Got my first issue of my NRA magazine today.

[JimDandy]

And it made me wish I'd have picked No Magazine. I was really hoping for something better than Bloomberg Bad, Vote Gun Rights! The best article was just an excerpt from one on a web-based magazine here

I picked "America's First Freedom" If you picked something else and got better results let me know, I'll try and switch. If you're joining up soon, and want to save money, pick No Magazine, or a different one.

[Microgunner]

American Rifleman for me. It's content is more equipment based.

[BarryLee]

The American Rifleman is pretty decent. They do cover gun rights issues, but also have some decent gun related articles. This month they have an article written by author Stephen Hunter about a WWII German para-trooper gun (sorry don’t remember the model).

[southjk]

Same here. And I thought it was just me. It usually goes straight to the recycling bin. Sometimes I'll thumb through but mostly not.

[Bozz10mm]

The American Rifleman is no better or no worse than Shooting Times or Guns and Ammo.

[Sevens]

The American Rifleman is a decent print gun magazine for what it is, there are often some very interesting gun-based historical articles that I find interesting. I can't say it would be worth the typical annual subscription cost, but it does seem as if few magazines are worth that expenditure these days.

However, for what amounts to a "no cost throw-in" as an additional benefit of your NRA Membership, it's actually a very good magazine with a number of quality articles worth reading. While there is certainly some political "them vs. us" articles in every issue, America's First Freedom basically has nothing but exactly that.

Definitely change your magazine.

[g.willikers]

Both the American Rifleman and the American Hunter are decent enough.
Especially considering the subscription price.
If it makes you guilty to just throw them away, opt for the downloadable digital version.
Click, read, delete.
And the size of the print can be enlarged for us old guys.
And a useful article can be saved to the computer.
If the interactive version is chosen, there's lots of web links to explore.

[carguychris]

Originally Posted by JimDandy

I picked "America's First Freedom" If you picked something else and got better results let me know...

My wife was briefly an NRA member, and we signed her up for "America's First Freedom", since I had only ever read "American Rifleman" and I was curious what was different.

My conclusion is that AFF has largely the same content as AR, notably the shrill editorials from the NRA higher-ups, just minus the equipment-related and historical articles.

I concluded that we weren't really missing anything by only reading AR.

This thread reminds me that I should really switch to the digital edition so I don't kill so many trees.

Originally Posted by Bozz10mm

The American Rifleman is no better or no worse than Shooting Times or Guns and Ammo.

For the most part, yes. However, IMHO its main selling point over your middle-of-the-road magazine-rack gun press pablum is the occasional scholarly and detailed technical article, like the recent one about the US military's new M855A1 cartridge. Sadly, these types of articles don't come often enough.

[A400 Fan]

You can always have your mag mailed to your local library instead

[Aer656y9]

I too get American Rifleman. It is much more about equipment and the actual guns than it is the politics and legality.

[2damnold4this]

For the most part, yes. However, IMHO its main selling point over your middle-of-the-road magazine-rack gun press pablum is the occasional scholarly and detailed technical article, like the recent one about the US military's new M855A1 cartridge. Sadly, these types of articles don't come often enough.

That's a good point. You also don't see details of the arms used in historic conflicts such as the 1916 Easter uprising in Ireland in most of the gun press but AR has it.

[dakota.potts]

Another vote for American Rifleman. I have to ignore some of the fear mongering (even though I agree with a lot of the stances in principal) but they tend to confine those to the letters from the editors/president etc. in the beginning. The rest of the magazine tends to largely be gear and usually one cool historical article. I enjoy reading those.

[LockedBreech]

I get rifleman. As a political moderate the political angle makes me roll my eyes every month, but you can see some neat gun history write-ups.

[Lakota]

American Rifleman. Some gun rights, Gun and Military History. Equipment etc.

[Kreyzhorse]

There are bleed over articles that appear in both mags. I really like AFF but it does become a bit shrill at times but I enjoy the legal aspect of the on going attempts ban firearms / ammo.

The AR is a lot like Guns and Ammo but I think its a little better.

