02/27/1993   BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- Soldier of Fortune magazine has
negotiated a reduction in a $4.3 million judgment levied against it
for printing a mercenary ad involved in a contract killing.
   The deal will save the magazine from bankruptcy, publisher Robert
Brown said Friday.
   He would not say how much the magazine would pay, except that it
was substantially lower than damages a federal jury awarded to two
sons of Richard Braun, who was shot to death outside his suburban
Atlanta home in 1985.
   Steven Glassroth, attorney for Braun's sons, confirmed Saturday
they had settled for a reduced amount, but would not say how much.
He said they decided to settle because they might have received less
if the magazine went bankrupt.
   The monthly magazine is aimed at military enthusiasts,
mercenaries and adventurers. It stopped publishing personal ads in
1986.
   Braun's sons filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in 1988. The magazine
lost and appealed unsuccessfully. The Supreme Court later declined
to review the case.
   The brothers contended their father's business associate, Bruce
Gastwirth, arranged the killing through an ad that began with the
words: "Gun for Hire."
   Gastwirth and Richard Savage, who placed the ad, were convicted
of conspiracy in 1989, along with two members of a ring of hit men
run by Savage.