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American Handgunner subscribers...print versions are no more.

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1.2K views 47 replies 33 participants last post by  Comlex  
#1 · (Edited)
Received my Nov/Dec issue yesterday....and it's the last one in actual print. AH is going totally digital. Can't say I'm surprised. Combat Handguns went digital some time ago. According to the AH editor, there will be weekly newsletters which I gather will be sent to subscribers. I'd just renewed and this was my second edition, so will have to go to their website to see how this all is going to work. Actually, a large portion of their content has always been available on their site, minus some of the usual entries and advertisements. If you're interested, they list the below for more information.

Americanhandgunner.com/newsletters
 
#6 ·
Not surprising and that's the logical way for magazines to go. When I started shooting handguns, I read every gun magazine published for about 8 years. Then, when I realized they had nothing left to say and were just publishing the same stuff over and over, I boxed them up and gave them all away, around 1995. There is very little useful information, once you learn what they have to say and realize all they are doing after that is advertising new models and new ammo. Sadly, there probably won't be any real print magazines left soon and, while I don't read them anymore, I think that's a bad thing.

The down side is that most people aren't going to pay for an online magazine, because they can't see why that's worth money when they have the whole internet. But the reason the magazines are/were better than "the internets" is because to get paid to write gun articles you had to have some level of expertise that was recognized by the publisher and what you wrote was reviewed by an editor before publishing. Then your article got feedback in the next issue, that was also read and selected for its value by an editor. This filtered out a lot of the nonsense that we see on Glock Talk and other web sites where amateurs share unfiltered gun "knowledge" and opinions, for better or worse.

In turn, the loss of the magazines will affect the quality of the next generations' basic gun knowledge and the whole gun world goes downhill.
 
#8 ·
I still have the gun at least :cool:

Hey! One of those old fashioned stupid guns! No polymer!?!
Where’s your red dot?
what! No light/laser? It’s got an iron sight thingie…🥱

How do you expect to defend yourself and loved ones?

And.45acp? Oh my gosh. So ancient.

I’ll relieve you of this burden for a $100 USD.
 
#15 ·
A former subscriber. I lost interest in AH and other glossy gun magazines. The quality of writing is poor. People who could write are almost gone. The articles are full of stale cliches and repetition. There is still Massad Ayoob, but now mostly clowns like Will Dabbs, MD. New gun reviews have become mere infomercials. Anyone who wants to get a real scoop looks it up on YouTube anyway.
The way AH has become, I won’t miss it on the magazine stand. In a locker room restroom, maybe.
 
#16 ·
A former subscriber. I lost interest in AH and other glossy gun magazines. The quality of writing is poor. People who could write are almost gone. The articles are full of stale cliches and repetition. There is still Massad Ayoob, but now mostly clowns like Will Dabbs, MD. New gun reviews have become mere infomercials. Anyone who wants to get a real scoop looks it up on YouTube anyway.
The way AH has become, I won’t miss it on the magazine stand. In a locker room restroom, maybe.
I agree with most of what you said. Over the past few years, AH went downhill. Instead of sitting down and reading each issue cover to cover, more often than not I found myself flipping the pages and tossing it in the recycling bin. The only decent reads were from Massad Ayoob and a couple of others.
 
#17 ·
About 25 years ago I used to spend a lot of downtime while friends or girlfriends were busy at work going to the Barnes and Noble on Stevens Creek or the Tower Records by the Oakridge Mall reading those. After awhile I got tried of reading .45 vs 9mm or someone dumping 4 grand into a 600 dollar gun.
 
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#19 ·
I am a "bathroom reader", and I am beginning to run out of things to read!

I still get American Hunter (NRA magazine). I enjoy reading about the hunting adventures.

I used to be a die hard Field & Stream reader. The last time I saw a F&S in a store it seemed like it was only about 7 pages thick.

Yea, I understand why magazines are stopping. But it is a little sad.
 
#20 ·
Gun magazines, as I remember:
-Full page ad for gun being tested this month
-Our prototype handgun shot 1/10 inch groups at 25 yards
-Several pages of ads
-We are going to wash over any problems with the prototype
-Full page ad for a gun we ain't saying nothing bad about, wink wink
-The latest & greatest this month is...
-Lets have an ad for that ^ gun.
-Long term tests? You wish.
-Don't miss this months condescending editorial.
-Sneak peek at next months gun you can't buy yet.
 
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#25 ·
I used to get some of those magazines but most if not all don't keep my interest. I get one still even though it ran out a while ago. I thumb through it and throw it out. Hardly any guns I want to know about,etc. When I was an NRA member half of their magazines were adds. I ended them long ago
 
#26 ·
Wonder how long before Guns and Ammo and Shooting Times follows suit? Probably not long.

I still subscribe to a local newspaper. I need something to build fires with or be ready with a backup option in case there is another run on toilet paper. 🤣
 
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#32 ·
I don't get a daily newspaper anymore (internet for news when I have breakfast), but we do get the weekly, free, local newspaper once a week.... that covers me for fires and emergency poop paper.
 
#29 ·
I honestly don't even care.

I still get several magazines and that is one of them. I can't remember when I actually renewed it the last time, but it's been years and they are still sending it. They only magazine I bother looking at is Handloader. The rest go straight in the trash.
 
#30 ·
I used to subscribe to a few magazines, but they kept getting thinner and I could get more useful information online from other sources. I learn a lot more from forums like this one than I usually do from any magazine.
American Handgunner always had pretty pictures though.
 
#34 ·
I used to enjoy reading them and purchased them at a local grocery store.
Then I moved and got a subscription as I enjoyed articles by Mas Ayoob, Conner and Mike Venturoni among others.
However, they obviously sold my email address and the Spam from industry sources followed.
Not surprised by this move to digital.