Making Gun Reviews That Dont Suck
If youre not going to bother to get out a shot timer and write down some numbers, dont tell me that a gun is capable of quick follow-up shots or that it has manageable recoil. Without any kind of objective measurement, those statements are meaningless to the audience.
February 21st, 2017 at 6:30 pm
Same complaint with optics reviews. No one ever bothers to report if the thing will hold zero on more than a .223. Nothing else matters if its reticle shifts.
February 21st, 2017 at 7:19 pm
But if they measure things, then they might not be able to say whatever they’re reviewing is the best thing since sliced bread. And if they can’t do that, they won’t get more guns/optics/etc to review.
February 21st, 2017 at 8:55 pm
Shot timer and paper is a good start but it all depends on your ammo selection.
If your comparing one gun to another, the ammo must be the same.
If your just trying to get the best times on the same gun, hand load some softballs. Your times will improve.
February 21st, 2017 at 10:32 pm
So much gun crap you can buy that doesn’t actually do anything useful, and yet many people are convinced of the improvement that isn’t there. The guy version of wrinkle cream.
February 22nd, 2017 at 11:41 am
What good is a shot timer measuring repeated shots from a handgun absolutely new to the reviewer, being fired for the first and likely last time on one range trip for a review?
The major factors affecting times between shots, from ammo used to amount of training with the specific gun and down the list to shooter’s coffee intake that morning, makes a measured shot to shot time in a one-off gun review utterly useless in comparison to other one-off gun reviews.
A still frame of maximum recoil obtained from a video, when the gun is fired from a strong isosceles grip, would provide better info on gun to gun “ability to get back on target for repeat shots” than 10 rounds of shot to shot time during the first 50 rounds out of a new firearm.
February 22nd, 2017 at 2:00 pm
They all say recoil is manageable so it is meaningless. And what about shooting for fun? Recoil can take the fun out of it. What if you are a woman or old or small. The reviewer should say, “The recoil is manageable for me with xxx ammo”. But the most annoying thing is all the rotten youtube videos. If you capture the wind instead of your voice just don’t bother posting it.
February 22nd, 2017 at 3:13 pm
Most of the people buying gun magazines, and reading gun reviews, are far too ignorant of how to shoot well to have any clue how meaningless those cliches really are.
The minority of gun owners who know enough to find those reviews aggravating aren’t their target market.