For the IBS is there a suitable alternative to Precision Shooting Magazine?

Rustystud said:
I suscribed to PS for over twenty years. About 6 years ago I even tried to get Dave to publish and article on the Micrometer Adjustable Reamer Stop. Offered to provide the article with picture and pay for an add in his magazine. He was so arrogant and obnoxious that I deciced the issue was not worth pursuing. If one looks at things economically a magazine article is a poor investment in comparison to a web site add or website dedicated to the subject. I beleive all paper printed media is struggling today.

I did not renew my last PS subscription and with BRCentral, 6mmBR, Long Range Target Shooting, and Long Range Hunting web sites I have not missed a thing.

Dave RIP

Nat Lambeth
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A number of years ago some here might remember my rants on the lack of quality articles in PS . The Corker for me was the article about the lad shooting Crocks with his Bush Rifle. Mr Brennan presented Himself at the following Winter Meeting and ranted about the subject for what must have been an hour. Bottom line was he owns the majority of the stock of the Corp so he is going to do what he damn well pleases, end of story. Heck, I've even grown to like some of the Gran't Tomb stories now.

Someone mentioned Dumbed Down: Well, here we are with the same ole 6 PPC and nobody other than the lad in New Mexico with his 30-30, doing anything innovative with regrd to Group Shooting Rilfes and the constantly complaining about powder lots and staying in tune. It is somewhat sickening to those of us who don't shoot group and could care less about the freakin tune of 6 PPC's. There are a lot of folks out here who's world doesn't revolve around 6PPC and N-133.

Bottom line is the world is becoing more and more mediocre and mundane. We need to learn to, as Fagan said the Oliver Twist when he complained about his Suasage being Moldy, "Shut up and drink yer Gin". Generlly, I think , folks like Beefeater more than Gilbey's unless it is mixed with Tonic & Lime.
 
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F,
The editor is a dandy, but I still like the magazine in comparison to the other offerings out there. Not sure if that was a compliment or not? My opinion, as always. You know about opinions don't you?
 
OldGroup Shooters AKA NBRSA OLD GUYS

FBecigneul said:
I respect your opinion, Greg. You know that.
Are we getting our just desserts for the money spent? That probably isn't even an issue. We want to shoot IBS and that is the price of shooting. I breeze through the pages so quickly I don't even know if there is a disproportionate amount of advertising. I do notice the Russ Hayden ad as he is one I deal with regularly. If I want Civil War questions answered, I just ask you as you were there. Other than that, oh well. Come to Michigan this summer for some dandy blueberries. Much larger and tastier than those Maine offerings. They should be ripe at the time of the IBS Group Nationals at Holton. No, I won't be in Maine for the two day score nationals.
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Youse guys just feel more at home being away from home for a longer period of time OR you like Making Tom Bodette's wallet thicker. :)
 
I dont get the PS mag but I would wonder if they had other subscribers besides the IBS? Otherwise why dont they listen.
The NBRSA news... I guess it is only news about the various clubs scores and equipment lists.

The numbers for the NBRSA were published recently (within the last few months). I know this is going to sound ignorant but it was between 1500 and 3000 ( i think it was closer to the 1500 mark).
The numbers were a whole lot less than what I thought they would be and made me realize why more of the Mfgs. dont pay more attention to us.
 
Vern yes they do have other subscribers. .. But not enough to carry the magazine. The bylaws and charter dictate that Precision shooting is the prescibed magazine for IBS. Together IBS and NBRSA the numbers are in excess of 3,000
the last i heard. Exact numbers probably change.
The game of benchrest always was a limited game for quite a while. The games drew the machinest and tool and Die makers along with the gunsmiths. A ton of R&D was developed by the Benchrest clan with little recognition.
Reloading, tooling , Powders , Bullets and design ,ETC The list Is long. The R&D is Free.
 
Maybe its the gas prices that keep them from going to different matches to see what is going on. The Original PA. 1000 yard Club has been breaking records, putting on benchrest schools. Has 80 to 100 shooters every match but we aren't a IBS affiliated club but we do have IBS members, I'm one that has been a member since the 70's. But I feel there are some that would like to know what we do. When I was President I offered or club to be used for IBS Nationals whith proceeds going back to the IBS. I thought we were all in this together? So yes there are a lot of articles to be written on benchrest shooting and equipment, and loading and the list goes on. When some one comes up with a computer that works right that will print what you tell it, we can all write something about shooting.

Joe SAlt
 
I have been reading PS for over 10 years. Back in 2000 or so it was an exceptional mag. I was always looking forward to the next issue. Now days they come and lay around a week or more till I get around to looking at them. Over the years the content has changed a lot. As i have always been paying my dues I keep getting it.

Benchrest or F class makes no difference to me as long as it is interesting and about precision rifles. Based on the last issue I can see that there is room for improvement in the content.
 
I've taken PS continuously since the early 90's. I applaud Brennan his efforts to keep it fresh in a small venue. Warts feathers an' all it's the best that it can be in it's genre and you'se guys picking on Brennan need to look in the mirror and ask yourself....... "why do I feel the need to bash this guy on an internet forum???"

al
 
Al, ever heard the saying, "you get one chance to make a great first impression".

I would not know Mr Brennen if I saw him on the street. But, a number of years ago I wrote a decent article on single point neck turning using an engine lathe.

I was told by one who knows that I should contact Precision Shooting, as this would be a great article for that venue.

So, one morning I contacted them, and the person on the line, Mr. Brennen, was about as rude as anyone could be. In fact, down right condecending in his tone.

I was contacted by the person who had ask me to call, and said that Mr Brennen did not really know who he was talking too, and was having a bad day. I guess he had not blown off his jerk for the day, and I was first on the list.

So, I submitted the article to the NBRSA news and donated the fee to the World Team.

