I don't dislike Craig Boddington, but after reading Safari Rifles and the American companion book, I feel I have read 85% of whatever he is going to say in his next article.

In his defense, I can't imagine how tough it would be to originally and memorably describe an elk hunt for the 10000th time.



David M. Fortier is the top of my cheesy gunwriter list. My, do I dislike his style and goofy self portraits.

oops

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
I just read the lastest issue of Guns and Ammo. Sam Fadala is the worst. His article on efficiency of various cartridges made no sense and was a waste of ink and a pixals. Plus he was showing off a soft boss cape buff he shot with a .30-06.

Yuck!

I haven't read the article as I do not read Guns & Ammo. I dropped that rag years ago. However, I have met and talked with Mr. Fadala and to be honest, he's a pretty nice guy. He was set up at a gun show here in Tucson and we got a conversation going. I got the impression that much of the time, the editors dictate what goes into an article. There are gunwrite that I would be proud to come to my house, have coffee and talk guns and there are some I wouldn't give the time of day, but Sam is one that is more than welcome to share a cup or two.
I have met some of the gun writers, mostlt at NRA conventions, and I will state without reservation that there are some real gentlemen, whether you like their writing or not, and some who are pompous assholes who think their shit smells like Chanel#5. I don't bother reading their stuff.
Paul B.

I think the problem with writers today is that they no longer objectively report or write in a non-biased manner. Most -- not sure I could name one that is not -- have become shills for suppliers, manufacturers, outfitters, etc. The writing has less to do with this rifle has these good features and these features that need to be fixed or modified, but more about why the rifle is wonderful and how much they enjoyed using the rifle on the hunt paid for by the rifle manufacturer. Any hint of serious journalism has been lost. As a result you can absolutely not depend on any article to give you the true skinny on a product since the credibility of the author is suspect. Sad really that no one is prepared to call it as they see it any more. It would be interesting to take any one of the major publications and go through it from cover-to-cover and see just how many negative statements about any piece of equipment, hunt operator, etc. there are in the publication. I would venture to say not very damn many.

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
Can you imagine picking up something by W.D.M. Bell and reading, "I put my .275 Rigby mauser up to my shoulder and faced the behemoth. Looking through my Nickel Marburg scope in 26mm EAW quick detachable rings I could see my reflection in his eyes. He meant business. I slowly touched off the Canjar trigger, all of 3.4575 pounds pull, and the 25.5" target crowned barrel barked, spewing the 195 grain Kynoch solid at 2376 feet per second, and shoving the 1" Silvers into the meat of my shoulder. I was confident the long Kynoch would fly true because I'd had Rigby of London, rigbyguns@saintjamesstreet.co.uk, cut my medium round tapered barrel with a 1 in 7" twist. The solid slammed home, the elephant crossed his eyes as if to inspect the tiny hole that now slowly trickled crimson fluid. He wavered, his knees buckled, then he collapsed like an empty can of Holland & Holland Nevarust under the 17" wheel of my 1897 Stanley Steamer. I breathed a sigh of relief, noted the time displayed on my Longines Africa Field watch, and took a step toward him in the Red Wing boots I was testing for Boots Over Africa of Ohio."
~

Now, that is writing!

Thank-you, sir!

friar

I think the American gun magazines may shoot themselves in the proverbial foot if they think people want to read "infomercials" on a monthly basis. When it comes to African Hunting for instance (I realize that this isn't the right place to bring it up) most readers would prefer "Hatari Times" or "African Outfitter" published in Europe and South Africa.

I like Ross Seyfried, I liked Finn Aagard, I like Jim Carmichael, I like Dave Petzal and some others. I think Boddington says less than he knows and, in the search to avoid controversy, doesn't let his deep seated opinions come out in his articles. Which is too bad. He's probably been more places and hunted in more diverse situations than anyone else writing today.

Sheriff Jim Wilson.

quote:

Originally posted by Wink:
I think the American gun magazines may shoot themselves in the proverbial foot if they think people want to read "infomercials" on a monthly basis. When it comes to African Hunting for instance (I realize that this isn't the right place to bring it up) most readers would prefer "Hatari Times" or "African Outfitter" published in Europe and South Africa.

I like Ross Seyfried, I liked Finn Aagard, I like Jim Carmichael, I like Dave Petzal and some others. I think Boddington says less than he knows and, in the search to avoid controversy, doesn't let his deep seated opinions come out in his articles. Which is too bad. He's probably been more places and hunted in more diverse situations than anyone else writing today.

I absolutly agree with You, Craig has a lot of experience, but He maybe has to be a more brave man at the time of writting, no so light & commercial.cheers.Guille

To be honest, I really prefer to read the hunting reports on this website and similar to the stuff I have to pay for. Admittedly, the pictures aren't always clear, the people tend to be (justifiably) proud of their accomplishments and are happy to just be telling their "friends and like minded strangers" about what they enjoyed.

