Have you ever wondered how gun writers got their jobs, or how they keep them?
The other day I was paging through �Metallic Cartridge Reloading � 3rd edition� by M.L.McPherson, looking up the various 7mm handgun cartridges. There I came across some thing that made me laugh and angry at the same time.

First we have the 7mm Rem.BR, which is capable of moving a 150gr bullet at a max. velocity of 2193fps (this is the average of the top three listed maximum loads), the authors note on this cartridge were � ��in competent hands, it would be a good choice up to the size of Elk.�
Next up is the 7x30 Waters, a 150gr bullet at 2228fps (average of top three loads), of this he said � ��..the 7x30 is a good hunting choice for the smaller species of big game.�
And finally ladies and gentlemen we have the 7-08 Rem., wearing a 150gr bullet at 2409fps, again average maximum velocity. Now our esteemed author thought that this load ��..when loaded with the proper bullet and with careful shot placement, the 7mm-08 is capable as a handgun Elk cartridge at closer ranges�.

So what we have is a 150gr bullet, and when driven at 2400fps is an �CAPABLE� Elk load � but only with 3 provisions (bullet choice, placement and range). However when you reduce the velocity to 2230fps, it is now only suitable for �smaller species of big game�. Now here is the trick, reduce this same load by another 35fps, down to 2195fps and it now magically transforms itself, providing you can shoot straight, into a �GOOD CHOICE� Elk load � how�d they do that?
Amazing, I never knew that ���.did any of you guys know that??

Also did you know that the .44 special, when firing 250gr bullets at 1016fps is a ��.FORMIDABLE hunting round� ?
However the .45ACP shooting a 230gr bullet at 975fps ��..CANNOT be considered as a big game cartridge�. Now that�s another one I never knew about � maybe I should send this post to Ripley�s believe it or not.
Now I know there is a lot of you out there who SAY you have successfully killed large game with a .45 ACP, well you couldn�t have, if you did, better go put them back!!!

The problem is many young shooters and not so young beginners, think these guys must know what they are talking about or surely nobody would be printing it, I know this is true because I was one of them, I believed all their drivel until I knew enough to work things out for myself.
As time goes on you learn to work out which authors to believe and which to �bin�. For the new boys however��..?

Bush baby

Bush baby,

This sort of thing from various gun writers has been going on for many years.

Trouble is, now there are a lot more people who know a lot more than those writers.

One of things I used to laugh at was that some pistol catridge is great for big game hunting, while a similar rifle cartridge is only marginal?

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saeed@ emirates.net.ae

www.accuratereloading.com

A couple of months ago, Ross Seyfried in either Handloader or Rifle wrote a piece called "The Theory of Relativity". Very good piece on this exact same topic.

Bush Babay,

I have a copy of McPherson's book. I am not at all sure it was worth the money.

Undoubtedly the man has much experience, I'm judt not sure what it was with.

Patrick

Most of these guys write so they can get free stuff to use and free rifles to play with. They do not wish to be confused with facts. Even if the latest .300RamChester SuperDuperShortFatUltraPowerMagnum is a big piece of junk, most gunwriters will write a glowing review in order to keep the advertising dollars flowing.
There are a few good writers out there, they seem to be writing for the smaller specialty magazines that haven't sold out their principles for advertising dollars.
I stopped buying G&A, Shooting times and the other catalogs disguised as magazines a long time ago. I took the money I saved and bought more shooting gear.

The above comments are in reference to the current crop of gun magazine writers. Not to be confused with the Masters such as Elmer Keith and Jack O'Connor.

Later
ZM

[This message has been edited by Zeke (edited 09-16-2001).]

Makes you miss Elmer Kieth doesn't it.

Mike M....no one enjoyed reading Elmer anymore than I did but if you've read his book "Safari" did you ever wonder where he got all those beautiful double rifles and other custom rifles....on a writer's pay?

DB Bill,

I'd never accuse Elmer of being stupid! I would have been "rubbin" on those beautiful rifles too given the chance. But, for the most part, I think he called a spade a spade even though he may have "embelished" the actual facts a time or two.

To all __

Being old enough to have personally communicated with folks like Elmer Keith, and more recently with Jeff Cooper, Bob Forker, Taffin, Petty, et al, and having written an article or two myself for the "American Gunsmith", I feel obliged to say something here.

Those good folks are (for the most part) captive to the publication for which they write. For some it's a matter of survival. They are all good people, expert in their own right, no different than you or me.

If you find them in error, talk to them. Write them. E-mail them. Take them to task. I'm certain that you'l find them willing to accept productive criitcism. None of us are perfect.

Good shooting.

Robert

I can tell you first-hand where Elmer got at least one of his favorite rifles. I was there when he got it.

In fact, I GAVE IT TO HIM. For NOTHING except merely personal regard for the man. I was a decidedly UNwealthy university student, studying forestry on the G I Bill on a stipend of $110 a month and slim savings from Forest Service summer work.

Feel free to read into these facts any nefarious purpose or ulterior motive that envy and suspicion may suggest.

Elmer had a lot of personal friends, of whom I was glad to be one for about forty years or so, with whom he did a lot of buying and trading. Envy his knowledge, envy his skills, envy his honesty (he never embellished his facts � he never had to � he was that much better with guns than you and I will ever be) � envy his character. Forget envying Elmer any "special opportunities" � in all the years I knew him, I saw his well placed "friends" (all except Truman Fowler) EXPLOIT and USE him, not unload great favors and freebies onto him. Tru Fowler took him on a string of safaris and gave him some nice things, all out of personal friendship, not from the kind of motive that so many people assume. Fowler was heir to the Southern Comfort fortune � not directly responsible for the Southern Comfort business. How much benefit do you imagine Southern Comfort derived from Fowler's "freebies" to Elmer?

