Featured Story

A Perennial Favorite: SIG Sauer’s P220 click here
Wiley Clapp—The SIG Sauer P220 was a landmark design, and more than three decades later all the features that made the P220 great are still there. It’s easy to see why the accurate and reliable P220 is a top performer.

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	Shotgun Balance And Barrel Length: The Long And Short Of It Phil Bourjaily—When it comes to ballistics and sighting, barrel length doesn’t matter as much as many might think. But when it comes to handling and gun dynamics, the length of the barrel makes all the difference in the world.
	“Stand In the Door!” The M1A1 Carbine Reprised click here Bill Vanderpool—The FBI soldiered on for decades without formal sniping rifles or the training to go with them. Here is the story of the rifles finally developed for and used by the FBI—from an agent who was there.
	LSAT: The Future Of Small Arms Now? click here Robert Bruce—American Rifleman takes a close look at the cutting-edge work well underway toward the goal of sharply reducing the infantry soldier’s combat load. It could be the future of U.S. infantry weapons.
	The State Of Slugs: A High-Tech Slugfest Bryce M. Towsley—No longer a poor substitute for a rifle bullet, the sabot slugs of today deliver accuracy and terminal performance born of solid engineering, and they are on the forefront of ballistic technology.
	A Fancy, Functional .45: Kimber’s SuperAmerica Wiley Clapp—Kimber’s SuperAmerica rifles have earned a reputation for function and elegance. Now, its SuperAmerica M1911s have redefined ornamentation and performance from John Browning’s handgun masterpiece.

Special Reports and Official News

	America’s Worst Gun Laws: Coming to a State Near You? click here As you go to the polls in November, remember some of the laws anti-gun politicians think are “reasonable” and the states in which these onerous restrictions have already been implemented.  By Chris W. Cox
	Obama’s AHSA Endorsement Flames Out click here The American Hunters and Shooters Association’s endorsement is a preview of the “change” you’ll hear in the coming election about a candidate who is trying to sound harmless to gun owners and hunters.  By Chris W. Cox

President's Column | Standing Guard | Armed Citizen | Regional Report

Dope Bag

The American Rifleman has used the phrase "Dope Bag" since at least 1921, when Col. Townsend Whelen first titled his column with it. Even then, it had been in use for years, referring to a sack used by target shooters to hold ammunition and accessories on the firing line. "Sight dope" also was a traditional marksman's term for sight-adjustment information, while judging wind speed and direction was called "doping the wind."

FNH Self Loading Police Shotgun click here
STAG-15 model 6 Super Varminter click here

The Editor

Mark A. Keefe, IV was appointed editor of American Rifleman magazine in 2000, and was promoted to editor in chief of American Rifleman, americanrifleman.org and "American Rifleman Television" in 2003. He started out as a volunteer at the National Firearms Museum in 1988 and became a curatorial assistant there in 1990. He joined the American Rifleman staff in 1991 as an assistant technical editor. An NRA Life member, Keefe is a shooter, hunter and gun collector, specializing in British Lee-Enfield rifles. An Eagle Scout, Keefe taught rifle shooting, shotgun shooting and archery at Goshen Scout Camps while in college, becoming an NRA Certified Instructor in Rifle, Shotgun, Muzzleloading Rifle and Muzzleloading Shotgun. Keefe earned a bachelor of arts in History from the University of Maryland in 1989.

Keefe has written hundreds of bylined and non-bylined articles on virtually every facet of the shooting sports, ranging from firearms reviews to legislative issues. In 2003, he was awarded the Man-At-Arms Cup for "outstanding service in the field of arms and armour" for making American Rifleman, once again, an important reference for arms collectors. An avid waterfowler, upland bird hunter, varminter and deer hunter, Keefe has hunted all over the continental United States, Africa, Alaska and Canada. In 2002, Keefe created the format for "American Rifleman Television" and currently directs and supervises its editorial content.

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