August 30, 2026 • 21 mins
Have you ever wondered about the rich history behind America's oldest firearms magazines? On this episode of the Amateurs and Experts Podcast, hosts Erica Chin and Maggie Reese chat with Ed from American Rifleman magazine. Ed shares how the publication has evolved over more than 120 years to inform and entertain NRA members across the country. He explains that while modern guns have great new accessories, the core mechanics of how firearms operate have not changed much in over a century!
The group discusses the excitement of custom gun builds, comparing modular rifle parts to adult building blocks that can be tailored to any shooter. Ed also explains how the NRA is working hard to rebuild member trust through new leadership and clear transparency. Readers can access digital magazines, videos, and member benefits easily using the official NRA smartphone app. To stay connected and support gun safety training, listeners are encouraged to visit AmericanRifleman.org and join the NRA today.
Links
- Timestamp 12:47: Submit manuscript queries via email to AmericanRifleman@nrahq.org.
- Timestamp 20:50: Explore articles, videos, and membership options at AmericanRifleman.org.
Key Takeaways
- Historic Legacy: American Rifleman has documented firearm history for over 120 years under previous names like Arms and the Man and The Rifleman.
- Digital & Print Publishing: The magazine currently publishes four print editions per year alongside twelve monthly digital editions accessible online and via the official app.
- Firearm Mechanics Continuity: Core operating systems in modern firearms (such as direct gas impingement) originate from early 20th-century technology.
- Customization Appeal: Modular platforms like the AR-15 allow gun owners to tailor firearms specifically to their body type, ergonomic preferences, and target application.
- Organizational Accountability: The NRA is actively focusing on compliance, internal transparency, and structural reform to regain member trust.
Key Words Used
- American Rifleman
- NRA (National Rifle Association)
- Shooting Illustrated
- Direct Gas Impingement
- AR-15
- 1911
- Suppressors
- 300 Blackout
- Firearms History
- Digitization
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:15):
Welcome to Amateurs and Experts Podcast.
We are here at 2026 NRA.
I am Erica Chin, and I'm herewith my co-host, Maggie Reese.
And we have Ed with AmericanRifleman Magazine.
So excited to have you on.
I mean, it's such an honor.
Welcome.
SPEAKER_00 (00:34):
Yeah, no, thank you guys.
I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_03 (00:36):
Yeah, so tell us about American Rifleman, how
long it's been.
I mean, it's been aroundforever.
SPEAKER_00 (00:47):
Yeah, it's more than 120 years.
Wow.
It's had several differenttitles in that time, stars like
Arms and the Man, uh, and thenit was The Rifleman for a while.
Oh.
Uh, but it's been AmericanRifleman for the bulk of that uh
uh century plus, uh century anda quarter.
Um and uh the new AmericanRifleman is now published
(01:11):
quarterly in print and 12 timesa year digitally.
Uh it is an NRA member magazine,so when you join NRA, which
everybody should go out and do,uh you get your choice of
magazine.
Uh you can get American Hunterif you're into hunting and
American Rifleman.
We're we cover everything to dowith guns.
Uh we in the last six monthssince this these changes
(01:37):
started, we've brought over alot more of the things that we
used to.
I used to be the editor-in-chiefof Shooting Illustrated
magazine.
And we brought over a fairamount of what we did there, but
we're keeping also the riflemanethos of history and and
covering all types of firearms.
Uh, but we brought over sometraining, brought over some new
voices.
Uh our uh columnists that webrought from Shooting
(02:00):
Illustrated are Tamara Keel, whois one of the, you guys know
Tam.
She is uh one of the funniestwriters out there.
She's brilliant, she knows a tonabout guns, um, and she writes
our uh From the Counter column.
She's got a lot of experienceworking in gun shops and knowing
what the consumer is lookingfor, uh, and also some of the
(02:22):
foibles that gun shops have,that consumers have, so it's
always a great read.
Um we brought Steve Edelman, uh,who is a former Special
Operations Forces sniper, uh,among other things, uh, and a
true expert, true American hero,but he doesn't talk about that.
Uh, but uh he writes about acomm called On Guns, which is
(02:45):
just stuff you need to knowabout guns, how they work, how
to make them better, silencers,optics, anything to do with
that.
Uh and we, Richard Mann, also amajor name in the industry, he
writes our comm on ammunitionand ammo products, reloading,
stuff like that.
And so we brought those folksover from Shooting Illustrated
to try and make Rifleman moreappealing to a wider audience.
(03:08):
Uh as we uh have pulled back onthe number of titles we have.
We really want Rifleman toappeal to as many people as
possible who are NRA members.
Um and the other thing we'redoing is the digital magazines,
like I mentioned, which we dovideos for that.
So you can get that magazine,it'll be emailed to you, or you
can get the NRA app, which youcan download at the App Store
(03:31):
for uh Android or Appleproducts, iOS, I guess,
products.
Um and you can get the magazineson there, you can get all your
member benefits, discounts, allthat in one place.
Uh you can visit all of ourwebsites through that app so you
don't have to go looking.
Um and so yeah, we're excitedabout uh a lot of these changes.
Uh you know, change is alwaysrough, but but hopefully it ends
(03:56):
up being good.
