary from gun to gun and even by how much oil/grease the end user applied. Even trigger weights while useful if I'm buying that particular gun may not apply to the very next serial number. From what I see however, they are either hand picking great examples to send these guys in triggers, fit and finish and in 25 yard grouping, or they are simply full of crap.

But I wholeheartedly agree that skeeter was for great for amusement and offered very little in the way of concrete facts about the guns. I remember one (the mama Mia incident) particularly rainy miserable trip where Mr Skelton took a gun out to review it but spoke so much about the trip and its mishaps that he never reviewed the gun much more than a couple sentences, and those were basically calling the gun junk. I miss that.

I would love to see the technical info kept brief and in a chart and a couple paragraphs explaining function (and how much information is needed on function when vast majority still use a Browning design anyway). At this point most technical info could simply say "see may 1911 article", or "see may 1982 article". That would cover vast majority of the pertinent info. Then write us a Skelton-esque story without the use of the words tactical, Molle, or mentioning special forces..

Basically I read the article to see how the gun works and if it's anything new design wise. These days I dont feel like the articles would even answer the first point honestly if it didnt work so why bother. All the guns that seemingly flew all to hell in pretty big numbers when they were first released? Why did none get reported in a review. I'll buy that maybe it was sheer luck. No evidence to the contrary. But it makes one wonder if the writers dont give a company a mulligan and just forget what happened and take a different sample gun.....IDK.

Then half the pages are filled with political crap. If you are sending me, a paying NRA member a magazine that means I know the politics of it....that's why I'm the NRA member. Send the "your liberties are under attack by" to the folks who you may influence. I'm already on your side.