American Rifleman
 |
|
| Categories | Shooting sports |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | National Rifle Association |
| Total circulation (2013) |
2,094,346 |
| Year founded | 1923 |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Fairfax, Virginia |
| Language | English |
| Website | www |
| ISSN | 0003-083X |
American Rifleman is a United States-based monthly shooting and firearms interest publication, owned by the National Rifle Association (NRA). It is the 33rd most-widely distributed consumer magazine and the NRA's primary magazine. The magazine has its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia.
Arthur Corbin Gould, an avid shooter and member of the Massachusetts Rifle Association, published The Rifle in 1885 as an effort to focus discussion on the sport of rifle shooting.The Rifle later changed its title to Shooting & Fishing in 1888, branching out into other outdoor sports. In 1894, while the magazine was titled Shooting and Fishing, Gould attended the National Rifle Association matches held at Sea Girt and was impressed with the level of competition, leading him to write several editorials urging the public to join. This call eventually led to the revitalization of the National Rifle Association and established a Board of Directors to help manage the nationwide organization.
Following Gould's death in 1903, Shooting and Fishing deteriorated. There had been no official connection between the NRA and the magazine, but Gould's prominence in the shooting world had helped establish and lend credibility to the organization as it tried to gain national footing. In 1906, James A. Drain, then Secretary of the NRA, purchased the magazine and renamed it Arms and the Man, becoming its editor and publisher. Two years later, as President of the NRA, Drain moved both the magazine and the NRA—officially two distinct entities—back to Washington D.C. in order to establish closer ties with the political aspects of rifle shooting. Though there was still no explicit tie between the magazine and the NRA, their relationship was extremely close.
In 1916, seven years after the end of his NRA presidency, James A. Drain decided to part with the magazine in order to fully devote himself to his law practice, though Arms and the Man had become the top magazine of its kind. At first, Drain tried unsuccessfully to sell the magazine to his former staff writer, Frank J. Kahrs, who had since moved on to Remington Arms, but Kahrs suggested instead that Drain offer the magazine to the NRA, since Arms and the Man had been an unofficial NRA journal. On July 1, 1916, James A. Drain sold Arms and the Man to the NRA for $1. Fred H. Phillips took over as editor, and Kendrick Scofield as associate editor, and, due to Drain's close ties to the organization, though there was a transition in leadership, there was no disruption of publication.
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