What Web Sources do You Rely Upon for Gun Reviews?

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MisterMike

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A pretty straightforward question: Where do you go when you're considering a gun purchase (or just generally interested)?

Most of the reviews I read on line are pretty effusive, and would lead you to believe that the gun being reviews is the (new) best gun in the world. I'd like to find a place where I can read unbiased and unvarnished reviews.
 
You are here.

I will usually check here first, then on to other gun forums.
It's tough to weigh the idle comments about a particular make & model, but if you gather enough reviews you can sometimes outline a pattern in the observations. I've never failed to eventually get good information from individuals that know what they are talking about. There are plenty of them on gun forums. You just have to keep searching.
 
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Goooooogle

I think forums like these are great for info too...

Sure you can go to the manu website to get specifics on the gun, but forums like this give you a good insight to how the gun operates. It also reveals things that one might not think about when purchasing a gun...

Like for example, I recently found myself in the .22 market and wasn't sure what to go with. I liked the obvious 10/22, Marlin, Savage, etc but upon reading here (and on other sites), I read that the 10/22 isn't as accurate 'out of the box' as opposed to some of the Marlins. Generally people say they have to put money into the 10/22 to make it an accurate shooter...or at least comparable to other .22s. So this strayed me from that gun. This is something I wouldn't find on a manu website

Bias or not, sometimes the bias reviews are the most helpful. Hell, I even got reviews from people who own Rugers/Marlins/Savages and say gun X is the best because of Y reasons.

So yes, some of the reviews are a little one-sided. But I feel forums (especially this one) have enough members to get a good review from all sides of the table.


Good luck
 
If you go to forums that are specifically geared to one manufacturer. Then do a search on the model you are interested in you can find out a lot about problems common with a certain model. People with problems usually seek out the forums for owners of that manufacturer. You can also read the positive about that particular model & members experiences. THR is great for learning about a wide variety of products but the brand based forums tend to have more information on particular models.
 
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AMEN!

Anything but the popular press, for sure. I like to check out the brand-specific forums but I also like to use a broader-base forum like THR because you will hear the negatives as well as the positives from people who own both that item and others in a similar class and price range.

Reading a smattering of posts from various sources will give you a good general overview of how folks like a specific product and how it compares with others like it. I want to know what commonly goes wrong (and what the manufacturer does to fix it) as well as just finding out how many people think it is "teh best EVER!" ;)
 
You are here.
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AMEN!
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Amen +1.

Here first, then maybe a few other places.

Any info I can find that is not written by someone benefiting from writing about the subject of interest is generally what I'm searching for.

I find it pretty easy to sort out the BS on forums when it comes to specific models. It's always the same old hearsay about a problem gunX had when it first launched, doesn't like a certain ammo so it's a bad gun, etc, etc,
 
Most of the reviews I read on line are pretty effusive, and would lead you to believe that the gun being reviews is the (new) best gun in the world. I'd like to find a place where I can read unbiased and unvarnished reviews.
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Most of the reviews I read in magazines are definitely that way as well. I think the problem in finding unbiased reviews is both pro writers and consumers have a "dog in the fight". You either have the professional gun writer who got the gun for free to try from the manufacturer and doesn't want to burn any bridges by bashing their new blaster, or you have the consumer who paid a lot of money for the gun, is keeping it, and wants to justify his/her purchase as a good move.
Like others, I go here first and google for other reviews. You can usually see patterns ie. super reliable out of the box, or needs a couple hundred "break in" rounds, trends in accuracy, etc.
I will pick up a gun magazine if it has a review of an item I'm considering purchasing but I take their reviews with a grain of salt. If you take them at their word every gun is 100% reliable, is "plenty accurate at combat distances", or has one or two FTFs that are always related to ammo/mags and the gun functions flawlessly for the rest of the test. They do have purdy pictures of the gun though :)
If I review something I try to include any bad along with the good, even if it's something minor. Kind of like selling a car, I'll take the nice pictures, but also close ups of any flaws.
 
Not to toot our horn too much, but I also think that being part of a community -- as opposed to simply scanning the errornet for random statements -- is a huge plus.

If I ask for reviews of a gun (or just do a simple search here) I'm not just looking at what folks said, but also who said what. Not that I know every contributor here, but I do know that some members share some of my interests and focus and will likely review a gun with the same objectives in mind that I'd have.

Further, I know that some posters have shot and owned more guns that I'll ever even touch. They've seen the best and the worst and have no reason to sugar-coat or denigrate a gun above or below its actual merits -- relative to thousands of others in their experience. This is not a universal condition. There are a great many enthusiasts (bless 'em!) who have just dumped 6 months' savings on their first or second firearm and, while they are wonderfully enthusiastic, their opinions may not be completely objective.

And sometimes I simply know that a contributor's likes and dislikes just don't coincide with mine. While he or she may LOVE a gun, I'm almost guaranteed to dislike it. That's valuable info, too. Doesn't make them right or wrong -- just different from me.

This understanding takes quite a while to develop, of course, but it is one of the treasures of a community like ours.
 
