Double Gun Journal -Sad News

[Kevin McCormack]

A year or so after Parker author Ed Muderlak's last book was published, someone asked him when the next book was due out. Ed told them there wouldn't be any more books from him since the negotiations with the publisher to even accept his last manuscript was "something akin to a judo match." After Ed died I sold off all of his remaining inventory, all new in the original shrink wrap, for pennies on the dollar. It seemed to take forever; even at bargain basement prices, people seemed to not want to read hard copy anymore. I sent all of the money to the Mayo Clinic where Ed had undergone cancer treatment. So much for the advantages of the electronic/digital age.

[ArtS]

Originally Posted by Gary Carmichael Sr

Just maybe some of the articles that were going to be in the DGJ, can now be in the Parker Pages,Hate to see it gone but as they say all good things must come to an end RIP Gary

I would hope that too, but I don't see it happening. With any of tghe dedicated make groups, the journals are almost exclusively concerned with their brand, and are relatively small publications. I don't believe any of them are capable of presenting 10-15 page articles of high quality photography and text. If they were, you would need to subscribe to 7 or 8 publications or groups, and would still have no coverage of odd and rare/non-mainstream makes.

Similarly, if a undeniable leader in a niche business for 30+ years cannot make a go of it, it will be doubtful if someone can step in and do it.

I am really concerned that without DGJ and access to lengthy articles by people such as Sherman Bell, Ross Seyfried and others in a venue not influenced by advertisers, the hobby will suffer. One only has to look at the changes in attitude wrought primarily by Sherman Bell and his collaboraters in areas such as Damascus barrels and successful loading of Express cartridges to see what we will miss.

[Jay Oliver]

I will miss it as will my daughter....I was hoping to publish an article in it some day.

[Phil Yearout]

Originally Posted by Craig Larter

It is sad but the fact of the matter is the publishing world is going 100% digital. I never thought I would get used to reading the WSJ on a tablet but I did. Print media will most likely be dead in a decade. I would not be surprised to see a digital DGJ type product in the future. The costs of print production are just not competitive where there is a digital alternative.

Agreed, and as our generations age and disappear there will be even less interest in print. As my daughter points out to me every time I bemoan the direction things are headed (TV, music, advertising, et al): "Dad, you are not the person they're aiming for."

[Andy]

Can't stand digital journals and magazines. I have to print it out to read and absorb it.

[Mike of the Mountain]

From the DGJ website-


~ To All Our Faithful Readers ~
We Regret To Have To Make The Following Announcement

Since 1989 we have striven to produce a journal of the highest quality. However it is with much regret that due to inflated material and labor costs, and diminishing interest in classic guns, we are forced to discontinue The Double Gun Journal. We had sincerely hoped that we could keep going and at least finish this year out; however we can’t go on. We feel so badly that we are letting you all down, but we are not able to financially continue…For the past several years we have been operating at a loss. We now realize that at our age, the demands of a quarterly publication have come to be too much for us.

The young people of today are not nearly so interested in classic guns and subsequently many of our older collectors, with no one to leave their guns to, are forced to sell their collections to get their estates in order. Although it is indeed time for us to step aside, we truly hope that someone will see this adversity as an opportunity to take over the publishing of The Double Gun Journal.

Many of you have extended your subscriptions in advance for future issues, and we trust that you will allow us to repay our debt to you with our products; however if you renewed on or after July 5th, you have not been charged.
We can offer back issues to those who would like to complete their collections or perhaps gift them to someone very special. Also we have many other products available, all of which are listed on the order form sent by post to print subscriber already. They are also detailed in your Spring 2022 issue on the pages designated.

Going forward, we will be devoting our full time to completing our Index & Reader Volume III, which we hope to have available by Christmas 2023. After this, we plan to publish more unique books of firearms.

If you are a print subscriber, you should already have had detailed information on the credit due to you and your expiration date in your mail.



This website will continue to allow for back issues and products sales. More books, shooting products as well as indexes and readers will be made available in the near future.

Thank you for understanding and for your support over the years.

Daniel & Joanna.

[Mike of the Mountain]

Everyone that was considering doing an article in DGJ that involves Parker guns, remember, you can still submit them to Parker Pages. Just sayin'.

[Aaron Beck]

This is a shame. Would hate to see a similar press release from RST.

[Richard Flanders]

It's just a changing world at every level. Seems nothing will ever be same again.

[Mills]

Originally Posted by Aaron Beck

This is a shame. Would hate to see a similar press release from RST.

I thought the same thing.