Any Good Firearms Publications Left?

[broomhandle]

Hi Guys,

I get Guns & Ammo & Shooting along with the American Rifleman. Yes, it's mainly big bucks black rifles & $2000+ pistols.
All the "How to do repair & adjust stuff" have been removed, do to the lawyers on staff!

I get the first two for $8 a year, delivered to the house! That's not even the cost for postage ! I'm sure, they are STILL making $ on me!

Best to all,
broomhandle

[Murphy]

Yep, things have changed in the gun magazine world. In my earlier years I purchased just about every gun rag I could get my hands on. Finally, I was down to American Handgunner alone and eventually even it began to get old. In an earlier post one of the gentlemen mentioned growing up on Keith, Skeeter, Bill Jordan and a few others. I'm in the same boat with him. That isn't to say there aren't a few out there that are still good reads. There just isn't anything I care to spend money on at this time.

Good luck in your search for something new.

Murphy

[midnight]

Is the "Single Shot Exchange" still in business? I used to get it years ago. Many of the articles were written by ordinary subscribers, not professional gun writers about their projects, problems and the solutions they found. I still get American Rifleman, Rifle, Handloader, and Guns magazine. I keep "Guns" just to keep up on what's new since it seems to me to be the best of that sort of gun mag. John Connor seems to be a kindred spirit.

Bob

[robg]

Next shooting ,reloading I like to read about guns shooting etc .handloaderis still a good read ,rifle is worth a read I'm no snob I'll read most but some I argue with like the news broadcasts on the TV!

[AbitNutz]

Meh...lets not forget that firearms have been around next to forever so there's no much new under the sun. As more and more things get some sort of electronic widget tacked on to it, things may change a bit. There are only so many combinations of brass, powder, primer and projectile...when you get down to it, we are overly analyzing the difference between calibers that actually are very similar.... When a myriad of combinations all throw a similar diameter and weight projectile at a similar velocity, we get similar results. We may get there in slightly different ways but in the end...it's all mostly the same.

So writers and the industry have to concentrate on very small differences and make them seem new and interesting when they are neither....kind of like the reply I'm writing now.

[ArrowJ]

...writers and the industry have to concentrate on very small differences and make them seem new and interesting when they are neither....kind of like the reply I'm writing now.

Good stuff

[rca]

Gun Test Magazine they seem very impartial and no avertisements at aLL

[ArrowJ]

Gun Test Magazine they seem very impartial and no avertisements at all

I do enjoy that publication, and may resub at some point. In general all gun magazines end up making me want firearms I do not have money to buy anyway

[wv109323]

At my hunting camp, I have some 15-20 year old gun magazines. I re-read some and thought I would subscribe to one that I had subscribed to many years ago.
The magazine is now about 40 pages fewer and the level of information is elementary. It now seems every firearm is top shelf but if you really want to get in the groove spend $4000 for a handgun.
To us that has been in the hobby/sport for a while we probably already know as much as is being written. Also with so many new gun owners, it doesn't take much to be "news" and information.

[TXGunNut]

I quit Guns & Ammo and went to Shooting Times because they had the best photographer in the business. We didn't call it gun porn back then but the term fit. I can't remember the photog's name but he died soon afterwards. Should have taken it as an omen. My shooting buddy passes on his copies of Predator Xtreme. I like it in spite of the ads and the fact that I'm not a varmint hunter. He doesn't subscribe, they just send it to him.

[Bent Ramrod]

Like wv says, anyone who has been in this hobby for a time probably knows as much or more about certain aspects of it than the average gun writer. Especially a writer who isn't much into what the hobbyist is knowledgable about. But then comes the day when the Editor assigns said writer 5000 words on the reader's pet specialty. Even a "professional" writeup will seem to be naive scratching of the surface and woe to the writer if he gets anything wrong! And woe to the magazine that publishes it!

[Walter Laich]

I'll buy one at the supermarket now and then just to see why I don't subscribe.

Wonder what the guys just starting out think of the magazines? We OF are at the other end of the time line

[Outpost75]

New stand gun magazines are simple whores for their advertisers and they exist only to publish pseudo-articles, aka "puff pieces" which are thinly disguised ads for the advertiser's products. So everything is wonderful...

