What do you wish gun magazine articles would cover?

[IndyTom]

American Rifleman usually has at least one good historical article each month. I was just reading about the changes in Russian sniping after WW I while on the throne the other day. I usually look for whatever the story is after going through the Armed Citizen page.

 

[Bigtanker]

I used to get a ton of Gun magazines and American Handgunner was my favorite, and the Ayoob stuff was always good. AH always had the best photography as well. I may need to subscribe again. There was a time when you could get free digital editions of AH (and even download them and past issues), but looks like they have made that a paid service now.

I may need to subscribe to them. A while back I got something from them offering like 5 years for like $35 or something ridiculous. If I got that in the mail again today, I would subscribe.

That said, Guns and Ammo, and alot of the other magazines just got sad. Their content was just a joke and seemed like shills for the industry/advertisers, etc.

Gun Tests was a good publication in some ways because they did not have advertisers and would actually say a gun malfunctioned, etc, but due to no advertisers their publication quality was kind of poor and of course price was a bit higher.

I'd like to have a decent quality production value publication that told it like it is on gun reviews, and also had regular stuff like the Ayoob files.

At one time I bought some back issues of some 1980's and early 90's gun magazines at Half Price Books just to read the guys I grew up with again.

Honestly, I get a lot of what I got out of gun magazines in the past from INGO now.

I let my subscription to Guns magazine lapse for a while. The finally sent me a deal of 5 years for $5 or $10. I couldn't pass it up.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

To be clear, I'm not asking what you like that's out there. I'm asking if there's any gaps, something you'd like to see but haven't.

 

[Trigger Time]

To be clear, I'm not asking what you like that's out there. I'm asking if there's any gaps, something you'd like to see but haven't.

I'd like to see more real pro 2nd amendment shooters writing articles and not some of the idiots of the past that seem to be preaching to me about what I can't or can do because it might upset someone.
One bald skinny dumbass comes to mind. Can't think of his name. I think he ran or is on nra board of directors. I think he's a slime ball
Just remembered. Rob pincus. Have less people like that guy and I'll buy it

 

[indiucky]

To be clear, I'm not asking what you like that's out there. I'm asking if there's any gaps, something you'd like to see but haven't.

 

[Skullglide]

More revolvers, woods guns, carry, revolvers in general. Real world proven training ideas, not just “bearded operator in 5.11 pants” ideas.

 

[WebSnyper]

To be clear, I'm not asking what you like that's out there. I'm asking if there's any gaps, something you'd like to see but haven't.

High production value magazine, with real reviews that actually tell you when something is crap. Most everything else is already covered out there.

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

Are magazines still a thing?

They're called clips. DUH!

 

[Old Dog]

I want to see MORE ads, oh, and smaller font size. That way I can just toss the mag and do something else. (NOT!!) I used to love reading G&A, Shooting Times, etc. garnered a lot of useful info from them till they went to crap. Many of the ideas above would be great to bring back, we need some learnin'.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Shooting techniques like shooting on the move or shooting from retention, tactics that can be used in selfdefense in the street or in the home.

Threat indicators and how to articulate them.

 

[Vigilant]

High production value magazine, with real reviews that actually tell you when something is crap. Most everything else is already covered out there.

That magazine would cost like $50 an issue, since no one would buy advertisements if they thought the truth would be told about their product!

 

[indiucky]

One article that I would like to see is what we have talked about for two years in the shop...A real world situation...Like a print version of that old History Channel show they used to have...You are good at stats and compiling that stuff...A monthly article on a shootout between bad guy vs bad guy, cop vs bad guy, good guy vs good guy, good guy vs bad guy etc.....

It seems like at one time Ayoob would do a column...This would be more in depth..Maybe a little background that what brought on the fight...

IMHO..

 

[Spear Dane]

I want scratch and sniff gunpowder smells.

 

[indiucky]

I want scratch and sniff gunpowder smells.

"Hmmmmm....Hoppes 9...It's not just for date night anymore......"

 

[BugI02]

I want to see MORE ads, oh, and smaller font size. That way I can just toss the mag and do something else. (NOT!!) I used to love reading G&A, Shooting Times, etc. garnered a lot of useful info from them till they went to crap. Many of the ideas above would be great to bring back, we need some learnin'.

THIS^^^^ I loathe the cluttered, overly busy format more and more magazines seem to feel they have to embrace to accomodate those with a short attention span. Couldn't they just make a web-only all singing, all dancing version of the magazine to accommodate that market segment while still turning out a less hectic, pleasurable version of the magazine in print

Oh, and another vote for classic (as in older, not necessarily well loved) firearms, even if they just reprinted old articles (perhaps with a short modern test conducted with a borrowed example to contrast). Things like the PT family of Taurus's, EAA witness steel, SAR etc

 

[WebSnyper]

That magazine would cost like $50 an issue, since no one would buy advertisements if they thought the truth would be told about their product!

I know, but BBI asked what we "wanted" to see, not what was already out there...

 

[WebSnyper]

I know, but BBI asked what we "wanted" to see, not what was already out there...

And I just subscribed to American Handgunner again... Cheapest rate online was like $19.75 for a year, but I sent them an email and asked about discounts, and they indicated the following:

"Thank you for your interest in American Handgunner. Our discounted rates are not offered on line. The best offer we have is $9.95 per year. The only break is at five years for $45.00. You may mail in a renewal or you may call us at our toll-free number, 888-732-2299, and we can take your order."

​

So I called in and subscribed for 1 year. Had they offered the $35 for 5 years that I had frequently seen in the past I might have gone that route, but just went 1 year for now. They didn't offer the 9.95 per year until I told them I had received an email providing that rate.

 

[CampingJosh]

I would like some compare/contrast between the name brand and some cheaper competitors. Both with firearms (CZ/Tanfoglio, for instance) and accessories like bipods, shooting mats, range finders, various types of targets, etc. They ought to be able to do that in such a way that it helps advertisers justify the price difference most of the time while still being honest and helpful.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I would like some compare/contrast between the name brand and some cheaper competitors. Both with firearms (CZ/Tanfoglio, for instance) and accessories like bipods, shooting mats, range finders, various types of targets, etc. They ought to be able to do that in such a way that it helps advertisers justify the price difference most of the time while still being honest and helpful.

At least with firearms, that's both time and cost prohibitive for most. Shooting a few hundred rounds in each example really doesn't tell you much. You'd really have to have multiple copies of each gun and fire thousands or rounds for it to really matter beyond entertainment value. Even the cheapest of handguns shouldn't have any issues in 1k rounds or so, unless it's a complete and total dud like the Remington Jammer.

That's a big reason that institutional testing is so valuable. They have the resources to do controlled testing to very high round counts with multiple samples.

 

[CampingJosh]

At least with firearms, that's both time and cost prohibitive for most. Shooting a few hundred rounds in each example really doesn't tell you much.

I'm not necessarily talking about a comparison that should require thousands of rounds fired. Tell me about the types of metals used in the internals, differences in finishes, etc. Measure tolerances (which could be done in coordination with a distributor without having to buy numerous examples--though possibly creating a couple dozen blemished examples). Discuss aftermarket support, ease of finding replacement parts, things like that. Tell me why the Aimpoint is worth six times the lookalikes at Walmart.

And admittedly it would probably need to be about some accessory more often than firearms. That's OK. I buy more accessories than guns.