That would be the one that you read and not load. OK Gun Magazine Editors, it is time you realize that we are in the 21st Century and a new batch of people with different interests have joined the enjoyment provided by guns. Do notice I am using the plural because for some reason or another, Gun Mag Editors & Writers can only write about the 1911.
Yes, John Moses Brown was a genius and yes, the 1911 is a wonderful firearm, but for the love of Vulcan and his anvil, it is enough. I am subscribed to very few gun magazines because basically they lack substance other than the tired old 1911 articles rehashed over and over. One of the mags which I am subscribed because of one particular writer, will cease to be received in this household because of the last issue. Not only the cover depicts a 1911 engraved and gold plated like it was found in the possession of a Drug Cartel Lord in a whorehouse in Tijuana, the inside of the just under 110 page issue had at least 55 photos of 1911s!
The only reason gun magazines have not collapsed is because gun owners are faithful and supportive. But it is time Editors get their heads out of the typewriters and realize that there are at least 2 generations that were raised on polymers and are foreign to the concept of buying a $2,000 gun and then spend an equal amount on aftermarket parts and gunsmithing.
We need more on how to shoot the gun and how to enjoy life in the gun culture. After all, it is not the arrow but the indian, right?
That is why I like IDPA 🙂
Well, rumor has it that CDP was created so 1911 shooters wouldn’t have to compete against polymer guns and die of embarrassment.
CDP is also known as the “Tap, Rack, F***!” Division.
Why else would it be limited to .45ACP only and a division capacity of 8+1.
Browning. Not Brown.
When was the last time you heard a disparaging remark about a gun they reviewed? Or, do they only write about the good ones? I smell BS at the turn of each page.
I used my Glock 36 🙂
That reply was for JD 🙂
G36 🙂
What particularly sparked this rant? Link please.
As I approach my 50th yr on earth, I think I understand both sides of the coin. The market will decide where gun journalism will fall in the end. I promise.
Do I buy printed paper mags eschewing their sponsored reviews and outlooks? No. But I am interested in what opinions (ha ha) are out there.
What’s a gun magazine?
It’s a thing that holds cartriges and feeds them into the action. It can be integral to the gun (ala the Mauser 98 or Winchester 94) or detachable (Glock or AR 15).
Well, you did ask!
M1911A1 – One pistol to rule them all! 🙂
[…] A rant about gun magazines, and not the kind you stick in guns. Gun magazines are gear oriented. It’s true. Sure, the frequent piece on drills, training, or how to is shown. But mostly, it’s the gear. I’ve had several ideas for articles for the mag I’ve been known to write for but unless you can sneak some gear in, it’s not a real big draw. […]
I was 11 when the Gloak hit the market, but I had already been shooting great granddad’s 1927 1911A1 and 1905 Colt 38 revolver for six years. Dad bought a G17 in 1986; I have significant experience with it. I respect the ease of care that a polymer gun offers and admire Glock’s reliability; I just cannot shoot the damned thing well. My 1911 is familiar enough that in the dark, in the middle of the night and under stress, it is like grabbing my dick to piss; I know where the controls are and where it is pointed! That’s why I shoot a 1911.
But I bet you don’t grab your 1911 and go Billy Baroo on it.
http://youtu.be/hJPg1Fivmqg?t=25s
The gun press just promotes the manufacturers’ products with their cream-puff reviews. There’s little substance to be found. If anybody wants to read material that is actually informative then try the Gun Digest and Shooter’s Bible annuals from the 1960’s to the early 1980’s. For instance, I have a Gun Digest from the early ’70’s with a very short article – just over a page long or so – by Ken Waters on external ballistics. He explains the physics with math formulas you can use and he presents a lot of substantive info. You won’t find an article like that written in today’s mags. They are just light-enternmainment, info-mercial catalogs. It’s really too bad there isn’t one serious firearm publication today. If there is, I don’t know of one.
Rumor is that the CDP was designed around specific brands of 1911 as well. No other reason to explain things like rules against full-length dust covers.
I may have bought a G21SF RTF in large part to run it in CDP and piss off the purists.
Bob Vogel shooting a Glock 21SF won 2010 IDPA Nationals in CDP. New winds are a coming.
Are there any good gun mags out there, “fair and balanced” as it were?
Yes…. And if you can’t figure it out in this blog….LOL
I see this as a marketing technique. Thinking about it, polymer framed guns have a good hold and a steady sales rate. With that in mind, I see now Colt is making attempts to “market” the 1911 again. I for one feel gun writers focus on who pays the bills, hence Colt takes out add space for the “new &improved 1911” so articles are written. Look Sig is even in the 199 market place. Manufactures need to keep new gadgetry on the shelves so we keep spending. I let all my magazine subscriptions expire, and I still receive 2 each month ( I have no idea WHY?)
Ideally, a gun review should be scientific, rigiorous, and honest.
I’d love to see a magazine test a pistol first with a 200 round break in (not really needed, but just to shut up the whiners), cleaning/lube, and then a 2000 round challenge (no cleaning or lube). Half would be on pure accuracy at different ranges, while half would be timed drills/ IDPA matches. And the shooter should be the firearms equilivant of The Stig- someone who is already fast and accurate. And, best of all, they should test more than one example of that gun- 4 examples exactly the same.
But, this is tough, expensive, and time consuming. Thank God for folks like Todd G and Hilton Yam who do pretty much this.
…But it is time Editors get their heads out of the typewriters…
Great rant, fun read.
But I seem to recall the 1911 had an anniversary lately…? Can’t say precisely when that happened but you know, it just might have occasioned the arrival on the market of a smallish clutch of new 1911s, if that’s not being oxymoronic (or even moronic, pure and simple). If that happened, I’d expect the gun press to feel duty bound to cover them.
Just out of curiosity I too would appreciate some specifics on the horrible offending publication — who knows, I might even wish to buy a copy.
But — typewriters!? Good grief, sir. Editors at just about every publication on the planet stopped using typewriters sometime during the first Reagan Administration.
Some apparently still think like they need Whiteout.
I agree that the 100th anniversary of the 1911 put some more models in the market, but let’s face it: that was last year, there are many other semis in the market and this was not one single issue but has continued to be the same mantra since….the first Reagan administration? 🙂
…you mean those plastic guns actually come in different makes…? And models..?
And here I was thinking these were all one gun, photographed from different angles!
Nice rant. Some of the comments that follow are not congruent with reality. 😀
I took a lot of grief for pointing out the 1911’s many flaws:
http://www.yankeegunnuts.com/2010/12/20/the-1911-sucks/#comment-344
It’s nice to see I am not the only person who doesn’t blindly worship the design.
I remember well that post. You still have a bounty on your head in Utah.