Gun Magazines

[KCSO]

I have noticed in recent years that it takes me less and less time to read the gun magazines. I decided to see just what was what so I measured the ads and the content in sq inches and lo and behold they run from 62 to 74% ads. Hey they should pay us to take these things. In addition each magazine has at least 4 cardboard divideres urging us to re sucribe to either the one we are trying to read or their neighbor down the street. This is why I gave up on TV 5 minutes of show and 6 minutes of commercial. In addition other than GUN BLAST I have yet to read a TEST of anything that told the truth. "Well it shot into 4 inches at 50 feet and only jammed 6 times in our test so it's not a BAD buy."

[fatnhappy]

Funny you should bring it up. I just subscribed to shooting times after maybe five years of non-subscribing. I've been sorely disappointed. It's turned into another "sports afield." A informationless puff piece for the gun industry with articles lacking any true depth.

[Ricochet]

Finding anything between the ads that I want to read is a challenge. The articles are infomercials. Or else the old tired "What's the best deer caliber?" B.S.

[DuncaninFrance]

Its not just Gun mags, they are all the same. Photo mags, caravan mags etc etc. they all seem to rotate the features on a 12 month basis and cram as many ads in as they can. I stopped subscribing and just look at them on the newsagents shelf. It I see anything I am interested in I buy it.

[SharpsShooter]

Funny you should bring it up. I just subscribed to shooting times after maybe five years of non-subscribing. I've been sorely disappointed. It's turned into another "sports afield." A informationless puff piece for the gun industry with articles lacking any true depth.

My 3-year subscription runs out in August of next year. I've been so sorely dissappointed with their magazine for this past year that I'll not renew. They did away with Mike Ventrino (sp) as classic arms editor and when they revamped the mag, it turned into a glossy infomercial. KCSO has it right...it takes perhaps 10 minutes to read the entire thing.

SS

[KCSO]

Whoa, who can afford newstand prices! I was in Wally world the other day waiting for the wife to spend the kids inheritance and I grabbed a magazine off the shelf and threw it in to read while waiting. When I checked out the magazine was $7.00. The special offer subscription card in the thing was showing 6 issues for 22.00. I don't buy many at the stand and was shocked at the price.

[versifier]

Not only that, they're all printed on that glossy paper. You wish you could at least get some practical use out of them in the outhouse, but they're not even good for that anymore...... [smilie=1:

[PatMarlin]

I hear ya on the TV too. I quit watching it 6 years ago cause the damn commercials drive me nuts, specially like when they have a late night movie with a commercial every 5-10 minutes.. :roll:

[trickyasafox]

i subscribe to G&A it's pretty much all ads, and doesn't give any non-biased reviews, but i like it just to keep abreast on new products, and i really like 'down on the boarder' and a few other columns.

[NVcurmudgeon]

I subscribe to: American Rifleman because I am a life member. Also, the military historical
articles are very good.

The Fouling Shot because it has useful CB tips without baloney.

Shotgun News because I can get three a month for half of what I pay for one a month on the newsstand.

Shooting Times because it is dirt cheap, I want to have one of the Madison Ave.
all-ad rags to know about the latest, and ST is IMO the best of a bad bunch. Although the last couple of STs have been even heavier on style and lighter on substance.

I won't go into my pet rant about how some of the high-tech mags have turned to catering to the great unwashed. Have you noticed how, as the pictures get bigger and more plentiful, there are fewer words? Fewer wordsmiths, too. I have thought of doing an area comparison between ads, pictures, and words. Bet it would be a shocker.

[keeper89]

As a FORMER devotee of printed shooting rags I have to say that this forum has provided more info than any of the glossies and the lack of funds spent on clay coated paper has resulted in an increase in component and weapon purchases--which in turn has translated into increased trigger time--and we all know that ain't such a bad thing.....:Fire: :Fire: :Fire:

[Boz330]

KCSO, I'm with you on the price. We stopped at Wally World to pick up supplys for deer camp and I had forgotten something to read during the down hours and picked up some gun mag. At check out I about had a puppy at the price. Like the rest of you I dropped my last subscription several years ago. I do get Steve Garbe's mag and really enjoy it and American Hunter. Sure do miss ole Skeeter Skelton. Now there was a gun writer and humorous as well.

Bob

[BD]

I can read any of my gun magizines right quick. Most of them only have a word or two on them, "Wilson Combat" being the most common :)
BD

[Shepherd2]

I'm down to 3 gun magazines now. I get The American Rifleman since I'm a life member, Shooting Times to kind of keep up on new stuff and American Handgunner since most of my shooting is handguns. ST and AH are on thin ice since they seem to be mostly picture magazines anymore. A while back my wife asked me why I kept flipping thru the magazine I had in front of me. Told her I was looking for something to read. I get The Fouling Shot but don't count that as a gunrag.


