Thank you for coming by The Everyday Marksman. This site and its community are a labor of love. I hope you stick around for a while, and maybe even join us.
-Matt
Matt is the primary author and owner of The Everyday Marksman. He's former military officer turned professional tech sector trainer. He's a lifelong learner, passionate outdoorsman, and steadfast supporter of firearms culture.
Keep Your Gear Dry: Waterproofing Your Pack
I’d like to throw a shout out to a fellow blogger, and community member, who did a great writeup on waterproofing a pack. I’ve got a bit of experience here, but given his background I think it’s best to just hear it from his mouth.
Mike Green of Green Ops Tactical Talks About Adult Skills
Mike Green is a 15 year veteran of Special Operations who began a training company in Northern Virginia as a bit of a side gig. His school has since grown into quite the training operation spanning multiple states and categories of students. One of the things that stood out to me about Green Ops is their motto, “Why Should Your Training Be Less Special?”
Chest Rigs vs. Belt Kits: Don’t Fall Into the Trap
This post continues what I started in my introduction to load carriage. In that article, I talked about the ongoing battle between weight and capability. It turns out that up until very recently, the average weight carried by soldiers remained shockingly stable. When it comes time to fight, the recommendation is to stay less than 30% of your lean body mass or about 50 lbs for the average person.
The Marksman’s Trinity: Balance for New and Old Gun Owners
The theme of the month is all about balance, so here’s another one to think about. I thought about the elements that should go into decision making regarding everything we do, and I categorized everything into these three: safety, capability, and security.
As gun owners and firearms enthusiasts, we should always be mindful of keeping these things in balance.
Tikka T1x 22LR: The Raw Truth Review
This review has been a long time coming. It’s no secret at this point that I’ve been spending a lot of time with the Tikka T1x MTR in 22lr, as it served as the basis for my “Noisy Cricket” precision 22LR project. In my write up of the project, I laid out all of the choices that I made but mentioned that reviews of each major component would be forthcoming.
Well, here we are.
A Marksman’s Balance: Making Time for Things that Matter
Today’s episode has to do with the theme of the month within our community over at The Marksman’s Quarter: finding balance. I thought this was an appropriate topic because I just came off of a month-long break from writing or recording, and wanted to talk a little bit about what led to that hiatus and the things that have been on my mind.
The 12-Mile Ruck Challenge
If you’ve been around The Everyday Marksman for long, you know I’m a fan of rucking. It’s a foundational skill of light infantry work as well as a fantastic builder of strength and endurance. I thought it was time to have another challenge about it. As I write this, we are still amidst the COVID-19 struggles. It’s difficult to get together in groups, either indoors or outdoors, and ammo is hard to come by due to the panic.
So let’s do something that requires no ammunition, range time, or social contact.
Peer Trainer Marksman Challenge
For this marksman challenge, you need to pick something you know how to do and teach others how to do it. I’m not so specific on what that topic is or how you do it, whether it’s written, video, audio, or something else. The goal is simply to share your knowledge and gain some experience with teaching.
Ammo Companies HATE this Substitute for 22LR Dry Fire
Sure, the headline was a little clickbaity, but I thought it was funny. Regular dry practice with your rifles and pistols is an important component to keeping up your skills. Done right, it dramatically cuts back on the amount of range time and ammo you need to spend while also greasing the groove of your fundamentals.
The trouble is that you’re not really supposed to dry fire a rimfire rifle, right?
Hey Watch This: DLO’s AR-15 Optics Suggestions
I’ve spent a good amount if time thinking about my own suggestions for AR-15 optics, but today I want to share someone else’s perspective. You might remember ILya, the optical physicist I interviewed for an episode. This is a video he made outlining his suggestions.
Answering the Question: Why Good Marksmanship is Important
I don’t know why this question has been on my mind lately, but I’ve felt compelled to try and put words to my answer. Why is good marksmanship important? What do we get from learning and practicing it?
I think there’s an assumption within the gun world that everyone already knows that marksmanship is important. But I don’t think most people actually care.
A Marksman’s Guide to the Squatting Position
The squatting position, otherwise known as “Rice Paddy Prone,” isn’t as common as it once was. It is a moderate stability position that supports both elbows, making it more stable than kneeling yet keeping a high level of mobility.