I will admit to some jealousy towards some of the big name writers and what is given to them in reality for advertising purposes. I would like to see the average price drop say 5% and not give these people all these freebies (if that is the actual value percent- but whatever).

I agree that anyone who graduated college should be able to turn out a "gun article" as good as most of what I see in the gun rags. Whether they would have anything wort saying is debatable.

The mags themselves are a major source of the problem. Why would anyone expect a "family" magazine that accepts de facto soft core porn ads not expect them to "editorially purify" articles for their major advertisers. I have no time for Ruger after what Bill Ruger did at the time of the assault weapon ban, yet if you look in these "tacticool" mags, ruger gets good press despite this belief that you and I should be able to own what they are advertising. This tends to make me be suspicious of ANY writing that is being paid for at this point.

Good topic/rant guys!

If you think most magazine writers suck(and they do)
try watching the hunting shows on satellite tv.Makes me want to vomit .Unashamed commercial for a half hour.Cant bring myself to watch them anymore.Damn shame.

I've met both Boddington and Weishuhn briefly and they both seem to be genuinely nice guys. And I whole heartedly support the free market system. But if you don't moderate how many of the hunting shows you watch, the "product placement" becomes almost comical. The cameraman could be at a better angle, but he has to get the Gander Mountain logo off the shirt of the guy that's in front of him to fit in the frame. Have you been in a Gander Mountain store? They need to give out fewer free shirts and hire more help.

Cazador Humilde wrote:

quote:

Have you been in a Gander Mountain store? They need to give out fewer free shirts and hire more help.

I couldn't agree more. And the same can be said for Cabelas.

I can't believe noone has mentioned Mike Venturino.

Just a comment from someone that grew up reading Keith/O'Connor/Page/Carmiachel.

The last modern gun writer that openly expressed "HIS" own opinion on an issue was drawn/quartered/fired and found salvation thur the Nuge.

I ain't no fan of Jim Zumbos, but our society has really developed a strong dislike for people that have or express an opinion that is not along party lines. Just MY Opinion.

Oregon45

Someone did mention Mike Venturino.

The problem i see with most rags today is the writers will feature a rifle, test a couple of bullets and powders, say its a good shooter and then leave it at that. They dont even take the time to hunt with it and show the results. You get no sense that they actually took the time to really wring out a product, whether, firearm or anything else.

Al Miller always cracks me up as its always windy so he shoots groups @ 50yds???? Another one is Clair Reese's he writing style is horrible and he just doesnt seem to even try.Jon Sundra, if i see him write one more time that he's a fan of the 7mm cartridges im gonna puke.

I do like John Barsness,John Haviland,Ross Seyfried, Dave Scoville and Mike Venturino. To me Rifle and Handloader are the only mags worth reading today.

I like Brian Pearce; nobody has more load data in their articles than he does.

After Skeeter Skelton passed away, I stopped reading the gun rags. He was an enjoyable read
without the gross commercialization. Ah,
the old days........sigh.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
our society has really developed a strong dislike for people that have or express an opinion that is not along party lines.

Yeppers, we are free to say & think anything we want as long as it doesn't conflict with the previaling sentiment!!

quote:

Originally posted by adrook:

quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:
Too much about carry guns and black rifles for police and the military.

+1

+3 Count me in as the third one.

Just look at what the Shooting times has turned into. High tech pistols and $2500 scopes, long range prairie dog hunting with AR's. The bread and butter of this sport is the working man and his sons, daughters and the lucky ones with their wives. I concur. There was a time when Craig Boddington and Jon Sundra wrote bread and butter articles. They've become accustomed to the booty paid by commercial promotions of their products and the publishers are getting in on the big dollars by pushing their crap. Time to shut up!

venturino was implied in my listing of jim wilson.

I have learned a great deal about foreign hunting from Bodington. I agree that all writers are on the take from whichever Manufacturer has offered them the best deal but
that is the way they make their living. I still enjoy a lot of Craig's writings. I just don't run out and buy everything he uses oin his hunts. As for Sundra being a 7MM man, I feel he is entitled to shoot whatever he wants. I have enjoyed several of his 7MM stories, especially about the 7MM WSM he built on the full length 300 WSM case.

Hawkeye47

The absolute worst writer out there is this guy by the name of Ernest Stone that has an article in the Double gun journal index and reader. Page 116 about a Nowotny BR Express rifle.

Ok, I'm going to throw a marginally different take here. My two big hobbies are Guns and Motorcycles (Specifically, long distance Sport-touring and track days...).

In any case, I haven't found a single American Magazine worth reading at all. MotorTrend, Car & Driver, ANY US Motorcycle Publication (oh Dearest, I wouldn't stoop to wipe my ass with any of them!) - they are all miserable wastes of marketing collateral. The last time I did a count, it was something like 30 pages of "content" and 57 pages of "advertising".

