DO YOU TRUST GUN MAGAZINE REVIEWS ?

[Watchdog]

"Do you trust gun magazine reviews?"

No, not really. Unless the writer/reviewer has really spent a lot of time using, studying, disassembling, and reassembling the gun, I don't think they can form a realistic opinion regarding how the gun will perform in the long run.

Gun reviews sometimes make for good reading and usually have some pretty pictures to go along with them, but they are not a deciding factor in whether or not I'll buy a particular gun.

One exception to my above comments: I pretty much took what Skeeter Skelton said as gospel.

 

[Rpg]

Folks, it's silly to rely on gun magazines too much more than an intro to a new firearm.

Hard to make a decision about new firearms based on what is initially available.


Best to buy based on much more info, rarely available early in the life of a new model.

That's an important reason to disregard most inital reports about any initial report in a gun mag.

Unfortunately, inital ino is rarely helpful for much other than basic into about the firearm and incident althose those details are often incorrect.

 

[Jiman]

Gun rags are for entertainment and they include pretty pictures.

For me they are bought for long airplane rides or road trips to pass the time.

 

[rwsmith]

A big grain......

I take them with a big grain of rock salt. I read them mostly for entertainment value and if you read between the lines you can garner some pertinent, if not completely accurate info. If I really want to know about a gun I'm not going to read any reviews from the same source but try to find a review that has NOTHING to do with the previous write up. If I find something common to three or four reviews, I figure it has basis to look out for. I've seen too much compromised integrity all over. I admit that I'm as susceptible as anybody to gifts and wining and dining, but at least I do admit it.

 

[rwsmith]

Those wonderful ice cream pictures.....

Gun Tests has the only reviews I have any faith in. I do get an occasional gun mag to look at the pretty pictures and to sometimes read about old guns or accessories.

About that hamburger in the tv commercial. I worked for a bunch of years in the ad biz and handled a couple of fast food clients. The rule is that any picture or burger you see in a tv spot must have only the ingredients you'd find in the store. Can't use special lettuce, more tomatoes, etc. However, we did hire "food stylists" who's job it was, was to arrange the stock burger so it looked great. They may push all the tomatoes to the front, cook the pattie by hand, plump up the roll, etc. but they couldn't use anything was wouldn't be found on a stock in-store product. Sort of like taking a cute model and using clever lighting to make her cuter. (That said, I don't eat in fast food restaurants, except for the roast beef sandwiches at Arby's....they weren't a client.)

Those wonderful ice cream pictures aren't ice cream at all but something like sculpted Crisco. Ice cream would never tolerate the lights without being a mess so they get somebody in that can work with some sculpting tools and make something that you have to have RIGHT NOW.

 

[Bowserb]

I've read Guns & Ammo since I was a kid...and that was a long time ago. Back then, I believed every word I read in it. I believed what I read in car mags back then, too. Boy, that Chevy SS with the 409 and four on the floor... There was a Chevy dealer a block from my junior high, and right across the street from the bus stop.

Later, I came to believe in Consumer Reports. No ads, products bought in the real world, not provided by manufacturers, etc. Got good advice on appliances, power tools, and even cars--especially from their annual repair surveys.

I've been mislead by Consumer Reports, when I bought their top rated GE front loading washing machine, that I later read being trashed by everyone on the Consumer Reports user appliance forum. Too late for me there. OTOH, CU liked the Subaru Outback, and my 2000 model is going strong with 205,000 miles, however the Subaru forum could have warned me about the Achilles heel head gaskets, which I had to replace at 180,000 miles. On the Subaru forum, you're not in the high mileage club until you've been to the moon (250k miles).

Now, after quite a few years in touch with reality, I've learned that combining commercial publications, not-for-profit sources, and user forums, can provide about an 80% accurate picture of what to expect from a product. Everyone who publishes, in print, on the air, or on the Internet, has a motive. That motive may be profit, publicity, revenge, or vindication, but there is always a motive.

So the information is there, but no one source is everything. Even now, I find useful info in G&A reviews. The accuracy tests can be pretty revealing, about both the guns and the selection of ammo they use in the tests, which varies from gun to gun. With enough of them, I've even been able to develop a theory of barrel twist rates for AR's. For example after reading scores of AR tests, I've concluded that with a 62 grain bullet, a 1:7 and a 1:9 twist rate are about the same. At 55 gr or less, the 1-in-9 has the advantage, and at over 62 grain, the 1-in-7 is better.

