"Gun Rags"

[Skyyr]

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I get American Rifleman and subscribe to SWAT.

I think AR has become almost as bad as the other mags. Especially last month when the entire cover was an ad for some "buy gold scheme"...pitiful. AR has kind of become the "everyone gets a trophy" mentality.

I thought SWAT would be different from the other gun mags, except for a few articles the past year, it hasn't really given me the impression that it is different.
Every now and then, SWAT will have a good article but most of the articles are like G&A, ST, etc., just in a different "lingo".

I'll try SWAT another year to see if they are just in a slump.

You know if I put an internet connection and a fold down laptop next to the crapper...I wouldn't look at any magazines...hmmm...

But maybe it's just me...

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I think that's because AR is a "free" magazine for most NRA members. Truthful, unbiased reviews will always end up putting some product or manufacturer in a negative light... and end up offending the owners of those products. When your funding is coming not only from those manufacturers, but from the people who buy their products, it doesn't make sense to alienate them. Not that it's the right thing to do, but that's my .02.

I've got an AR subscription as well. I usually sit down at my kitchen table and browse through it for about 10 minutes, skimming the articles just to get the highlights, then put it away in my magazine stack. For me, AR is good for staying informed about what's new and what's the latest topic, but that's it. If I want an actual review of the product, I'll use Google and critical thinking skills.

[bulbvivid]

Every once in a while I pick up something when I'm at the grocery store with the wife.

The last one I picked up was Guns & Weapons For Law Enforcement. They had a few good articles sprinkled in with the countless ads, but it was mostly the same old "every gun we review is the best gun ever" stuff. The writers would pick on something here and there, but everything was great and would serve its intended purpose without a hitch.

What I found funny was that I got it home and there's two of Rob's articles in there, one on a BCM and one on a Spike's. The writing could have been better, but the worst part was the 5-shot groups for accuracy testing. I thought, What, less than 10 shots? Who said that was acceptable? I lost respect there, brother.

We need a Consumer Reports/M4C of guns. No ads, no bullshit, with unbiased reviews conducted with specific methodology. That way I can find out if the Governor is truly better than the Judge for an attack of multiple rabid inner-city zombie 'possums.

[rob_s]

In my defense, I find the "shooting for groups" part of articles to be one of the most useless, and so I try to get through it as quickly as possible while still being as thorough as possible. Hence, several different types of ammo but shot at 50 and only 5 rounds per group. It's about all my ADD can handle.

[bulbvivid]

In my defense, I find the "shooting for groups" part of articles to be one of the most useless, and so I try to get through it as quickly as possible while still being as thorough as possible. Hence, several different types of ammo but shot at 50 and only 5 rounds per group. It's about all my ADD can handle.

Yeah, I'm just ribbin' you on that—I understand that editors have specific things they like to see in articles they publish.

I just picked up the mag because it looked the best out of the few on the rack, and the fact that it had articles from someone whose opinion I respected was kind of surprising.

[Artos]

Precision Shooting & Varmint Hunter magazine were the only ones i ever paid for and that has been over a decade since i've gotten one mailed in. Heck, I may have some of them tucked away somewhere??

I get American Hunter cuz i'm a lifer...i have little use for most of them as my interests are pretty narrow & not gonna buy a mag to read one article.

[YVK]

5 year subscriber to S.W.A.T. - likely will not renew; was helpful when I was just starting up with training and classes; now I find very little valuable info. My favorite parts were Pat's articles on AR TTPs, even though most of them could be shrunk 50% by volume and convey same info, and Ned's articles; the rest had mostly entertainment value for me. I think their gear reviews are more objective, but they suffer from same limitations of "single reviewer - sample size of 1". I wish they expanded their writing staff - at this point there is a huge commonality of authors from issue to issue, i.e. you can guarantee to see an article by one of, or both, Hansens, Pat, Leroy Thompson (sometimes two of his), Reitz, other people I forget and Louis last-page opus in each and every issue. I understand the core writing staff principle, but when the area you're covering is not very dynamic - and it is not - variety of authors is an answer to stagnation, contextual and of writing styles.

AR through NRA - just an entertainment-type reading.

[Rider79]

I have mostly liked SWAT magazine in the past, but lately the main articles have gotten more and more disappointing. I just read the article in the 1/11 issue about a cop carbine on a budget. The writer starts out with a Bushmaster rifle, then inexplicably adds an Ares piston system under a Surefire M73 rail to it. After that, he adds a Surefire M900 with an IR filter, a Laser Devices DBAL2, and a Trijicon ACOG that retails for over $1k. What "cop budget" is he on exactly?

[theblackknight]

Tactical pens are ****ing stupid.

If I ever see someone in the mall with a flagcap, Eotac safari shirt under a fishing vest, cargo khakis with ever little pocket budging with various items in your "EDC gear" and a riggers belt, Ill prob tactically crack tactical jokes in in your tactical face.

"Nice Raven holster there DeltaForce".


Rob, the "Combat Tactics" with your chart article and SuperDave course wasnt too bad.

[SteyrAUG]

SAR subscription - Only one I still read, love the historical articles the most.

American Rifleman - NRA membership

That's pretty much it. If the Rifleman wasn't free, I wouldn't even bother with that one. Armed Citizen is really the only part I always read.

Used to buy Guns and Ammo (mostly for nostalgia having grown up with it) but last one I bought was over 5 years ago.

Having read gun rags since the mid 70s, there came a point where there really wasn't anything new and it became the same magazine month after month.

[Kentucky Cop]

I think the consensus is in.

The Tactical Yellow Visor needs to start his own magazine that touches on all the subjects here at M4C.net. It would totally fly and RobS could monitor the content and writers. Surely with everyone on here, articles, evaluations and gear would not be hard to find.

Lets do this Rob!

KC