Gun reviewers I take seriously... and not.

[totaldla]

Originally Posted by lee n. field

Any You-tuber that starts his review "whatup youtubers" will get ignored.

A definite "+1" on that.

Must be a generational thing because I don't think much of Death Metal music intros, "whazup youtubers", or long scenes of somebody shooting. Oh and there are some advertisements that make me groan as well.

I think I suffer from OFS*





*Old Fart Syndrome - a condition where the afflicted struggle to understand why the younger generation is so darn ignorant, while forgetting that they were there once too.

[dyl]

Ahh Paul Harrel. I can see why Bill DeShivs feels like he thinks highly of himself - and it comes in his style of presentation. His videos remind me of the old black and white educational school videos demonstrating a science fact or public service announcement. Everything from the longer pauses in speech than most contemporary videos to the immediate adoption of the role as a teacher. Instructive, top-down approach. In comparison, most contemporary Youtube reviewers approach more on the level of peers and give plenty of caveats and preemptive "this is my opinion only". I think Paul was also influenced by his past - I believe he was a pistol instructor for the military (he mentions his credentials in one of those videos).

I like that his video style is different than the other reviewers. Old school. Gives me time to process instead of filling the void with lots of extraneous words. One thing to keep in mind is that he has practiced A LOT and this colors his assertions. Some newcomers to pistols will see the things he does but won't have that in the back of their mind. For example, I believe was showing that there wasn't much difference in recoil, accuracy and and split times between 9 and 40. Maybe even 45. Well, not for HIM out of his service size pistols. But for a newcomer who comes along thinking of buying a M&P Shield 40 or something like that for their first gun, they might be affected.

You know who else is very opinionated? Nut'n Fancy. LOL. That one is a can of worms for me. For some reason I don't like his attitude. Every time I see him referring to himself in third person and demanding quick answers from (or speaking for) those around him, it just makes me think he has a... healthy ego. One could distill all the helpful phrases or comparisons into 5 or less minutes per video. But if someone is a newcomer to firearms or don't mind the mannerisms, it feels like the more the better so they'll gobble it up.

As I've done more things with pistols, I find myself looking at reviews less and less. Sometimes it's because the latest iterations have been minor changes, or have been easy enough to understand that I don't necessarily need to research a lot. Or it's because I know now that unless someone does a review with actual measurements or recordings, makes comparisons to a pistol I happen to already have, and has the ability to communicate it clearly, some stuff you just won't know unless you feel it for yourself. "Fits well in hand" just isn't descriptive enough for me anymore.

[MarkCO]

Anyone who is worth the time to listen to on any subject is going to have Ego, Bravado, Know-it-All, etc. Sure, that will put some off, but if it is done with integrity and honesty, fine by me. There are a few mentioned above, and others, who 1. Can't shoot and 2. Don't know guns very well, but they look good to the masses and get the follows and likes. Puffery to me. I did not initially like Paul Harrel either, but he has grown on me and I do search him, and a few others if I have a question I want to research.

Yeah, I am friends with some of these folks mentioned and I know their backstory. MAC and Hickok45 are a bit mainstream, seem to be good dudes and above average skill. Jerry is NOT a gun-writer or reviewer, he is a paid brand ambassador. He is a great shooter and a great man, but not where I would point someone for gun reviews. Another good friend is Patrick Kelley. Sponsored by Savage, but he does a lot of great box to match reviews on handguns that he buys with his own money. He is also a big man, but he does a great job on his reviews.

There certainly ARE writers and youtubers who are getting $ benefit for their reviews either in channel advertising, sister company advertising or other forms. But most order the guns, review them and get an invoice in 30-60 days at distributor cost. If they like it, they can pay. If not they use the pre-paid label to send them back. I have a few firearms I kept and paid for and a few the manufacturer told me to ignore the invoice, they would write it off. I was at the home of an old famous writer (since deceased) many years ago. He had closets stuffed with rifles just leaning against each other, probably 300 or so each in 2 closets, that were guns he had been sent and they had 10 to 50 rounds through them each. His boys sold most of them when he passed.

[IdaD]

I think I learn the most from Paul Harrell's videos, and I like his meat targets even if they aren't the most scientific thing. He's got some inherent credibility with me because of his past career and the shooting incident experience he went through which you can find articles about without too much trouble.

