In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Gun test Magazine -opinions
boxermachine
Member Posts: 99 ✭✭
I subbed to the 15 years ago -around the time of the polytech vs sa m1a controversy. What are they like now? Are they accurate- is it worth $24 a year?
Comments
I find that the steady stream of SD poly handgun reviews is a waste of time as I'm not buying a new 9mm/40 cal pistol very often. Once in a while they feature at older rifles or collectibles, and I enjoy that and the rifle and shotgun reviews.
But on the balance I will stay with it.... and I know that once they go from the route: Couch, bathroom, bedside re-read stack to the Big Box in the shed, I can use them there as a lookup reference, and later make most of the money back someday on eBay.
I am a fairly recent subscriber, 18 months or so. While I am sort of luke-warm about Gun tests, I'll keep it up for a while. Here's what I have seen.
--I find many of their tests and comparisons flawed in many ways and, paradoxically, the information provided via their inspection, review and testing can be quite helpful. Simply stated, many of their reviews and printed ratings, while providing very useful information, are at the same time, subjective conclusions which ignore certain obvious and well-known factors.
--they sometimes compare apples and oranges, which makes no sense comparison-wise, but does provide useful information about each of the guns tested.
--As earlier stated, they seem to want to repeatedly test the same classes of guns pretty often.
--Many of their tests do not include guns which are conspicuously absent from the trials, but will include lesser-known guns or guns of known lesser quality.
EDIT:
glabray said: quote:All other gun magazines write only thinly disguised commercials as "evaluations".
Gun tests buys guns off the shelf, not special tuned examples supplied by the manufacturer. They pretty much call it like it is and don't worship at the altar of the manufacturer's advertising budget. He is absolutely right. My point above was that while I would not always take Gun tests' advice about which gun is best, they DO provide, good useful information. You just sometimes have to screen the flypoop out of the pepper to get to it.
Don't consider my post a "negative review" of Gun tests. I was just trying to explain my likes and don't likes about it.
Gun tests buys guns off the shelf, not special tuned examples supplied by the manufacturer. They pretty much call it like it is and don't worship at the altar of the manufacturer's advertising budget.
Not going to bother.
Come on, what is there REALLY new in firearms?
Do I need "Gun test" to tell me that Smith revolvers are pretty good?
There is plenty of tried and true out there, and the way I look at it, if the gun hasn't been on the market for 4-5 years, I don't need to be the guinea pig testing it! If it has, and its good, I'll know it without having to read about in in "Gun test"!
Besides, the paper is too rough to wipe with.
Hows that for a definate position, which is kinda what you get with most of the mags.
I enjoy them but take their writings with a grain of salt. I try to remember that most of the guns written about are literally new from the manuf. and really have no time in the field or under any kind of stress when we read about them. So how objective can they really be. They do specific tests, basically shoot them to test accuracy and to make sure they don't jam or fail to feed or eject and then something about the stocks and looks.
I own a range with a rental program and have had it for 20 years now. If you want to know how a gun performs under duress give me a call and I can tell you as I have most of the quality handguns, rifles and even a few of the "tac" shotguns in the rent counter.
This may not sound like much but you would have to understand how many times these guns are rented in a day/week/month and year.
I think some of you would be very surprised at some of the most read about guns and how they perform for your money. Lets say you might even be mildly disappointed in some of them (with the most prominant names).
And who says the Smiths are good revolvers? Old ones yes, new ones not so yes. NOWHTAMEAN!!
But the mags are still fun to read and I provide some of them to my customers who like to come down and shoot and then have a cup of coffee and shoot the bull. They see the stories and buy guns as a result in many cases. But I do when asked, tell them or give them the benefit of the tests we run on any gun in the counter before they spend their money anyplace.
UncleFudd
I recently got another offer to subscribe but will not be doing so. Just not worth it, most of the time they are telling me something I already knew.