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...

How big a gun do you need?

By Massad Ayoob Issue #99 • May/June, 2006 We Americans like to do things in a big way. Big houses. Big cars. Big boats. And, yes, big guns. There are good arguments for all this, of course....

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...

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...

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",...

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...

Frontier style handguns for the modern backwoods home

By Massad Ayoob Issue #101 • September/October, 2006 The year was 1873. Samuel Colt had invented the revolver—or at least introduced it to America—in 1836. The Colt Navy .36 and Army .44 cap-n'-ball revolvers had been...

Big boomer guns

By Massad Ayoob Issue #125 • September/October, 2010 For you long time readers, I know what you're thinkin'—"Hey, isn't this the guy who within the last two years wrote the article about moderation, where he said...

Hiding a gun — The rules of three

By Claire Wolfe Issue #140 • March/April, 2013 My friend Jack pulled the car into a grassy clearing. We donned rubber boots, fetched a metal detector and digging tools from the trunk, and headed off along...

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,...

Cold weather shooting considerations

By Massad Ayoob Issue #126 • November/December, 2010 Winter will soon be upon us. Cold weather makes a lot of things more difficult. Running. Walking. Navigating through the woods. And, of course, safely manipulating and shooting...

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...

Sight and sound enhancement

By Massad Ayoob Issue #71 • September/October, 2001 Enhancing vision and hearing can make you a safer, more effective shooter, and sometimes can save human lives. Captain Ayoob prepares to trigger his MP5 with SureFire light unit...

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...

How to shoot a handgun accurately

By Massad Ayoob Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 "I want you to do an article on how to shoot a handgun accurately," Dave Duffy told me. "Make it 2,500 or 3,000 words." Long ago, I would have...

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...