SPEAKER_02 (03:56):
Well, I just think it's so interesting because I I
mean I've been an NRA Lifemember, like I I don't know how
long since I've startedshooting.
So I've always got an Americanrifleman.
And but I didn't realize, andand knowing that you were coming
on the podcast, I was like, I'mgonna look up the history of
this magazine.
And then I hadn't realized howlong that, you know, the
different iterations anddifferent name titles, like you
(04:17):
said, but how amazing is thatjust to have like this history
and this whole process, and I'mwondering, like, do you guys do
you have like the catalog?
SPEAKER_00 (04:28):
Yeah, so we we have bound volumes going back to the
beginning, and uh we're tryingto digitize as much as possible.
Some of them are not in the bestcondition, you know, paper, it
wasn't always printed on glossypaper, you know.
So you're going back to almostlike newsprint from the 19th
century.
Uh doesn't always survive.
(04:49):
No, and you know, also when youI do as I've been putting out
magazines for NRA for 18 years.
I have them at home stored.
I never thought that they'd beinteresting.
You know, that's just what I didthis, that's what I did this
month at work.
Uh so you can imagine probablythe same attitude in 1900.
They didn't put them in thephone.
(05:12):
Yeah.
So uh, but yeah, every once in awhile, you know, we go back and
look at at those old articles.
And it was obviously verydifferent.
I mean, it this existed, I guessnot before photography
technically, but you know,certainly before you had photos
in magazines, way before colorphotography.
Uh so it's it's reallyinteresting to go back and look
(05:33):
at stuff.
And a lot of those earlyarticles, there was, I don't
want to say that there hasn'tbeen advances in guns, but it's
much more incremental.
Really, I was actually justtalking with someone, the last
change in an operating systemfor a firearm is direct gas
impingent, which is uh what ARs,most ARs run off of.
(05:53):
But that system was invented, Ibelieve, in 1905.
Oh every gun that exists todayuses an operating system that is
at the youngest, 120 years old.
Wow, wow, wow.
SPEAKER_02 (06:09):
I mean, yeah, conceptually we just don't
really think like that.
No.
You know, because I I like tothink I'm shooting the most
modern equipment, you know,right now and the most
innovative, and but the corebasis of it.
SPEAKER_00 (06:22):
The way it works, it has not changed in a very, very,
very long time.
A lot of other things havechanged.
SPEAKER_01 (06:28):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (06:29):
You know, I don't want to say that they haven't
innovated, but the actualfunctioning of the gun is, you
know, there hadn't been a wholelot of change in that regard.
SPEAKER_03 (06:37):
That kind of blows my mind too.
Just that they're, you know, Imean, I guess if it's not broke,
don't fix it, right?
SPEAKER_00 (06:43):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (06:44):
And if it works the best, that's the best way it
works.
SPEAKER_00 (06:46):
Exactly.
And and and there is, you know,there's only so many ways in
which a, you know, you canharness the energy or the gas
that's being shot out to make anaction work.
And we figured all those out.
So, you know, the next stuff isgoing to be, I don't know,
directed energy or things thataren't quite there yet.
So uh but but we have hazardsand aliens.
(07:09):
Exactly, exactly.
But we we have, going back inthe archives, when they're
talking about actual newoperating systems were being
invented, and there's a reportin Arms and the Man talking
about that.
Uh we have stuff from World WarI when the NRA played a huge
role in helping train this armythat went from a few 10,000 to
(07:34):
millions in a matter of monthsfor World War I.
Well, the NRA was very heavilyinvolved in training the
doughboys to shoot before theywent over to France in World War
I.
And we played the same role inWorld War II.
And we do the same thing now,not as close tie with the
government as it used to be, butobviously we have education and
(07:56):
training, and you know, ourprimary the primary mission of
the National Rifle Associationis to ensure that Americans know
how to shoot.
I mean, originally it was incase the South rose up again,
but it our our mission is toteach Americans marksmanship.
SPEAKER_02 (08:12):
This is fascinating to me because I've been telling
Erica offline, like I'm justgoing through like my family
history.
I have one grandfather whoserved in World War II, who
actually was an airman and hisplane was shot down and died,
and then I have anothergrandfather who caught in World
War I.
And it would be so fascinatingas I'm going through their
letters and you know, and theiruniforms and looking at pictures
(08:34):
and seeing the guns that theywere carrying.
It would be so fascinating to goback and see what was being
written about, how was it beingexplained as they were getting
deployed and going off to war.
SPEAKER_00 (08:44):
And it was certain, I mean, we we were talking about
all of those things, we weretalking about what guns were
being used, what innovationswere happening, but it's also it
was very written verydifferently.
You know, if you ever read oldthings, language was different.
SPEAKER_02 (08:59):
And I'm not very good at that.
Like, you know, sometimes it's alittle bit like a lot of people.
It's hard to read.
It's hard to read.
SPEAKER_00 (09:04):
Uh uh, you know, it was not written in a way that we
would find accessible orcertainly interesting.
It was kind of boring.
Uh uh, but for the time itwasn't.
That's just how languageevolves, how enter, I mean,
ultimately, yeah, we'reinforming people, but the the
reason you're doing it isbecause you like it, so we're
entertaining you.
SPEAKER_02 (09:23):
Right.
For simpletons, when didpictures become very prevalent?
Right, so in the magazine?
