Good magazine to subscribe to?

[BigBoreBLR]

Is there any good magazines to subscribe to.

Sometime that has a blend of how-to for gun and accessory builders, some shooting info, plenty of long rifle pics, a bit of history, and info on events would be nice.

I've stumbled on one here n there in stores, but maybe it was an odd month for the magazine.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well you've listed a large parameter of desires...

I subscribe to Muzzleloader magazine, as I like history, and profiles of gunbuilders, with some gun pics, as well as new gadgets, ML hunting, and the occasional story about shooting. It comes out 6x a year, but some say it has too much history from the 18th century...and not enough from the fur trade.

Well that's true sometimes in the short run. With only 6 issues a year, you're probably not going to cover from the f&I through the fur trade every year in great amounts.

Others think it too history centric,, and want more stuff on shooting in general.

I have noticed it tends to go in waves. For a couple of years they had articles that went step by step on building your own ML rifle...well once you do that how many other "how-to" articles on building your own rifle does one expect to see....and how soon should they run such articles again? :grin:

There were several issues about the fur trade and doing a fur-trade type camp, making faux bales of furs upon which to sit, etc. Nothing I could use really for it was beyond my time period, but I didn't complain.


I also buy Backwoodsman, but this is not black powder centric, and it's a submission magazine, meaning they only publish what is submitted, and don't openly solicit from specific writers specific articles. Unlike Muzzleloader, which has some regular writers, Backwoodsman does not...and they do not pay nor seriously edit their articles...so sometimes you get some errors in the information.

The NMLRA publishes Muzzle Blasts, and since that organization is a shooting first group, you should consider joining them and getting that magazine.

There is nothing really for the post American War of Independence era people or for the fur trade. There once was but the early 1800's era seems to be the quickest shrinking portion of the black powder community. Europe has magazines devoted to the Napoleonic period, but that doesn't really apply here. So there is a gap.

Now of course, there are lots of folks out there who complain, but I don't hear them mentioning reaching out to the magazines to submit articles on what they want to read.... if the material isn't offered by anybody, then how can they publish it?

:idunno:

LD

 

[Billnpatti]

Unfortunately muzzleloading magazines are few and far between. The two which I get are "MUZZLELOADER" and "MUZZLE BLASTS". The former is by subscription and the latter is the journal of NMLRA. "MUZZLELOADER" is quite heavy in historical stories about the colonial and precolonial periods in the US. Not so much about "How To" articles but a few. There may be others out there that are about muzzleloading but I am not aware of them. Maybe someone else on the forum knows of another magazine.

 

[bonron]

:wink: Ditto BillinPati: I too get both magazines. If I need specific help on a project I use the tutorials available on several forums and Google. Muzzleloader has changed ownership and a very good magazine has been inproved a lot.

 

[William O.]

I get Muzzleloader and Muzzle Blasts and get The Backwoodsman passed on to me by a friend. After I've thoroughly digested them I leave them in my doctor's waiting room. There's something for almost everyone between the three magazines but very little, if anything for the early 1800's as has been pointed out already. However, it wouldn't be a stretch to be wearing clothes that where 10 years out of date if you lived on the frontier but it would be inappropriate to be wearing something that either wasn't the style or wasn't invented for another 10 years depending on your personas era.

 

[ncmtmike]

Muzzleloader & Backwoodsman & American Frontiersman :grin:

 

[OldMaineWoodsman]

Not muzzleloading magazines, but I occassionally pick up these two bowhunting types:

Primitive Archer and Traditional Bowhunter.

Like I said, not muzzleloader but good articles about primitive skills and articles for the hunter such as deer tracking, blood trailing, etc.

 

[BullRunBear]

Another vote for Muzzleloader and Backwoodsman. Muzzleloader is heavier on history than how-to articles but is well written and visually great.

Will have to check out Primitive Archer.

To be honest, there is a lot of good info about firearms on Youtube. That resource wasn't around when I started with the hobby. But when I have questions, I always start here on the Forum.

 

[Len Graves]

I never sibscribed to primative archer, but was given some back copies. I think it is a quality magazine. The articles were very informative and there was some variation such as historical and how to stuff.