[4V50 Gary]

I'm glad the American Rifleman dropped the Hunting Wheels section. I don't want to read about trucks or ATVs.

I also wish they had more gunsmithing articles like the earlier American Rifleman did.

[Mike Irwin]

I was associate editor of Rifleman in the early 1990s when we started moving away from a lot of the home gunsmithing articles.

One reason was potential liability. I think it was either Bob Munden or Bob Milek who wrote an article for Buns & Whammo that included a section on how to adjust the trigger on a particular gun. Some jackass didn't follow the instructions and ended up shooting himself or a buddy, and everyone got sued. At least that's what I remember.

Another reason is that people weren't doing the smithing projects like they used to when you could by a truck load of K98ks for $5.

[bbqbob51]

I get American Rifleman. Not enough articles and editorials about guns, shooting instructions, firearm history and accessories. Too many of their editorials are the same old diatribe. I want them to advocate for my 2A rights and that is why I'm a member. They just beat the same drum beat over and over again and in the same issue.
I do enjoy sections of every issue I receive, I just wish they were a higher percentage of the publication. I also subscribe to G&A and Gun Tests and find them to have more "meat" to chew on. That being said I will still be a member of the NRA and still get AR magazine until I die or get so senile I forget to renew each year.

[MuzzleBlast]

Oh yeah, gotta agree "America's First Freedom" is the most tedious and eyeroll-worthy gun-related magazine I have ever tried to read. Update your membership to "no magazine," and just go to the American Rifleman website.

[coldbeer]

My dads American rifleman magazines are what got me into firearms in the early 80's. Back then I used to love reading the dope bag section. I remember the first time I saw a Glock in an American Rifleman article. I thought to myself nobody is going to buy these plastic guns no matter how many bullets it can hold. Boy was I ever wrong.

[FrankenMauser]

I get Rifleman.
My wife gets Hunter.
Occasionally, America's First Freedom shows up for some reason.

I usually flip through them on my way back from the mailbox, and then ignore them until I have a stack of 10-12 magazines on the kitchen table. ...At which point, they get transferred to firestarter/wet-pack collection point in the basement.

I'd say that I read fewer than three articles a year in all of the NRA mags, combined. I get to see plenty of multi-page Springfield XD and XD(m) advertisements, though....

[Sevens]

Yup, you truly DON'T look at those mags. I can tell!
Because if you're going to comment on an over-advertised particular gun...

It's going to be the Kimber ads.

The most expensive ad space in any gun magazine on the market, Kimber's got it, 98% of the time.

At least in the form of print advertising, I can't imagine that anyone has a larger budget than Kimber. I doubt it's even close.

[CajunBass]

I get Rifleman.
My wife gets Hunter.

Same here. I'll flip through them both, but I read AR more.

You can always have your mag mailed to your local library instead

I gather mine up (along with Bassmaster and Bass Fishing) and drop them off at a local laundromat. I noticed the place was full of magazines for women, but about half the people in there were men.

And the ladies can read them if they want to.

[45Gunner]

American Rifleman is my read of choice. However, I do subscribe to other gun mags, either digitally or printed. After a bunch of years of reading this stuff, one must learn to separate reality from fantasy when it comes to range and equipment reports...how much advertising does the particular manufacturer give that mag? Also, one must know that points of view are slanted in a particular direction. If you want to be "balanced," read what the other side in contending.

I prefer to believe nothing until it is proved to be true either by known reliable friends or by myself. I can't seem to remember when I read anything else but a glowing report about a gun or other piece of equipment. We all know that it isn't that way all the time.

[FrankenMauser]

Yup, you truly DON'T look at those mags. I can tell!
Because if you're going to comment on an over-advertised particular gun...

It's going to be the Kimber ads.

The most expensive ad space in any gun magazine on the market, Kimber's got it, 98% of the time.

At least in the form of print advertising, I can't imagine that anyone has a larger budget than Kimber. I doubt it's even close.

Kimber may have the most expensive ad space, but Springfield's XD ads are far more prevalent and obvious.

If both companies stopped advertising in the NRA magazines, they'd probably shed an average of at least 10 pages per issue.