No_Brakes23
Member
+1 yeah that about sums it up. I love Hot Rod, and Cycle World, but I don't treat their word as Gospel.Rob1035 said:
Gun Rags; Useful or Useless?
- Thread starter R.W.Dale
- Start date
- Status
dumza
Member
If you want to read one that gives some no bull tests... Try 'Gun Tests'. The consumers report of guns. Really blasts some. others so..so. When testing a group. Many times the more expensive are listed Do Not Buy.
Tom
Tom
Aguila Blanca
Member
like reading John Taffin's articles, because the man is a gentleman, and he can write.
Beyond that, I have little use for them. Only exception is the quarterly Guns of the Old West.
Beyond that, I have little use for them. Only exception is the quarterly Guns of the Old West.
The gun magazines that are available in stores are expensive birdcage liner. If you want to read a gun magazine try Shotgun News and/or Small Arms Review. I have to take issue with the notion that gun mags are good for newbies to read to learn the ropes. I for one am really bored with trying to argue with people with heads full of nonsense about "hydrostatic shock" and "energy transfer", proclaiming the imminent doom of 9mm and screaming that AR15 SI TEH POODAL SHOOTAR!1!! Where do they learn this crap? Gun magazines.
hotpig
Member
I used to buy lot of the rags. I wished that I had not wasted thousands of dollars on them. At the time I though I was learning stuff from them. After reading the same articles for ten years I caught on.
I always buy old copies of "The American Rifleman" when I come across them.They (mainly the older ones) have lots of info on how to do simple gunsmithing jobs. I have some going back to the late 40's. Presently I'm doing some work on a Hi-Standard HD-Military and wasn't sure how to; I found in a 1954 edition full description on how to do it, complete with photos.
1) I don't think it's fair to lump all the mags together, just like it's not fair to lump you along with the scum that own guns just like you do.
2) Now that we've decided that they aren't all bad or all good, the poll has no meaning.
3) SWAT mag is awesome.
2) Now that we've decided that they aren't all bad or all good, the poll has no meaning.
3) SWAT mag is awesome.
No_Brakes23
Member
lolKurush said:
bogie
Member
Precision Shooting - This is the best magazine that most of you have never seen. Slanted toward the highly accurate precision rifle.
Actual articles on what works and what doesn't work. General editorial slant is "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything," so if you never read about a rifle, caliber or misc tools, they probably don't contribute much to accuracy.
Small Arms Review - buzzguns. Very nice history and mechanics stuff. Articles like "how many rounds does it take to make the suppressor start to glow?"
Rifle and Handloader - these are pretty good general purpose magazines in their area.
Guns & Ammo, Shooting Times, etc. - they market to Bubba Hunter. Most of y'all are past this stage, and bored with 'em. Move on.
Actual articles on what works and what doesn't work. General editorial slant is "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything," so if you never read about a rifle, caliber or misc tools, they probably don't contribute much to accuracy.
Small Arms Review - buzzguns. Very nice history and mechanics stuff. Articles like "how many rounds does it take to make the suppressor start to glow?"
Rifle and Handloader - these are pretty good general purpose magazines in their area.
Guns & Ammo, Shooting Times, etc. - they market to Bubba Hunter. Most of y'all are past this stage, and bored with 'em. Move on.
"Homo sum: humani nihil a me alienum puto -- Terence "
I always thought that one came from old C Tullius Cicero. But, I've been wrong about other things too.
Last time the number came out, magazines in general were coming out of a major slump that seems to have hit in about 2001. The gunmagazines were re-building a little circulation- particularly the ones with a more general reach - that covered rifles, shotguns and handguns rather than a single category.
Since then, Guns Magazine has really increased it's page count. Advertising pays for page numbers and the advertisers apparently believe that the people reading that magazine are actually likely to buy their stuff. The parent company of Guns, American Handgunner and Firearms Industry is solvent and confident enough that they have released another- American Cop. Probably the first new slickzine in a decade or so.
I always thought that one came from old C Tullius Cicero. But, I've been wrong about other things too.
Last time the number came out, magazines in general were coming out of a major slump that seems to have hit in about 2001. The gunmagazines were re-building a little circulation- particularly the ones with a more general reach - that covered rifles, shotguns and handguns rather than a single category.
Since then, Guns Magazine has really increased it's page count. Advertising pays for page numbers and the advertisers apparently believe that the people reading that magazine are actually likely to buy their stuff. The parent company of Guns, American Handgunner and Firearms Industry is solvent and confident enough that they have released another- American Cop. Probably the first new slickzine in a decade or so.
