Gun Digest

[thomas15]

How many read and/or collect this publication. Do you find it entertaining or educational? I'm referring to the annual digest not the specials.

 

[PapaG]

I have almost all of them from the early forties up to about five years ago. They HAD great articles up til fairly recently but the last decade of them kind of leaves me wanting. Every now and then I go down to my library in the basement and pull one off the shelf and read about the newest thing in '53, '60, or whenever.
That first issue dad had probably got me started on guns when I was about four or five. Still have it.

 

[steveno]

I can remember when they were about $9 and they were pretty good. I'm not sure they are worth $35. I have bought a couple of them at that price but they had special articles that I was interested in otherwise I don't buy them. they could skip the gun catalog pictures and stuff in that they are usually at least year out of date. with the internet it is much easier to keep track products

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I keep them and the Shooters Bible for ref purposes, but, cheap shot that I am, I wait 'til the backissues show up at the discount books.
$35 is a lot out of the budget of a retiree hoping to participate in the Mar-Sep matches or just go plinking.

 

[Deanimator]

I used to buy them religiously when I was in grade school, high school, college and the Army.

I've stopped buying them as the writing doesn't seem to be up to the previous quality.

I also used to buy the "Shooter's Bible" and the "Guns & Ammo Annual" as well. I've stopped buying them for the most part as well, and mostly for the same reason. The "G&A Annual" has really gone down hill from when I was in high school in the early '70s.

 

[huntsman]

I have most of the 60-80’s, a few from the 90’s and 2000 is the last one I bought. Date range pretty much maches my gun collection.

 

[Hanshi]

I have a full collection from about 1973 to around 1990 or so. I also had a few from the 1950s & 60s. I use to pay maybe $3.50 for them and keep them and several old Shooters Bibles as references. New ones are much too expensive and lack the "charm" and quality of the old ones.

 

[Wisco]

Before the internet I really liked them. Actually, I liked lots of publications before almost everything became free to me on the web.

In about 10 seconds online I can find hundreds of photos and several different write ups on just about any gun.

 

[thomas15]

I can remember when they were about $9 and they were pretty good. I'm not sure they are worth $35.

I agree. I'm in the process of filling in gaps in my collection of the digest and find copies of 2017 to earlier editions for 5 or 6 bucks including postage. I think they are ok, not too detailed and of course much of it is opinion. It's hodge podge as far as what articles are in it but in some respects that's good because I will sometimes read about a subject that I wouldn't normally read about.

 

[entropy]

I pick up old copies at thrift shops and such all the time. My Dad bought it every year, I grew up reading it. The articles are fantastic for reference material, (and gun ideas) the fictional series about "J.M. Pyne" that ran in it was great. It's fun to read what was new that particular year, and there usually were articles by Askins, O'Connor, Cooper, Keith, and one had excerpts from Ortega y Gasset "Meditations on Hunting", which I recommend every hunter read. They had a regular feature showcasing Artistry in firearms, and I grew up following the careers of Winston Churchill (the engraver, not the PM), Klaus and Heidemarie Hiptmayer, Ron Smith, and John Adams Jr.

 

[Gladius]

I've got a collection of them dating back to 1985 (I think, I don't have them right here next to me). They're a useful source of historical info, including the prices and availability of guns in past years... some of those prices in the older Digests make me weep...

 

[boom boom]

I am a subscriber and agree that the quality of writing has went down. However, you could buy the old Gun Digest back copies on CD going all the way back. I got rid of my print copies due to that. Useful for reference if you are looking up oddities. I think two main problems facing the print industry is that "free" outweighs "pay" for a lot of people and the internet has sucked up a lot of advertising that used to go to print magazines. Gun Digest used to be one of the few ways to connect to sellers across the country via its classifieds--now there are multiple ways to sell guns and even the dealer ads in the back are shrinking. Shotgun News aka Firearms Talk is another publication that has declined in quality commensurate with the decline the milsurp market and the rise of internet retailers that ignore print ads. Combat Handguns actually was ended briefly by Harris but is back now. I suspect that the flock of Guns and Ammo publications such as Shooting Times and others are also declining in profitability as well.

