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Posted: 4/28/2016 3:42:56 PM EDT
Harris Publications which publishes "Combat Handguns," a bunch of other gun rags, and other enthusiast publications is shutting down immediately, according to this report.
Harris Publications is Shutting Down Company statement Read the full company statement below: It is with great sadness that we are announcing the closing of Harris Publications. For nearly 40 years, Harris Publications has been a mainstay in enthusiast publishing. We are extremely grateful for the tremendous contributions of our employees, past and present. The hard work and dedication of our creative, sales, circulation and operations teams and the talents of our freelance editors, writers, photographers and designers are what allowed us to continue delivering thoughtful and beautiful magazines to our readers. The magazine publishing industry has been through turmoil in the face of the rapid ascendance of digital media, changing consumer content preferences, magazine wholesaler struggles and consolidation in the supply chain. We have tried mightily to persevere against these forces, but have been unable to overcome these challenges. |
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The magazine publishing industry has been through turmoil in the face of the rapid ascendance of digital media View Quote ![]() |
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Print media in the US has been on the decline for a while now. Most gun magazines are about worthless anyway. The reviews are always positive no matter how big a piece of crap the gun/accessory is. They can't print accurate reviews or the risk pissing off their advertisers.
Recoil magazine and a couple others like it are taking over with more glitz and a more "modern look" to appeal to the younger demographic. They are little more than run on advertising though. Trying to pedal the latest in tacticool and telling their audience what they need to buy to be a "Cool guy" or "operator". I used to buy a lot of gun magazines before I realized they were mostly fluff and BS. More will go under soon. |
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I refuse to buy "digital" magazines. They can't stack on top of the toilet bowl tank.
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Look at all the restaurant chains posting bad news today too.
Doesn't Harris publish Glock Annual? |
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Quoted:
Print media in the US has been on the decline for a while now. Most gun magazines are about worthless anyway. The reviews are always positive no matter how big a piece of crap the gun/accessory is. They can't print accurate reviews or the risk pissing off their advertisers. Recoil magazine and a couple others like it are taking over with more glitz and a more "modern look" to appeal to the younger demographic. They are little more than run on advertising though. Trying to pedal the latest in tacticool and telling their audience what they need to buy to be a "Cool guy" or "operator". I used to buy a lot of gun magazines before I realized they were mostly fluff and BS. More will go under soon. View Quote I can completely sympathize. All the publications aren't like that though, at the risk of self-promotion, you should try reading Be Ready! Magazine from Firearms News. It is certainly more news that you can use than folks trying to be operators. |
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I barely look at gun magazines anymore. I get Recoil on my iPad because it has pretty pictures and some decent articles. The idea that anyone buys them to get actual honest assements of guns is absurd. Someone needs to bring Pistolero back.
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About the only thing they were good for was photos of new guns, and they might as well be on Jupiter when it comes to the paper publishing time lag.
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Most "rags" weren't even fit to wipe ones ass with. Why so sad? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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The magazine publishing industry has been through turmoil in the face of the rapid ascendance of digital media ![]() Most "rags" weren't even fit to wipe ones ass with. Why so sad? Pretty much. Most were just positive reviews of whatever sponsored bullshit was being pushed. |
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Ballistic
Combat Handguns Guns & Weapons Survivor's Edge Tactical Weapons Special Weapons And a publisher of all the cheesy buyers guides. This reads like a list of all the magazines I've never purchased. |
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I refuse to buy "digital" magazines. They can't stack on top of the toilet bowl tank. View Quote ![]() I LOVE magazines and books. I friggin HATE that everything is going digital. Every time I stop in at my local Barnes & Noble or Hastings... there are less and less magazines and books (and CDs). I hate that. I guess that this dinosaur is being drug to his extinction unwillingly. ![]() |
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While i have fond memories of reading the varios gun mags in middle school, and know that but for them, i may not have gotten into the hobby which has shaped my personal and professiinal life, i cant say they will be missed much. the reality is that hobbyist like oldpainless, sites like barrels by the inch and youtubers like hickock45 can provide more information about a wider variety of issues (and in much greater depth) than a monthly magazine. we are so much better off today in terms of high quality information.
Plus, the hobbyist blogger can give honest reviews without first checking with the marketing dept. |
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Pretty much. Most were just positive reviews of whatever sponsored bullshit was being pushed. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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The magazine publishing industry has been through turmoil in the face of the rapid ascendance of digital media ![]() Most "rags" weren't even fit to wipe ones ass with. Why so sad? Pretty much. Most were just positive reviews of whatever sponsored bullshit was being pushed. Yup! How many times did you see: Sub-MOA sharpshooter!!11 Ultra-Reliable Tactical entry gun!! We fired 100 rds of whatever and the gun functioned flawlessly, buy with confidence!! (Remington R51, anyone?) ![]() |
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Who is going to pick up the torch and write a glowing review of some gun or gun widget right across from a full page ad for that very product?
