The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) released a comprehensive report yesterday about the most popular rifles sold in America. 21,942 MSR owners completed the survey, and MSRs were specified as either an AR platform, AK platform or other semi-automatic rifle with a detachable magazine.

Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR) Comprehensive Consumer Report 2013: Ownership, Usage and Attitudes Toward AR- and AK-Platform Modern Sporting Rifles points to a huge surge in the purchase of MSRs in 2012-2013, with 49-percent of respondents who own one MSR having made their purchase in the last year.

Of the survey respondents, the overwhelming majority were male (99%), married (75%) and more than half shot with their wives at the range, and 14% of their wives had an MSR of their own.

91% of MSR owners own at least one AR pattern rifle, and more than a quarter have 4 MSRs or more. Among AK owners, 67% have just one.

Of owners that own two or more MSRs, 92% of them use them for target shooting, almost half use them for hunting, and 19% shoot in competitions. Recreational target shooting was listed as the number one reason for owning a MSR, followed by home defense, and MSR owners shoot a lot.

Half of respondents use standard capacity 30-round magazines.

21% of MSR owners shot more than 1,000 rounds in the past year, and 26% anticipate shooting more in the year to come. 42% of MSR owners buy their ammunition in quantities of 500 rounds or more at a time, and the majority of shooters indicate they will shoot more as more ammunition becomes available.

There is a ton of data in this 84-page report. We’ll unpack more in the days ahead.