Part of it is the decline in hunter numbers in the U.S., and of course most gun magazines are American. Over the past 30-some years the number of U.S. citizens who purchased hunting licenses dropped from around 17 million to under 12 millions, mostly because it's more difficult and expensive to hunt.
Obviously this is worse in some areas that others. Overall, slight more than 80% of Americans live in "metropolitan statistical areas," either cities or their suburbs. In more rural states, hunter numbers are higher. Don't know what that number is today, but a decade ago half the adult males in Montana hunted. However, by definition rural states have fewer people.
As a result, "shooting sports" have become more range-oriented than hunting-oriented. The percentage of rifle shooters engaged in target games keeps increasing, as the number of hunter keeps decreasing. The target shooters are far more interested in "performance" aspects of rifles than traditional appearance, and in fact many younger shooters think the tactical look is nicer than the traditional look--even hunters.
One of these is the daughter of a good friend, who I helped get her first deer last fall. She used a 7mm-08 I loaned her, a tang-safety Ruger 77 with a walnut stock. After the hunt, however, I needed it back for an article, so I gave her a black synthetic stocked .308. She was thrilled, not just because it was actually her rifle, but because it looked "cooler." (The very word she used, and she was born and raised in Montana.)
So yes, the times they are a-changin'.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