I check here first. The large and knowledgeable membership here tends to give a good pool of responses. Even if I do a Google search, the results usually point back here anyway :D.

I will also check the gun specific site(s) but you have to wade through more fanboy responses.
 
I think by far my favorite gun reviewer is NutnFancy. His reviews and very long, but very informative. He is generally unbiased, although he does tend to learn towards Glocks. He also does knife reviews, shooting videos, and some videos talking about CC and Daister Prep. Here your only warning. His videos are very long and sometimes he nitpicks at little things. IMO his reviews are the most informative and honest I've seen
 
The High Road
The Firing Line
Real Guns
Gun Blast (depends on what I'm lookin' at; some yes, some no)
Chuck Hawks free section (I'm cheap, byte me)

And a slew of others I can't remember at the moment. They always pop up on the first three pages of a Google search. At least they do when your Google-Fu is strong.

As for what I specifically look for, its not hard to tell. If someone is giving a lot of "read this" or "heard that" responses, he gets chucked in the "Horse Hockey" bin. One or two line responses mostly get ignored unless those two lines are gospel (like fixing the rattle of a Benelli Nova fore-end; flip it over and use an Allen wrench). People who have shot a given firearm, in the field or at targets, and who have seen the effects on those targets... well, those are the guys I pay attention to. I keep an "ear to the pavement" to get a general vibe on people's take at all times, too. Look for consistencies. People rarely say anything bad about Hornady's Lock n' Load bushing system or presses, they rarely talk down about a BPS shotgun aside from weight. When it comes to some things, the line on that signal-to-noise meter doesn't move all that much. Which is precisely what you look out for.

For example, last night a Tikka T3 Lite Stainless in 6.5x55mm was added to the list in place of a CZ 550, same caliber. Why? Simple: in months of reading posts, researching, and listening all over the 'net, not one single person had anything negative to say about the T3 Lite that directly affected its operation. Sure the mags are plastic, yeah they're friggin' expensive to replace, so what if the bolt is two-piece. There were zero gripes about accuracy, trigger function/feel, folks couldn't say enough about just how slick the bolt throw was, and it costs a LOT less than a CZ. The caliber I wanted is readily available, notoriously accurate, and even in a light rifle (7.3 lbs scoped!) it won't kick you senseless or blow your ears out. Barrel life is nice, too. My only concern is that there is a single-point factory maintenance system in place... in Finland. I'd rather take it to the local guy and have him jigger with it. I found out all this just by paying attention to what people were posting.

Watch for what I call the Rule of 50%. Half the posts you'll read on Lee reloading equipment or Ruger 10/22 rifles will be Gospel According to XXXX. The other half will be Damnation According to XXXXX. Invest in stuff like this at your own peril.

If someone knocks a single-shot because they don't like single-shots, ignore 'em. If they talk down about a given item because it didn't do something it was never engineered to do, ignore 'em. You'd be surprised at the sheer number of idiots who give something a bad review because it didn't let them climb Everest in ten seconds. On the same token, beware the idiot who can't give a bad review. I'm dropping a magazine sub because one writer simply refuses to say that fecal matter does, in fact, stink.

Oh, and pay attention to the sticky threads at the top of any forum you visit. You'll get 40% of your questions answered before you burn a thread asking 'em. The rest? Search.

A Lot.
 
Quinn's GunBlast.com

I like his site too. However, hasn't he made it clear that he'll NEVER give out a bad review? I recall a post from him stating that he likes guns, all guns, and no gun that he ever reviews will receive a bad review, because again, he like gun, all guns. Therefore, I'm not sure what I can learn from his reviews, but I do like his site.
 
I just buy what I want. Although I do skim the forums to see what people are saying about them.

The only problem is I found some of the forums can be very negative, like the Sig forums. If you read them long enough you would think Sig should just close their doors and give up making guns.:rolleyes:
 
I've learned about a lot of options here on THR.

The only problem with THR, IMO, is that you may become aware of something awesome and well-reviewed that you hadn't known of before....and that can get expensive.
 
Here, m4carbine.net, and the Firing Line, mostly. There are also a few bloggers whose opinions I respect. I try to find detailed range reports, not "Gun X rules!!!" or "Gun Y sux!!!" types of posts. I Google to find reports of problems with a particular model, and evaluate how common or rare they are and how easy to prevent/correct. And I don't make a snap decision in a day, or a week; I let the information percolate a little.
 
I will usually check all the boards that I am a member of. I find that one will get the most honest pros and cons there as anywhere else. After-all the everyday users are the ones who will know all the quirks .
 
I lost a little of my ability to take Gunblast.com seriously after he gave a glowing review of Colt-imported .22 LR Walther AR-15. I guess it's possible that they hand-picked one for him, though.
 
This is one of the dominant forums I visit. Since I'm particularly interested in rimfire guns, I go over to RimfireCentral often. The Ruger and Smith & Wesson forums are good for those specific brands. But THR is very good overall and I have purchased a few guns simply because they were so frequently recommended here. The Ruger GP-100 and Redhawks are examples.
 
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