biggest boat loads of bull crap in history?

Any opinions?

One of the most inept was Lee Hoots, IMO.

Prolly Clay Harvey.

I wonder whatever happened to him? Haven't seen a book or article by him in many years.

Jim Zumbo

Zumbo has to be there somewhere.....and yes, I get that he was a hunting writer who occasionally wrote gun articles.

I know a lot of members here love em both but I've thought for years that like unions, gun writers out grew their usefulness years ago.
Course, that's just my opinion so please feel free to hurl insults and call me names for having one that may differ from yours

It has been written that he got drummed out of the business for a variety of reasons, including selling guns and ammo that had been sent to him for testing. IIRC, Dogzapper had a good story about a rifle that Kimber of Oregon sent to Clay, but Clay sold it and the guy who he sold it to contacted KofO about it.

It has also been written that he "borrowed" a lot of his "experience" from other people, but so did Peter Hathaway Capstick and PHC is generally thought of as a good story teller.

There used to be a TV show of "experts", one for shotgun, pistol and rifle. Can't remember the names, but the rifle guy was a complete dumba$$.

I'll second this nomination; Clay Harvey just regurgitated other writers words and ideas and finally "retired" to the out-lands. Does anyone know is whereabouts or what's he's up to?

Elmer Keith



Mike

Why would anyone do that?

There are still a few good ones. The problem is the magazines have seemed to water down the length and content of the articles are gear them more towards vehicles to present their advertisers wares than provide information.

The internet is putting the printed word out of business pretty quickly. So, I agree with you.

Most of them are simply just paid product reviewers now.

The thing is, I tend to trust reviews over the internet by guys that really know what they are doing more than paid gun writers that review products now.

They can add me to the list for name calling now too!

The list has too many contenders to narrow it down to just one. How about a top 10 list?

I have always looked at most gun-writers just another form of fiction. They are no different than a car salesman, it is their job to convince you that you need the latest-and-greatest item that just came out. I have met quite a few during the years and generally speaking if they weren't gun writers they would probably be working at "Honest Joe's Used Cars".

drover

Elmer Keith did spout a lot of grandiose thoughts (he was slightly full of himself, as well), but he did have a wealth of experience in a time when experimentation was not well organized in the firearms industry. So many of the advances started with guys like Keith.

I knew Bill Jordan and spent a bit of time with him in the late '70s and '80s. Jordan had a high opinion of Elmer Keith.

No one person in particular but a trend being embraced by many, writers and TV hosts. I understand that the long range hunting equipment suppliers are hot and sexy and evidently rich. But ......STOP!! ......selling this crap that you can spend thousands of dollars on gadgets and that will automatically make you capable of long range shooting. Rather you would spend your time and energy and visibility convincing people to learn to HUNT.

Ha! Keith is the one that made the most sense out of all of them!

Zumbo and Clay Harvey are in a class by themselves in BS levels. Chuck Taylor's writing seem to contain some out and out fabrications. He also seems to think his rather unusual handgun techniques are the best for everyone.

Ron Spoomer. Don't think he's ever written anything that wasn't a rehash of someone else's work.

L.P Brezny.

L. P. Brezny.......what f'ing putz.......

Aside from the usual product prostitutes, Ralph Lermayer was as full of schidt as a Christmas turkey!

I never cared for Ron Spomer's articles or the abundance of opinions he expressed in them. But, back when I watched hunting shows, his were pretty good as far as hunting shows go. I started thinking of him as more of a "hunting guy" than a dedicated "gun guy". Sorta like Zumbo, but far less douchebaggery (sp?).

I like reading Keith. A lot. But he was certainly capable of writing things that really left me scratching my head from time to time. I do think he had a breadth of real world experience that most will never possess (which, in some cases, left me scratching my head even more).

I don't think gunwriters have anywhere near outgrown their usefulness, perhaps only because when I was young, I really wanted to be one. But I would allow that the internet has allowed for an exchange of information that, in many cases, has far outrun what the usual publications have managed to keep up with.

Case in point, I started reading gun rags when I was 15. I learned a lot from Seyfried, Milek, Keith, O'Connor, Barsness, Peirce, and even Scovill. But, in the last 15 years, I have also learned A LOT on here and a few other sites. Though gun magazines generally have somewhat less drama............

I used to take all of the gun rags, down to Handloader now.

Brian Pearce who writes for Handloader is a friend of mine. He is indeed a good gun writer, and knows his stuff inside out. I've hunted and shot with him, and know he's a great guy.

I like Brian Pearce also. Good writer and well worth the read.

I've learned more about handloading pistol cartridges (plus the .45-70) from Brian Pearce than anyone else.

While waiting at the tire shop for a flat repair, I picked up one of those "tactical black rifle" mags, never before had I read such a complete crock of horse manure in my life, the authors lived in some nether world of mall commandos, articles were all written at about a 6th grade reading level. Total drivel.

I don't mind the over zealous stuff, but if they say it they have to listen to the feed back

The problem with the writers reviews is the manufacturers are advertising customers of that very mag/rag.
Any wonder that you never see a critical review?

