What firearms periodicals do you subscribe to or read?

[CountryGent]

I thought I'd toss this out for discussion. I've culled down our firearms and outdoors subscriptions in recent years. Beyond the NRA magazines that come with the memberships, I still subscribe to The Double Gun Journal (focuses on singles and doubles) and Small Arm Review (focuses on machine-guns, silencers, and other topics). Beyond that, I subscribe to Gray's Sporting Journal (more outdoors journal than strictly firearms) and on rare occasion pick up something of interesting at the newsstand. The more mainstream magazines, however, hold no interest. Some of of them appear to be little more than poorly written ad copy sold at $8-10 a pop.

What firearms periodicals do you subscribe to and/or actively read? Any you don't care for?

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[clearconscience]

Just this site!

 

[ditchtiger]

Shotgun/Firearms News, American Rifleman, Shooting Times, Blue Press. At this time

 

[CountryGent]

Whilst posting this, I forgot about Firearms News (formerly Shotgun News). I still subscribe to see what is being offered on the marketplace and their coverage of unique items.

 

[mjbskwim]

I used to read all of them many years ago. Then I realized they were the same BS written by a few journalists. And most of the crap read like the manufacturer wrote it for them!
Now I'll buy a backwoods or archery rag but that's about it.
I don't need to see what's coming out either. I'll figure out soon enough that I didn't know I needed some gun

 

[Ura-Ki]

I used to get Shotgun News every month. I like the history they do on cool and unique arms!

 

[Certaindeaf]

Jane's Quarterly is pretty neat. I think the internet deal is an abbreviated form..

Defence & Security Intelligence & Analysis | IHS Jane's 360

 

[DieselScout]

Shooting Times and Rifleshooter.

 

[Ura-Ki]

+1 for Rifle Shooter! I haven't picked one up in years, but I always enjoyed them when I still got them! May need to start up again!!!

 

[Quartermaster]

I'll come out and say it: Recoil is garbage. Motor trend found their "firearm experts" by a raise of hand in their break room. Their photography is beautiful, can't question that, but their articles are hard to read without getting queasy. They came out of the gate with the MTV "we're so cool we decide what's cool" mentality, and millions of new shooters eat it up.

That and, "Oh, you want a standard sized magazine for your existing magazine holders? lol, nope!"

 

[CountryGent]

I'll come out and say it: Recoil is garbage.

I wasn't impressed either. I remember picking it once or twice (iirc, they have a competing publication that is similar) at the market and thinking "meh" at the content, so never bought it again or considered subscribing.

 

[Nimbus]

American Rifleman, AOPA Pilot, EAA Sport Pilot, & Cessna Owners Magazine.

Yes, I fly too.

 

[Alexx1401]

I will subscribe for a year to most of them now and then. When I run across some deal where they are almost giving them away. I guess hoping to hook you. After I do I take them to work (after removing my info) to leave for others. When I go to the Doc or Dentists I always take a few along with old NRA mags. When no one is looking I leave them with the magazines for the waiting room. I'm sure a few heads explode when they find them after I left.

 

[Timbertodd]

As an NRA member I receive Shooting Illustrated. Once in awhile I might pick up a magazine that catches my eye while at the store. Most of them seem to run the same articles on the same guns. .

 

[mrblond]

American Rifleman and Shooting Illustrated

 

[Alexx1401]

As an NRA member I receive Shooting Illustrated. Once in awhile I might pick up a magazine that catches my eye while at the store. Most of them seem to run the same articles on the same guns. .

Yes sadly the rags are just advertising for the manufacturers. Can't really fault them it's the only way they make any money. There was an outfit years ago tried to be like Consumer Reports. Don't know if they are still around. They took no ads so the idea was to get true tests. Problem was they would buy one gun. Test it and if it worked it was great. If it did not it was crap. It made what they said worthless. It was a good idea but you can't buy one anything and then expect to know what they are all like. Plus they did not even try to get the "problem ones fixed". I would have been interested to hear how a manufacturer treated them if they had to send one back. That is VERY important to me. Tells me how they stand behind what they sell.

 

[No_Regerts]

Rifle, Reloader, Rifleshooter. Well, until they got full of AR15 crap. Now I dont read anything.

 

[CountryGent]

There was an outfit years ago tried to be like Consumer Reports. Don't know if they are still around. They took no ads so the idea was to get true tests. Problem was they would buy one gun. Test it and if it worked it was great. If it did not it was crap. It made what they said worthless. It was a good idea but you can't buy one anything and then expect to know what they are all like. Plus they did not even try to get the "problem ones fixed". I would have been interested to hear how a manufacturer treated them if they had to send one back. That is VERY important to me. Tells me how they stand behind what they sell.

Wasn't that Gun Tests magazine or something like that? I remember that back in the day. The rather gonzo, and now long gone, publication Pistolero magazine did something similar. I vaguely recall it was some of the same people behind both, but my memory could certainly be wrong on that point.

 

[Alexx1401]

Wasn't that Gun Tests magazine or something like that? I remember that back in the day. The rather gonzo, and now long gone, publication Pistolero magazine did something similar. I vaguely recall it was some of the same people behind both, but my memory could certainly be wrong on that point.

I think it was called Gun Tests. I was a subscriber and what finally was the last straw was a review they did on the Mossberg 500. They were doing a defensive shotgun test. Had 3 or 4 of them. The 500 they bought did not feed so they gave the line a Don't buy this rating. By then there had to be 100's of thousands of these floating around. I'm sure it came as a shock to a lot of the owners to find out they didn't work. ;-)
That's a prime example of trying to buy one gun and giving the entire line a thumbs up or down on that one example.

 

[wired]

All I get is the American Rifleman. Figured out the rest are just extended ad's. The only other gun rag I ever liked was shotgun news before the internet existed.