SPEAKER_00 (09:30):
So believe it or not, but believe it or not, we
we had, I mean, you it it goesback a long way.
We've had photographs, butagain, they were black and
white, uh, a lot of drawings,um, but like exploded views of
guns, that really hasn't changedmuch in the way that's
presented.
Um, I mean, they're done by, youknow, on computers and CAD
drawings and things like that,but it's still an exploded view
(09:52):
of a gun.
Uh, so it really doesn't lookall that different from a if you
look at an exploded view of a1911 that might have run in
American rifleman in 1911,versus an exploded view of a
new, yeah, pick any manufacturerthat's making 1911s, now there's
a lot of them.
Uh take like a SpringfieldArmory 1911, if they have an
(10:14):
exploded view, yeah, it'll looka little different because it's
done by a CAD machine, butfundamentally the parts are the
same, the numbers for the partsare the same because it's the
same gun.
You know, yeah, they theythey've put a lot better sites,
the tolerances might be a lotbetter, you know, the the
trigger may be smoother, thehammer might be skeletonized or
things like that.
But it's a 1911 from 1911.
SPEAKER_02 (10:38):
So that's fascinating.
And and that's available on theNRA?
SPEAKER_00 (10:42):
So no, we're we're digitized, I mean, probably the
exploded view of the 1911, Ithink you can probably find that
in in back issues of AmericanRifleman, but uh that that we
that we do have available onlineuh or or through the digital
magazine.
But um we haven't fullydigitized the whole catalog yet.
We're working on it.
SPEAKER_02 (11:00):
Oh that's amazing.
Yeah, that's amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (11:02):
So I usually get American Rifleman and I look at
the cover first and I'm like,ooh, and then I look inside at
the pictures, and then I go backand look at the article.
SPEAKER_00 (11:13):
Yeah, yeah, that's so so that that's one of the
things if you're in the magazinetrade, which is rapidly
dwindling, but uh uh, you know,they're called entry points into
an article.
And you know, if you look at theway you're supposed to, quote
unquote, do that, it's you readthe headline, you read the
article, you read the captions,you read the spec box.
(11:35):
Most people don't do that.
They look, like you say, theylook at the pictures, because
that's you know, the theimmediate uh brain gratification
of, okay, that's what I'mlooking at.
Then they'll read the captionsto see what's in the picture,
then they'll go look at the MSRPof the gun, and they'll be like,
nah, maybe I don't need to readthat whole article, you know.
So, but that's so that's a bigpart of what we do is trying to
(11:59):
make each one of the, I mean, wewe have no control over the
MSRP, but we try to makeeverything we do have control uh
compelling so that people willstop and go, okay, you know
what, that's interesting, I wantto read the whole review.
SPEAKER_02 (12:10):
So what how would somebody get started?
Like, I mean, I'm sure everybodylike wants to, it would be the
pinnacle of success to write forthe NRA.
Like, how would people go aboutthat?
How do you do submissions forour?
SPEAKER_00 (12:23):
So we we do, I mean, uh unsolicited manuscripts, we
get them.
I've had actually guys write uhreally good stuff that that way,
and we've uh we end up writingthem and they end up writing for
us uh on a semi-regular basis.
For the most part, uh it'speople that are established
already who are writing for us.
(12:43):
But the most important thing isyou have to be a good writer,
and that is hard.
Uh but if you are a good writer,uh you can send us samples of
your writing.
Uh we prefer it in the body ofthe email because our IIT
department doesn't like usopening unsolicited attachments,
(13:04):
as you can imagine.
Uh but send a sample, you cansend that to AmericanRifleman at
nrahq.org.
And we'll, you know, we can'tget I'm can't guarantee we're
gonna get back to you.
Obviously, can't guarantee thatwe're gonna publish anything,
but it it's happened where folkshave cold called for lack of a
better term, and they end upgetting paid to write for us.
SPEAKER_03 (13:26):
So wow, that's cool.
So, what are your favorite gunsthough?
What do you like?
SPEAKER_00 (13:30):
That's such a that's such a loaded, for lack of a
better word, question because II love all guns.
I think they're all cool.
Um, you know, I obviously I loveARs, I love building my own ARs.
That's the coolest part of themto me, is like, here's something
yours.
Yeah, making it yours, and I'mnot like a super like
(13:50):
mechanically gifted person, butI can build uh an AR and that's
so cool.
And it's like, and yeah, I loveshooting them too, but it's like
half of it is like, oh, I putthat together and it works.
That's so cool.
You know?
Because you're not reallybuilding, you're putting it
together.
But do you like super custom orwell yeah, I mean I'll I I I'll
pick out parts and and do it allmyself.
(14:10):
You know, you buy the lower andthen you can do everything, you
know, over time.
The lower is the only regulatedpiece of it, so uh that's a lot
of fun.
SPEAKER_02 (14:20):
I I'm the same way, like ARs and 1911s, like they
are fit to you and they are fitto your hand.
SPEAKER_00 (14:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (14:26):
You know, different than like a striker fire pistol
or something like that, whereyou know your changes are
limited.
But if you build something andit's got either the sights or
the optics and it's got thegrips that you want, and it's
got the fore-in that you want,the trigger that you want, every
single thing is exactly how youdialed it in.
It's yours.
SPEAKER_00 (14:45):
Exactly, exactly.
