Received a option to get 12 issues..........
price is pretty cheap.

Is this magazine a quality rag or is it just not worth the time?
I shoot shotgun, rifle, pistol & revolvers plus reload for all of them.

I stopped getting gun magazines over ten years ago..........
may start again.

thanks.

It isn't what it used to be. I still buy one across the counter if a cover article grabs me but like you I quit buying gun magazines several years ago. I receive my "American Rifleman" due to my NRA member ship and I do subscribe to "American Handgunner", it is the best one out there IMHO. I am probably just getting old and grouchy but the 'experts' don't seem to be as expert as the old ones were.

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Keep Shootin' and check 6

I used one of those options last year but I don't think I will renew it. The types of stuff they cover aren't really of interest to me. I do receive Handloader and Rifle magazines. Both have a lot of articles that interest me.

I have subscribed for over 40 years. It is not what it use to be, but I still enjoy it.

re: ST............You can read it cover to cover in 1 trip to the bathroom.........Not worth it.

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S&W Accumulator

Gun mags are about as useful as the Parade magazine in the Sunday papers any more, no substance.

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Dick

I received the same offer and took it.
I have subscribed to it for many years. As others have said it's gone down hill some and for sure is thinner.
For the price it was offered at, I thought it was an ok deal.

Most of the magazine reviews appear to be written by the marketing departments of the gun manufacturers. When I want to read about or compare guns I just use Google to search the various forums. I would rather read the real world reviews of 20 or 30 impartial/at worst maybe brand biased owners who spent their own money and time on the guns. I find this infinitely more valuable. And then I just Google Images when I want to look at some pretty gun pictures

I first learned this lesson about 15 years ago with the motorcycle magazines. I got the warm and fuzzies after reading a glowing review immediately followed by a full page advertisement of the reviewed product. I have a MBA in marketing. I have written my share of garbage advertorials.

SHOOTING TIMES may have suffered the greatest deterioration of all the gun magazines.

I suggest you join the NRA and get their "American Rifleman" magazine which has excellent articles and info on all types of firearms.

Membership automatically gets you your choice of the American Rifleman or American Hunter magazines.


Don

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Laus Deo! <><

It's not what it used to be, but it's ok. I just really have a hard time getting into gun mags anymore. These mags are straight-up advertiser driven content magazines. It's really just pay-for-play in terms of coverage and reviews.

On top of that, they all seem to follow the same formula in their reviews, and to me, that's boring. I like American Hand-gunner better; good pictures and a little deeper content. But still, same ol', same ol'...

I think that the whole gun mag business has lost its relevance due to all of the dynamic, real, unvarnished content provided by real users like us. I've seen some very good, honest gun reviews on forums. I can't necessarily say that about gun mags these days. YMMV.

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NRA Life Member

Shooting Times used to be my favorite too... a mere shadow of its former self now. Used to enjoy Elmer Keith in Guns and Ammo too.

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A closed mouth gathers no foot

When Skeeter Skelton (the ST's best writer) died in 1988, it was all downhill after that. Elmer had passed, Bill Jordan had just about quit writing and most of the remainder of the writing staff was not impressive.

After 1992, it seemed to devolve into a cut and paste PR flak info straight to publication rag.

The Sheriff and Bart Skelton writings were all that supported it until they went to other rags.

I used to be a gun rag addict. The last one I bought was probably 4 years ago. Just not much of interest in them any more.

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Even older, even crankier....

Twelve issues of ST: Headline Article (in random order)

1] 308 vs 30-06: which one is better.

2] 12 ga vs 20 ga: the right one for you.

3] 9 mm vs 45 acp: the better self defense cartridge.

4] Steel 1911 vs polymer wonder gun: end of an era.

5] 223 Rem vs 220 Swift: the best varmint cartridge

6] 25-06 vs 7 mm Rem Mag; best long range big game cartridge

7] 30-30 lever action dead: new life with new ammo.

8] 260 Rem, ???, ??? : the best new cartridge for 201x.

9] Glock vs Para Ordnance: the best double stack semi-auto.

10] Ruger 10-22: ultimate custom 10-22.

11] M1A1 vs Garand: military match rifle shoot-off.

12] AR-15 vs AK-47: best civilian semi-auto tactical rifle.

BONUS ISSUE: how to customize your AR-15 for any situation or rifle match.

Save your money, now you know what's coming for the next 12 months.

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S&WHF 366

I get American Rifleman and subscribe to Handloader. Used to get Shooting Times but it went downhill after Skeeter and some of the other writers died off. It used to be the best of the "gun" magazines out there.

Thanks for all the nice input................

It was only $8 but with the 12 month listing of what is coming...
I have seen it all, several times. I am only uneducated with the
new "Black Guns" which I do not care about.

Thanks again, guess I will pass and improve my cooking skills.