Like I said, you only have one chance to "make a good first impression"........jackie
 
This is not aimed at anyone in particular so please don't take offense.

I've done a little writing in my day, my first magazine article was published in HANDLOADER back around 1974 or so. Since then I've had a couple of books published and written magazine articles on a wide variety of subjects. One of the hardest lessons to learn is that not everything you write is going to be published. Your first rejection is like a hard slap in the face! If you take it personally, you'll never write again. If your subject is one that an editor or publisher thinks will interest the readers they will do anything they can to make it presentable, short of re-writing it. You'd be surprised at how hard some of the best known writers struggle with the English language, grammar, and spelling. The late Elmer Keith was one of the worst, but he made a good living writing because of his subjects, and forgiving editors.

My point is - if you want to support a publication like PS, write an article and submit it. If Brennan tears it up, write another one. Eventually, you'll wear him down, or maybe even hit on a winner.

One other thing, don't expect to win the lottery. Payment for articles won't hardly pay for your postage. You might even offer to do it for free - editors like that!

JMHO

Ray
 
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GerryM said:
Vern yes they do have other subscribers. .. But not enough to carry the magazine. The bylaws and charter dictate that Precision shooting is the prescibed magazine for IBS. Together IBS and NBRSA the numbers are in excess of 3,000
the last i heard. Exact numbers probably change.
The game of benchrest always was a limited game for quite a while. The games drew the machinest and tool and Die makers along with the gunsmiths. A ton of R&D was developed by the Benchrest clan with little recognition.
Reloading, tooling , Powders , Bullets and design ,ETC The list Is long. The R&D is Free.
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Gerry
You are wrong. IBS is about 10% of the subscription base of PS.

Mike Bryant makes a good point-if folks want to see BR related articles they need to write them or get someone to write them and send to Dave.



Jim
 
kay said:
Jerry
If you were a nbrsa member you would pay the same amount of membership money and get 5-6 pages stapled together like you get on you car window parked in the shopping mall.We used to get good magazines like AR and PS many years ago but the powers that be went el cheapo on us.
LynnsGhost
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Lynn, if you are talking to me, I am an NBRSA member and shoot several NBRSA shoots each year including most Nationals. I will not shoot the NBRSA Nationals this year because I don't like the location, extreme heat, grit, misery, flat tires, etc. . (Nothing personal to the Midland guys but I've done my time in the desert, that is why I don't live there.) I'll probably spend my additional time at NBRSA regionals.

The NBRSA thing (notice I did not call it a magazine) stinks too. At least its cover page does not state it is "Dealing exclusively with extreme rifle accuracy"
 
I normally don't respond to the posts trashing PS, but I will make an exception this time. While there are some months that I don't like the content, I must realize that most of the readers are not short-range Benchrest shooters. I have written for PS since 2002, and have been a reader since 1994. Someone above reported that the quality in `2000 was great and now it is just bearable. I went back and looked at some of the content of the late 90's and 2000 and I found that today's magazine is just as good...if not better than it was in 2000. For those who have machine skills and other talents that other shooters would like to share, please submit some "how-to" articles. It seems that PS is always looking for good "how-to" articles, but the supply is limited. John Lewis writes several a year, but he is only one man. I try to concentrate on Benchrest, but cannot cover very many shoots. Dick Wright has had some health problems of late and Joe Krupa has been very busy. The three of us are most responsible for short range BR coverage. So if any of you want to complain about the content AND you have the expertise to shed light on a BR topic, please feel free to join the writers of this fine magazine. Good shooting.....James
 
James Mock,

Thank you for a very good post on this thread. What you said gives us all direction to help things move in the right direction.

Octopus
 
You should know about the amount of circulation Jim. Better then anyone.
I must say the best article I did read was the one you Wrote about bushing the bolt body for a smaller firing pin hole.
I wish Brennen would get the magazine back on track. Of course it ,s his call like i said in an earlier post. .
 
There is a simple solution to this whole thing for those that do not like the magazine. Change the By-Laws and make the magazine/publication an option to the membership, not a mandatory package.

Times change, it's called the internet. One can glean much information on line if they choose. I know there are those that do not get on line, and that is fine, they can still receive the magazine. But for those that 1) do not like the content, 2) do not read it at all, 3) would rather see their money go directly to the Organization can opt out. About 70% of the membership fee goes to the magazine.

Give the option of a reduced membership fee without the magazine, and those that do not like the magazine will have nothing to complain about. If IBS membership contributions to PS magazine only constitutes 10% of the magazine's subscriptions, the reduction of those that opt out would be negligible to the magazine.
 
James, I like your articles, and as I said in my originol post, Precision Shooting would not survive a week if it dedicated its self to Benchrest.

If you think about it, the vast majority of the shooting public has very little interest in Benchrest. There are probably more members in the "National Tiddly Winks Association" than in both the NBRSA and IBS combined.

I have an article being put together right now, on the 1949 vintage Rem 721 that I doing a custom rebuild on. This is going to be one fine Rifle, (if I EVER get my reamer), and you know that I can write at that level.

If you are interested, let me know.
 
Wayne, that is a pretty big chunk of the membership fee going to a magazine that, for what it is worth, is simply a Match Report.

For us that are IBS members, but shoot very few IBS Matches, it is hardly that.

There has always been a "love-hate" relationship between members of any type of Sanctioning Body and a publication that they thought was suppose to mirror their interest. I remember back in my Boat Racing days, the American Power Boat Association had a relationship with a magazine, called "Powerboat". Since 98 percent of the Boating Public cared little for what we did, that Magazine went the same way as Precision Shooting, it started running more and more articles that related to the general public's boating interest.

It's allmost a no win situation. But I will continue to support the IBS, whether we get a magazine,or not........jackie
 
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