The Final Print Issue

This is an editorial I never thought I’d be writing. Our publisher, AG Media, has decided to discontinue American Gunsmith permanently. This is the last print issue. There has been a decline in print newspaper and magazine sales for years due to the rise of digital media, and print publications have certainly felt that since their era of prominence in the 20th century.

The benefit of increasing numbers of information sources and the Internet often providing an easier and less expensive way to distribute information has also made ever-increasing competitors. There’s only so much time and attention and this has had an impact on all publishers for years. Despite this, American Gunsmith made a great run. When I took this position, I noted one of my favorite musicians quipped that he was really just a diehard fan who sometimes took the other side of the stage.

Having managed to make a career in the firearms publishing world for more than 15 years, I feel just as fortunate. Much the same as every full-time and part-time working gunsmith, this has allowed me to turn my hobby into a vocation. First and foremost, I want to extend a big thank you to every subscriber. No publication can exist without a readership and this is especially true of American Gunsmith as we did not accept advertising and were always 100% dependent on subscribers like you.

Thank you for letting me do this and taking the journey with me. Also, thank you to all the wonderful contributing authors who submitted articles over the years. A technical journal is only as good as the material it publishes and we’ve had many great gunsmiths contribute outstanding articles over the years; just in my time as the editor, we’ve published more than 1,000 articles and editorials. Here’s the good news: even though this is the last print issue of American Gunsmith, it doesn’t have to be goodbye.

AG Media also publishes the ever-popular Gun Tests. American Gunsmith subscribers who are due more issues of this magazine will receive Gun Tests instead. If you are already a subscriber to Gun Tests, we will extend that subscription to equal what you are owed on your remaining subscription to American Gunsmith. In addition, I continue to offer a free weekly newsletter covering our trade.

Sign up for AmericanGunsmith.info/newsletter or FunShoot.substack.com to receive announcements of all future services and activities. Also, I manage several online groups for gunsmiths and all of them are free to join; the list is at AmericanGunsmith.info/newsletter. As long as there are firearms, there will be a need for knowledgeable artisans to repair and modify them. As with everything, the nature of that work and the information to support it will change and evolve over time.

Despite American Gunsmith ceasing print, I’ll still be involved and looking forward to seeing how things progress. I would love to hear from you. Send me a comment at John M. Buol Jr. AmericanGunsmith.info