Featured Story

Mightier Than Ever: Ruger Reinvents The Mini-14 click here Brian C. Sheetz—More than 30 years after its debut, Ruger’s landmark Mini-14 has been retooled and is available in a new chambering and several new configurations—including one that can help protect the Second Amendment.

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	German Infantry Muskets In The American Revolution Don Troiani—Nearly 30,000 troops from German principalities fought in the American War of Independence. Little is known about the guns they brought to America, even though many remain here to this day.
	The Beginning Of The Belt Ross Seyfried—To understand the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum’s development and success, we must first examine Holland’s first belted .375—the .400-375 or .375 Veloplex—and the Holland-Schoenauer rifle.
	The Schmidt-Rubin K31 Carbine: Step-By-Step Stuart Mowbray & Joe Puleo— The straight-pull Swiss K31 Schmidt-Rubin is one of the most beautiful and accurate military rifles of all time. Here’s how to take the K31 and its bolt apart—and put them back together again.
	Small, Smaller, Smallest: The Kahr .45s Wiley Clapp—Best known for its modern semi-automatic pistols designed for discreet carry, Kahr Arms has increased the power available to armed citizens with its family of personal-size pistols chambered in .45 ACP.

Special Reports and Official News

	Exclusive Interview with Senator John McCain click here By NRA Staff—NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox recently asked the presumptive Republican nominee some tough questions about his record and his philosophy.
	A Patriot Lays Down His Arms click here By Gary Lantz— Charlton Heston brought the heavens down to Earth through the power of his God-given talent. Now the actor, rights advocate and voice of reason has joined those whom he portrayed with such persuasion.
	Leave Your Own Legacy click here By Brooke A. Berthelsen— You can preserve your passion for generations to come as a member of The NRA Heritage Society by making a provision in your will or trust to benefit the NRA or an NRA affiliate.
	The Second Amendment Showdown click here By Frank Miniter—The U.S. Supreme Court heard District of Columbia v. Heller, a Second Amendment case that will likely decide whether you have an individual right to bear arms. Here’s what happened.

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."

Howa/Axiom Varminter Package .308 Win. 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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