"Handguns" magazine?

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

Any good?

 

[TRanger]

Was in the beginning.

 

[actionflies]

All gun magazines make good reading while in the bathroom and I like to see what's new in the market. Reviews will always be positive so they get paid. I can give them a lot of money to review a hi point and they will find a way to tell you it's the greatest gun ever made out of left over metals from the chinese.

 

[Pinecone]

Exactly as actionflies says! The mag writers get paid to give good reports if they want to stay in the business. I personally intend to do "my" writing on the forums where you can still call a "spade" a "spade"!...................Dick :wink:

 

[maxpress]

i would go for handloader. GnA and shooting times have fallen into saying some guns are great even though noone else has been able to get one to function just because they are advertised in there mag.

 

[Rclark]

I let my subscription go a long time ago. Big thing is I am a revolver guy. Specifically Single Action..... Now how many articles do you find that deal with revolvers? And how often? I now just cherry pick at the magazine rack, when I find a particular magazine has an article I am interested in. Saves me money in the long run..... All those semi-auto square look'n things with 18 rounds, laser sights just don't turn my crank.....

Now the Handloader magazine is one I 'might' consider getting a subscription for. More often than not there is several good articles in it. I've skipped some issues do to 'rifle loads' or calibers I don't care about.....

 

[BlkHawk73]

Stopped all my subscriptions a few years ago and only pick one up if I'm to be traveling. Otherwise... They just have become nothing but advertisments with a few redundant articles mixed in. Oh and of course the 3 or 4 long ads disguised as "reviews". Ever see them give a review for a gun made by an advertiser get a poor review? :roll:

 

[Snake45]

Was in the beginning.

Agreed. Now you're lucky if there's one or two articles worth reading in each issue.

Much better is American Handgunner. Almost everything in that one is worth reading.

 

[45flattop]

I read GUNS, AMERICAN HANDGUNNER, HANDLOADER AND RIFLE and of
course American Rifleman monthly, the others seem to have become little
more than fluff publications for sale to advertisers for little money at that.

 

[Cholo]

I still get Handguns and American Handgunner. I'll probably keep both; prefer AH. Just let my Guns and Ammo expire that I've received for 34 years, Shooting Times as long next.

Need to get Handloader as I really like Brian Pierce (Sp? I did a Google and got it both Pierce and Pearce) and what's new in the handloading field.

 

[sdoyl123]

Try Gun Test Magazine. No ads and the do a fair review of the guns. Not the glossy pages but good reading.

 

[Snake45]

Try Gun Test Magazine. No ads and the do a fair review of the guns. Not the glossy pages but good reading.

I've tried Gun Tests "magazine" twice and thought it was the worst piece of firearms journalism I've ever seen. Unless it's changed completely, it was a totally unprofessional piece of crap written by people who had a little less gun knowledge than the typical Walmart sporting goods department clerk.

 

[Cholo]

I also tried Gun Test magazine about a year after it came out. Worst garbage I've ever read. I actually told them to cancel my subscription before it expired. The final straw was their rating of a modern DA Colt revolver where they told me :roll: to only carry it with 5 rounds in the cylinder or I'd shoot my eye out or something.

Years later they sent me a free copy of their latest drivel to try to get me to subscribe again. Same sheet, different day...

sdoyl123, you're not wrong in liking that mag. I read gun mags for entertainment purposes only. I read, I forget. Life goes on and I do and buy what I want. The beauty of getting older is I can read a gun mag one day, pick it up by the throne the next day, and it's as if it just arrived in the mail!

If anybody wants the real lowdown on a gun, ammo choice, handloading etc., the better gun forums are where to hang out. I like Ruger SA's so I hang out here till I wear out my welcome. Shouldn't take long at this pace... :wink:

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I used to subscribe to Guns and Handguns magazine, as well as a few others. They have some very good writers on staff and it is a big glossy mag with all the latest stuff. As I have become more knowledgeable about guns I have also become less interested in the Mags. The articles now seem rather old and stale. How many times can you read about Taffin's and Venturino's guns and still be entertained. :?

...Jimbo

 

[rugeraficiando]

I have acquired quite a stack of gun magazines from years past. I pick up an old issue and read the articles that peak my interest. Just reminds me how time is flying by!!

 

[Rclark]

to only carry it with 5 rounds in the cylinder or I'd shoot my eye out or something.

Well, I still only carry 5 rounds, empty under the hammer.... Just me though... Target shooting I'll load 6.

 

[bisleyfan41]

Any good?

Nope!
None of them are though really.

Picked up the newest Guns, American Handgunner, and Handloader the other day just to see. Read everything that had interest to me in Guns and AH in 11 minutes total. $12+ tax for both and got 11 minutes of entertainment. Money well spent, huh? :roll:

Handloader itself held me for 13 minutes. It is usually a much better read, but this issue had nothing for me. I read Brian Pearce and like his stuff. But they (Handloader) are starting to go the way of the other junk mags by hiring some of same 'ol tired retread writers that made me quit reading them in the first place. Venturino, Charles Petty, Trzoniec, etc.....It seems like all the mags just rotate writers every now and then.

 

[Rclark]

of same 'ol tired retread writers that made me quit reading them in the first place.

Sounds like it's time for some of you guys to pick up a pen and start submitting articles . I personally don't have enough experience, but there has to be some arm chair experts out here that could cook up something special that would be of interest .

 

[targetshootr]

AH and Handloader are better, imo, but I'd like to see one mag or another show custom guns being made with lots of pics and technical info.

