Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Received my July Rifle magazine......

Canceled my online subscription too. I have years of both mags in a trunk. Guess I will just reread those.

Sorry so many are disappointed in the new issue. But would like to point out a few things:

The July 2019 issue was 62 pages--only four more than this issue. Slim gun magazines are typical this time of year, because advertising is at its lowest level of the year--and advertising pays a large part of the cost of printing and mailing.

But it tends to rise from now through fall and winter, due to hunting seasons, and introductions of new products after the first of the year, at the SHOT Show and others. Which is why gun magazines will soon be thicker. (That said, I doubt advertising--and hence issue size--will be vastly larger, due to the effect of the coronavirus on the economy. But I also doubt it will have as much of a long-term effect on the economy as some predict, though who knows?)

The length of articles is limited by the number of pages any magazine can afford to print, NOT by how much the writers are paid. Right now Wolfe limits articles to a maximum of 2500 words, about 500 words less than the average when I started working for them in the early 1990s.

Since 2007 the owner of Wolfe has been Don Polacek, who was hired by the previous owner to work in the mail-room, then worked his way up through various jobs to head of advertising. Eventually he expanded that to offering more reader services, such as loaddata.com. When the former owner retired, he decided to sell to Don--who is NOT an "outside," MBA take-over artist. This is his only business--and hence job.

One the realities of gun writing is that gun writers get older, and eventually retire or even die. Many of us grew up reading certain writers, and as a result they were considered the standard--but THEY all started as younger men, when older writers were the standard. Many of what were considered the young gun writers 20-30 years ago are now starting to be older gun writers, which means they're starting to at least semi-retire, so are being replaced by younger gun writers.

Whether those young gun writers eventually become old and respected, like the writers they're replacing, is another question. But just as the original staff writers of Rifle and Handloader (the ones I grew up reading such as Bob Hagel and Ken Waters) were replaced by younger writers, the present generation will be replaced. I am 67, John Haviland a year or so younger, and Mike Venturino and Terry Wieland a little older. Even that young punk Brian Pearce is pushing 60. Writers usually never retire completely, but most choose to slow down--and consequently younger writers take up the slack.

I've found over the years that a LOT of gun-writer popularity depends on whether readers (say the average 60-70 year-old Campfire member) agree with what they say, thus confirming their own opinions. Since readers younger than 70 years old are starting to turn into the majority, the articles are bound to be different.

If you really want to change things at Wolfe, you'd be better off letting them know directly--or subtracting 20-30 years from your age.

I still really hate what I didn't read! And you cannot change my mind!

Even if I would read it, which I wouldn't, I would still hate it. Stupid Rifleloader's Magazine! And I know because I have read things...a lot of shooting things! Things at the barber shop. Jack O'Connor has a new article in Outdoor Life this month. I seen the magazine beside the pipe stand.

I also shoot every other month, rain or shine! You cannot fool me!

Who's Brian Pearce?

I love that you are on here and continue to post so genuinely. Thank you.

JB, makes sense. Thanks for your take on the subject.

Heresy to follow!

I have NEVER subscribed to either the Rifle or Handloader magazines!!!! I have always done what was reported above - check them out at a store and buy the ones that really appeal. I usually buy 2-3 of those mags per year and then keep any new and useful material and toss the rest.

I have subscribed to Fur Fish Game since a teenager (long time) because of the mix of practical stories and articles(I also ran trap lines as a teenager). My NRA life membership provides additional reading material and reports on new products. Like many of us, I will cut out and save articles that seem of value.

As might be expected, any shooter that reads such material will find much repetition and many articles/stories that are obviously merely sales pitches for the companies that sponsored their trips to far away places to hunt with the sponsors products and then write glowing stories about it all. Ho- Hum.

Just called for supper, so better go. Rant over.

crshelton,

Always good to read such original thoughts on this forum.

MD, no need to name names, but do you see an up and coming group of writers out there?

Face it: There’s only so much you can write about guns and most of us have read it all by the time we’re in our mid-50’s.

Can’t even spell Creedmoor?

Total agreement.

IMO that is why so many of the writers such as O'Connor and Keith and others of that era were, and are, so enjoyable for me to read. They were outdoor writers rather than gun writers, they generally wrote a story around the firearms. Perhaps having grown up reading them is reflected in my like of Seyfried and Weiland's writing since they often write about obscure firearms and have some history or a story in the article.

drover

You young people want it all. Stories. Information. Pictures. Humour. Jesus and Joseph, you'll be asking for load recipes, hunting stories and tips and tricks next!

You spend too much time on your damn cell phones and ipads to spend any time reading articles about the aforementioned!

You've all got short attention spans, and want Euro stuff like BMWs, Sakos and Zeiss scopes - but you're working at Walmart!!

Where was I? Oh yeah, why aren't you helping me dig out my pickup? That's right, you're too busy drinking your "after gym" lattes and checking stocks on your damn tablets...

You're funny Steve. I like what you write.
;o)
Rex

Please! Don't encourage him!

i did subsribe to another different gun magazine mainly because J.B. does do articles in it. but i am kinda of tired with magazines too in general not a lot new things right now that i am interested in. >> I am very excited about GUN GACK 111 that is coming out this fall and glad i got on the list !

Rifle and Handloader have gone the way of many other gun magazines and become rags with little of interest to me. I stop by Barnes & Noble occasionally and check them out, but most times are disappointed. The only reason I keep getting the NRA's American Hunter is because it's part of my Life Membership otherwise I wouldn't pay for a subscription to it or American Rifleman.

I still subscribe to Rifle and Handloader and to me they seem to have diminished some, but I still find articles that I enjoy. Reading about hunting and shooting for decades, the subjects get pretty familiar, and perhaps some of the shine goes off. Maybe just part of getting older. I don't see any big problem though. I hope Wolfe is able to continue publishing and would be happy to read some up and coming writers to supplement JB and Brian Pearce.

Thanks again to John for all that he contributes on this forum!

Hey, at least we still have gun magazines. I'm a car/racing guy and in the last year Autoweek and Automobile magazines went out of business and Road and Track has turned into a travelogue with a few mentions of cars. I share some of the frustrations with the Wolfe magazines, but like the writers and want to continue to support the magazines,

I recently found a box of old magazines in my garage. Most of them are Shooting Times and Guns and Ammo from the 1980’s. The first thing I noticed is they are full of advertising we no longer see in today’s magazines. Many of the ads are full page affairs from gun companies announcing new products. I still enjoy my subscriptions to Handloader and Rifle magazines but the reality is they will never be what they once were because companies now spend their ad budgets for on-line content.