Best handgunning magazine?

[JH22]

That's magazine as in periodical, not as in what you load bullets into.

Anybody have excellent experience with one they would recommend?

J.

 

[Zak Smith]

USPSA's Front Sight, or SWAT.

Everything else is basically junk and offers nothing beyond what I find online (e.g. here).

-z

 

[BerettaNut92]

I don't have a lot of experience with other gun magazines, many of which seem to be hit and miss as far as their appeal...I've tried hard to like them but the only one I keep coming back to is SWAT. I usually browse through the other mags at the book store but only when there's a certain gun that I want to read about. SWAT is not a dedicated handgun magazine but lots of mindset articles which apply to carrying a handgun.

I like the mindset articles because I find I get bored reading about guns themselves, although I seem to ask plenty of stupid questions about them on the boards (because I'm clueless!)

Not that the other magazines aren't any good, I just have a short attention span

 

[AK103K]

American Handgunner

 

[cool45auto]

I like Combat Handguns.

 

[Berg01]

Ditto Combat Handguns

 

[DigMe]

Combat Handguns tends to be a little pulpy but I enjoy reading the tactics articles. I've also not always found their gun reviews to be very critical but I like lookin' at the purty pictures. Sometimes it seems that they try a little too hard to work various products into articles and pictures. I think lately Guns and Ammo has had pretty solid gun reviews. What I mean by that is that I've read some that point out the drawbacks of guns and even say they wouldn't recommend the gun based on malfunctions encountered, shoddy craftsmanship etc...

brad cook

 

[Standing Wolf]

It's right here at the High Road.

 

[sanchezero]

Unlike many publications, I've found that it's best to judge gunrags soley based on their pictures.

It seems everything else they print is crap.

 

[Pheonix]

Zak and Skunk, and the good old days of TFL, have finally convinced me to order a subscription of SWAT. My wifes reaction "dont you get enough magazines already!!"

 

[dsgrntldPW]

American Handgunner. For a good general purpose read I recommend Gun Week.

 

[BerettaNut92]

I may get a subscription to some of the aforementioned mags...I really like reading Clint Smith in whichever (American Handgunner?) mag he contributes for. I hope it's regularly.

Problem is I usually know which gun I already want, and reading about how a pistol groups and its features bores me pretty quick. It's the mindset articles in any of the mags that keep me coming back....although I am a poser 4 life I try to remedy it by reading gun magazines which will eventually turn me into an Operator

 

[Gunslinger45]

I like both American Handgunner and Combat Handguns.

 

[10-Ring]

I'll get 90+% of the info I'm looking for on the internet & the remaining 10% when I stumble across it at a news stand...I don't have a fave mag anymore. I got to the point that I was noticing a lot of article recycling & wasn't going to contribute to it.

 

[Spieler]

On those few occasions when I do shell out a few bucks on a gun rag, it's usually Combat Handguns or Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement. However, most of them don't seem to warrant my time or $$.

 

[Ala Dan]

1st the internet, and 2nd The American Handguner

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

I like American Handgunner and Combat Handguns, everything else always seems like fodder, even when it has something in there I like, they do it poorly.

 

[TheFrontRange]

"American Handgunner," and yes Clint Smith is a regular contributor there. With the likes of him, Roy Huntington, Mike Cumpston, and John Taffin on board, it's just about the only firearms magazine I pick up anymore.

 

[Island Beretta]

I have had to do a recent revision of my subscription budget and I did not renew not even one of those for handguns. In my research I noticed repetitions, bits of dishonesty here and there and outright inaccuracies (Gun Tests top this inaccuracy category).

Even Front Sight which I still get due to USPSA membership tends to go overboard on the glock and is like a merchandising catalogue.

In all fairness though this is only because the internet provides an alternative..back in the days the magazines were all we had and we were happy with them!!

 

[shuto]

gun tests - no advertising. appears objective.

 

[Old Fuff]

I've dropped my subscriptions to gun magazines. In place of them I:

1. Spend the money on books, covering my specific handgun interests. In the long run I refer to them much more often that any magazine, which is time is usually discarded.

2. Pick up older magazines at sharply discounted prices, and archive the articles I want on CD using a scanner.

3. Occasionaly pick up a magazine at a news-stand if it has something I particularly like, and/or the "annual" editions most of the popular magazines put out.

 

[wunderkind]

Combat Handguns, American Handgunner, and good ol' Guns & Ammo help me kill downtime. It's also fun to look thru an occasional Shotgun News and see what prices are like.

Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement is pretty cool-some of the toys in there seem like they could be mainstream someday. I love the combat shotgun reviews, but the $2,000 .308-of-the-month club thing is getting stale. I didn't even know there were that many AR-style .308's in production. Just my opinion, that's why there's something for everybody.

Also like the Legislative Updates in the NRA magazines.

 

[Shane]

For general fun reading, either Combat Handguns or Handguns does the trick.


When I want honest reviews on firearms, I chose "Gun Tests".


Overall, I read "Gun Tests" the most though. The fluffy reviews of the other magazines (whom rarely say bad things about a gun) make me sick.

 

[Correia]

The only one I have a subscription to is SWAT. I enjoy it very much.

 

[RCL]

American Handgunner. Also, Handloader has a lot of good handgun articles.