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Old March 19, 2007, 11:16 AM   #1
BigJimP
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Best Monthly Magazines ( publications )

What do you guys think are some of the best written magazines on the market - for general shooting, gun reviews, not totally dedicated to Tactical Info ?
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Old March 19, 2007, 11:34 AM   #2
Shadi Khalil
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To me, it seems that every single gun mag is a giant add for whatever gun someone is willing to send them to test. In Handgunners mag this month they review a cobra patriot .45 and gave it glowing reviews despite encoutering numorus problems. Lo and behold near the back of the mag was a full paged ad for patriot arms. As far as the best gun mag? I dont know that one exist. I use forum like these to gather info on anything that I'm interrested in or any questions I might have. I still do buy the rags from time to time.
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Old March 19, 2007, 11:59 AM   #3
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I like The American Rifleman best..............................

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Old March 19, 2007, 12:15 PM   #4
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Most of them are just rags for promoting whatever latest fad is out there. Occasionally there is a good article on a ' historic ' firearm.

I get them occasionally just to look a the nice pics of the firearms, not for the content of the ' reviews '

I view hunting and fishing magazines the same way, lots of fluff but little real content anymore.
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Old March 19, 2007, 12:25 PM   #5
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I agree with the above posters. Most mags are only good for looking at the pictures. The reviews are extremely biased and they never say anything bad about any product they review because the people who make that product pay the magazines' bills.

One glaring example of this is the "Complete Book of the 1911" issue that Guns & Ammo did recently and they didn't mention Colt once in the entire issue. Colt doesn't advertise in magazines either...what a coincidence
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Old March 19, 2007, 02:17 PM   #6
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The only magazine that doesn't take advertising and doesn't get manufacturer's samples is Gun Tests. It's expensive compared to others, but I find it useful. Some don't like their conclusions, especially when they down a favorite, but they always explain exactly why they rated a gun as they did and you can draw your own conclusions..
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Old March 19, 2007, 02:33 PM   #7
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Small Arms Review.
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Old March 19, 2007, 02:45 PM   #8
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SWAT magazine, Combat handguns, and Special weapons for law enforcement are my regular readings.
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Old March 19, 2007, 02:54 PM   #9
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I like Combat Hanguns as well. I don't subscribe to any of the gun magazines. If I see one at the range or store that has something I want to read I will get it then.
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Old March 19, 2007, 02:58 PM   #10
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Besides this forum sponsors mag, I also read RIFLE and HANDLOADER mags. They are not full of fluff. No ads for tactical pajamas or black nylon holster brasseires. Just meat and potatoes articles you can sink your teeth into. My other mags go to the breakroom at work or the trash, after reading.
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Old March 19, 2007, 05:21 PM   #11
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Quote:
To me, it seems that every single gun mag is a giant add for whatever gun someone is willing to send them to test. In Handgunners mag this month they review a cobra patriot .45 and gave it glowing reviews despite encoutering numorus problems. Lo and behold near the back of the mag was a full paged ad for patriot arms
That is exactly correct! You hit the nail on the head. Follow the money!

Quote:
SWAT magazine, Combat handguns, and Special weapons for law enforcement are my regular readings
.

Sorry, my friend, but these are, IMHO just as bad as Guns and Ammo or Shooting times.

Gun Tests has the right idea, but they don't have the budget for proper testing. One sample is not enough.

The American Rifleman isn't quite as bad as the rest, but even they don't seem to be interested in any handguns except 1911s.

At one time Soldier of Fortune did fairly well for paramilitary weapons, but since Peter Kokalis left, I haven't read it much.