The other gun channels I find fairly educational would be Mrgunsandgear and MAC. I also like Clay Martin on GunsAmerica and Lucky Gunner actually has quite a bit of good content. There are a lot of others I watch pretty regularly too, especially if I have interest in the particular firearm or topic being discussed. Hickok can be entertaining but I don't learn a ton from him and he's kind of a shill for the NRA, Buds, etc. He seems like a nice enough guy and has a cool range, though.

I follow some other channels that are somewhat related to guns but more focused on hunting or camping/overlanding, but I wouldn't really consider them gun channels per se.

[Aguila Blanca]

As of two days ago, there was nothing about Patreon on Hicock45's Youtube pages.

[reteach]

As of two days ago, there was nothing about Patreon on Hicock45's Youtube pages.

Check this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNAcKLcOIic

It's about a year old, and might be out of date, but other indicators say it's current.

[Aguila Blanca]

I stand [sit] corrected.

[Carmady]

...more focused on hunting or camping/overlanding...

Have you seen any of Dave's (aka Reallybigmonkey1) videos? Long story short, in the following video he makes a platform about 15' off the ground out of rope, and then he cooks while he's up there. He's my favorite youtuber.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IgwUs1GhHs&t=1138s

[T. O'Heir]

"...the source of this information?..." The gun rag writers used to write articles about the time they spent hunting/shooting in exotic locations at the expense of the manufacturers.
In 40 plus years, I've seen exactly one gun rag article that didn't say the subject wasn't the best thing since sliced bread. Odd that it was Cooper who was reviewing the HK VP70. A semi-auto only machine pistol that Copper called a Jam-O-Matic.
Oh and anybody with internet access can pontificate on YouTube.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Well, folks should look more carefully. SWAT magazine had a scathing review of the Judge by Tom Givens. In fact, realistic reviews of Judges and Shockwaves are found on many internet reviewer sites, to the chagrin of their fans.

Greg Ellifritz's blog is pretty realistic on guns and equipment.

[Carmady]

Paul Harrell has videos on the Judge, parts I through IV, and iirc he wasn't into it much at all.

In another vid, "Shooting from a Car," he tries the Judge from 5:00 - 5:18, and it appeared that was the best use he found for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idEzSvIHdos&t=318s

[TruthTellers]

I think the Judge gets a bad rap. I tried some 3 pellet .410 000 Buck today and couldn't believe how low the recoil was in the Public Defender compared to Federal 4 pellet load. Even with 1 less pellet, I wouldn't want to be standing in front of the Judge less than 12 yards away.

The Shockwaves are a different matter. For the purported smaller size, they're no smaller than a KSG that you can actually put on your shoulder, aim, and fire. Oh, and the KS7 holds 2 more rounds than the Shockwave.

The Shockwave is the dumbest thing I've seen and it's appealing to the same market the Judge was 10+ years ago.

"Der her her, look at me with this legal short barrel shotgun that's not a shotgun but shoots like a shotgun. Suck on it ATF!"

[Targa]

Hickok, Jeff Quinn, Mrgunsngear, Colin Noir, 22plinkster are among my favorites, I just like those guys. The most obnoxious, hot air spewing Youtuber imo is YankeeMarshal, I won’t click on his crap.

[Ruga Booga]

Originally Posted by Targa

Hickok, Jeff Quinn, Mrgunsngear, Colin Noir, 22plinkster are among my favorites, I just like those guys. The most obnoxious, hot air spewing Youtuber imo is YankeeMarshal, I won’t click on his crap.

You think Yankee Marshall spews hot air. That is ignorant. Just watch all the other fudds on youtube and Yankee makes more sense than all of them. He is VERY pro 2nd amendment, unlike hiccup45.

[Targa]

No need to get upset, since my opinion means that much to you I will start liking the guy....Is that better?

[totaldla]

Originally Posted by Ruga Booga

You think Yankee Marshall spews hot air. That is ignorant. Just watch all the other fudds on youtube

Rep Maxine Waters has her fan base too, but that doesn't mean she is right.
Yankee is just low-brow entertainment - he'll never be convicted of being a wise old sage. I'm sure he emits a few nuggets of truth now and then, but I refuse to strain the effluent to find them.

[briandg]

I don't know if he qualifies as a reviewer, but the fledermaus guy should have his account shut down. He's out there eating tide pods and I don't know how he has avoided injury in all of this time on the net. I don't know if he has ever had any sort of catastrophic screwup, but it's just a matter of time, with the stupid things that he does, and with the mental condition that many of our children and adults are in he's just encouraging people to do whatever stupid stuff that they can dream up. You may get some McDonald county boys all likkered up and playing in their garage with things that they shouldn't even have in their possession. Tannerite and a lawn mower, for example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6V0S1m5a7U


Just over the state line from here.