I also suspect that a major effort by gun banners seeks to defund the NRA American Rifleman/American Hunter/etc. by targeting non-firearm companies like LifeLock, Simplisafe, etc. whose ads used to appear there.

Journalism and news used to be paid for by a broad base of advertisers--as many firms shift to Google AdSense or Facebook, the pool of money remaining for newspapers (hit hard by Craigslist and the like) and magazines is shrinking.

If the article is free online, then either the person writing it is subsidizing the article itself by forgoing pay or is being subsidized under the table or through the online ad placement market. However, that is why all of those online ad companies want to track the reader as to sell your information to others kinda like how one non-profit receiving a donation from you sells your contact information to others and so forth. Always remember TANSTAFFL--There Ain't No Such Thing As a Free Lunch.

 

[steveno]

at $7.99 Combat Handguns should have stayed ended. it was a pretty good magazine when it was B & W with some good writers for $4. since all of the guns are plastic now who cares if it is a color picture.

 

[Charliefrank]

As one that reads ballistic charts and exploded gun diagrams in the bathroom, I love it. Reminds me I need the newest version

 

[Charliefrank]

As a child we had Guns & Ammo, Shooting Times, Sports Afield and Outdoor Life in the bathroom always. Old habits die hard.

 

[Bushpilot]

I'm hearing over and over that the quality of the writing just isn't what it used to be in all of the gun publications and I couldn't agree more...
Most of the gun articles and reviews I find online are even worse. Sure, I can go online and find many articles and reviews about almost any gun I can think of but many of them are poorly written by people with obviously limited gun knowledge.

When I was a kid I used to look forward to the Guns and Ammo annual every year. I still have about 20 of them but I don't even buy them anymore.. I also liked Shooting Times... and Outdoor Life....

 

[doubleh]

I jumped on every new Gun Digest as soon as it came out for years but I haven't even looked at one in probably twenty years. Annuals and magazines just aren't what they used to be both in quality of writing and depth. Once in a great while I'll pick up a copy of American Handgunner for an article that interests me. I used to pick up Muzzle Loader magazine now and then mostly for the historical articles but Hastings folded and I have no news stand source now. I'm just too lazy to subscribe.

 

[John Joseph]

I stopped buying them around '94, when the quality of the writing took a dive but I treasure my collection which sadly only goes back to '74

 

[bannockburn]

My oldest Gun Digest goes back to 1955; bought it for $1.99 as a clearance item at a bookstore. This was back in the early '80s and it's hard to imagine they had it sitting around on a bookshelf for all that time!

Most of my other Gun Digests, Shooter's Bibles, and Guns and Ammo Annuals are from the '70s through the '90s. By then the quality of the writing and article selection (too many boring repetitions), had gone way down and the price way high up, for me to keep buying them.

 

[jeepnik]

I have almost all of them from the early forties up to about five years ago. They HAD great articles up til fairly recently but the last decade of them kind of leaves me wanting. Every now and then I go down to my library in the basement and pull one off the shelf and read about the newest thing in '53, '60, or whenever.
That first issue dad had probably got me started on guns when I was about four or five. Still have it.

I've noticed the same thing. Then one of my boys pointed out that I'm likely older than the writers and know a heck of a lot more about firearms than they do. Hmm, I think the kid is actually starting to gain a bit of wisdom.

 

[gulogulo1970]

Guns Digest was my gun bible for years. Got my first one in 1987 and bought one a year til 1996. Internet killed Gun Digest and all those gun magazines I used to buy for me.

One thing I do remember was getting mad looking at how many guns disappeared from Guns Digest in 1994 or 1995 because of the assault weapons ban of 1994.

Funny, I just recently bought a used one from 2016 at Half-Priced Books. Brought back memories.