Understanding the gun debate, part 3
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #163 • January/February, 2017
Click Here to read Part 1
Click Here to read Part 2
As noted in the two previous parts of this discussion, one reason it's hard to maintain honest dialogue...
Savage Model 110 — A proven economical backwoods rifle
By Massad Ayoob
Website Exclusive • July, 2008
Fifty years ago, Savage Arms introduced a new bolt-action sporting rifle. In the gun world, this was news. Savage was most famous for its sleek lever action Model...
Reload your own brass
By Dale Petry
Issue #132 • November/December, 2011
Not long ago a friend called to say he had seen an unusual rifle at the local gun shop. Shortly after that call I found myself in possession...
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...
The light at the end of the gun
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #128 • March/April, 2011
Dave writes, "A few weeks ago I had to shoot a skunk in the chicken house, but the old long-barreled Sears semi-auto proved unwieldy as I tried to...
Picking a holster
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #69 • May/June, 2001
One good thing about being out in the boonies by yourself is that you can carry a gun on your own property. It's a fundamental right that, for...
Teaching a 10-year-old to shoot
By John Moody
Issue #174 • November/December, 2018
In my youth, I remember my dad dragging my brother and me out of bed in the middle of the night, tossing our tired bodies in the back...
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...
Bury a gun and ammo for 15 years
(and be assured everything still
works when you dig it up)
By Charles Wood
Issue #115 • January/February, 2009
Back in the early 1990s the outlook for the nation in general and gun owners in particular seemed rather...
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...
Just because
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #144 • November/December, 2013
I generally recommend that people buy guns the way they'd buy power tools, or automobiles, or homes. Assess your needs, analyze your budget, correlate it all with your...
Thoughts on ammunition
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #108 • November/December, 2007
Ammunition is to firearms as gasoline is to automobiles. However, with guns and ammo, the fit isn't quite so generic as just getting the right octane rating. Recent...
BHM hosts Appleseed marksmanship event
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #139 • January/February, 2013
Long a supporter of the Appleseed concept, Backwoods Home Magazine hosted one in Gold Beach, Oregon, in second quarter 2012. Naturally, a good time was had by all....
Firearms and cold weather considerations
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #79 • January/February, 2003
Many of our readers have established their abodes in places which, during the winter months, do not exactly draw the beachgoers. The older I get, the less the...
Of guns and snakes
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #151 • January/February, 2015
Mas safely kills a rattlesnake in a populated area. (Note angle of gun and trajectory.) Pistol is a Springfield EMP loaded with 9mm 127 grain +P+ Winchester Ranger-T...
The subtleties of safe firearms handling
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #103 • January/February, 2007
There are so many makes and models of firearms in existence that no one has ever counted them all. Each variation may have subtly different handling requirements. It's...






