And and the great thing with,particularly with ARs, is
they're so versatile.
I mean, you can build a riflewith a 22-inch barrel for long
range like predator hunting.
Yeah, right.
And you can build an AR largeformat pistol with a brace and
an eight-inch barrel, and youknow, that's in a big bore
(15:08):
caliber and use that for hoghunting or home defense.
And then you can build just astraight, you know, normal,
normal 556 NATO uh carbine andhave a lot of fun with that and
put different accessories onthem.
And it really is adult tinkertoys for AR.
It really is.
(15:30):
And they are I mean, you canfind you can find how to put
them together.
You know, Brownells did a greatvideo series on that, where you
literally just watch a videoplot and do it, and you know, it
helps to have a few specializedtools, but not, doesn't it
require a huge investment, andit's so much fun to do that.
And then, like you said, Maggie,it's it's it's yours, it's your
(15:52):
gun, and there is no other gunthat's going to be exactly like
that because you of thecombination of parts that you
used.
SPEAKER_02 (15:59):
My competition AR could not have been like more
different than my husband'scompetition AR because we just
had totally different needs.
Like mine was super, superlight, and of course the
trade-off was that it recoiled,you know, so he never wanted to
shoot it.
But I needed it to be lightbecause I've got little noodle
arms that you know I couldn'tcarry the gun long enough and
like it would get too heavy forme.
(16:21):
So, I mean, just your needs,like you can really specify and
tailor, you know, an AR perfectfor you.
So I agree with you.
SPEAKER_00 (16:30):
Yeah, so that that's probably my favorite platform.
But I like I said, I like themall.
And I I I like weird stuff, youknow, that that uh more niche
products.
Uh uh also that that that'spartly because no one else has
it, right?
But it's it it that's where alot of the innovation happens.
It starts in some weird thingand then maybe it makes its way
(16:51):
into mainstream.
I mean, ultimately that's 300blackout, which of course is uh,
you know, the the it's not theoriginal, because it was based
off of 300 whisper, but but itstarted off as a very niche
thing that was only for peoplewho had suppressors, but now
everybody's getting suppressors.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (17:10):
Right.
So like everybody has abeautiful blackout.
SPEAKER_00 (17:13):
Yeah, that I I've I've had to really exercise
self-control since January 1stbecause I bought one suppressor,
but I'm like, I really want tobuy like eight suppressors, but
then I probably get divorced, sothat's gotta hide them.
Yeah, yeah.
(17:33):
But you know, that's such a hugething, and a real victory that
NRA won, uh getting the tax downto zero, and we're still
fighting to try and getsuppressors off the NFA entirely
so you can buy them the way youshould be able to buy them,
which is anywhere, without anysort of extra background checks
and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02 (17:51):
So what's the next big hurdle for the NRA?
Like what are they reallyfocused on right now?
SPEAKER_00 (17:56):
So I think our biggest thing is we we want to
regain the trust of the folkswho were members who left over
the past several years.
We have completely newmanagement, a virtually
completely new board ofdirectors that is focused on
compliance and transparency sothat when you give us money, you
know it's going toward the rightthing.
(18:18):
The reason why you you join, notluxuries for employees, which as
an employee I can tell you thereare none.
That never trickled down to mylife.
SPEAKER_01 (18:32):
I wish I were living the life that everybody else has
been.
SPEAKER_00 (18:35):
I never got the private jet, so that's uh uh but
but that's why you're stillhere.
SPEAKER_03 (18:40):
That's why I'm still here, exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (18:41):
So so that worked out.
But uh but yeah, we're we we'rewe we really are trying to
rebuild that trust because weare the largest by several
orders of magnitude.
There are other organizations,gun rights organizations do a
great job, but they're just notour they're they don't have the
clout that NRA has.
(19:02):
The reason why, you know, a lotof the anti-gun organizations
attack us is because we're thebig guys.
Yeah.
Um and and they don't go aftersome of the others because
they've they've never heard ofthem.
That's not to say they don't dogreat work, but they don't have
millions of members.
They don't have 10 millionpeople who were members uh uh
(19:24):
who still identify with whatNRA's messaging is and things
like that.
So we really need people to signup if you're not a member, if
you weren't a member, and if youif you if if we broke trust with
you, which we did, understandthat that is completely changed
uh in the last couple years, andwe're on the right path, but we
(19:46):
need you guys to come back andsupport us so that we can go
back to being what we were uhwithout the chicanery.
SPEAKER_02 (19:55):
Yeah.
Yeah, and you guys are fightingthe good fight, and you're
taking on a lot of issues thatwe need somebody to take on.
SPEAKER_00 (20:02):
Right, and you know, our opponents, uh the people who
are anti-gun have changed theirstrategy somewhat effectively,
where they used to go fornational, now they're going
state by state.
And you know, in my home stateof Virginia, we're in trouble uh
on the gun issue.
Um we're at you're always oneelection away from losing
everything.
Right.
(20:23):
And uh uh that that happened tous in Virginia, and it the the
truth is it could happenanywhere.
We need the vigilance, we needthe NRA fighting, which we are,
but in order to do that, we needyour support.
SPEAKER_03 (20:36):
Absolutely.
