Richard Mann was born and raised in West Virginia. He grew up coon hunting with hounds and has since hunted big game from the Montana Mountains to the green hills of Africa. He is an Army veteran, and spent 13 years as a police officer and special agent. During both his military and law enforcement careers he worked as a firearms instructor. Richard also has a competitive shooting background. He made the West Virginia Governor's Twenty in 1995 and won the West Virginia National Guard State Pistol Match in 1999.As a firearms journalist, Richard has contributed to most every hunting and shooting periodical published in the United States, to include Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, American Hunter, American Rifleman, Shooting Illustrated, Shooting Times, Guns & Ammo, and Gun Digest. He was the editor of the 13th Edition of Cartridges of the World and has authored a variety of books on firearms and hunting such as, Rifle Bullets for the Hunter, Handgun Training for Personal Protection, The Shooter's Guide to the AR, and Under Orion, Hunting Stories from Appalachia to Africa.

He also operates the Empty Cases website (www.empty-cases.com.) It is a written and video journal chronicling his shooting experiments and hunting adventures.Richard currently lives on Shadowland-his private shooting range in West Virginia-with the most understanding wife in the world, their three kids, and a very protective Rhodesian ridgeback.