Quote:
Besides this forum sponsors mag, I also read RIFLE and HANDLOADER mags. They are not full of fluff. No ads for tactical pajamas or black nylon holster brasseires. Just meat and potatoes articles you can sink your teeth into. My other mags go to the breakroom at work or the trash, after reading.
Today 03:54 PM

Rifle and Handloader aren't nearly as bad as most of them.
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Old March 19, 2007, 05:27 PM   #12
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Quote:
teifmen1948 To me, it seems that every single gun mag is a giant add for whatever gun someone is willing to send them to test.........

and whichever manufacturer advertises the most with the magazine..................wins the "Gun of the Year Award".................:barf: ..............hpg
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Old March 19, 2007, 06:50 PM   #13
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Gun Tests magazine simply sells their own hype. And, it's too rough to use as toilet paper.
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Old March 19, 2007, 07:14 PM   #14
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If not already, let me encourage you to join the National Rifle Association, you'll get your choice of their magazines included with your membership. Rifle and Handloader are less "advertiser" oriented than most. I love them all, wish I could read each one every month, just cant afford to subscribe to them all.
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Old March 19, 2007, 08:36 PM   #15
Mike P. Wagner
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If not already, let me encourage you to join the National Rifle Association,...
I am a member, and I have to tell that I am very disappointed with American Rifleman. It's nothing but reformatted press releases from advertisers masquerading as articles. I had hoped for more - after all, we pay membership dues. I figured they could afford to be a little less fluffy, but I guess they've got a money jones so bad that they can't see what they are doing.

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Old March 19, 2007, 08:55 PM   #16
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My current favorite is the American Rifleman.

That doesn't go awful far for me, either. I have to agree to some extent with Wagner. However, I usually filter through the hype and read what I like:
1. The Armed Citizen
2. I Have This Old Gun
3. From the Loading Bench

Most of the other articles are not very informative to me...
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Old March 19, 2007, 09:34 PM   #17
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Combat Handguns is the only one I buy. I used to get American Handgunner, they lost my buisiness with their condescending attitude twards the readers who write in, to the "speak out" section. That, and their puff piece about the S&W revolver locks. Regards 18DAI.
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Old March 19, 2007, 10:43 PM   #18
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I buy SWAT every month, I'll get a subscription one of these days. Though every article may not appeal to me there are plenty to make it worth my money.
I get American Rifleman; it isn't always great, but it kills an hour or so.
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Old March 19, 2007, 10:44 PM   #19
Eric M.
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I gave up on all Gun Rags except the American Rifleman, and if I wasn't an NRA Life Member, I wouldn't subscribe to that one either.
A guy can't believe and gun "reviews" anymore, and the "expert" hunters?? who write in them are either guided, or don't have the years behind them in the field to give anyone advice.

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Old March 20, 2007, 07:36 AM   #20
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I am a great fan of "Concealed Carry" - the magazine of the U.S. Concealed Carry Association. It's the only magazine that I heve ever read word for word - cover to cover. It's written by concerned, not comercially influenced shooters and covers subjects dedicated to concealed carry. You don't see anything about other types of shooting or accessories like ATV's etc.
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Old March 20, 2007, 08:06 AM   #21
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Tegemu, thank you for mentioning Concealed Carry Magazine. Have you ever read my Second Amednment columns there?

I'm Boris Karpa of course.

And I wanted to actually mention CCM, because I work for them, and SWAT, which I've read excperts from, and it's very good.
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Old March 20, 2007, 08:24 AM   #22
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"Gun Tests" is the only one I subscribe to but my friend is Google. Just go to Google; put in the make and model, and then any of the following: forum, problems, price, ratings, rank, likes, dislikes, etc. It's amazing what pops up. I just now tried, "best gun magazines" on Google. Very enlightening.
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Old March 20, 2007, 04:51 PM   #23
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It's a shame that "Gun Tests" doesn't accept advertising from scope manufacturers, accessory manufacturers, ammo companies and etc., so they would have the money to do the actual gun tests properly.
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Old March 20, 2007, 08:18 PM   #24
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I take:
American Handgunner
Guns & Ammo
Gun Tests
American Rifleman
I no longer take any of the others..

I take several as they are a good bedtime read. My favorite is American Handgunner, mostly because it has the most pages and pictures. Plus, I like they way they treat the liberal gunowners who support the party of gun banners......................ck
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Old March 20, 2007, 10:10 PM   #25
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I like Combat Handguns and American Handgunner. I take the gun reviews with a grain of salt. The columnists in both mags are very good. Massad Ayoob, Clint Smith, et al.
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