Gun Writer Generations/List

[Wooosh]

Recently, I got into buying and reading old publications and books. I soon discovered that there was such a thing as gun writer generations. From what I was able to glean, writers such as like Skeeter Skelton were considered first gen (pre-war), writers like Jeff Cooper were considered second gen (post-war to 80s), and writers such as Massad Ayoob are considered third gen (post-80s). Can someone fill me, a noobie, in on the writers worth reading? (Of course, I already know about Tamara.)

Also, I figured that this would also be the place to ask for old magazines worth hunting down for.

[Borderland]

I was heavy into bird hunting and collecting about 20 years ago. Michael McIntosh was my favorite shotgun writer. I think I read everything he wrote several times. I don't read any magazines anymore so not really current with the latest generation as I mostly own older firearms.

Here's a few that will never go out of style.


https://sportingclassicsdaily.com/am...t-gun-writers/

[45dotACP]

Nate Parker and Chris Baker if you frequent online gun content. They are both excellent

Sent from my SM-A326U using Tapatalk

[Moylan]

"Gun writer" sounds narrow, but can be construed broadly. Under that broad construal, I'd mention Robert Ruark, Peter Capstick and Herbert McBride. Ruark is by far the best writer in that bunch, and probably superior to any other gun writer I can think of. The Old Man and the Boy is pretty much just a solid classic irrespective of genre. The Old Man's Boy Grows Older can't quite live up to its predecessor, but it's still pretty great, and The Horn of the Hunter is maybe the best African hunting book I know of. Capstick wrote quite a few African hunting books and I've enjoyed all that I've read. And McBride's main work is A Rifleman Went to War. Haven't read anything else by him.

Living gun writers I have found enlightening are Ed Mireles (FBI Miami Firefight) and Michael Wood (Newhall Shooting).

If you want to get into the weeds, a classic is Meditations on Hunting by Jose Ortega y Gasset.

[okie john]

Recently, I got into buying and reading old publications and books. I soon discovered that there was such a thing as gun writer generations. From what I was able to glean, writers such as like Skeeter Skelton were considered first gen (pre-war), writers like Jeff Cooper were considered second gen (post-war to 80s), and writers such as Massad Ayoob are considered third gen (post-80s). Can someone fill me, a noobie, in on the writers worth reading? (Of course, I already know about Tamara.)

Also, I figured that this would also be the place to ask for old magazines worth hunting down for.

Your main source of information should be The American Rifleman, published by the NRA. Up until 1977, when Harlon Carter assumed a strong role leading the NRA, The Rifleman was a probably the best source of technological information about guns and shooting in the world. Study how their masthead evolved up to then and there's the core of your list.

It also depends on which war you're talking about. Several writers, most notably Townsend Whelen, Charles Askins, Sr., Phil Sharpe, Jack O'Connor, and Elmer Keith, were active before and after WWII.

There was a big change in the publishing world in the 60s, when post-WWII wealth enabled Americans to get into all kinds of hobbies. The market for story-based articles exploded, and the post-war writers stepped in to fill it, really hitting their stride in the 70s and 80s. This roster includes Skeeter Skelton and Jeff Cooper (both Marines during WWII), plus Chuck Taylor, Charles Askins, Jr., Bob Milek, Bob Hagel, Warren Page, Ross Seyfried, Finn Aagaard, Byron Dalrymple, Jon Wooters, and a bunch of others whose names evade me right now.

John T. Amber was an editor and Bob Peterson was a publisher. Both were at least as influential as the writers who worked for them.

The real guys you want to talk to about this are @Mas and @Outpost75. They were there and can speak with far more authority than me.


Okie John

[Mas]

IIRC, Col. Charles Askins, Jr. was published before WWII. His dad, Charles Sr., was one of the great gun writers before that. Elmer Keith early on, of course. Charles "Skeeter" Skelton began writing for publication in the mid-50s if I recall. Jeff Cooper's work first appeared in print in the latter 1950s. My first gun magazine article appeared in the February 1971 issue of GUNSport, and John Taffin, Jon Sundra, and others currently writing were in print ahead of me. There's a lot of crossover. And take heed to what Okie John said about the editors: they were the gatekeepers who determined what was going to be published. I wouldn't know what year, or even what decade, to place a demarcation line.

[okie john]

IIRC, Col. Charles Askins, Jr. was published before WWII. His dad, Charles Sr., was one of the great gun writers before that. Elmer Keith early on, of course. Charles "Skeeter" Skelton began writing for publication in the mid-50s if I recall. Jeff Cooper's work first appeared in print in the latter 1950s. My first gun magazine article appeared in the February 1971 issue of GUNSport, and John Taffin, Jon Sundra, and others currently writing were in print ahead of me. There's a lot of crossover. And take heed to what Okie John said about the editors: they were the gatekeepers who determined what was going to be published. I wouldn't know what year, or even what decade, to place a demarcation line.

Thanks for this. I defer to your experience.


Okie John

[Half Moon]

Most of the folks that immediately come to mind have been mentioned. For an older, but still valid, take on hunting rifles probably add in Jack O'Connor. For a later writer on six-guns, maybe add Mike Venturino. Some of those mentioned that I know online archives exist for (all mostly revolver oriented, none being complete assemblages of their work):

Skeeter Skelton

John Taffin

Elmer Keith

[rcbusmc24]

Major Julian S. Hatcher - Textbook of Pistols and Revolvers -1935

It's still a must read for handgun guys...

[HCM]

Recently, I got into buying and reading old publications and books. I soon discovered that there was such a thing as gun writer generations. From what I was able to glean, writers such as like Skeeter Skelton were considered first gen (pre-war), writers like Jeff Cooper were considered second gen (post-war to 80s), and writers such as Massad Ayoob are considered third gen (post-80s). Can someone fill me, a noobie, in on the writers worth reading? (Of course, I already know about Tamara.)

Also, I figured that this would also be the place to ask for old magazines worth hunting down for.

Your timelines are off and I don’t really agree with your “generations.”

Skeeter Skelton often wrote about his childhood in the depression but was actually too young to even serve in WWII much less be a “pre-war” gun writer.

Pre-war gun writers would be people like Charles Askins, Elmer Keith, J. Henry Fitzgerald, Ed McGivern etc.

Many of the writers you’re talking about actively wrote for most of their adult lives. Skelton and Cooper both actively wrote up until their passing. Of course @Mas is a member on this forum as is @Tamara.

Going back to Skelton, there are technical gun writers who write about hardware and there are writers who are storytellers who just happen to write about people’s experiences related to guns. Skelton exemplifies the latter.

A better question would be given the internet, social Media, video streaming etc is the current generation of gun writers the last, and will they be replaced with multi discipline content creators.

PS:

I grew up reading Askins, Jordan, Skelton etc. but there seems to be a disconnect with certain parts of the gun community who can’t quite understand that the era those writers worked in was nearly a century ago and the border (and border law enforcement) is not a time capsule.