When Fowler was editing Elmer's manuscript for SAFARI, he suspected that Elmer was embellishing. He knew that Elmer had neither made notes nor kept a journal on any of their hunts � so how (except "poetic license") could Elmer write as he did in such fine, precise detail about their shared episodes? Fowler told me that when he checked his own accounts, which he'd recorded daily in his journals, Elmer's details jibed exactly with his written records. Elmer had noted and remembered fine details that Fowler had recorded and forgotten.

Forget the suspicion that Elmer lived high on freebies. Just wish you could be half the man and a quarter the shooter that Elmer was.

Ken;
Thank you for the above comments on Elmer Keith. I had the good fortune to meet him very briefly at an NRA convention. I would that I had the chance to get to know him personally. From his writing I have always believed he was one of those men whose character was unimpeachable. No one who would curry favor with others would take the stands he did and make the claims he did. He had the unique advantage of spending most of his life with a gun in his hand. All the range practice in the world won't make up for having to rely on your gun day in and day out. I have been asked recently by high school students who my hero is, they of course have never heard the name Elmer Keith. Mores the pity.

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If Elmer didn't say it, it probably ain't true.

Hello,
I just wish I could take a look at the original copy of Roy Weatherby's load notes, whatever he kept for records. Same for Jack O'Connor. As my experience with firearms grows, I read gun mags less and less. I do like "The Accurate Rifle" and I do subscribe to "Varmint Extreme", and of course the "American Hunter" comes to me because I belong to the NRA.

Today, I would agree that a lot of gunwriters are slaves to their circulation and advertising departments. You have to look no further than the endless glowing praise for the Rem 710 to prove this.

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Safety & Ethics,Accuracy, Velocity, Energy
Joe M

Hey Joe, I'm with you on the magazines. I'm down to the Accurate Rifle, Varmint Hunter and Small Calibe News..Tell me about Varmint Extreme..Where can I get it??? Cris

Where can I get info on "the accurate rifle"- never heard of it before and obviously haven'y seen it on the newstand at wal mart

The Accurate Rifle magazine is a parallel or sister publication of Precision Shooting. Dave Brennan edits both. I enthusiastically recommend both.

www.theaccuraterifle.com

www.precisionshooting.com

[This message has been edited by Ken Howell (edited 09-17-2001).]

Penrod72,
On-line go to www.precisionshooting.com
This is the website for both Precision Shooting and The Accurate Rifle. AR used to be Tactical Shooter or Rifle, I can't remember which. Anyway you can preview some articles and subscribe on-line.

Bill

I suspect gun scribes suffer the same maladies as most occupations...Some are good and others are not..

I know they have about run out of stuff to write and based on that I think most of them do a great job..'

I sincerely hope they don't get mad and all quite because of reader criticism...I still enjoy reading gun magazines on a cold winter night.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

Cris284,
I slightly screwed the pooch on the above post. I should have said Predator Extreme, comes mostly from lack of sleep.

Published by Vulcan Outdoors
33 Inverness Center Parkway
Birmingham, AL, 35242.

13.95/year for 6 issues.

By the by, how does one get started as a gun writer? How much do they really make? Just curious.

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Safety & Ethics,Accuracy, Velocity, Energy
Joe M

[This message has been edited by JoeM (edited 09-17-2001).]

Bush Baby, I'm not trying to sound insulting here, but you sound like an American... "It has to be Bigger & Faster to be capable.. bla, bla, and so on".
It just aint so...
I have seen whitetail deer killed with .22CB caps on more than one occasion, and not head shots either. I saw a #300 bear that was killed with a .32 auto.. Bullet placement is key. And what about the english gentlemen, whose name escapes me, that killed over 2,000 elephant with a 7x57 around the turn of the century? (I wouldn't try it, I think you need balls of plutonium to risk pissing off a critter that big)

We have forgotten how to hunt. It is the stealth to stalk close to your prey and the skill to place your bullet, arrow, knife, or spear exactly where you want it to go that makes any particular weapon good for a particular critter.

Now, as far as the garba'ge that the gunwriters put out on a monthly basis, well, I haven read it in years. It only takes a year or two and you realize, if you retain any of what you read, that your reading the same old slop regurgitated onto new paper, with a different picture on the cover.

I read and subscribe only to the American Rifleman to keep up with the political stuff, and occasionally pick up Precision Shooting, Handloader, or Rifle. Otherwise it's internet or technical manuals for me.

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Don't tread on me!
Pennsylvania Frank

Pa. Frank:

Perhaps I missed something, but I did not read Bush Baby's post as advocating more speed or bigger cartridges at all; only pointing out the inconsistencies of comparing cartridges of virtually identical ballistic performance and drawing very different (and inconsistent) conclusions about their game taking capacities.

Jordan

JoeM __

"Breaking into print" is not an easy thing. Like every other occupation, it obviously helps to have name recognition; Keith, Seyfried, et al. The same goes for "knowing someone". It also helps if you know your subject really well, and can put words together in an "entertaining" manner.

Some publications accept "freelance" articles. That information can be found somewhere on the first page or so where all the personnel data and addresses for that publication are listed.

Freelance articles are usually paid by the word, i.e., a 3500 word article might net $350.00; 10 cents a word. I suspect that most of our magazine writers are employees of the publication and are salaried.

FYI.

Robert

Jordan, After re-reading Bus Baby's post, you are correct, my apologies to all.
Speed reading through it or just up too late staring at this tube, I missed the point...

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Don't tread on me!
Pennsylvania Frank