HOLYROLLER

Every time I read a review of a pistol in a gun mag, its a good one. The pistol performs well and in general, the writer recommends the gun.

Are these guys just incredibly fortunate or are they bound in some way spin it in a positive way? I can see how a bad review could be bad for the industry overall but I would rather have an honest opinion. I even saw a review of a Hi-point and the guy said it was a good deal for the $$$!!! Am I just being synical?

P95Carry

No IMO not cynical ....... I and some others too I think are of the opinion that most reviews are ''loaded'' ---------- gun is supplied for free and maybe even given away - but anyways, one way and another I reckon it's ''woe betide you if you slam this gun"

That of course could well be the cynic in me - old age ya know!

The guy I trust most who adds stuff in Concealed Carry Magazine - is George Hill - and I do not think he would say what he did not feel about any platform.

Handguns, Guns'n'Ammo - not so sure.

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Chris - P95
NRA Certified Instructor & NRA Life Member.

"To own a gun and assume that you are armed
is like owning a piano and assuming that you are a musician!."

If a BG dies as the result of pointing a gun at me, then he has merely succumbed to an occupational hazard of being a thug

ccw9mm

The latter. Bound? Sure. If your product gets lauded in one periodical but panned in another, particularly if you note the trend of falling sales via people who subscribe to the "panned" periodical, at some point you're going to adjust your advertising to support where it's doing the most good, and yank it from where it's not. That does indeed put pressure on the editors and managing staff to "get it right," even if that means spinning the content or outright glossing over failings of products.

After a long history of doing that sort of thing, that's the beauty of the internet. It can help fill in those gaps. If you read trade rag A, B and C, plus a dozen other contributing comments/reviews from unaffiliated people from around the world, you can often get a much clearer representation of the true nature of the product. Brual reviews and accolades can be seen in various product-related forums, and the posters most always have only their personal axe to grind and almost always don't have their paychecks punched by the companies whose products they're discussing.

In short: get multiple inputs from multiple sources, then note the trends.

Data point: My reviews on the DoubleTap JHP 9mm rounds versus the Federal Hydrashok Tactical JHP rounds. While I'm no great shakes as a writer, if you get a dozen or more detailed comparos written by all sorts of folks with the same sort of comments about those two rounds, and you read supporting articles in a few trade rags with much the same message, you can be more assured that the message you've been hearing is a good one.

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QKShooter

The only magazine that ever had truly honest gun reviews was called Handgun Tests & it has not been in print for a long time.


So as not to appear too obviously prostituted the gun writers usually are willing to find one very minor thing wrong with any given firearm per magazine article.

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azchevy

Mot to mention if I am Manufacturer A and I see that last month you totally slammed Manufacturer B, I am not going to take that chance so no freebie for you. This happens with car mags, bike mags, etc etc.

Advertising also increases bias.

That is why I don't subscribe to anything. the internet and real life experiences of owners is much more valuable info.

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QKShooter

There is also No Way that any gun maker is sending any gun writer any firearm right off the line without test firing first no matter what they tell you or the gun writer.
They may even go so far as to test fire it and then completely refinish it but, they will never send an unchecked untested firearm to a writer.
Just my personal opinion on that. I have no way to prove it except for the fact that my brain tells me that any gun manufacturer would never take that chance of sending out a dog firearm for an evaluation in any national gun magazine.

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Captain Crunch

The guy that writes the gun reviews for Concealed Carry Magazine (don't know if I should mention his name) is pretty fair and objective. If he doesn't like a gun, he'll say so, and why.

He tends to overload his articles at times with clever witticisms, but overall, he calls a spade a spade.

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Terry

dr_cmg

Chris, I agree with you about George Hill. I have read all the reviews he has on his website and in Concealed Carry Magazine and he tells it like it is. No firearm is perfect and George tells what is good and bad about each. If it doesn't work for him he lets you know.

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Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe. Albert Einstein

SIXTO

I dont waste my time with gun magazines... it all a bunch of garbage aimed to sell you more garbage you dont need. IMO, there is more and better info here than in any gun magazine.
Think of it this way; a radio host isnt going to talk bad about the products advertised on the commercial breaks is he? The authors/editors of the gun mags know who pays the bills and keeps them working

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QKShooter

I like the good gun photos but I take all the evaluations with a grain of doubt.
That being said I'd rather flip through any gun magazine than NEEDLEPOINT Today.

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