[Bill Lester]

Okay, since Pastor Charlie started the "Best Magazines" thread I'll have to be the stooge that starts this thread!

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So here are my top three picks for the Worst Gun Magazines:
Combat Handguns
SWAT
Petersen's Handguns (post Jan Libourel)


Fire away me' hardys!

 

[alyeska338]

Mr. Bill,
I believe you hit the nail on the head.  If I were going to include another, it would be one of the grow your trophy rags.  A page full of rack measurements or hunting penned animals just rubs me the wrong way.  I can't remember which one it was, but I read about a guy that didn't like to hunt but wanted a trophy head for his den and they had a full story praising him and the animal he shot.  He read a book while in the stand and had just closed it when a deer come walking up.  He ran some quick calculations in his head and noted that it would be a "book" buck so he killed it.  It's one thing to go after a mature buck or to match wits with a monarch, it's something else to hunt just to hang something on the wall.  Made me sick to my stomach.

 

[Gatofeo]

I agree with you wholeheartedly, Alyeska.

My votes for the three worst gun magazines:

Guns & Ammo (or anything from Petersen Publishing)
I matured away from Jeff Cooper's diatribes in the mid 1970s and grew weary of its coverage of every new gun and cartridge as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Doesn't any manufacturer introduce a BAD cartridge or gun anymore? Petersen Publishing's magazines are full of flash, advertising hype, bias toward the manufacturer and inane articles (how many times have you seen the "9mm vs. 45" or "30-06 vs. .270" type of article?

Combat Handguns
This magazine gives us gun owners a bad reputation as bloodthirsty maniacs, just itching to shoot someone. I carry a concealed weapon occasionally, and have the common sense and reverence of Life to hope I never have to use it.

SWAT
Another magazine that encourages the public perception that gun owners are bloodthirsty. I don't mind if police officers are targeted as its audience, but it's apparent that many articles are aimed at the average gun owner.

 

[Stranger]

Any of the Annuals. (Expensive, outdated, incomplete catalogs with re-run articles).

Jack

 

[IDShooter]

Gents,
     I don't know if I'm just jaded or what, but I don't like most of 'em ! They seem like fairly thinly veiled advertisements to me. And they all seem to push the "more, faster, longer range, higher scoring rack" type of thinking.
     But then, it could be that in this information age, there just isn't that much to write about that hasn't already been covered unless you review new products. I guess I DO enjoy hearing about new products, too, but I have found a big gap in the performance of new goods in reviews and their performance in real life.
     How many times have I heard Dave Scovill say that todays firearms are the best ever made? In my limited experience, that simply isn't true. And he edits my favorite mags!          IDShooter