I have every Rifle and Handloader magazine back to number 1 (as well as all of the Gun Digest Annuals, all of the Doublegun Journal [whose demise I mourn] and all of Small Caliber News). I frequently use them as references, particularly for cartridges that have fallen out of (or never found) favor.
My interests are largely in older guns and at age 70, I've accumulated a number of guns in obsolete or wildcat cartridges that the older publications occasionally addressed. I'm not likely to be buying the latest 6.5 wonder cartridge (a Savage 99 .300 Savage suffices for all of my big game hunting needs, backed up by a Remington 725 .280 Remington, should the 99 hiccup for some reason). I have .256 Winchesters, a .218 Bee, a .219 Zipper Improved, two 10 gauge side by sides chambered for 2-7/8 inch shells, recently sold a .25-20, and have owned a multitude of other oddballs over the years. I'm not the target audience for any of the publications at this point, although occasionally my interests and the publications' contents will cross paths (the most recent Handloader article on the .32-20 being a case in point). I probably have enough older powders (how many of you have even seen a can of Royal Scot D powder or remember that powder used to come in rectangular metal cans, not round plastic bottles?) that I shouldn't have to buy another pound of powder for the rest of my life. (Shotshell primers are a different story. How I'd love to see them return to the store shelves.)
I will probably continue to subscribe, more for the pleasure of finding the magazines in the mailbox than the content, and because I really prefer having a tangible publication in hand as opposed to something ephemeral on a screen.
