Handgun magazine (that which you read) recommendation...

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Shinken

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I know there are a bunch of handgun magazines out there, but I have no clue which one(s) are of good quality. My interest in subscribing to one spiked when I read a few people on this forum refer to "American Handgunner". I was hoping to get some recommendations :)

CC
 
Junk.
Every last one.
Burn 'em all!
(If we're gonna go through it all again, I'm getting the first one in! :D )
Denis
 
save yer money,just go to the public library and read whatevers there,magazines,references,whatever they have in the stacks.
 
I like reading Combat Handgunner because of the "It Happened to Me" section. Readers of the magazine write in and describe incidents where the use of a firearm was used to stop a threat. But just the like the other mags there are way to many fluff pieces.
 
American Handgunner is, IMO, the only really worthwhile handgun specialty magazine out there. A good wide spectrum of coverage without too much emphasis on any one subject, and a minimum of "Tactical Operator" type nonsense. And very nice photography.
 
Let me save you some time. Here's every gun review, on every gun, by every gun writer, for the next eleventy billion years:

"This gun was really a dream to shoot. It was accurate. It was reliable. It was comfortable. I'm getting one for everybody in the family."
 
Yup.
Make up your own story, post it on the Internet, then quote yourself to others when you read it, and go from there.
Everybody knows you get nothing but the truth on the Internet & everybody knows you get nothing but misinformation in the gunmags.
Very simple world.
Burn 'em! :scrutiny:
Every one! :D
Denis
 
Shinken

Over the years, I've subscribed to or read just about every magazine out there; they're pretty much all the same-basically cut and paste ad copy from every gun and/or gun related manufacturer. The only one I look at now is The American Rifleman because it comes with my NRA membership. Oh, and occasionally I read Small Arms Review at Borders when I get a chance. But all the rest, except for the really nice pix in American Handgunner, are just lacking in substance for me. Way back when, there used to be some really great writers, men who were the real deal, not just some shills for the gun companies. I would subscribe to a magazine so I could read what Elmer Keith, Jeff Cooper, Skeeter Skelton, or Charlie Askins, had to say about some experience in their life having to do with guns; didn't have to be a review about the latest Gun of the Month that was the ultimate firearm ever built (that is, until next month's copy is out). Nowadays you're probably better served buying books, finding older back issues of magazines that were written by writers who interest you, and with looking for info right here on the Internet.
 
as far as magazines while i am deployed i order subscriptions to a whoile bunch which include

guns and ammo, combat handguns, swat, weapons for military and le. special weapons, shooting times, and a few others, when i am back in the states i get very few as i don't really need anything to keep me busy and as entertained like i do when i am deployed.

combat handguns abd swat are by far my favorites.
 
Thanks for the responses all. Sounds like the same situation "fitness" magazines are in. Once you have read a years worth, you have read them all.

CC
 
Anyone seen anything new in the gun rags lately that you didn't already know or suspect? I have discontinued all my subscriptions except my American Rifleman...A waste of money these days with the internet and all. Not to mention the easy access to this site for any information I might need.
 
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Yup, never anything new, never any comprehensive photos to illustrate new guns & features, never any useful info on new products, never anything good on new ammunition, never any qualified evaluations of performance. :rolleyes:
You can get all that right off the Internet, why spend money for it? ;)
Burn 'em! :D
Denis
 
I really stopped looking at any of them when one of their "reviews" recommended - for SD - a pistol that had several malfunctions with various types of ammo when they were testing it:eek:

Advertising dollars are a powerful motivator to ensure each gun receives a thumbs up.

DFW1911
 
Such is the line you must tread when the company you're reviewing is also your paycheck source. American Handgunner or Combat Handguns are my recommendations. There are some real hacks writing fluff pieces in any field but with the better writers you can often read between the lines and see how they really feel about a firearm. One of my favorites is when they write "groupings are acceptable at 7 yards" and then show a group roughly the size of a watermelon in the picture. You know they wrote the caption for the manufacturer and put that picture in so anybody with two cells between the ears can figure out that accuracy is just abysmal.
 
i find i get better information here and elsewhere on the interwebs than i read in any of the magazines, though i will occasionally look at a few. the only ones i really like are:

1. American Rifleman, 'cause it comes with my NRA membership. but often the only part i read is "the armed citizen".

2. Gun Tests Magazine. my father-in-law sends me these after he's read 'em. no color pictures, no ads. just reports of their tests on various guns within the same niche. and they'll actually write negative things about guns. they don't pretend to like 'em all, and they'll tell you exactly what they didn't like. if he ever stops sending me his, i just might have to get my own subscription...

3. Guns and Ammo, but only the annual buyer's guide. gives the current MSRP on most all current production guns, plus available calibers, barrel lengths, etc. gives me something to drool over all year long. i can live without their articles...
 
Most of these points are very valid, IMO. Certainly we are missing folks of the caliber of Skelton, Keith, etc.

I do think that Ross Seyfried is of that mold, however, and I'll buy any magazine that contains an article by him. That pretty much means Double Gun Journal these days, which leaves handgunners pretty much out in the cold.

As for the rest, I still think American Handgunner is worth the price. Yes, there are a lot of articles repeating the same stuff, but it's rare to find an issue that doesn't teach me something. And if nothing else, you can always count on a couple of full-page glossies of an old Smith & Wesson, which almost justifies the price all by itself, at least for me.
 
Just re-upped with Shooting Times for a tidy $8/yr. It's the only one I actually read, love the photography (excellent gun porn), and seems less of a pimp for the gun makers (as opposed to, say, Guns & Ammo).
 
my 2 cents

Besides AR

I've over the years subscribe to a number of mags, but eventually let them expire. I do occasionally buy a G&A or ST off the rack.

Right now most of my basic reading comes off the web. Here's a partial list of sights I visit, RifleShooterMag.com, Realguns.com, Gun-tests.com, Gunblasts.com, & Gunsandammomag.com. I'm sure if you look you'll find some that you will enjoy reading. I only read the free info and don't subscribe to them.

For hard copy, I'm now into the Wolfe Publishing magazines. (Handloader, & Rifle) Unfortunately, they don't have one for just handguns. Even if you don't reload however, their Handloader has a lot of technical info about handguns. I've learned so much in only 6 issues. There articles tend to be in-depth and long. They tell the good and bad. Written very plainly.

Maybe if there's enough interest they'll start a handgun rag.

Alf
 
Grew up reading Skeeter and Jordan.
Boy do I miss those guys!
These days, about all I read are Handloader and Rifle.
I can usually find something of interest every month.
I get the American Rifleman since I'm a member, and I'll grab at least one Shotgun News every month, just for the ads.
 
Shooting Times isn't bad (got a free subscription when I bougt a gun from Davidsons.)

I kind of like American Rifleman, but I just switched my NRA membership magazine to America's First Freedom to see what that's like.
 
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