 

[8emem]

A number of years ago I stopped subscribing to one of the gun mags (can't remember which one) where an Auto-Ordnance 1911 copy was being reviewed. It jammed so hard that the author described hitting it with a rubber mallet to clear the jam. At the end of the review he concluded that he liked the gun. I sent an email to the editor regarding the lack of credibility in the review and said that I was not going to renew my subscription. No reply. I have a subscription to Gun Tests, and while I don't agree with everything I read in it, at least they would have called the Auto-Ordnance a turd and flunked it.

 

[WARD]

This last issue left me wanting..... I found next to nothing in it - usually that's not the case - I can find something of interest in just about any category of firearms.

Ward

 

[Snake45]

I have a subscription to Gun Tests, and while I don't agree with everything I read in it, at least they would have called the Auto-Ordnance a turd and flunked it.

That's assuming they could have figured out how to operate enough of the working parts to get it to jam. Bunch of incompetent hacks. :lol: :lol:

 

[M'BOGO]

I read GUNS, AMERICAN HANDGUNNER, HANDLOADER AND RIFLE and of
course American Rifleman monthly, the others seem to have become little
more than fluff publications for sale to advertisers for little money at that.

Those are my exact subscriptions.

G&A, ST, and Handguns are all owned by the same publishing company. They all got thinner, and more ads soon after they were bought.

 

[Snake45]

I read GUNS, AMERICAN HANDGUNNER, HANDLOADER AND RIFLE and of
course American Rifleman monthly, the others seem to have become little
more than fluff publications for sale to advertisers for little money at that.

Those are my exact subscriptions.

G&A, ST, and Handguns are all owned by the same publishing company. They all got thinner, and more ads soon after they were bought.

I get a 20 minute lunch break and two 10 minute breaks a day, which is when I read magazines. Your four are the only gun mags that take me more than one day to read. American Handgunner can take three or even four sometimes.

American Rifleman can sometimes (maybe 50-50) last me into the next day's morning break.

G&A and Handguns do well to fill a whole day's breaks.

 

[Rainman]

I have to agree that this forum has become my source for most Ruger information but I am also a Brian Pierce fan and read Handloader cover to cover. I've probably used his load data more than anyone else out there.

If you don't read Michael Bane's blog daily, you are missing a treat, He's funny and knowledgable as well. I think he shows up on this forum occasionally. Here's the link

http://michaelbane.blogspot.com/

Dan

 

[Pinecone]

Unfortunately, The American Rifleman has almost become strictly a political soapbox. No, I'm not bashing the NRA, although they do give you cause to do that occasionally. I havn't liked that "regime" ever since they railroaded Neal Knox! He was the one true spokesman we had as gun owners for a long time. Their technical info leaves a lot to be desired these days and they too sugar coat their firearms reviews. I just got a batch of "old" American Rifleman magazines from my brother-in-law, full year issues from 1957 to 1975 and I have had great pleasure reading through them. A lot of great technical info and "how to's" I had forgotten about! Some great gunsmiths and gun writers putting out those articles way back when! The present NRA "regime" would do justice if they too went back and looked at the "old" formats of that "then" great magazine!........................Dick :!:

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Re: Gun Tests . . .

I really liked the review of the Ruger Single-Six, wherein they pointed out what a "flexible" gun it was because you could also shoot .22 LR ammo thru the .22 Mag cylinder if you wanted to. Apparently they hadn't discovered that the gun also came with a .22 LR cylinder.

Then there was the review of the rifle made by some good-ol-boy backwoods shop that was chambered for .22 Mag but bored and rifled for the .17 Mag. They explained that the .22 bullets just swaged down to .17 caliber when fired . . . no need to buy that expensive .17 ammo. Really. And it was no joke, because the "gunsmith" had a website and everything.

It's a shame, because at one time Gun Tests was an excellent resource.

No more.

 

[Snake45]

Re: Gun Tests . . .

I really liked the review of the Ruger Single-Six, wherein they pointed out what a "flexible" gun it was because you could also shoot .22 LR ammo thru the .22 Mag cylinder if you wanted to. Apparently they hadn't discovered that the gun also came with a .22 LR cylinder.

Then there was the review of the rifle made by some good-ol-boy backwoods shop that was chambered for .22 Mag but bored and rifled for the .17 Mag. They explained that the .22 bullets just swaged down to .17 caliber when fired . . . no need to buy that expensive .17 ammo. Really. And it was no joke, because the "gunsmith" had a website and everything.

It's a shame, because at one time Gun Tests was an excellent resource.

I disagree with your last sentence. Gun Tests was NEVER an excellent resource. The two examples you cited were typical of the kind of crap and nonsense they had in EVERY issue I ever saw. Complete waste of time and money.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Well, I disagree with your observation because back in the '80's, before "Todd" took over and hired "Ray" who didn't know one end of a gun from another, it was pretty decent.

I agree that it has been worthless for the last several years.

 

[bisleyfan41]

Stopped by a used book store yesterday and came home with a copy of the 1983 Shooting Times magazine's Handguns special for the princely sum of one whole dollar. I won't list the whole table of contents, but the notables in this $3.95 cover price magazine are:

1. S&W new stainless 22 mag revolvers
2. Super Blackhawk goes stainless
3. Colt Python Silhouette 357
4. Long barelled 44 mag silhouette revolvers
5. Rem and Ruger intro the 357 Max round and gun
6. Handgun scopes
7. Casting for the 357
8. Colt's New Frontier 22
9. Heat treated 357 cast bullets
10. The 45 Colt--Age old performer
11. Redhawk's new scope mounting system
12. 44 mag hunting loads
13. Handguns for camp and trail
14. Ruger's new Mark II 22

I know this was before the wondernine craze, but what I wouldn't give to open a magazine to the table of contents and find a line-up like that today!!