There has been much discussion lately on the subject of gunwriters. They, like butchers, bakers, and those who make candlesticks, run the spectrum from excellent to awful. There are many good ones in the industry, and a few who are lazy and don't care, just like in any business. Several good writers work for magazines that most of us never see, such as the precision and benchrest rifle publications. Mic McPherson is one such writer that goes into great detail on any subject. Many writers work for large publications, and write about that which their employers instruct them, which is understandable, just as most of us here work for someone. In my contracting business, I usually have a different boss everyday. Their bosses want to sell magazines, which in turn sells advertising. Many of these magazines are just fluff for the advertisers. Others are good publications. Some have a "review" on new guns that are not yet being built. A couple of the better magazines wait for an actual gun to shoot before publishing a review. Notice that you will almost always read a review on a new gun in Shooting Times and Guns & Ammo before you see a John Taffin article on the same gun in Guns or AH. Mr. Taffin, and the magazines for which he writes, likes to shoot a gun before doing a review. Writing reviews from press releases goes on a lot in the gun magazine business.
As an example, a couple of years ago, I tested out a new bullet that showed promise of a good concept. I was excited about it. I had the loads lab tested, and my results were very different than the results of two other writers, one of whom I greatly respected. I could not understand why they worked so well for the other two guys, but not at all for me. The bullet maker finally admitted to me that the other two gentlemen never tested the bullet, but wrote their "reviews" from a press release. No, I will not mention names. That is their business. They have to live with it, not me. Anyway, this goes on a lot. Many of the reviews that you read of weapons are written from press releases. I get the same press releases often, along with pictures and all of the information that I need to write an article, without actually having the gun in hand. It always goes in the trash. That is why I do not use any pictures except the ones that we take ourselves. If the gun ain't here, I ain't writing the review. I like shooting. I don't like typing. I could have written an article three years ago on the Ruger Gold Label shotgun, and did briefly fire the weapon, but it was not a production gun. I am still waiting for the gun to arrive.
I hear from people in the gun industry, particularly the smaller guys who are building a unique weapon or importing a product, that some of the major magazines will not do a review on their product without a considerable expenditure for advertising, but they will guarantee a good review if they take out the ad. This is a great disservice to the reader, who may be raising a family and have very limited funds to spend on a new gun. He deserves to read the truth, not some fluff piece. As a side note, the advertisers on
Gunblast, know up front the their ads will not influence our articles, and that if they stop advertising with us, we will still gladly review their products. We went for three years taking no ads, at my insistence, to first gain the respect of our readers. We have turned down advertising several times, but I am getting sidtracked. Back to the writers.
In addition to those who are popular these days, there are others whose work is still a great resource for information. The articles of Mssrs. Kelly, Murbach, Capstick, Aagard, Skelton, Jordan, Waters, Cumpston, Keith, Taffin, Taylor, O'Meara, Swiggett, Carmichael, Milek, and many others can be found by doing a little digging, and are just as useful today as in years past.
Also, the internet offers plenty of good reading from several good writers. There is a wealth of information on
Leverguns.com, and in the old Sixgunner
archives. Jim Taylor also has a good CD of articles for those who are interested. Give him a holler. On
Gunblast, we have a few good contributors such as Paco Kelly, Jim Taylor, Mike Cumpston, Bill Hamm, and soon to be Terry Murbach. Bob Campbell has also just submitted a couple of articles, one of which we published. All of these gentlemen offer their expertise for no charge, just to help out fellow shooters. All they get is a warm feeling and a "Thank You". Between their excellent pieces, I try to fill in with articles which may or may not pique your interest, depending upon what you happen to be into. I am not a professional. That would imply that I make money from this. My literary abilities are somewhat lacking, but we do tell the truth. While my stories may not be very entertaining, you can believe that the results published in the articles are the facts as we experienced them. The same goes for the other writers on
Gunblast. They receive nothing for their efforts, and have nothing to gain by lying to our readers. If I did not have confidence in their work, you would not read their stuff on
Gunblast.
So, try to keep in mind that most gunwriters are working for a boss who pays their bills for them. There is nothing wrong with this, and I am grateful that they are out there writing. I like to read. Support the good ones, and don't let the lazy worthless ones get under your skin.
Jeff Quinn
gunblast.com