It was,a long while back, along with Guns & Ammo, the best gun reading you could get in a monthly. Seems like S T started as a bi-monthly.
I have stacks of them both, but while I kept them for reference, google and youtube has put them out to pasture.

Somebody on this forum,(?), signs off each thread with,"Su Amigo", which Skeeter did ,after his tales.

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wanna do right-- not right now

Used to subscribe to all the magazines until I let the subs expire in the mid 90s. How many articles can you read about the Ruger Vaquero in the same month? There's just not that much to say, good gun that it is.

I can get more unbiased, true-to-life info here on the Forum.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

Yep. I 2nd that.

Yep. I 2nd that.

Bart does a short article on the back 2 pages, these days. It is usually worth reading. See below....

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

That would be Dave Keith

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Even older, even crankier....

Just a note of caution, if you do decide to subscribe, send a check. If you pay by card, they will automatically renew you using your card number at the higher standard rate. They tell you that you can cancel at any time, but it's a hassle.

I think I used to read just about every "gun magazine" on the market, and ST was about my favorite. As a lot of other people have said, when Skeeter Skelton died, I stopped. Skeeter was more than just a writer, I felt he was a friend, even though I'd probably never been closer than half a continent to him.

And I think as I got older, I realized I'd read all the articles before. That's not a knock on the magazines, how many topics are there to really write about when you think about it? How many times do we hash over the same topics over and over and over here? Twelve issues a year, times how many years have we been reading them? No wonder they all seem the same.

WE might have debated the "which is better" topics before, but that doesn't mean there isn't a young person out there, who used to be me, who doesn't know what we've learned, or think we've learned over the years.

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John 3:16 .

I'm willing to pay the postage, but not much more. They seem to cater to the advertisers more than the readers, so the advertisers can pay for the magazine as far as I'm concerned. Never forget that the publishers need to show the manufacturers that people are reading the publication in order to sell the advertising.

My rule of thumb used to be $1 per issue. IE: I would pay up to $12 for a one year subscription. Due to inflation and since I'm such a generous guy, I have recently decided I'll go as high as $15 per year. They are currently sending me renewal notices for something like $25.97 per year and I feed them to my paper shredder. A month or two after my subscription expires they will send 'we want you back' offer of $11.97 or $14.97 and if they don't, that's fine too - less clutter around the recliner!

It is not worth; I just check the stands and if one has more than one article that I like, I'll get it. That is usually only once every couple of months.

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Cheers, Charles
SWCA #2442

If you're new in the Shooting game it's a descent magazine but after a few years it's just a re-hash of the same old stuff. I use to get most of the popular ones and now only receive the NRA American Rifleman from my Lifetime Membership. Occasionally someone will give me a few magazines and they are good for "the oval office reading" after my Breakfast but learn little from them and I am not much interested in the new stuff.

Gawd, I hate gun rags. That goes for all of them. Every so often someone comes here or the sigforum and writes a nice review of a current edition of a mag. And I sometimes even go out and seek it. Of course after reading the article that for whatever reason made it recommended, I try reading the other drivel. Recent ones that come to mind was something about Reg Mags, and Sig P210s.

I don't toss out mags. I bought them, and I expect them to pay dividends well into the future. But what I've discovered is the old ones were much better than the new ones. Yes, I've still got a bunch from as far back as the 60s and 70s. And I've got all of my dads and FILs American Rifleman back to the end of WWII. The basement is a library. Mostly nicely organized by year. Used to be, I'd take weekends in the winter and do research projects. Or if I got the flu or something, I'd just pick a year and start reading as I could. My Shooters Bibles go back into the prewar period.

A better use for your funds would be to find a used book store that handles old mags and visit. You can usually buy mags for half price (as listed), but remember they used to sell for $1.00. My guess is that when I croak, my wife and sons will just shovel them out to the curb for the garbage man.

As far as the worthless content in todays editions, I blame it both on the companies that have consolidated, and the total dearth of good writers. Yes, Skeeter had to die on us. I really did read sheriff Wilson for a while. But there is no one writing these days I even respect.

But even worse is that Venturino clown. I just don't agree with his conclusions and the things he uses as his criteria.

Buy old, preread mags by the year. The older ones have more experience.

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Dick Burg

It ain't very thick, but it'll relieve $8 a year worth of boredom.

I spoke recently with the vendor who stocks the magazine display in my local supermarket. He said there was no real magazine business anymore, that magazines no longer sold as they did in the past. He said online had killed paper magazines.

Perhaps this helps to explain the drop-off in quality?

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

Makes sense to me. They are mostly ads now; I'm surprised that may companies want to advertise in them.

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Cheers, Charles
SWCA #2442

You can't expect to get a quality magazine for 67 cents an issue. Does that even cover postage? Of course it'll be all advertising.

The only 2 gun magazines I subscribe to any more are "American Rifleman" and "Gun Tests". I get AR because it comes with my NRA membership. I get "Gun Tests" because I value the info it contains.