Looking A Little "Peaked?"

[Bent Ramrod]

Was in B. Dalton's the other day, and after looking at all the On Sale books, I gravitated over to their very well stocked Magazine section. Pulled out a copy of Rifle Magazine, thumbed through it, and did the same to a copy of Handloader Magazine. Didn't see anything of sufficient interest to buy a copy of either, but I did notice that both magazines were on the thin side; nowheres near the number of pages I'm used to seeing.

Has anybody else noticed this? I don't normally see either magazine in the few gun mags at the grocery store or pharmacy. I do see one or the other at Walmart, but I haven't been there for a month or two. I hope they aren't in any trouble; Wolfe just bought Black Powder Cartridge News, which is almost as thick as those other two magazines were.

I don't subscribe any more but I don't wish them any ill. They still have an occasional interesting article, and they do have some good writers.

[dtknowles]

Print media is losing readership and so the profit from ads is down.

I used to have lots of magazines but I had a lot to learn then. They don't have much new to teach me as they still focus on the basics and new guns and such.

Not much interested in new guns.

Here the Walmart magazine rack is full of AR, AK, Glock, etc. Magazines so at least something in print is selling. Just not selling me anything.

Tim

[runfiverun]

look at the names on the articles in them.
your gonna see about 4.

same stuff, same writers, same articles re-hashed every year or so.
then a product "review".
same,same,same.

[rancher1913]

and look at the list of people that it takes to put it out, awful top heavy with vp's and ceo's who do nothing to help the magazine but draw a big check. no wonder they have to charge so much.

[lightman]

Yeah, the Varmint Hunter magazine was disconued recently.

[dtknowles]

and look at the list of people that it takes to put it out, awful top heavy with vp's and ceo's who do nothing to help the magazine but draw a big check. no wonder they have to charge so much.

Those top people are the top people for many magazines, check other magazines by the same publishers. Even then I doubt they are pulling down big salaries.

Tim

[mold maker]

Wonder sometimes if the same authors write for the Knitting and
embroidery rags.
Some think anything black with a mag hanging out the bottom is the greatest new invention ever. And O Lordy, the new colors are divine.

[Blackwater]

I'm with run5 on this. The newbies to shooting out there NEED some instruction, and the only criticism I can launch at the eds is they're SO politically correct! No review EVER gets panned! And group shooting doesn't seem to be their forte either. 3.5" at 25 yds. for a pistol is rather lame, IMO. But some seem to think as long as they're buying product (magazines, guns, ammo, accessories) and making noise, it's all "good to go." But there's no real learning to REALLY shoot going on, and everyone declares whatever they're doing as "good," whether it's actually good or not. Maybe they're giving credits for not shooting fellow shooters on the line now?

And you can tell them anything, but they won't listen or believe it. Sight in a fellow's rifle for him, because he can't, and tell him he needs to use that same ammo if he wants to hit what he's shooting at, and in no time, he's liable to bring it back to you saying, "What did you do to my rifle? I can't hit anything with it now," only to find he's shooting a different brand and bullet wt. in his ammo.

I guess I'm getting crotchety, but when someone comes back, complaining and accusing me of having "done something" to their rifle, and they didn't even bother to listen to me the first time or heed what I'd clearly and definitively told them in the plainest terms, I tend to be rather pointed in my reply. When they storm off in a huff, I'm glad, because if I can't help them, at least they'll not be taking up my time any more. Very few come back, and realize the error of their ways. If they do, I'll help again, and some good friendships have been made that way. Not many, but a few.

The modern consumer of the glossy mags has changed in character, desire and expectations, and what they want now is something I don't, and can't use. So I let all my subscriptions lapse years ago. I miss the old days when GOOD writers said what they meant, could shoot and give usable info on new products, and could tell a story in other than clinical terms, and make them interesting. Not much of that left any more. I loved Ross Seyfried, ad the things he wrote about, but he was fired for some sort of set-to with the head honchos.

A writer today in ANY field needs to be PC or he'll starve. And that's a dang shame, IMO. But it's how we've come to work today, it seems.

[victorfox]

I tell you. I don't live in America so getting imported gun mags are quite hard. I do however get them online "somewhere". I find most mags today useless, as you pointed less and less of good knowledge and more and more ads. One hunting article one reloading article of some caliber, some news about one or two new gun releases and that's all. I take a look and end deleting them from the computer. I download and keep however a lot of old school. Like Guns mag of the '60s... Man I almost cry over the prices on the ads. Born in the wrong time and country...

