Which shooting publications do you know and trust?

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Captaingyro

Captaingyro

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The recent thread on Guns & Ammo and their (sometimes) weird ads suggests an interesting question: Which gun magazines do you think are the best. Which ones are the most objective, which ones have the best writers and editors, and which ones offer the best value?

I'll start the ball rolling. I subscribe to Gun Tests, and I like it. They're not perfect, but they do seem to do tests the way (I think) real shooters would do them. They come across as a bunch of guys who got together and said, "Why don't we figure out a way to shoot all kinds of guns and get paid for it?"

They test quite a few guns I'm interested in, and I learn a lot about other guns just reading the detailed reviews. Whenever I've bought a gun they tested, I've found their impressions to be fairly accurate.

I also like Handloader. There's a lot in there that I'll never use, but I learn a heckuva lot just reading about different cartridges, powders, bullets, reloading equipment, and techniques. And I'll put in a plug for Charlie Petty as one of my favorite gun writers.
 
NRA's American Rifleman........new trends & technology, historical, and gun rights.
 
I'm an NRA life member and get American rifleman. Don't really get much out of it. Same goes for Guns and ammo. I do like Guns magazine and Handloader and Rifle magazines also. I'm kind of lukewarm on Shooting times. I don't like Shotgun news much, these articles they run about the handgun cartridges of such and such country don't do anything for me.
 
Which magazines?

If you are or are interested in becoming:

Handgunner- American Handgunner is the best

Handloader- Handloader

General all around- American Rifleman(NRA Life Member)

" " " - Guns and Ammo

" " " - Shooting Times

I get American Gunsmithing but consider dropping it each year then they do a great article that impresses me and I renew anyway.

I find Gun Test a waste but to each his own. I find great guns trashed and poor selections glorified but again to each his own.

I have taken both Gun Digest the magazine and Shotgun News at different times but keep coming back to Shotgun News. It's not for everyone but is a wealth of information.
 
I don't trust any publication. The agenda is always to run a profitable business while pandering an agenda. That being said, I find Gun Tests to be the most useful. I have saved every copy since January 1996.
 
I have read them all at one time or another. They all get repetitive after awhile, there are only so many things to write about. I liked reading Shooting Times, back when Skeeter Skelton was there -- I liked reading Ross Seyfried years ago, I forget who he was writing for back then. I enjoyed Rick Jamison, and many years ago I liked to read Ted Trueblood.

Now, mostly, I just get Gun Digest once a year.
 
I still receive American Rifleman.

My opinion is that gun magazines are backed by the manufacturers and are more fluff and advertising than useable substance.

Gun Digest has always struck me as more direct formulative opinion rather than manufacturer backed hyped in most cases of the articles I have read from this excellent annual.
 
Varmint Hunter
American Rifleman
Handloader
Rifleshooter.
American Handgunner

A.H. is going bye-bye this year, too many "NEW" 1911 articules.

All the rest are shills for advertizing. JMHO
 
American Rifleman, Rifle, and Double Gun Journal. DGJ is not for everyone's taste, and also covers rifles but is the greatest compendium of gun knowledge between two covers, ever. Just my opinion...
 
"Trust" is a relative term, since NONE of the gun rags I read mentioned problems with the Kahr P9 when they tested it right after introduction . . . it was only after I got one with numerous insoluble problems that I noticed that troubles were common by reading various internet forums. So I trust forums more than gun rags.

Still, I do read a number of gun rags for entertainment (though with a critical eye and a healthy dose of skepticism), and in rough order here's how I rank them:

American Rifleman (w/my NRA membership)
Handloader (subscribe)
Rifle (subscribe)
Safari (w/my SCI membership)
American Handgunner (subscribe)
Guns (on again/off again subscriber, depending on how cheap it's offered. Currently "off")
Guns & Ammo (currently getting it for ~62 cents an issue, about what it's worth)

I liked reading Shooting Times, back when Skeeter Skelton was there . . .
Click to expand...
Even though he recycled his "The Great .44 Special" and "My Favorite .357 Load" articles on about a 10-11 month cycle? ;)
 
Conceal Carry and SWAT - more useful articles than just gun reviews.
 
I subscribe to Handloader and Rifle by Wolf Publishing. IMO they (Wolf) do it right. I also get American Rifleman (NRA Life Benefactor Member). I used to subscribe to American Handgunner. I dropped them like a bad check when they got so involved in the Y2K hoax....I just don't trust them.
 
Since Gun Tests accepts no advertizing they will not recommend guns they test. They also state if in their opinion it is a good value or not.

They do go overboard, when something goes wrong, they will cascade criticisms on the product.

The were the only publication that ever showed that the natural location of an AMT pistol is in a garbage can. All other publications just praised AMT’s to the high heavens.

All other publications have to please the advertisers. I have never read a negative review of a current product, though they will criticize old models, old production, to steer readers away from the used market. One article, praising the Remington 798, a communist block rifle, never published the accuracy test, because the rifle shot so poorly, and praised the interference fit between the bolt and action as old world craftsmanship. You have to read the articles with a skeptical eye to see how they down play, misdirect, or ignore defects.
 
The American Rifleman seems pretty good. I tried Gun Tests for awhile, but quit in disgust after seeing them pan firearms based on one example. The last straw was when they chose a Winchester 94 over a Marlin 1894, even though the Winchester wouldn't feed reliably!
 
Since I got online forums have filled much of my reading needs.

I used to get Rifle, Handloader, etc.

We still get the Rifleman and American Hunter.
 
I like Shooting Illustrated which is an NRA publication the best overall.

I think I prefer certain WRITERS more than certain MAGAZINES. Also, it depends on type of article I want to read. Masaad Ayoob and Clint Smith write good legal/tactical stuff. (Jim Wilson is usually pretty good too.) Mike Venturino writes good "old timer/folksy" stories. Paul Scarlata's historic firearm articles are nice because they stay pretty focused on the actual guns themselves. Reviews are tough one because you have to "read between the lines" alot or often just totally ignore them. Greg Rodriguez is usually pretty good though. (However, I will usually trust an online Youtube review over a magazine.)
 
The only one I ever bought for anything other than gun porn is Handloader.
Kinda esoteric, but man, they know their stuff.
 
American Rifleman (by default with my NRA membership)

Gun Test

GT is probably the most unbiased rag I've read and I also don't always agree with them all the time either ... but I have several other relationships with whom I have disagreements but that doesn't always mean they get kicked to the curb either.

Like someone said earlier, I get most of my reading material on the web now.
 
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