Inexpensive retired Russian military rifles can be the ideal backwoods meat guns
By Rev. J.D. Hooker
Issue #47 • September/October, 1997
Like many another rural person, I've often found a firearm to be my most important tool. No, we don't have much crime in our area; in fact...
An economical battery of guns for the backwoods home
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #114 • November/December, 2008
Everything's getting more expensive. Food. Gasoline. Guns and ammunition. Not everyone who appreciates the rural lifestyle was "born with a gun in their hand" the way some of...
1911: The classic homeland security pistol
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #83 • September/October, 2003
If you've read American firearms history at all, you know the lore of the .45 automatic. How during the Philippine insurrection, the newly issued .38 revolver failed miserably...
The M1A — A rifle that makes a statement
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #45 • May/June, 1997
I take the Springfield Armory rifle out of the box, and savor it. I seldom do that with guns, but a Springfield Match grade M1A will make a...
Women and guns
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #121 • January/February, 2010
In a time when what used to be called "the women's liberation movement" has achieved many of its goals in terms of equality and empowerment, the concept that...
Firearms handling refresher Part I: Handguns
By Massad Ayoob
Website Exclusive • December, 2003
One of our readers e-mailed John Silveira to tell him that taking a handgun afield after a long layoff had resulted in some scary moments. While gun handling...
Centennial of the All-American .30-06
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #100 • July/August, 2006
In the long love affair between America and the rifle, there has never been an interlude quite as intensive as the epoch of the .30-06. This cartridge celebrated...
The time for modern; the time for traditional
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #137 • September/October, 2012
Traditional "old skool" guns, or the most modern and efficient ballistic hardware that money can buy? I asked that question recently on my corner of the Backwoods Home...
The Appleseed Project
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #123 • May/June, 2010
There is nothing else in the shooting world quite like the Appleseed Project, which combines American Revolutionary War history with rifle marksmanship and firearms safety, and in so...
Hunting, processing, and serving black bear
By Linda Gabris
Issue #162 • November/December, 2016
Bear was a popular meat in our house when I was growing up in the rural woods. Black bear was Grandpa's favorite big game animal to hunt and...
Moderate power firearms
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #110 • March/April, 2008
Robert Ruark, the great American writer of the mid-Twentieth Century, was also a big game hunter. One of his most popular books, written on the latter topic, was...
Affordable firearms
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #134 • March/April, 2012
Knowing that frugality is one of the cornerstones of rural living, Editor Annie Tuttle suggested that I tackle the topic of buying an adequate gun (and ammo, and...
Choose your ammo… police style
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #93 • May/June, 2005
One of our greatest modern gun experts, Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper, USMC, Ret., once made the observation that the bullet is more important than the gun. The gun,...
Tailoring guns to females
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #131 • September/October, 2011
So, I'm sitting here in a hotel writing this, less than three hours after getting off the witness stand in a manslaughter case. The defendant was a 5'3",...
Answering some well asked questions about personal defense
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #97 • January/February, 2006
Jeff Yago, Backwoods Home's energy writer, recently completed a couple of concealed carry handgun courses. The classes apparently left some questions hanging in the air, and Jeff passed...
How long should your gun’s barrel length be?
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #136 • July/August, 2012
The person new to guns is like the person new to timepieces. "How many of these things are there?" "In how many configurations?" "And they've been around for...