Well, if um somebody wants toget a hold of you, get a hold of
uh the American Rifleman, um,how do they get a hold of the
easiest way is visitAmericanRifleman.org that you'll
find articles, videos, all sortsof great content there.
SPEAKER_00 (20:54):
Obviously, on that page there'll be a little button
to join NRA, and you can pickAmerican Rifleman as your
magazine.
And there's the NRA app, like Isaid, you can download at in the
app stores.
Uh, and it's it's actually, theydid a really good job with that,
and that will keep addingfeatures that'll be very useful
to anyone for NRA members, butonce you're a member, you just
(21:16):
enter your member number and youhave full access to everything
in the app.
SPEAKER_03 (21:20):
Oh, perfect, perfect.
Well, thank you so much for it.
I really appreciate you comingby and taking your time out.
I know NRA has got to be likesuch a whirlwind busy for you.
SPEAKER_00 (21:30):
This is a busy weekend, yeah.
So I really appreciate yourtime.
Thank you so much.
Have a great show.
You too, thanks, guys.
Welcome to Amateurs and Experts Podcast.
We are here at 2026 NRA.
I am Erica Chin, and I'm herewith my co-host, Maggie Reese.
And we have Ed with AmericanRifleman Magazine.
So excited to have you on.
I mean, it's such an honor.
Welcome.
SPEAKER_00 (00:34):
Yeah, no, thank you guys.
I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_03 (00:36):
Yeah, so tell us about American Rifleman, how
long it's been.
I mean, it's been aroundforever.
SPEAKER_00 (00:47):
Yeah, it's more than 120 years.
Wow.
It's had several differenttitles in that time, stars like
Arms and the Man, uh, and thenit was The Rifleman for a while.
Oh.
Uh, but it's been AmericanRifleman for the bulk of that uh
uh century plus, uh century anda quarter.
Um and uh the new AmericanRifleman is now published
(01:11):
quarterly in print and 12 timesa year digitally.
Uh it is an NRA member magazine,so when you join NRA, which
everybody should go out and do,uh you get your choice of
magazine.
Uh you can get American Hunterif you're into hunting and
American Rifleman.
We're we cover everything to dowith guns.
Uh we in the last six monthssince this these changes
(01:37):
started, we've brought over alot more of the things that we
used to.
I used to be the editor-in-chiefof Shooting Illustrated
magazine.
And we brought over a fairamount of what we did there, but
we're keeping also the riflemanethos of history and and
covering all types of firearms.
Uh, but we brought over sometraining, brought over some new
voices.
Uh our uh columnists that webrought from Shooting
(02:00):
Illustrated are Tamara Keel, whois one of the, you guys know
Tam.
She is uh one of the funniestwriters out there.
She's brilliant, she knows a tonabout guns, um, and she writes
our uh From the Counter column.
She's got a lot of experienceworking in gun shops and knowing
what the consumer is lookingfor, uh, and also some of the
(02:22):
foibles that gun shops have,that consumers have, so it's
always a great read.
Um we brought Steve Edelman, uh,who is a former Special
Operations Forces sniper, uh,among other things, uh, and a
true expert, true American hero,but he doesn't talk about that.
Uh, but uh he writes about acomm called On Guns, which is
(02:45):
just stuff you need to knowabout guns, how they work, how
to make them better, silencers,optics, anything to do with
that.
Uh and we, Richard Mann, also amajor name in the industry, he
writes our comm on ammunitionand ammo products, reloading,
stuff like that.
And so we brought those folksover from Shooting Illustrated
to try and make Rifleman moreappealing to a wider audience.
(03:08):
Uh as we uh have pulled back onthe number of titles we have.
We really want Rifleman toappeal to as many people as
possible who are NRA members.
Um and the other thing we'redoing is the digital magazines,
like I mentioned, which we dovideos for that.
So you can get that magazine,it'll be emailed to you, or you
can get the NRA app, which youcan download at the App Store
(03:31):
for uh Android or Appleproducts, iOS, I guess,
products.
Um and you can get the magazineson there, you can get all your
member benefits, discounts, allthat in one place.
Uh you can visit all of ourwebsites through that app so you
don't have to go looking.
Um and so yeah, we're excitedabout uh a lot of these changes.
Uh you know, change is alwaysrough, but but hopefully it ends
(03:56):
up being good.
SPEAKER_02 (03:56):
Well, I just think it's so interesting because I I
mean I've been an NRA Lifemember, like I I don't know how
long since I've startedshooting.
So I've always got an Americanrifleman.
And but I didn't realize, andand knowing that you were coming
on the podcast, I was like, I'mgonna look up the history of
this magazine.
And then I hadn't realized howlong that, you know, the
different iterations anddifferent name titles, like you
(04:17):
said, but how amazing is thatjust to have like this history
and this whole process, and I'mwondering, like, do you guys do
you have like the catalog?
SPEAKER_00 (04:28):
Yeah, so we we have bound volumes going back to the
beginning, and uh we're tryingto digitize as much as possible.
Some of them are not in the bestcondition, you know, paper, it
wasn't always printed on glossypaper, you know.
So you're going back to almostlike newsprint from the 19th
century.
Uh doesn't always survive.
(04:49):
No, and you know, also when youI do as I've been putting out
magazines for NRA for 18 years.
I have them at home stored.
I never thought that they'd beinteresting.
