Zero coverage

[Trader]

I have just received both the American Handgunner and the American Rifleman. The Cup and The Steel Challange both got zero mention. A suprise for the Rifleman, since the Cup is an NRA event. It is a first for the Handgunner also, but, not a real suprise, as that magazine continues its downhill slide in quality. The Handgunner is now geared to beginners, at best

[benos]

I know for certain that various "petty political views" of certain magazines prevents the coverage of certain competitions. It's a sad, sad situation.

be

[ong45]

Fyi the 2001 steel challenge  did'nt make it into the handgunner until the july/august 2002 edition . Nice spread though.

James Ong

[Trader]

Coverage of the Cup, and one less knife story would be nice for AH. I am done buying it. The NRA can't seem to cover their own match in the Rifleman, is both sad and very stupid.

[eerw]

Most magazines have about a three month lead time....for whatever reason..they just seem too..add to that AH's is only bi-monthy...you most likely won;t see any coverage till the next  or next-next issue...the coverage has seemed to be less and less as the years go on...used to be they had separate equipment stories and multipage, multi-photo layouts...

[Shipster]

I want my GUNGAMES Back.

[ErikW]

What's up with the format of AH? A column or feature is  broken up into 3 or 4 sections, put it different color/shade background boxes, and placed randomly on the page. I have no idea how the article flows. Or if it's supposed to. It's the MTV editing style (no attention span needed) applied to print media.

[eerw]

I think they think we can only read a paragraph before we lose attention...It is pretty sad...I hardly read mine anymore..

[Bill Schwab]

I actually like the new format of AH, and yes I do have a short attention span, but I can't stand the content of the articles, and the fact that it's going "tactical."  I don't think I'll be renewing the subscription, my time is better spent dryfiring.

[BrianH]

If it wasn't for Nyle we would have lost Nationals coverage in AH permanently.   I had a really good spiel on why in pistolsmith.com, but I don't wanna do it again.

(I typed too many papers for my wife last Winter....)

[old shooter]

You know what was cool?  Call it vanity or whatever, but a long time ago, Soldier of Fortune magazine covered the ipsc nationals and listed ALL the shooters down to last place.  At that time, just seeing your name in a national publication was cool, and talk about building a fire under your ass to improve.............

[Patrick Sweeney]

The influx of web design into the print media is not limited to magazines.  We just weren't first.  It is not good, but then I'm an old fart.

Print the entire results fo the Nationals?  And after the corporate accountants set fire to your desk, then what?  Every single inch of a magazine is viewed as either content or income.  If it doesn't draw readers or bring revenue, it doen't happen.  Convince the bean counters that such a list would draw more readers and buyers, and they'll fall all over themselves.

As for content, again, the bean counters want eyeballs on paper, and would go with naked women if they thought it would help.  (That market segment is already too crowded, and guns and naked women don't mix, so they haven't tried it.)  It isn't fair to call them soul-less, but the calculation is more than just what is fun or interesting.

[BSeevers]

Pat

Honestly I have nothing against naked women and guns.

[Alan550]

I'm not really all that surprised that the Rifleman didn't have an article.  The NRA has begun to treat the Cup as a last priority event, and they fired the coordinator, Russ Stott, within a couple of weeks after this last one with no notice or reason given.  Participation has dropped off in the last few years (only 149 shooters this year) and the prize money has been nearly halved from previous events.

  Some other sanctioning body needs to take the Cup over and rejuvenate it, or it's fast headed into the toilet.

  Just my $.02 worth.

  Alan

[BrianH]

It's gotta be a drag to go to all that work and expense practicing, training, traveling to the match to try for second place (time to ban The Kid.....?)

[lmccrock]

"Shooting Sports USA"

That is an NRA publication dedicated (more or less) to competition. Front cover of September 2002 issue: "Koenig Three-Peats Bianchi Cup" with picture of Doug. Three page article with pictures and top scores. My main gripe is that they do not purposefully describe the competition, rules, and scoring. If you know what course of fire makes up the Bianchi Cup is, then great. If not, you have to look elsewhere. But I subscribe anyway. Now I just wish I had more time to practice.

Lee

[Alan550]

lmccrock,

  The courses of fire were listed in that article, but whoever covered it for the magazine doesn't know the events!  They just looked up the COF in the rule book when they gave the specs.  The Mover that we shoot out there is actually the "Modified Mover" with 6 shots on each of 2 passes at 10 & 15 yards, and 3 shots on each of 4 passes at 20 & 25 yds.  The COF in the article said 2 shots on each pass at 25.  Even the NRA people can't get an accurate article published!   SHHHEEEEEESH!

  Oh well, there's always next year!

[Chuck D]

NRA support for the cup has long been a bone of contention with me. The y have NO interest is supporting the match with even half the resourses they do with Camp Perry. The NRA is void of any grass roots program for Action Pistol growth at the local match level as well. The coverage of the match is dismal even in their own publications.

[Action Pistolero]

What happened to this new show on ESPN2 that I heard was going to take the place of American Shooter? When I was at the Cup we heard about it and Mike Voight claims the IPSC nationals are going to be on it.

NRA claims that the reason that they pour all that money into Perry is because they have tens of thousands of shooters classified in High Power. The number in Action Pistol they claim is 2700. My biggest beef with the perry bunch is that they count shooters multiple times. A guy may go to Perry and shoot what, 3 or 4 events. Now let's round off the number we had at the Cup and say 150. If we could shoot more that one gun we would have 450 to 600 shooters. They do the same with Pistol Silhouette. You could go there and shoot 11 guns. If they only had 30 people there that turns into 330 shooters.

For the past several years they have had a shooters meeting at the Cup. Each year we ask for rimfire events or a chance to shoot open and stock. They did give us the option last year but we could only compete for prizes in open or stock, not both. This year we once again asked about rimfire events and it all boiled down to this. They claim that the range can handle 250 shooters. If each of us entered with 2 guns we would go over that amount and the facilities couldn't handle it. So that brings us to the next debate. Do they expand the facilities in Columbia or go somewhere else? Does the future of Action Pistol depend on those two options?

[Bruce]

It is always interesting, coverage that is.

Gun sports are like many other sports...the guys at the top work their tails off to win, or do well, and then get back to work to earn a living.  A buddy of mine is world champion in his division of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, an incredibly difficult fighting sport.  In Brazil, you get magazine articles and sponsors...in the USA your local paper doesn't have room to print the results.  That is the breaks, ain't fair but then again what is.

Magazines will cover what pays.  When the Bianchi Cup starts drawing crowds like a golf tourney, it will get covered and the people at the top will be rewarded well for their effort.  Until it does, it and they won't.  Much of this should be blamed on us.  Not many of us travel to be spectators at any shooting event.