https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob Fri, 05 Jun 2026 23:10:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/geezer-guns/ https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/geezer-guns/#respond Tue, 09 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/?p=9271 When I was young, I set aside a Beretta .380 with a tip-up barrel for when I got too old to run the slide on a semiautomatic pistol.  Ain’t there yet, thank God, but it got me thinking. There’s sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass that accompanies old age.  There’s sciatica, that can be a problem when […]]]> https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/geezer-guns/feed/ 0 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/why-i-dont-generally-comment-on-current-cases/ https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/why-i-dont-generally-comment-on-current-cases/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/?p=9269 Because I work in the criminal justice system, some readers ask me why I don’t generally comment on high profile shooting cases that are in the news. I guess I owe them, and you, an explanation. In the past I worked as a police prosecutor, prosecuting misdemeanor cases. I was a cop for longer than […]]]> https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/why-i-dont-generally-comment-on-current-cases/feed/ 17 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/rds-or-lpvo-for-your-ar15/ https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/rds-or-lpvo-for-your-ar15/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/?p=9263 In the world of America’s most popular rifle, the AR15, one debate is whether to top the gun with an RDS (red dot sight) or an LPVO (low power variable optic).  Each has its strengths and its weaknesses. How to choose? Use common sense: tailor the tool to the task. Is your AR strictly for home […]]]> https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/rds-or-lpvo-for-your-ar15/feed/ 14 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/1911-handling-tips/ https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/1911-handling-tips/#comments Fri, 29 May 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/?p=9261 Being in sort of a “1911 season” I’ve been packing this timeless pistol design again. Got a couple of 1911-oriented pistol matches coming up in June, too.  It’s reminded me of this article on handling tips that came out this month in Armory Life. One tip not in the article was sort of a life lesson. In […]]]> https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/1911-handling-tips/feed/ 16 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/talking-about-the-greatest-handguns/ https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/talking-about-the-greatest-handguns/#comments Tue, 26 May 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/?p=9258 A few years ago when my book “Greatest Handguns” came out from the Gun Digest people, we did this interview explaining what the selection process had been. Obviously, such choices would be largely subjective, but the interview went to the objective part. The book turned out to be so popular that we did a second […]]]> https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/talking-about-the-greatest-handguns/feed/ 6 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/what-people-need-to-know-about-shooting-cases/ https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/what-people-need-to-know-about-shooting-cases/#comments Fri, 22 May 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/?p=9252 A lot of folks still focus more on how to shoot than when to shoot…and on what happens after the shooting.  Brent Wheat, my editor at GUNS magazine for many years, still hosts an excellent podcast which I recommend and follow regularly.   Here’s one where I was a guest a couple of years ago, discussing management […]]]> https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/what-people-need-to-know-about-shooting-cases/feed/ 7 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/inspiration-from-the-past/ https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/inspiration-from-the-past/#comments Tue, 19 May 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/?p=9244 Military history is of value to more than the military. It teaches life principles, too, and guides us all in existential decisions of all kinds. I recently read “The Last Hill: the Epic Story of a Ranger Battalion and the Battle that Defined WWII” by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, St. Martin’s Press, NYC, 2022. […]]]> https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/inspiration-from-the-past/feed/ 4 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/its-that-time-of-year-again-3/ https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/its-that-time-of-year-again-3/#comments Thu, 14 May 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/?p=9249 For the last few years, each second quarter on the calendar has become my 1911 pistol season. The reason: in June I have a couple of matches coming up where John Browning’s most popular auto pistol design is particularly suitable. One of those events is a gathering of gun geezers, a match held by my […]]]> https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/its-that-time-of-year-again-3/feed/ 12 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/tac-con-2026learning-from-simon-golob/ https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/tac-con-2026learning-from-simon-golob/#comments Mon, 11 May 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/?p=9241 At this year’s Rangemaster Tactical Conference one class I took and particularly enjoyed was taught by Simon Golob, who focused on the importance of “cold shot training,” testing ourselves as to how we can shoot without a warmup. Like in, ya know, real life. I was not disappointed. Simon is the man who took over […]]]> https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/tac-con-2026learning-from-simon-golob/feed/ 3 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/tac-con-2026-qualifications-with-phill-groff/ https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/tac-con-2026-qualifications-with-phill-groff/#comments Fri, 08 May 2026 20:03:19 +0000 https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/?p=9238 One class I took at this year’s RangeMaster Tactical Conference was Phill Groff’s, focusing on qualifications. The qualification shoot in one form or another is required for virtually all armed American law enforcement, and some states require qualifications for concealed carry permits for private citizens as well. Phill, a Marine no longer in service and […]]]> https://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/tac-con-2026-qualifications-with-phill-groff/feed/ 5