Two Arkansas men face charges after allegedly shooting each other during a night of drinking while each man tried on a bulletproof vest, according to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.

https://kdvr.com/2019/04/03/arkansas...letproof-vest/

[mr bolo]

Beretta9mmUSA & Beretta9mmUSA JR

they always try to promote DPM Systems recoil spring assemblies and try to review a new gun with a DPM Systems recoil reduction recoil spring assy

they usually shoot at steel plate to test a new gun, they never do any precision testing or try to shoot groups, maybe once in a while at very close range 5 - 7 yards

but most of the shooting shows Beretta9mm JR firing as fast as he can pull the trigger at a close range steel plate target

When they do a magazine test they waste expensive SIG SAUER .308 factory ammo that was supplied by SIG, BERETTA9mmUSA SR, blasts away just to make sure the magazines work, and he doesnt even shoot a group, he just blasts all the ammo away to show the magazines are reliable, what a waste of ammo, they dont even show what he's shooting, just emptying mag after mag to impress his sponsers.

they do terrible reviews

JUSTIN OPINION is a lot better gun reviewer, he always shoots groups to show the accuracy, and also does detailed disassembly and discussions on the design and technical info

[zeke]

Like Harrel for the subjects he presents, although fast forward through every single velocity reading he announces. Also like Hickock, but fast forward through the continual handling of the gun and same comments about accuracy.

[l.cutler]

I don't think I ever made it all the way through a YankeeMarshall video.

[1stmar]

Ultimate reloader does a good job of reviewing equipment, mostly reloading equipment. For knowledge information (educational) snipers hide is hard to be beat. Not really a reviewer. But a good watch. Panhandle precision has some reviews and educational videos as well. I like harrel and hickok is ok but they can be verbose. 8541tactical is also pretty good but wordy. I like clay martin as well.

[TunnelRat]

I don't take Hickok45 seriously. I like him, I'd like to spend an afternoon shooting with him, but to me he's not a reviewer and to me he's never really presented himself as such. But then that begs the question of what you expect out of a review.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[Sevens]

YankeeMarshall used to be an active poster on this forum and went by the name of Playboy Penguin.

YouTube isn't something I use often or enjoy much. I like it as a resource for digging up something specific (such as a particular older music video, detailed teardown/reassembly of a firearm, or a video clip of a crime scene, etc) but for broadcasts, shows, and especially gun reviews, I have nearly no use for it whatsoever.

It helps that I have seemingly very little interest in new/current guns, I much prefer to live in the (recent) past.

In my opinion, the most helpful review of any product that I might consider buying is when a reviewer can detail for me absolutely every little bit of it that possibly disappoints or might be construed as a negative. Because it just seems to me that if I can gather up all the possible negatives, I can sift through them and see how relevant those negatives might be to me personally. I have never expected perfection in any product that I might purchase, but I feel like I have a leg-up when I can get an idea of the possible strikes against it, to consider how much those items might matter to me.

It's not that glowing reports of features are useless to me, it's more that I have no idea whatsoever of the reviewer's level of experience is in such matters. If I see, hear or read about one more shooter telling me that this particular pistol is "more accurate than I am", I'm going to vomit. Because in the real world, that nugget is wholly irrelevant and also brings your ability very much in to question. And your credibility withers.

If you are a YouTube gun reviewer and doing that generates an income for you and/or gets free stuff shipped to your door, then I raise my beer to you, that's a helluva gig and while I have less than zero desire to do that myself, I give you a nod that you've been able to pull that off. At the same time, if YouTube and every similar site ceased to exist, I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over it.

Like the out of production guns that I much prefer, I also get far more enjoyment from a gun discussion forum where folks use their words and leave the video camera out of it. I don't care to watch you handle a firearm poorly or recklessly, I don't want to grit my teeth through your dumb excuses, your "expert commentary", your inaccurate capsules of history related to the manufacturer, your resume and list of qualifying experiences, I don't want to watch you fumble over putting a slide stop back in to a pistol, I don't want to hear your dehumidifier whirring in the background...

I don't care to watch your YouTube channel and I am not interested in your gun review.

But yes, as you might surmise if you have read this far... I actually am interested in your gun forum written discussion on this subject!

[dyl]

Oh I didn't know YankeeMarshall was Playboy Penguin. I remember reading his story where he almost shot his fridge at night. You see, he was already getting practice with clickbait titles

[Carmady]

And there's Nutinbuttawasteoftime