Useless, worthless and garbage. Gee, can I get another article about a "new" 1911 or another Glock design? C'mon, real gun writing died off in the 70's. Publications today are nothing more than sales brochures. Rest in peace Skeeter, Elmer and Bob. We miss you.
The only mag. I subscribe to is SGN. It is okay, but anymore is just a bunch of crap that is very uninteresting. Some of the articles are okay. I still have my first issue, and looking back on it, it had so much stuff in it. Anything I could want is in that issue. I don't think all gun rags are useless though. Occasionally I will stumble on an article that is helpful to me or is a somewhat interesting read.
related discussion
http://www.ambackforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=30036&start=0
Link to a nine page discussion of the gunzine thingy. These discussions always have a large draw. The above site is the hang-out of two or three fairly well known gun magazine writers. They like to consider themselves above and apart from the common herd of gunzinewriters- and they are.
They are far ruder more arrogant than the general run.
http://www.ambackforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=30036&start=0
Link to a nine page discussion of the gunzine thingy. These discussions always have a large draw. The above site is the hang-out of two or three fairly well known gun magazine writers. They like to consider themselves above and apart from the common herd of gunzinewriters- and they are.
They are far ruder more arrogant than the general run.
Camp David
member
If you really like keeping gun magazines and periodicals I recommend that you have the old articles scanned into PDF media and keep them on your computer; some publishing companies offer back issues on digital media and I have found web sites of gun publications that offer back issues as downloads...
Adobe Acrobat PDF is a great tool for archival of publications... they print well if you want them and they take up less shelf space!!!
Adobe Acrobat PDF is a great tool for archival of publications... they print well if you want them and they take up less shelf space!!!
The writers for the commercial magazines are well..... too commercial.
Where is the last article that you read where the called a turd a "turd".
Instead they provide white wash comments like:
"Once you get used to the nauseating smell of this turd it isn't bad..."
"The grip design on this turd didn't fit my hand comfortably but then again I'm not used to handling turds so it might fit yours perfectly fine..."
"I was able to acheive "combat accuracy" with this particular turd specimen while testing several available factory loads. Though this turd didn't deliver turd match accuracy out of the box it meets personal turd defense requirements."
I'm just saying that the old school guys from a different generation called them like they saw them without pulling puches. Or I might be saying that the previous generation of editors just checked for proper grammar and spelling and printed what the author really felt.
Where is the last article that you read where the called a turd a "turd".
Instead they provide white wash comments like:
"Once you get used to the nauseating smell of this turd it isn't bad..."
"The grip design on this turd didn't fit my hand comfortably but then again I'm not used to handling turds so it might fit yours perfectly fine..."
"I was able to acheive "combat accuracy" with this particular turd specimen while testing several available factory loads. Though this turd didn't deliver turd match accuracy out of the box it meets personal turd defense requirements."
I'm just saying that the old school guys from a different generation called them like they saw them without pulling puches. Or I might be saying that the previous generation of editors just checked for proper grammar and spelling and printed what the author really felt.
mrmeval
Member
I buy Shotgun news FOR THE ADS!!! :-D
Kevin Quinlan said:
dmftoy1
Member
+1 for Gun Tests - I share a subscription with my neighbor and we put them in a 3 Ring binder for future reference. I like their approach and they actually give you the "reason" why they are against a gun or for a gun so you can decide if that's important to you or not.
I used to really like Shooting Times when they had the articles by Skeeter Skeleton and Elmer Keith. It seems like they had alot more articles about what you could do with your guns and/or reloading than they do now. From what I see currently the only articles are about a new gun that just came out. I liked the articles where they were competing at shooting animal crackers at some insane distance or trying to develop a .44 magnum load that would be useful for african game or stuff like that.
Just my .02
Regards,
Dave
I used to really like Shooting Times when they had the articles by Skeeter Skeleton and Elmer Keith. It seems like they had alot more articles about what you could do with your guns and/or reloading than they do now. From what I see currently the only articles are about a new gun that just came out. I liked the articles where they were competing at shooting animal crackers at some insane distance or trying to develop a .44 magnum load that would be useful for african game or stuff like that.
Just my .02
Regards,
Dave
I also liked Gun Tests for daring to be objective, even though I realized it had its limitations. And a subscription was pretty darn expensive at the time.
But, aside from Shotgun News, I had practically an addiction to Gun List!
Nowadays I will occasionally buy one of the large annual G&A's mainly for the ballistic tables.
But, aside from Shotgun News, I had practically an addiction to Gun List!
Nowadays I will occasionally buy one of the large annual G&A's mainly for the ballistic tables.
- Status