You know, that's just what I didthis, that's what I did this
month at work.
Uh so you can imagine probablythe same attitude in 1900.
They didn't put them in thephone.
(05:12):
Yeah.
So uh, but yeah, every once in awhile, you know, we go back and
look at at those old articles.
And it was obviously verydifferent.
I mean, it this existed, I guessnot before photography
technically, but you know,certainly before you had photos
in magazines, way before colorphotography.
Uh so it's it's reallyinteresting to go back and look
(05:33):
at stuff.
And a lot of those earlyarticles, there was, I don't
want to say that there hasn'tbeen advances in guns, but it's
much more incremental.
Really, I was actually justtalking with someone, the last
change in an operating systemfor a firearm is direct gas
impingent, which is uh what ARs,most ARs run off of.
(05:53):
But that system was invented, Ibelieve, in 1905.
Oh every gun that exists todayuses an operating system that is
at the youngest, 120 years old.
Wow, wow, wow.
SPEAKER_02 (06:09):
I mean, yeah, conceptually we just don't
really think like that.
No.
You know, because I I like tothink I'm shooting the most
modern equipment, you know,right now and the most
innovative, and but the corebasis of it.
SPEAKER_00 (06:22):
The way it works, it has not changed in a very, very,
very long time.
A lot of other things havechanged.
SPEAKER_01 (06:28):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (06:29):
You know, I don't want to say that they haven't
innovated, but the actualfunctioning of the gun is, you
know, there hadn't been a wholelot of change in that regard.
SPEAKER_03 (06:37):
That kind of blows my mind too.
Just that they're, you know, Imean, I guess if it's not broke,
don't fix it, right?
SPEAKER_00 (06:43):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (06:44):
And if it works the best, that's the best way it
works.
SPEAKER_00 (06:46):
Exactly.
And and and there is, you know,there's only so many ways in
which a, you know, you canharness the energy or the gas
that's being shot out to make anaction work.
And we figured all those out.
So, you know, the next stuff isgoing to be, I don't know,
directed energy or things thataren't quite there yet.
So uh but but we have hazardsand aliens.
(07:09):
Exactly, exactly.
But we we have, going back inthe archives, when they're
talking about actual newoperating systems were being
invented, and there's a reportin Arms and the Man talking
about that.
Uh we have stuff from World WarI when the NRA played a huge
role in helping train this armythat went from a few 10,000 to
(07:34):
millions in a matter of monthsfor World War I.
Well, the NRA was very heavilyinvolved in training the
doughboys to shoot before theywent over to France in World War
I.
And we played the same role inWorld War II.
And we do the same thing now,not as close tie with the
government as it used to be, butobviously we have education and
(07:56):
training, and you know, ourprimary the primary mission of
the National Rifle Associationis to ensure that Americans know
how to shoot.
I mean, originally it was incase the South rose up again,
but it our our mission is toteach Americans marksmanship.
SPEAKER_02 (08:12):
This is fascinating to me because I've been telling
Erica offline, like I'm justgoing through like my family
history.
I have one grandfather whoserved in World War II, who
actually was an airman and hisplane was shot down and died,
and then I have anothergrandfather who caught in World
War I.
And it would be so fascinatingas I'm going through their
letters and you know, and theiruniforms and looking at pictures
(08:34):
and seeing the guns that theywere carrying.
It would be so fascinating to goback and see what was being
written about, how was it beingexplained as they were getting
deployed and going off to war.
SPEAKER_00 (08:44):
And it was certain, I mean, we we were talking about
all of those things, we weretalking about what guns were
being used, what innovationswere happening, but it's also it
was very written verydifferently.
You know, if you ever read oldthings, language was different.
SPEAKER_02 (08:59):
And I'm not very good at that.
Like, you know, sometimes it's alittle bit like a lot of people.
It's hard to read.
It's hard to read.
SPEAKER_00 (09:04):
Uh uh, you know, it was not written in a way that we
would find accessible orcertainly interesting.
It was kind of boring.
Uh uh, but for the time itwasn't.
That's just how languageevolves, how enter, I mean,
ultimately, yeah, we'reinforming people, but the the
reason you're doing it isbecause you like it, so we're
entertaining you.
SPEAKER_02 (09:23):
Right.
For simpletons, when didpictures become very prevalent?
Right, so in the magazine?
SPEAKER_00 (09:30):
So believe it or not, but believe it or not, we
we had, I mean, you it it goesback a long way.
We've had photographs, butagain, they were black and
white, uh, a lot of drawings,um, but like exploded views of
guns, that really hasn't changedmuch in the way that's
presented.
Um, I mean, they're done by, youknow, on computers and CAD
drawings and things like that,but it's still an exploded view
(09:52):
of a gun.
Uh, so it really doesn't lookall that different from a if you
look at an exploded view of a1911 that might have run in
American rifleman in 1911,versus an exploded view of a
new, yeah, pick any manufacturerthat's making 1911s, now there's
a lot of them.
Uh take like a SpringfieldArmory 1911, if they have an
(10:14):
exploded view, yeah, it'll looka little different because it's
done by a CAD machine, butfundamentally the parts are the
same, the numbers for the partsare the same because it's the
same gun.
You know, yeah, they theythey've put a lot better sites,
the tolerances might be a lotbetter, you know, the the
trigger may be smoother, thehammer might be skeletonized or
things like that.
