whughett
Member
I enjoy the historical articles, this old gun and the armed citizen. I usually skip the political articles.
It's been said that for a serious gun collection, a person should have a book for every gun.
I only get magazines included with sanctioning organization membership,
Anyone that likes African Hunting stories should pick up a copy of Peter Capstick's Death in the Long Grass, Death in the Silent Places, Peter Capstick's Africa or any of his other writings. I like his style and I do not find him boring.I subscribe to a ton of them.
Many sort of repeat themselves, with an article about something new written in different mags over and over.
It doesn’t bother me, I like reading...and I like reading about guns and looking at the pictures, I like reading about hunts I’ll never get to take and places I’ll never get to go. It’s a bit of an escape, with subjects I like.
Gun Digest, the Magazine usually has a lengthy article on some gun to start off with, and often has multi-month feature articles like “Greek small arms of WWII” or “Guns of the Battle for Tarawa” or something like that. It’s historical and gun related... and usually has a bunch of stuff I never knew or thought about.
I’ve read a bunch of gun books folks refer to or suggest people read over the years, most with glowing recommendations. I’ve found, sadly, many, if not most, of the classics are an interesting read but are so far out of date discussing guns, ammo/equipment and tactics that they’re almost useless. The ones I got sort of tired of were the African hunter memoirs. By about the 20th elephant shot for ivory in each one I’m done.
Yes, subscription mags (other than Gun Tests) are ad driven. All media is. Knowing that going in makes me not believe all of the glowing words, as every gun always has some prickly points. Those that ignore them fall down my reliability scale.
The best part about reading a monthly magazine or two is one can gain knowledge about different gun-related things every month if one chooses to.
Stay safe.
I have a friend who is a writer for a lifestyle magazine. He goes on jaunts to Italy where the likes of Ferrari and Ducati put him and others up at fine hotels, wine and dine them at Michelin starred restaurants, and ply them with free gear while they review new models on the road and on the track.
Same for ski trips to tout ski resorts out west or in Europe, diving trips in beautiful places, all on the arm.
Write something negative and you won’t be invited back.
I notice many gun writers review a gun and like it so much they buy and keep the gun they reviewed, no doubt at a substantial reduction in price, or gratis.
I don’t believe any product reviews in magazines any more.
Every time my friend tells me of some new trip he’s taking, I never fail to tell him I’m jealous and I hate him. lol
Some of the writers are good storytellers, Hemingway’s Green Hills and Capsticks works are fun and not repetitive because they hunted a variety of animals. The ivory hunting memoirs from WDM Bell, Frederick Selous, Robert Ruark even John Taylor are a lot of the same; ‘shoot the elephant, hack out the tusks, shoot the next elephant and hack out the tusks’ tales. I found those to be disappointing.Anyone that likes African Hunting stories should pick up a copy of Peter Capstick's Death in the Long Grass, Death in the Silent Places, Peter Capstick's Africa or any of his other writings. I like his style and I do not find him boring.
I recall a passage in one of his books (Peter Capstick's Africa, IIRC) where a fellow professional hunter would pick up random soil samples when out and about on safari and would drop them off at a geologist friend for analysis. One sample he had held for an extended period (years) and when the friend analyzed it, he called him on the phone all excited because there was an unusually large number of tiny diamonds in the sample. The PH returned to the area a few years later to find a new highway had been constructed there!
In another, he visits a fellow PH friend that is recovering from being attacked by a leopard that had been wounded by his client. The description of the man's fight holding the cat by the throat at arms length with the cat shredding his arms and "kicking him in the knackers every time he raised his hind feet" was humorous and chilling at the same time.
Men like him are born with bark instead of skin.
JMHO - YMMV, though.
Yessir! 100%!I'll sound old as dirt and just 'bout as gritty but I gave up even browsing mags when the last of the old school writers and editors bowed out.
Art was lost and enjoyment waned rapidly. I miss; Skeeter, Jordan, Keith and their ilk. When those fellas said-so.... It WAS so and fun to read to boot!
Todd.
Skeeter Skelton
Agreed 100%I read a lot. And skeeter is the only gun writer I'll say I ever enjoyed reading. There are others I read and feel like are worth reading. But skeeter is the only one I actually enjoyed and looked forward to.
Nowdays it's "the sear moves .00137 inches before releasing the hammer at 37.3 mph. The trigger creeps .125 inches, followed by a tactile click..
As a gunsmith and former Armorer, I found Kokalis' writing style more informative than his successor, Fortier. BTW, I loved Skeeter Skelton's writing, too.