And the magazines have really nice photography. Ever try to photograph a gun? It took me five lights, two hours, and an hour with Photoshop (r) to get the embossed rollmarks and pony to show on my Colt XSE.

 

[Triathloncoach]

I just Google a gun and I get 50 unbiased, long term reviews by people who actually own the gun.

 

[Bowserb]

I just Google a gun and I get 50 unbiased, long term reviews by people who actually own the gun.

Just to be fair, that's 50 anonymous Internet reviews by people who say they own the gun. I personally, have become intrigued by comments here about Gun Tests magazine. I think I'll give it a shot, so to speak.

 

[Photog]

I can hardly wait each month for the new issues to come out...I mean who wouldn't be waiting to see the articles on the "newest" and "greatest
" AR platform rifle, or the "newest" and "greatest" 1911 platform pistol!!!!???? Honestly, who could ever get tired of reading the 17,201st article on the AR or the 74,311th article on the 1911? It is truly amazing that every month there is some great and fantastic, never been done before, (well maybe several thousand times, but who is really counting), supercalifragilisticexbealidocious (sp?) modification of above said gun platforms . Who could honestly NOT want to buy every gun rag, every month?!?
Real answer, no, I don't trust them......

 

[Triathloncoach]

Gun test is outstanding, but it ain't cheap. I had a subscription for years. And it's still a small sample size of testers and they only test one gun.

 

[eyegots2no]

It is a shame that the American Rifleman has become what it is. It is now just very lame. I used to really look forward to receiving it.

 

[mark32812]

I stopped reading gun magazines about 15-20 years ago after I found better sources of information on the internet.

 

[ca survivor]

look what great reviews the Remington R51 was getting, Remington had to pull it off the market right away.

 

[Road Rat]

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha...............

You made a funny!!

IF you read gun magazine articles you will see that they go out of their way to NOT upset the gun manufacturer (the manufacturers pay the freight via advertisement and donating firearms for 'testing')

However, the author will word comments to NOT make a positive statement about a particular part of the firearm. I find it fun to carefully read each article and fine the places where the author knows the (trigger, safety, loading gate, etc.) is wrong but can't say it!! He might indicate that the trigger could use some work. OR, the gun shoots fairly accurately despite the heavy trigger pull.

 

[CO_Kid]

I trust some, those who have not been afraid to go against the companies in the past. Mas Ayoob was all but blacklisted for writing about the problems with the Combat Magnums at the end of the revolver period, forcing cone cracking and gas ring expansion on the 66. He's also written about the problems with the first L frames.

 

[pineappleshooter]

Sipowicz covered this, here is his original post:

HOW GUN MAGAZINES WRITE ARTICLES

Instruction From The Editor To The Journalist:

Frangible Arms just bought a four page color ad in our next issue. They sent us their latest offering, the CQB MK-V Tactical Destroyer. I told Fred to take it out to the range to test. He'll have the data for you tomorrow.


Feedback From Technician Fred:

The pistol is a crude copy of the World War II Japanese Nambu type 14 pistol, except it's made from unfinished zinc castings. The grips are pressed cardboard. The barrel is unrifled pipe. There are file marks all over the gun, inside and out.

Only 10 rounds of 8mm ammunition were supplied. Based on previous experience with a genuine Nambu, I set up a target two feet down range. I managed to cram four rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. I taped the magazine in place, bolted the pistol into a machine rest, got behind a barricade, and pulled the trigger with 20 feet of 550 cord. I was unable to measure the trigger pull because my fish scale tops out at 32 pounds. On the third try, the pistol fired. From outline of the holes, I think the barrel, frame, magazine, trigger and recoil spring blew through the target. The remaining parts scattered over the landscape.

I sent the machine rest back to the factory to see if they can fix it, and we need to replace the shooting bench for the nice people who own the range. I'll be off for the rest of the day. My ears are still ringing. I need a drink.


Article Produced By The Journalist:

The CQB MK-V Tactical Destroyer is arguably the deadliest pistol in the world. Based on a combat proven military design, but constructed almost entirely of space age alloy, it features a remarkable barrel design engineered to produce a cone of fire, a feature much valued by Special Forces world wide. The Destroyer shows clear evidence of extensive hand fitting. The weapon disassembles rapidly without tools. At a reasonable combat distance, I put five holes in the target faster than I would have thought possible. This is the pistol to have if you want to end a gunfight at all costs. The gun is a keeper, and I find myself unable to send it back.
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[Trons]

OMG, Pineapple. I LOL'd. that was great.