But it's a 1911 from 1911.
SPEAKER_02 (10:38):
So that's fascinating.
And and that's available on theNRA?
SPEAKER_00 (10:42):
So no, we're we're digitized, I mean, probably the
exploded view of the 1911, Ithink you can probably find that
in in back issues of AmericanRifleman, but uh that that we
that we do have available onlineuh or or through the digital
magazine.
But um we haven't fullydigitized the whole catalog yet.
We're working on it.
SPEAKER_02 (11:00):
Oh that's amazing.
Yeah, that's amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (11:02):
So I usually get American Rifleman and I look at
the cover first and I'm like,ooh, and then I look inside at
the pictures, and then I go backand look at the article.
SPEAKER_00 (11:13):
Yeah, yeah, that's so so that that's one of the
things if you're in the magazinetrade, which is rapidly
dwindling, but uh uh, you know,they're called entry points into
an article.
And you know, if you look at theway you're supposed to, quote
unquote, do that, it's you readthe headline, you read the
article, you read the captions,you read the spec box.
(11:35):
Most people don't do that.
They look, like you say, theylook at the pictures, because
that's you know, the theimmediate uh brain gratification
of, okay, that's what I'mlooking at.
Then they'll read the captionsto see what's in the picture,
then they'll go look at the MSRPof the gun, and they'll be like,
nah, maybe I don't need to readthat whole article, you know.
So, but that's so that's a bigpart of what we do is trying to
(11:59):
make each one of the, I mean, wewe have no control over the
MSRP, but we try to makeeverything we do have control uh
compelling so that people willstop and go, okay, you know
what, that's interesting, I wantto read the whole review.
SPEAKER_02 (12:10):
So what how would somebody get started?
Like, I mean, I'm sure everybodylike wants to, it would be the
pinnacle of success to write forthe NRA.
Like, how would people go aboutthat?
How do you do submissions forour?
SPEAKER_00 (12:23):
So we we do, I mean, uh unsolicited manuscripts, we
get them.
I've had actually guys write uhreally good stuff that that way,
and we've uh we end up writingthem and they end up writing for
us uh on a semi-regular basis.
For the most part, uh it'speople that are established
already who are writing for us.
(12:43):
But the most important thing isyou have to be a good writer,
and that is hard.
Uh but if you are a good writer,uh you can send us samples of
your writing.
Uh we prefer it in the body ofthe email because our IIT
department doesn't like usopening unsolicited attachments,
(13:04):
as you can imagine.
Uh but send a sample, you cansend that to AmericanRifleman at
nrahq.org.
And we'll, you know, we can'tget I'm can't guarantee we're
gonna get back to you.
Obviously, can't guarantee thatwe're gonna publish anything,
but it it's happened where folkshave cold called for lack of a
better term, and they end upgetting paid to write for us.
SPEAKER_03 (13:26):
So wow, that's cool.
So, what are your favorite gunsthough?
What do you like?
SPEAKER_00 (13:30):
That's such a that's such a loaded, for lack of a
better word, question because II love all guns.
I think they're all cool.
Um, you know, I obviously I loveARs, I love building my own ARs.
That's the coolest part of themto me, is like, here's something
yours.
Yeah, making it yours, and I'mnot like a super like
(13:50):
mechanically gifted person, butI can build uh an AR and that's
so cool.
And it's like, and yeah, I loveshooting them too, but it's like
half of it is like, oh, I putthat together and it works.
That's so cool.
You know?
Because you're not reallybuilding, you're putting it
together.
But do you like super custom orwell yeah, I mean I'll I I I'll
pick out parts and and do it allmyself.
(14:10):
You know, you buy the lower andthen you can do everything, you
know, over time.
The lower is the only regulatedpiece of it, so uh that's a lot
of fun.
SPEAKER_02 (14:20):
I I'm the same way, like ARs and 1911s, like they
are fit to you and they are fitto your hand.
SPEAKER_00 (14:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (14:26):
You know, different than like a striker fire pistol
or something like that, whereyou know your changes are
limited.
But if you build something andit's got either the sights or
the optics and it's got thegrips that you want, and it's
got the fore-in that you want,the trigger that you want, every
single thing is exactly how youdialed it in.
It's yours.
SPEAKER_00 (14:45):
Exactly, exactly.
And and the great thing with,particularly with ARs, is
they're so versatile.
I mean, you can build a riflewith a 22-inch barrel for long
range like predator hunting.
Yeah, right.
And you can build an AR largeformat pistol with a brace and
an eight-inch barrel, and youknow, that's in a big bore
(15:08):
caliber and use that for hoghunting or home defense.
And then you can build just astraight, you know, normal,
normal 556 NATO uh carbine andhave a lot of fun with that and
put different accessories onthem.
And it really is adult tinkertoys for AR.
It really is.
(15:30):
And they are I mean, you canfind you can find how to put
them together.
You know, Brownells did a greatvideo series on that, where you
literally just watch a videoplot and do it, and you know, it
helps to have a few specializedtools, but not, doesn't it
require a huge investment, andit's so much fun to do that.
And then, like you said, Maggie,it's it's it's yours, it's your
(15:52):
gun, and there is no other gunthat's going to be exactly like
that because you of thecombination of parts that you
used.
