About The American Rifle

This blog was inspired by a single book that spoke to my need to reconnect with my youth that was full of shooting sports and the outdoors.

Colonel Townsend Whelen was an American Hunter, Soldier, sportsman and philosopher who wrote about ballistics and outdoor living in a way that has inspired generations to take to wilderness and to become marksmen and markswomen. This blog owes its name to his book "the American rifle". Its practical instruction led me to seek out opportunities for outdoor sportsmanship. 

The goal is simple, to document my journey back into the wilderness and to seek out opportunities to learn ballistics, marksmanship, conservation and the outdoor life. I learned young to shoot on a M1903a3 that I own due to the civil marksmanship program and due to Townsend Whelen's belief that the 30-06 was the right caliber for young men to learn for hunting and military applications. I hope to take lots of photos along the way and go beyond guns as topic into philosophy of sportsman and modern conservation.

Just a side note, that I will probably repeat a lot.

• This blog is not intended to be a argument for gun rights or against them. 
• I do my best to research the legal application of gun ownership, you should look at your own state and federal gun regulations if you intend to own or shoot. I am not a lawyer but I believe in following the law.
• I am not writing on behalf of any organization (public or private) this my own personal journal and philosophical retrospective.

Rifle | ˈrīfəl |

NOUN a gun, especially one fired from shoulder level, having a long spirally grooved barrel intended to make a bullet spin and thereby have greater accuracy over a long distance.

ORIGIN: mid 17th century: from French rifler ‘graze, scratch,’ of Germanic origin. The earliest noun usage was in rifle gun, which had “rifles” or spiral grooves cut into the inside of the barrel.