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We should ask for a government bailout .....Anyone want to buy a buggy whip ?
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Only gun mag I get anymore is the American Rifleman . . . and I do actually read it ! ! !
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When gun magazines have gun article on one page and full page ad for said gun on another = loss of credibility.
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Yep Can't blame them, it's hard to compete with digital media View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Times 'a changin. Yep Can't blame them, it's hard to compete with digital media It is hard to compete with every Arfcom type website, youtube, and the webpages dedicated to firearms....which have punked the shit out of the magazines over some shit that has been foisted on the public by some gun makers in the last few years. |
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In other news, the companies that make ice boxes, the ones who make telegraphs, and the guy who operates the brakes on the caboose are out of a job.
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It is hard to compete with every Arfcom type website, youtube, and the webpages dedicated to firearms....which have punked the shit out of the magazines over some shit that has been foisted on the public by some gun makers in the last few years. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Times 'a changin. Yep Can't blame them, it's hard to compete with digital media It is hard to compete with every Arfcom type website, youtube, and the webpages dedicated to firearms....which have punked the shit out of the magazines over some shit that has been foisted on the public by some gun makers in the last few years. ..and they deserve every bit of it. ![]() |
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In a way it is sad because I remember reading all of the great '80s gun rags my Dad had when I was a kid. They were good back then.
Now they are complete garbage though and I wouldn't trust any of the reviews especially after the R51 debacle. I say good riddance. |
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Print is dead.
Get realtime, less biased reviews (with video and instant forum feedback) or get a couple of month old, biased version. Cars, guns, tools etc are much better served by internet forums then print. |
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Ballistic Combat Handguns Guns & Weapons Survivor's Edge Tactical Weapons Special Weapons And a publisher of all the cheesy buyers guides. This reads like a list of all the magazines I've never purchased. View Quote I know... I buy a lot of magazines every month, none of those are on my list. I like reading magazines and don't mind paying for Quality, none of those titles offer any editorial creativity and are essentially the same product with different pictures. You would think that the gun rags would look at their industry and find an area to specialize in rather than running the same articles as their competition a month apart telling us how great the Taurus Curve is. The magazine rack at Barnes and Noble is about to get less crowded, I guess. |
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None of 'em been worth a damn since Skeeter Skelton and Elmer Keith died.
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Rough business to be in, these days.
We're definitely in a new era. I like how Motor Trend has adapted over the last few years. That (at least from where I'm sitting) is how it's done - realize that you're a content and entertainment company, not a family of magazines. |
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![]() I LOVE magazines and books. I friggin HATE that everything is going digital. Every time I stop in at my local Barnes & Noble or Hastings... there are less and less magazines and books (and CDs). I hate that. I guess that this dinosaur is being drug to his extinction unwillingly. ![]() View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
I refuse to buy "digital" magazines. They can't stack on top of the toilet bowl tank. ![]() I LOVE magazines and books. I friggin HATE that everything is going digital. Every time I stop in at my local Barnes & Noble or Hastings... there are less and less magazines and books (and CDs). I hate that. I guess that this dinosaur is being drug to his extinction unwillingly. ![]() I'm reading this on the AR15 Magazine! |
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I refuse to buy "digital" magazines. They can't stack on top of the toilet bowl tank. View Quote Isn't that the truth...... What's fun is that there is still so much knowledge out there that hasn't been digitized and put on the web yet.....I love being able to go to a 50 y/o American Rifleman, or 1961 version of "Small Arms of the World", and pull some obscure data, or be able to ID some bizarre gun or part....... I never threw out my VHS player either.... ![]() |
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Quoted: ![]() I LOVE magazines and books. I friggin HATE that everything is going digital. Every time I stop in at my local Barnes & Noble or Hastings... there are less and less magazines and books (and CDs). I hate that. I guess that this dinosaur is being drug to his extinction unwillingly. ![]() View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I refuse to buy "digital" magazines. They can't stack on top of the toilet bowl tank. ![]() I LOVE magazines and books. I friggin HATE that everything is going digital. Every time I stop in at my local Barnes & Noble or Hastings... there are less and less magazines and books (and CDs). I hate that. I guess that this dinosaur is being drug to his extinction unwillingly. ![]() My only mag subscription is to Small Arms Review. |