SPEAKER_02 (15:59):
My competition AR could not have been like more
different than my husband'scompetition AR because we just
had totally different needs.
Like mine was super, superlight, and of course the
trade-off was that it recoiled,you know, so he never wanted to
shoot it.
But I needed it to be lightbecause I've got little noodle
arms that you know I couldn'tcarry the gun long enough and
like it would get too heavy forme.
(16:21):
So, I mean, just your needs,like you can really specify and
tailor, you know, an AR perfectfor you.
So I agree with you.
SPEAKER_00 (16:30):
Yeah, so that that's probably my favorite platform.
But I like I said, I like themall.
And I I I like weird stuff, youknow, that that uh more niche
products.
Uh uh also that that that'spartly because no one else has
it, right?
But it's it it that's where alot of the innovation happens.
It starts in some weird thingand then maybe it makes its way
(16:51):
into mainstream.
I mean, ultimately that's 300blackout, which of course is uh,
you know, the the it's not theoriginal, because it was based
off of 300 whisper, but but itstarted off as a very niche
thing that was only for peoplewho had suppressors, but now
everybody's getting suppressors.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (17:10):
Right.
So like everybody has abeautiful blackout.
SPEAKER_00 (17:13):
Yeah, that I I've I've had to really exercise
self-control since January 1stbecause I bought one suppressor,
but I'm like, I really want tobuy like eight suppressors, but
then I probably get divorced, sothat's gotta hide them.
Yeah, yeah.
(17:33):
But you know, that's such a hugething, and a real victory that
NRA won, uh getting the tax downto zero, and we're still
fighting to try and getsuppressors off the NFA entirely
so you can buy them the way youshould be able to buy them,
which is anywhere, without anysort of extra background checks
and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02 (17:51):
So what's the next big hurdle for the NRA?
Like what are they reallyfocused on right now?
SPEAKER_00 (17:56):
So I think our biggest thing is we we want to
regain the trust of the folkswho were members who left over
the past several years.
We have completely newmanagement, a virtually
completely new board ofdirectors that is focused on
compliance and transparency sothat when you give us money, you
know it's going toward the rightthing.
(18:18):
The reason why you you join, notluxuries for employees, which as
an employee I can tell you thereare none.
That never trickled down to mylife.
SPEAKER_01 (18:32):
I wish I were living the life that everybody else has
been.
SPEAKER_00 (18:35):
I never got the private jet, so that's uh uh but
but that's why you're stillhere.
SPEAKER_03 (18:40):
That's why I'm still here, exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (18:41):
So so that worked out.
But uh but yeah, we're we we'rewe we really are trying to
rebuild that trust because weare the largest by several
orders of magnitude.
There are other organizations,gun rights organizations do a
great job, but they're just notour they're they don't have the
clout that NRA has.
(19:02):
The reason why, you know, a lotof the anti-gun organizations
attack us is because we're thebig guys.
Yeah.
Um and and they don't go aftersome of the others because
they've they've never heard ofthem.
That's not to say they don't dogreat work, but they don't have
millions of members.
They don't have 10 millionpeople who were members uh uh
(19:24):
who still identify with whatNRA's messaging is and things
like that.
So we really need people to signup if you're not a member, if
you weren't a member, and if youif you if if we broke trust with
you, which we did, understandthat that is completely changed
uh in the last couple years, andwe're on the right path, but we
(19:46):
need you guys to come back andsupport us so that we can go
back to being what we were uhwithout the chicanery.
SPEAKER_02 (19:55):
Yeah.
Yeah, and you guys are fightingthe good fight, and you're
taking on a lot of issues thatwe need somebody to take on.
SPEAKER_00 (20:02):
Right, and you know, our opponents, uh the people who
are anti-gun have changed theirstrategy somewhat effectively,
where they used to go fornational, now they're going
state by state.
And you know, in my home stateof Virginia, we're in trouble uh
on the gun issue.
Um we're at you're always oneelection away from losing
everything.
Right.
(20:23):
And uh uh that that happened tous in Virginia, and it the the
truth is it could happenanywhere.
We need the vigilance, we needthe NRA fighting, which we are,
but in order to do that, we needyour support.
SPEAKER_03 (20:36):
Absolutely.
Well, if um somebody wants toget a hold of you, get a hold of
uh the American Rifleman, um,how do they get a hold of the
easiest way is visitAmericanRifleman.org that you'll
find articles, videos, all sortsof great content there.
SPEAKER_00 (20:54):
Obviously, on that page there'll be a little button
to join NRA, and you can pickAmerican Rifleman as your
magazine.
And there's the NRA app, like Isaid, you can download at in the
app stores.
Uh, and it's it's actually, theydid a really good job with that,
and that will keep addingfeatures that'll be very useful
to anyone for NRA members, butonce you're a member, you just
(21:16):
enter your member number and youhave full access to everything
in the app.
SPEAKER_03 (21:20):
Oh, perfect, perfect.
Well, thank you so much for it.
I really appreciate you comingby and taking your time out.
I know NRA has got to be likesuch a whirlwind busy for you.
SPEAKER_00 (21:30):
This is a busy weekend, yeah.
So I really appreciate yourtime.
Thank you so much.
Have a great show.
You too, thanks, guys.
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