The only magazine I still subscribe to is FF&G.......for the old Lew and Charlie stories....
Plus...they put my picture in one edition years ago.....my fifteen minutes of fame.
I'd post the pic but I'm sure everyone already knows there was a Cat involved.

Was it Lee Hoots that said in print that the 270 was not adequate for mule deer hunting?

It was so ridiculous that I thought it was some kind of joke. I read the whole thing and realized it was for real. I can make an excuse for ignorance, but that was simply stupidity.

About the only gun mags I read these days are Rifle and Handloader. As far as writers go, I'm not a big fan of Hoots and Towsley. But, I simply don't care for their writing. One writer that puzzles me a bit is Craig Bonnington- I don't get a whole lot out of his articles but I love his books; some of my favorites, for sure. Perhaps it's just the magazine format that gets me...

That's good to know. I like Pearce's writing, for certain.

Someone else said Elmer Keith, and I agree. He was a full of chit as a Christmas turkey.

Zumbo is a donkey. Some buddies of mine took him buck huntin, said it was like taking a window licking dummy, of course zumbos “story” he wrote about was quite different...

There are a couple that I always skip, unless the article is particularly interesting.

I wish that I could read Layne Simpson's articles. Never been able to. No doubt a very knowledgeable guy,,,,,just dont like how he writes.


Doubt he will lose much sleep over it!

Yep, LP Brezny was right up at the top of the worst. My favorites were always Rick Jamison and the best of the best Ross Seyfried, that guy absolutely knew how they all worked; pistol, revolver, shotgun and rifle, as well as being one hell of a competition shooter. He was the driving force in my getting into pistol and revolver competition shooting.
Pearce was/is a fair scribe too, although he stumbled badly whenever he wandered into articles concerning double action revolver shooting, his forte is single actions, where he indeed knows his stuff.

Massad Ayoob

Problems exist with paper published articles and Internet articles, but I've noticed more shortcomings with many Internet articles. They are often not well edited. Additionally, the subject matter doesn't receive adequate coverage because the "article" (if you can call a few hundred or even a thousand words an article) is very superficial (inadequate research and testing). That's not to say many such works don't contain useful information, because they do, just not a lot of it.

There are exceptions. Glen Fryxell cast bullet articles come to mind.

Absolutely....I must have blocked him out of my subconscious. No writer has ever done more to put baseless fear into the mind of the gun carrying public, and law Enforcement, than all the civil attorneys on earth. What a POS.

Another fan of Seyfried here. I really liked his African hunting stories.

Most of Jeff Coopers writings should be under Fiction in the library.

Talk about spewers of bull crap, I would list the people on here that threw out all these names with out a single example. Good think none of you are "professional" writers.

Back when "Bowhunter Magazine" was in its infancy as a part-time endeavor...Tink Nathan of Tinks #69 fame wrote for Bowhunter and a SLIM BALL of the highest order.

Chuck Hawks or Peter Hathaway Capstick.

Friends,

A few comments; Elmer Keith and Bill Jordan were totally the real deal and I was fortunate enough to call both my friends.

Same comments about my long-term friend and confident, Finn Aavgaard. Finn was the best!!! And I miss him horribly.

Brian Pearce I never met, but my non-biological brother, Chub Eastman, totally vouched for him, both as a man and a devotee to killing the sh1t out of critters. Chub (dammit, I miss you, my brother!!!) was an excellent judge of character and I'd have to accept Brian, who I've never met, as a friend and one of the BEST.

Clay Harvey was just the opposite; not an original thought in his tiny brain and a penchant for writing the opinions of others (mostly because he had NO field experience). And, like most amateur writers, he loved to sport six-syllable words that his readers did not understand ... mostly so he would seem intelligent.

Last I heard of Clay, after he swindled me out of about 10-to-15K of Rolex watches, was that the slimy sonofabitch was working as a gopher in a South Carolina yogurt shop.

Perhaps, he is well-suited for that job. Maybe less ... probably less, actually

God Bless You All,

Steve

PS. Pete Capstick? Great story-teller, but experience and truthfulness? Maybe not so much I met Pete a few times and he was a fun guy, though a boozer and a bullshitter. Still, his words are fun.

I loved reading Elmer Keith, Finn Aavgaard and Charles Askins.

Dick Metcalf. Okay technically, but an elitist Fudd.

The one place I found good writers was Precision Shooting........best magazine ever.

Handloader is my absolute 'must have' Rifle a little less so. I can miss an issue every now and then and not notice. I am diggin' RECOIL though. It's kinda spendy per copy, but it's a very high quality mag and the content interests me.

Dick Wright was the main writer there it seems, he wrote very well. Brennan hisownself was good too, but he left most up to the others.

PS had good technical articles that you don't find in the magazine racks in grocery stores. I have some very old American Rifleman magazines where they had good technical stuff too, back before the lawyers would sue the pants off you for writing a how-to piece and a dumba$$ blew his finger off.

I never had much time for Sherriff Wilson and his always pressed white shirt

John Sundra was a toad as well

Nick Sisley got under my skin too