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In a way it is sad because I remember reading all of the great '80s gun rags my Dad had when I was a kid. They were good back then. Now they are complete garbage though and I wouldn't trust any of the reviews especially after the R51 debacle. I say good riddance. View Quote Yeah, I saved a decent chunk of my dad's old G&A magazines from the trash (unfortunately, I did not have space for all of them, by a longshot, so a ton got thrown out, including issues I would love to be able to read or reference due to my changing interests). They were pretty good, had a lot of interesting stuff. Interesting historical articles, good articles on hunting, on things like African rifles, Cooper's Corner, a nice blackpowder section with Phil Spangenberger, assessments of some pretty unique or unusual guns, past and present, and more serious reviews, which were not always glowing, to be sure, and a RKBA section that was pretty hardcore. And you had pieces by some of the greats in the firearms industry, some of who were regular contributors. Today's version is garbage by comparison. Once the last Cooper's Corner was published after his death, I had no real incentive anymore to even look at G&A. Other current gun magazines are usually of the same calibre as today's G&A. |
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Quoted:
Isn't that the truth...... What's fun is that there is still so much knowledge out there that hasn't been digitized and put on the web yet.....I love being able to go to a 50 y/o American Rifleman, or 1961 version of "Small Arms of the World", and pull some obscure data, or be able to ID some bizarre gun or part....... I never threw out my VHS player either.... ![]() View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
I refuse to buy "digital" magazines. They can't stack on top of the toilet bowl tank. Isn't that the truth...... What's fun is that there is still so much knowledge out there that hasn't been digitized and put on the web yet.....I love being able to go to a 50 y/o American Rifleman, or 1961 version of "Small Arms of the World", and pull some obscure data, or be able to ID some bizarre gun or part....... I never threw out my VHS player either.... ![]() Some of those old magazines are great references. A lot have info I have a hard time finding anywhere online, and often cannot find it at all. I really wish I could have saved more of what my dad threw out years ago. He saved every issue of G&A from 1973-1999. |
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Yeah, I saved a decent chunk of my dad's old G&A magazines from the trash (unfortunately, I did not have space for all of them, by a longshot, so a ton got thrown out, including issues I would love to be able to read or reference due to my changing interests). They were pretty good, had a lot of interesting stuff. Interesting historical articles, good articles on hunting, on things like African rifles, Cooper's Corner, a nice blackpowder section with Phil Spangenberger, assessments of some pretty unique or unusual guns, past and present, and more serious reviews, which were not always glowing, to be sure, and a RKBA section that was pretty hardcore. And you had pieces by some of the greats in the firearms industry, some of who were regular contributors. Today's version is garbage by comparison. Once the last Cooper's Corner was published after his death, I had no real incentive anymore to even look at G&A. Other current gun magazines are usually of the same calibre as today's G&A. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
In a way it is sad because I remember reading all of the great '80s gun rags my Dad had when I was a kid. They were good back then. Now they are complete garbage though and I wouldn't trust any of the reviews especially after the R51 debacle. I say good riddance. Yeah, I saved a decent chunk of my dad's old G&A magazines from the trash (unfortunately, I did not have space for all of them, by a longshot, so a ton got thrown out, including issues I would love to be able to read or reference due to my changing interests). They were pretty good, had a lot of interesting stuff. Interesting historical articles, good articles on hunting, on things like African rifles, Cooper's Corner, a nice blackpowder section with Phil Spangenberger, assessments of some pretty unique or unusual guns, past and present, and more serious reviews, which were not always glowing, to be sure, and a RKBA section that was pretty hardcore. And you had pieces by some of the greats in the firearms industry, some of who were regular contributors. Today's version is garbage by comparison. Once the last Cooper's Corner was published after his death, I had no real incentive anymore to even look at G&A. Other current gun magazines are usually of the same calibre as today's G&A. I have a lot of my dad's from the mid 70's to the mid 80's. Much better magazine and a much different time. |
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The most entertaining mag writers have always been the "doers" like Kokalis, Keith, etc. Nobody wants to read some hack's 79th take on 9mm vs 45, or revolvers vs autos for CCW. In the past 20 years, that's about all we've gotten.
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Times 'a changin. Yep Can't blame them, it's hard to compete with digital media It is hard to compete with every Arfcom type website, youtube, and the webpages dedicated to firearms....which have punked the shit out of the magazines over some shit that has been foisted on the public by some gun makers in the last few years. ..and they deserve every bit of it. ![]() You get no argument from me over that bullshit. Lots of people lost all professional credibility over that bullshit. |
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I subscribe to Guns & Weapons for LE. Wonder if I'll get my money back.
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