So I buy Euro motorcycle magazines (BIKE & TWO). $7 a mag! But damn, the writers of those mags are fresh, the articles are remarkably honest (compared to US Mags) an despite being heavily Advertising laden, they still pan bikes and gear that just don't work.

We can blast away at US gun writers, but NOTHING WILL CHANGE UNLESS WE CHANGE IT. I've spoken with my wallet - I buy Handloader magazine and that's it.

So here's my question: What gun magazines DON'T suck? Seriously. IF G&A is bad...and Field & Stream, & and other magazine from Peterson's Publishing, then what SHOULD we buy?

Someone suggest some good publications. I wonder if the Euro's have a hunting mag worth reading? I'm pretty sure the Aussie's have a decent sense of honesty and humor.

So, what's worth a read?

quote:

Originally posted by jb:
If you think most magazine writers suck(and they do)
try watching the hunting shows on satellite tv.Makes me want to vomit .Unashamed commercial for a half hour.Cant bring myself to watch them anymore.Damn shame.

JB,,
I agree with you fully. I watch a hunting show about 3 times a year and am pretty much disgusted with what I see. The archery shows are all virtually the same except the cute blond that is now being paraded out there. The rock singer (Nugent) is pathetic with his views and blatant commercialism. I expect to see Dog The Bounty Hunter and his cow udder wife next.
As far as the good ol' boys on the turkey shoots or deer shoots or high fenced elk hunts - keep them...

I know a lot of you are from the south so I don't want to offend anyone but notice in how many movies the southern twang is stepped up? I like a lot of country singers but some of them do the same thing with the twang. I won't listen to them. I don't like to strain to understand what they are saying.
Look at Bill Jorden, he really pours it on and some others actually stumble over words to show they are rednecks. I know they can speak the King's english but they are pandoring. The same as those African Americans (Whatever THAT means!) that speak perfect english while others can't be understood no matter what part of the country they are from. They have to fit in.
Southerners are wonderful people and I live among them. I can understand all of them, they speak normal.
I hate watching turkey hunting and turn it right off. Watching grass grow is more exciting. My wife watches football, bowling and baseball. I told her to tape one game and watch it over and over, same thing!
Then Bill's Realtree---JUNK. I have always said it was too dark, too busy and I only use Skyline or ASAT. A white "T" shirt is better then Realtree. Now after all of these years he has started to make a pattern that might work. I used to go in the sporting goods store and look in wonderment at all of the camo. I thought I entered a cave with a flashlight, a small one at that. Boy do they push that junk to make a buck. Seems to me that when you stand taller then a deer and it looks up at you, you should blend with the sky, not the ground or look like a tree that suddenly grew in the deers living room. The best camo on earth is blaze orange.
All of the adds and products pushed are made by advertizing jerks that don't have any idea what animals see or hear.
If you really want to see something, look in one of the inch thick womans magazines! 10 pages of interest to a woman but hundreds of adds and they actually CHARGE for the magazine!
Hunting and fishing has turned too commercial with no plot except to make more money. Go back 30 years and read an old gun test, it is the same as what they write today, just repeat over and over except the test was more extensive back then and you learned more.
When I got my .475 I needed load info. I got hold of Handloader and asked why they never did anything on it. I got a real nasty reply telling me they did. I searched my whole pile and found it! One gun and one factory load. --- How revealing!
I am with all of you, we should stop buying the junk.

Years back, I read an article on some rifle, where the "egg-spurt" said how accurate it was from the box, nice trigger pull, etc, ad nauseum. The article was sufficiently convincing and I did like the looks of the gun, so I bought one, set it up with the same scope and mounts.
I got it al together and headed for the range with a supply of factory ammo and handloads. That gun was so inaccurate you could not have hit a bull elephant in the ass at ten feet with that POS. Thinking it might be the scope, I switched scopes. No such luck, the problem was the rifle.
I wrote the gun rag, (GUNS & AMMO FWIW)and let them know what I thought of the POS article that was for all I knew a bunch of BS.
I got back a snotty letterf rom the editor stating that said "Egg-spurt" had years fo shooting experience and knew many tricks on wringing the finest accuracy from a rifle. I wrote back that I was shooting rifle when that PUNK you have on staff was still sucking milk from his mommy's titties and have a pretty darn good idea on how to get the most accuracy from a rifle. I figure I must have been at least 20 years older than him at the time of the article and I'd been shooting rifles since I was 6 years old. (.22s, graduated to the 30-30 at age 11.)
After that, I not longer took any stock in what most gun writers said about how good a gun was.
There are a few who I will pay attention to, but most are just BS artists getting paid to play with guns.
Paul B.

I liked Skeeter the best of all of them. Milek was a very quiet guy and down to earth. I like Brian Pearce's writing on big bore handguns. My favorite contemporary writer is John Taffin.

Boddington is a good read in measured doses. I still say he can't play poker though. I also bet I've got more time in a combat zone than the general is it?