TV is something we chose to do without in 1998 when we moved to this farm. My son will occasionally tape a TV show for us from The History Channel or something like that. I can't believe the amount of time that is taken up by commercials. Thank God for the FF button on the remote.

[Swagerman]

Back in the early 40's, we had the prime de la prime in our outhouse...Monkey Wards or Sears & Roebuck catalogs.

You could look at the pictures of all the things you'd like to buy, but couldn't...but they were better than dried corn cobs. (rough as a cob but good for clinkers)

The only gun magazine editor I truly respect is Jan Labourel of 'Gun World'. Sorry Jan, if I spelled your last name wrong.

Jim aka Swagerman, aka Plaxnu. :mrgreen:

[KCSO]

I can't believe I do stuff like this but I timed the Art Bell show on radio one night because I was mad about the commercials. In a 1 Hour progam there was 2 minutes more commercial than show. The same on some TV channels, especially after 9 PM. Now I see that on some of the new DVD's you can't ff past the ad's and previews, they are locked in!

[C1PNR]

The amount of time with content vs the amount of time on advertising is no surprise to me.

SWMBO likes to watch TV, and I'm usually not around the living room anyway, so I don't mind. BUT, when it's time for dinner I usually put on a DVD and that's what we watch.

She usually goes to bed earlier than me and sometimes I watch some TV. It's VERY hard to watch anything on other than the dedicated movie channels (we have Cable for TV and Internet)!

I kind of like the Food Channel, or Military Channel, or even Outdoor Life Channel, but the mindless commercials just about run me out of the room!

That's when it gets dangerous! I'll come back into my "Gun/Computer" room and get on the computer. Pretty soon I find myself on one or another of the auction sites! Accckk! :coffee:

[Bubba w/a 45/70]

Varmint Hunter Magazine (VHA Life Member) is pretty good for the reading articles. There are some light and some heavily technical (moreso than I can digest) which pretty much suits a broad variety of readship. Much more akin to what we are looking for. The problem is that there is nothing about cast boolits in there. 99% small caliber high velocity hunting gear.

I must agree that SPG's quarterly is one of the best of the curent offerings out there. Now I just have to re-up my subscription....

[Bubba w/a 45/70]

BTW, Harris Publications used to be one of the companies that I looked for when buying gunrags....plain paper, decent articles, Ayoob writings. I happened to pick up one of their "Concealed Carry Revolvers" (or whatever the title was) in Wally World to purchase; until I seen the $9.95 price tag on the cover..... sucked in some air to restart the lungs and put it back down pretty fast.

[dakotashooter2]

I quit subscribing about 15 years ago when I noticed not only were the magazines over 1/2 ads but 1/2 the articles were reprints from the late 70s early 80s. I think they have gotten away from that now but it seems most of the few articles that are there are written more as a means to put the writter on a pedestal than to be informative. FWIW out state G&F puts out a outdoor magazine each month that is 1/2 the pages of many of these magazine with probably 1/4 the ads for only $2 an issue over the counter. That would indicate to me that somebody is making pretty good money when 1/2 their mag is ads.

[floodgate]

Other than the "Rifleman" - since I'm a "lifer"- (and the specialist magazines like "Black Powder Cartridge News", "Single-Shot Exchange" and "Gun Report"), the last general-purpose gun rag I have been taking is/was "Shooting Times", as the least awful of a sorry lot. I had decided to let that subscription lapse when it ran out a couple of months back, too, as it was getting pretty tepid, too. Then I got a copy of the December issue as a "teaser" to re-subscribe, and found an article rehashing the old .38 Special vs. .357 Magnum argument. I will quote two statements:

"...and a .38 Special can be loaded in any .357 Magnum die set."

"It wasn't much longer before manufacturers stopped offering the shorter 'Special-length' die sets because there wasn't enough market."

HUH???? Doesn't anyone crimp any more for revolvers??? Or check the current reloading equipment catalogs???

THAT DID IT - and confirmed my decision. THIS is by far the best general firearm info site going, and I'll stick with us here from now on.

floodgate

[C1PNR]

floodgate, reading your post caused me to look up the last issue of Shooting Times. Turns out it's for January, 2007 and has a couple of interesting titles which I'll probably look at one evening after TV goes off.

I've not subscribed to ST for years, and then about 8 or 9 months ago it showed up in my mailbox. Turns out it's a "complementary" subscription from Gallery of Guns! I think I remember buying a rifle through their web site quite some time ago, and maybe that's why I got on the list.:???:

Have you ever had that problem - trying to remember who you bought a gun from - and only several months later?

I guess the nice thing about CRS is that I don't have to feel guilty about something I don't remember.:confused:

[fatnhappy]

I guess the nice thing about CRS is that I don't have to feel guilty about something I don't remember.:confused:


Don't worry swmbo keeps a detailed ledger.