A few years back I bought hunting and fishing mags pretty regularly. So far this year I've bought none... The reason for this is clear (to me), I've gotten my "fix" from online forums. I still buy magazines if I see an cover article that interests me, usually a new product review for a gun that interests me but seldom otherwise. Surely I'm not the only one who's found this to be true.
Now I have no gunwriters in mind that I dislike, though I do have a few in mind that I follow to some degree. I say that only to make clear that I don't have a chip on my shoulder regarding the writers. That being said, some of the most interesting storytellers out there (here) aren't gunwriters at all to tbe best of my knowledge. Not to say that the gunwriters here are bad, on the contrary, we just have some exceptional non-writers around. I'm sure some others feel the same way, maybe to a varying degree.
When I first came to this site I read for weeks on old posts on topics that interested me, figured out who here was credible (doesn't take long), and then read what they had to say on various topics. When I read a magazine, unless I'm reading a well known writer or have been following the magazine regularly I can't have the same insight into the writers past and therefore, credibility. It's nice to know just how many grains of salt to take someone's advice with.
Lastly, there is the economic reasons for the 'net stealing readers. I haven't recieved any bills from RicBin yet so I'm assuming this place is free (grin). The last mag I bought was an issue of Reloading for $7.99. For the price of two of those I could get a pound of H335. With magazine prices growing and the forum prices staying constant (free) I'd venture to guess that I'm not the first to have this epiphany.
Now back to the question; do YOU think the internet will be the death of the gun rags? Maybe not extinction but maybe an endangered species?
