Only accurate rifles are interesting
Townsend Whelen
The primary emphasis of The Everyday Marksman is on your personal skill and capabilities, but I’m not blind to the importance of good and reliable equipment for your success. The articles here cover selecting, configuring, and using your gear.

You can’t escape the work, though.
The thing I want to you remember is that your equipment only has to be good enough to be reliable. After that, it’s all about what you are capable of achieving with it. Don’t fall into the trap, as I did, of looking for mechanical solutions to software problems.
/// Equipment Archive
AR-15 Technical Details: How to Read the Spec Sheet
March 23, 2019 11 Comments
You know how that "teach a man to fish" saying goes? I always thought it was a little pithy, but it wasn't wrong. I'm going to review common AR-15 specs and explain what they mean.
Gear Lessons from Desert Brutality
March 2, 2019 7 Comments
Fellow blogger Sunshine Shooter competed in Desert Brutality 2019, a match that emphasizes physical toughness of you and your equipment. In this post, you'll get a sense of what Desert Brutality is all about as an event, and some tips for competing in future iterations.
Tips for Adding an Assault Pack to Your Loadout
February 28, 2019 23 Comments
During our series on load carriage, we've gone over all of the most common methods available. Now it's time to talk about where to put all that extra stuff: the assault pack.
Vedder Light Tuck Holster: Raw Truth Review
February 26, 2019 9 Comments
The Vedder Light Tuck holster has been my go-to CCW holster for over a year. I thought it was time to do a write up about this great American-made holster.
Trijicon LED TA-110 ACOG: Raw Truth Reviews
February 12, 2019 7 Comments
For whatever reason, I don't think the Trijicon battery-powered LED ACOGs have gained as much traction as they deserve. The classic combat optic paired with an efficient LED emitter is a great combination, and I want to take a deeper look at it. In particular, I'm going to review my TA-110 ACOG with the horseshoe-dot reticle and green LED illumination.
JP Bore Guide for 223 Cal: Raw Truth Review
February 5, 2019 2 Comments
If you are very particular about the way you clean your rifles, then you probably take great care not to damage the crown or chamber of your gun. A cleaning rod guide, or bore guide as they're often called, is a very effective way to prevent that kind of damage.
Should You Buy a Nitrided Barrel for Your AR-15?
January 5, 2019 21 Comments
Salt Bath Nitriding/Nitrocarburizing is a surface conversion process for metal. With gun barrels, it produces a very hard and corrosion-resistant casing. It's gaining a lot of popularity, so let's take a look.
Choosing a Field Knife as a Constant Companion
January 3, 2019 17 Comments
Like rifles, there is a knife designed for just about any situation. Also like rifles, we must also be considerate of what we are actually able to carry with us into the field. With that in mind, most of us are served by carrying one or two "general purpose" blades.
Precision Armament AFAB: Raw Truth Review
December 11, 2018 2 Comments
The Precision Armament AFAB is a killer muzzle device for making any AR-15 shoot smooth and flat. I've used it in competition and training courses, and it's been flawless.
Vortex Solo R/T Monocular: Raw Truth Reviews
November 27, 2018 7 Comments
The Vortex Solo R/T 8x36 monocular is a handy piece of kit. It is lightweight, compact, and useful for daylight spotting. Its mil-hash reticle and silhouette-based ranging tools are an added bonus for competition and tactical shooters.
Mildot Master: Simplifying Your Precision Shooting Solution
November 17, 2018 5 Comments
I've touched on the magic of angular measurements before. Typically, you're going to run into one of two flavors: minutes of angle or milliradians. The quick version of this is to understand that a radian is another way to measure rotation around a point. A milliradian, sometimes called a mil or MRAD, is 1/1000 of a radian.
Nostalgic Isn’t Better: A Case Against the M14
November 8, 2018 17 Comments
If you haven't figured it out yet, I have a strong distaste for internet and gun store lore. That's especially true if that lore isn't much good for anything other than burning a hole in your pocket.
AR-15 Trigger Selection: Don’t Overthink It
October 30, 2018 7 Comments
Next to barrels, AR-15 trigger selection is the most contentious issue for enthusiasts. It’s actually frustrating, because so much of it is personal preference, yet everyone will tell you unequivocally that you should get whatever model they like.
Iron Sights vs Optics: Don’t Be Dumb
October 23, 2018 35 Comments
Iron sights are not magical talisman that turn you into a rifleman. They are a tool for executing marksmanship, not part of the "fundamentals." Don't get wrapped up.
Raw Truth Review: GoRuck GR1
October 20, 2018 11 Comments
The GR1 is like one of those mythical objects that people on the internet talk about, but nobody you know actually has. This is my review of it.
Raw Truth Reviews: The Trijicon Accupoint TR24G
October 4, 2018 9 Comments
The Trijicon TR24 is one of the all time greats of the low power variable market. How has it stood the test of time?