I wish more Gun Writers where like Flores these day and would write more about Varmint and Small Games hunting than just trying to push something new from the Gun Companies in all their published articles .
I'd like to see more articles on upland game bird shooting.
The Gun Magazines these day are just about advertising.
I don't think that's really anything new. Advertising pays the bills in periodical journalism today just as it always has.
As much as i like the 1911 , i'm tired of every other article in every major magazine being about nothing but the latest and greatest 1911 that will set you back 3 grand or more.
I'd a lot rather read about some high-zoot pistol than one more article discussing the merits of the Savage Axis or some other bargain-bin bolt action rifle that is likely to be bought by a very casual end user who doesn't shoot more than a box or two of ammo a year and has no inclination to hunt outside of the county he lives in.
I'm a
shooting sports enthusiast. I like stuff that appeals to
enthusiasts. I like reading about that stuff.
I like cars, too. I raced SCCA events for years, took a bit of a break, and am getting back in to competitive motorsport via autocross.
When I pick up a car magazine, I don't want to read about some rolling, self-propelled transportation appliance like a Hyundai Sonata. I want to read about stuff I might actually desire to own -Corvettes, Porsches, Mustangs -and even cars that I don't have to own to enjoy reading about, like the latest Ferarri, or new tech in Formula 1, and such-like.
I don't think they understand most subscribers could care less about a three thousand dollar custom pistol and are more interested in articles that relate to the average Joe .
Joe Average thinks a $3,000.00 pistol is expensive because he really doesn't shoot a lot. If he shot with any degree of volume beyond very casual use, he'd know that the real cost of a shooting sports hobby for those who are more than casual shooters isn't the cost of the hardware, but the cost of the metal being sent downrange through it.
I don't want to read about what Joe Average thinks is cool. I want to read about what some other enthusiast thinks is cool -things like the new Ceasar Guerini shotgun designed to go a million rounds; things like IDPA pistols; like what the top Highpower shooters are running at Camp Perry this year, and so on. I'd like to read about experiences, too, and not just things -the kind of experiences Joe Average doesn't see value in or doesn't care about. I'd like to read about what makes the Kim Rhodes and G.David Tubbs of the world tick; about "destination hunting" in places I haven't been to but aspire to visit, someday. I want my imagination stirred, my curiosity piqued, and I want to be entertained by literate storytelling.
I would much rather read about some average guy sitting under a Hickory Tree with a old single barrel shotgun squirrel hunting than about some pecker head competing in a three gun competition or about the latest weapons some Swat Team in some big city just acquired
That would be like picking up
Car and Driver and, instead of finding articles on the Porsche Cayman, or the new Mazda MX-5, and interviews with motorsports luminaries, and so on, one instead finds articles on what it's like to drive a Hyundai Sonata to the supermarket, or schlep the kids to school in one, or do other mundane chores in a car that's as exciting to drive as a toaster oven is to look at. As a car enthusiast, I want to read about "gear head stuff" and I fundamentally don't give a crap whether Joe Average can relate to the Mazda MX-5, or is interested in tips for faster autocross times from the SCCA National Champion.... Joe Average might drive a car, but that doesn't make him an auto enthusiast any more than owning a gun automatically translates in to being a true shooting sports enthusiast.
I'd rather read about how some top-level competition shooter reached that level of excellence than about some pecker-head sitting under a hickory tree with an old single-barrel tree rat whacker.
but maybe I'm just a odd ball when it comes to Gun and Hunting Magazines
Maybe you
are "just an odd ball."
and that is why i canceled all my subscriptions to everything except for Varmint Hunter and American Rifleman.
Steve Walburn is probably agonizing right now over the notion that you'll likely not be subscribing to
Gray's Sporting Journal anytime soon.