Back in the day when Ken Warner and Chuck Lanham published a short-lived magazine called Gun Facts, (the "Gun Tests" of its era) Ken had a working relationship with several local gunshops and they tested and wrote up actual production guns bought at retail, and reported on them honestly.

American Rifleman in the days when Ken Warner was Editor, did the same thing, testing regular production, not carefully prepped writer guns. When pre-production samples were tested, they were honestly evaluated and often problems identified, which were fixed later. Glitches were reported gently, but honestly.

The problem I see is that people want to read only so many articles about ARs, AKs, Glocks and 1911s.

I enjoy Mike Venturino's writings because be discusses older, classic vintage sporting arms, cowboy guns and milsurps, just as many of us do here.

I don't necessarily agree with everything that he writes, but I enjoy his articles and seek them out. I have met the man in person and chatted with him and he is a regular guy.

No so some of the other blowhards I have known.

I can remember clearly when the NRA annual meeting was held in Tucson, AZ I was introduced to Col. Chas. Askins at a cocktail party for NRA Directors, industry and staff, by none other than AZ gunsmith Roy F. Dunlap. Roy made an uncomplimentary comment about Col. Askins which the old boy over heard. He wandered over to us, introduced himself to me and then directed his comments to Roy, saying:

"Sgt. Dunlap, I'd bet when I die you'd walk all the way to San Antonio just to urinate on my gravestone..."

Roy smiled and replied back:

"No Sir, Colonel Sir, I swore when I got out of the Army I'd never stand in line again!"

[Dragonheart]

[QUOTE=Outpost75;3681543]New stand gun magazines are simple whores for their advertisers and they exist only to publish pseudo-articles, aka "puff pieces" which are thinly disguised ads for the advertiser's products. So everything is wonderful...

I agree. I have a friend that subscribes to a bag load of gun magazines and I am not exaggerating as he give them to me after he is finished in a brown grocery sack every month. Occasionally, one will have some useful load data or an interesting article, but those are few and far between. Reading a gun review is a waste of time as pertinent information is seldom there. But the really good thing I like about these free magazines is many of them have Harbor Freight Coupons for free stuff with a purchase and a 20% off coupon.

[AbitNutz]

Printed media is dying, if not totally dead. Online reviews pop up all the time now. The issue is that the ones that try to be honest are almost laughably ignorant about guns and the ones that may know from what they speak, almost instantly get "bribed" to do favorable reviews. Imagine, you start doing youtube reviews that catch on. You get paid anywhere from nothing to almost nothing for your efforts. Then Schnizzle-Tactical sends you their latest double barreled polymer wonder AR to review and says...if you like it, you can keep it. Or, we'll include 5000 rounds of Super-Schnizzle magnum ammo for you to warm up on...well. You're now a Schnizzle convert.

Look at Hickok 45...when was the last time you saw him not like a gun? I enjoy his channel but really don't expect him to look into the camera and say "Life is good but this gun sux".

[Geezer in NH]

Is the "Single Shot Exchange" still in business? I used to get it years ago. Many of the articles were written by ordinary subscribers, not professional gun writers about their projects, problems and the solutions they found. I still get American Rifleman, Rifle, Handloader, and Guns magazine. I keep "Guns" just to keep up on what's new since it seems to me to be the best of that sort of gun mag. John Connor seems to be a kindred spirit.

Bob

Appears it is!!

Looking into getting it again.

http://singleshotexchange.com/

[TXGunNut]

I do enjoy reading AR in the library most morning. Some of my favorite gun writers are "Field Editors" there and they seem to get assignments that agree with their interests.

[Outpost75]

I would like to bump another shameless plug for the Cast Bullet Association's Fouling Shot and will send a free sample .pdf copy to anyone who would like to see one, if you would PM me with your email address.

Good mix of technical and practical hunting material, both rifle and handgun. Stuff OTHER than ARs and 1911s! Milsurps and wheelguns likely!

[Leadmelter]

American rifleman was pretty good but they went digital and I have not read one since. Handloader is hit or miss but I like reading about new reloading products.
No more Skeeters, Jamison, Keith etc. Sad

Leadmelter
MI

[dragon813gt]

American rifleman was pretty good but they went digital and I have not read one since.

I still get one in my mailbox every month? I know they have a digital version but the printed copy still exists.