Best gun magazines (the reading kind)

[Questor]

What are the good gun mags today? I've let my subscriptions end and would like to get a couple new ones.

[KN]

American hand gunner is the only one I care to read any more. All the others seem to say the same thing every month. yada yada yada.    KN

[warrior1]

i just got a free 6month subscription to guns and ammo for buying a box of hornady leverolutions.

[The Sodbuster]

Let me start by saying I'm a magazine junkie and that my interest is in rifles.  Don't have any handguns and am not interested in reading about shotguns.  I currently get Handloader, Rifle, and Rifle Shooter.  I like Rifle better than Rifle Shooter, but they're both good.  I've gotten Shooting Times in the past.  Good magazine, but too much handgun stuff.  I could say the same about Guns and Ammo.  Got Gun Tests for a year or two.  Let it expire 'cause I got tired of handgun reviews and most rifle reviews focused on military-style, semi-autos.  I like Handloader, but they could improve it if they'd replace all the handgun articles with rifle articles.

Please forgive my prejudices.

[Foggy]

IMO rifle is the best and Handloader, Successful Hunter. AND for general info  Backwoodsman

Foggy

[Dee]

I gave up on ALL "gun magazines" as I came to the conclusion they were more about selling the gun they were writing about. I opted for Fur, Fish & Game Magazine, and Backwoodsman Magazine. No one is trying to sell me anything, and they are not redundant as most all gun magazines are.

[Cheesehead]

I will agree with the Handloader choice. It is the most informative and helpful and my only subscription.


Cheese

[Hairtrigger]

Handloader and Rifle are two that I have gotten for years. I used to get Shooting Times but lost interest.
Sporting Classics is a good magazine on a different level, it has articles on high dollar hunts and some on wildlife art. The pictures are fantastic.
Guntests magazine ids the only magazine I have canceled the subscription after 2 issues...it was more like listening to the bull#$%@ at the local range

[Steve in Michigan]

Handloader, Rifle, Guns and American Handgunner. All the rest don't even come close.

Steve

[skb2706]

Handloader and Rifle Shooter.
Actually I get them all and have for a long time. My wife works in the magazine biz and gets all of them for me. I usually buz thru them, dump out all the blow cards and pile them in boxes in the basement. Its my lifetime project to determine -

"How many ways you can re-hash the 1911 Colt." (or its hundreds of clones)
 
Or "The .270, .280 , 30-06 controversy continues".

"Magnums vs. Standard Cartridges"

"Old west arms cast bullet Rendezvous"

"Which is best .223 vs. XXXX vs. 22-250"

"Pistol vs. Revolver"

"How to get the most from your 9MM"

"Inherent Accuracy Explored"

"Overpriced guided hunts that you and I cannot afford"

And of course a review of all the top shelf new gadgets that I can neither afford or desire.

Add in the pre-cursory 85 pages of ads for things I don't want.

I have gun mags dating back to the sixties and you may have no idea how many times those subjects have come and gone.

[Graybeard]

Quite honestly it seems the state of magazines is really sad these days. Not many of them seem worth the price even if they were free. 

I'll continue to get Rifle and Hand Loader tho as I do find enough of interest in them to pay the tariff but do not find them to be of the same quality they once were. Still to me at least they are the cream of the crop at this time.

I get Alabama Game and Fish Magazine and it has a good deal of worthwhile info in it. They make one for most states just remove the word Alabama and substitute your state in it's place. Much of the content is generic to fit (more or less) all states but each month there are three to four specific to the state name on the cover. It's not bad as hunting and fishing rags go.

I get American Hunter and North American Hunter but only cuz I'm a life member of both outfits. I'd sure not pay for either rag as a stand alone.

If you just want to hear about the new stuff coming out Guns and Ammo and Shooting Times do a fair job of that but the rest of the content is sadly lacking in my opinion.

I've tried Guns, Handguns, Handgunner, Rifle Shooter, Successful Hunter, Gray's Sporting Journal and many more. For the most part if they were free I'd still ask them to not send them my way. Most of the handgun type magazines these days wish to appeal only to LEOs or so it seems to me even tho most LEOs are not really gun types so why they do this I have no clue. Either that or the 1911 is about all they want to discuss and I care not for them and don't even own one.

Reckon I'll just stick to the internet for most of my reading not to the gun rags.

[Questor]

GB:

Looks like you added a new line to your salutation. Very nice.

I've wondered about the cop emphasis in magazines too and figured it had to do with some kind of wannabe factor. Seems like a lot of guys want to emulate their version of what a gun toter should be and that image is a cop.

Me, I just keep chomping cigars, wear an outsized domed cowboy hat, look at the real estate ads and ranch news around Salmon, Idaho, and try and shoot straight while making no attempt to keep my opinions to myself. Lemme tell you about #3 bird shot in a 10 gauge....

[Blackhawk44]

Even though Handloader has declined, its still first up.  Guns has improved a good bit the last couple of years.  The rest are a grievous waste of paper and ink.

[351 power]

i only buy occasionally. if the magazine  has a story i am interested in. won't subscribe. then i save those copies i buy. hate all those ads and advise to buy new stuff. mostly buy furfishgame or backwoodsman

[Heavy C]

I enjoy American Handgunner and will probably start Handloader.  Used to subscribe but I didn't renew once that ran out - that magazine was such a let down.  I get Shooting Times as well - got as a fund raising project my daughter worked on - that one won't be renewed either.

[Lloyd Smale]

i used to buy every gun mag on the shelf. Some really suck and some arent bad. they were all entertainment and you have to learn to take alot of the info in them with a grain of salt. My eyes have gotten bad enough that i cant read without glasses and dont like wearing them so i buy very few anymore. If you know how to weed through it theres a hell of alot more info on the internet then in the magazines anyway. there was a time where a guy would buy them just to see what was new. But anymore you will find out first on the internet anyway. About the only one i buy anymore is handloader and to be honest i think its gone down hill lately too.

[huntswithdogs]

The only magazine I get now is the American Hunter. I'd not get it ,if it weren't part of my NRA membership. I agree with all that has been said here about the "gun rags". They're only in bidness to make money now. They oughta go down to the local gun store and buy the guns off the shelf like we do. Give them a good wringing out and THEN tell us about them. Instead they get the ones that've been gone over by the customshops of the differrent manufactures and give us the run downs on these. Like comparing a Pinto to a Vette.

HWD

[sphpkr]

Handloader is the only rag I still get. I've let the subscriptions expire on the rest. They were getting to be all flash and no bang.