[Bent Ramrod]

I guess what jolted me is how quickly the shrinkage seemed to happen. As I mentioned, every couple months or so I'd be in Wal-Mart or somewhere, that had one or another of the magazines (depending on month) and I'd thumb through it. I'd maybe buy one issue a year; like the rest of us, an article would have to be pretty in-depth, or hit one of my specialty interests, to tempt me.

Most of the competing Guns'N'Gear'N'Babes mags on the newsstands don't seem to be shrinking that I can see. I don't bother even picking them up for a look. Maybe the general public does just want black plastic and Picatinny rails.

I wonder if Classic Arms and Militaria is still published in Britain. It had some really good gun stuff in there, written by enthusiasts, although rather heavy on medals and swords.

Sad to hear about Varmint Hunter. The few issues I saw seemed to have been totally written by the membership, but the articles would often grab my interest even when they weren't in my line.

[30Carbine]

The only mag I buy is the annual hodgdon reloading. just because of the load data in them and the new powders coming out. I know I can look them up on there web sight but I still like to just reach up and look through a real book. also to compare load data hey lets face it there are misprints in books and on line.

[crowbuster]

Lightman. I was shocked when this happened. Been a subscriber many yrs. no heads up. just folded up. even been to the headquarters a couple time. great mag. hate that they went under

[victorfox]

Crowbuster like the last edition of life in that Walter kitty movie? LOL these guys seems to have lost the quintessence of life...

[Detroitdanm]

Guns, American Handgunner, Handloader and sometimes Rifle magazine are my staples. I'm a reader and I love holding the product in my hands. I find a good deal to enjoy in most all issues of the above mags.

[facetious]

MONEY.

I have been printing news papers for 37 years now and I'm betting it is the same for magazines.

At some point the cost to make it will be more then thy can sell it for. Most papers want to go on line and get rid of their print all together. In the mean time to cut cost thy shrink the size. You start by cutting page count, In a newspaper if you were running four reel stands and go to running three you just saved 25%. on paper for that run. Then you make the type smaller to get more in with less pages and make more room for advertisers. Next you make it smaller, all this stuff is printed on web presses so you cut down the size of the roll of paper. When I started a roll was 58"s wide. Now a roll is ether 48" or 44" depending on what you are running. And all this is the same for magazines.

At some point all this stuff will go on line. Right now most papers are just some thing to put inserts in.
Magazines sell what ever is the hot thing right now and if thy don't thy will find them salves with some thing nobody wants. Right now the big thing is black guns and plastic pistols. When every one has one of every kind and every color thy will become Ho Hum and a new fad will be the hot thing and that is what thy will write about. The problem is that with every new thing that people are in to thy are going to be younger and younger and more likely to have grow'n up on line and will want what ever content you have to sell to be on their computer, phone or what ever thy will be using by then.

And that will be that. All gone.

[mold maker]

I find little of interest other than the adds.
That's how I know about the latest and greatest that I didn't know I needed.

[Mike in TX]

I find too many of the same or just barely changed articles in 2 or 3 different magazines. I used to take 14 gun/hunting rags. I am reducing the number to 10 as subscriptions come due. this year, and will probably end up with 8 including NRA rag.

[joesig]

I read that Varmint Hunter Magazine took a turn for the worse with new management but it was still a great magazine IMHO. As much as I enjoyed the the technical articles from the staff, the articles by members were very enjoyable too. As a lifetime member, I haven't decided yet if I should be happy or sad that it's lifetime is over before mine.

Haven't looked at a shooting magazine, save American Rifleman and American Hunter in decades. In general the content was not worth the cost. I can say I noticed a heck of a decline in Car Craft, Hot Rod and 4 Wheel & Off Road. One issue of 4 Wheel & Off Road was 88 pages, 44 of which were advertisements. The one "technical" article was an infomercial on how to install a fancy transmission pan gasket. The only thing I can say about those magazines is that at least they aren't anti 2A. I think Popular Mechanics isn't what I remember in the 70's but will be the only magazine I see myself getting in the future. They are pro 2A at least.

As a paper related side note, has anyone else noticed their TP roll shrank from yesteryear? Maybe it's the CEOs who are cheap and the pulp that is expensive?