Fieldsports Press acquisition series continues: four firearms titles

Fieldsports Press Acquires Gunmart and Gun Trade World

Specialty magazine publisher Fieldsports Press has acquired four titles in a deal that is its sixth acquisition in the past few years.

Fieldsports has acquired Gunmart, Gun Trade World, What Gun? and The Sporting Airgun Handbook from David Hall Publishing, which also owns the fishing and woodworking titles.

Selena Barr, co-founder and COO of Fieldsports Press, said: “These respected titles are a perfect fit for our growing media group. By integrating these well-known brands, both consumer and B2B, we are enhancing our ability to deliver unparalleled engagement for audiences and advertisers across print and digital platforms.”

The publisher said all DHP employees “associated with brands” would be transferred to the new owner.

Gun Trade World, which debuted in 2010, became the first internationally distributed title owned by Edinburgh-based Fieldsports, which said it was “looking to expand globally.”

The publisher says Gun Trade World, which has a monthly print edition and is also available online, reaches more than 70,000 shooting, tactical and law enforcement professionals worldwide.

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Meanwhile, in 1981, the monthly Gunmart magazine and website was founded, and What Gun? and The Sporting Airgun Handbook are annual buyers’ guides.

Back in 2024, Fieldsports bought The Countryman’s Weekly (which effectively became a fortnightly), saving it from closure by Emap by merging it with The Shooting Times weekly and doubling the pagination of the combined product. However, it did not retain all of The Countryman’s Weekly’s staff, making several redundant.

Shooting Times itself was acquired from Future by Fieldsports last year, as were the monthly Sporting Gun magazine and YouTube channel The Shooting Show.

Last April, Fieldsports also acquired fly fishing magazine Trout & Salmon from Bauer Media Group and, in 2022, five more shooting magazine brands from Archant.

Fieldsports was founded by Simon and Selena Barr in 2018 after acquiring Fieldsports Journal from Lincolnshire-based specialist publisher BPG Media. A year later, they launched Gundog Journal.

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