Year: 2006

Letter from Author Michael Z. Williamson Re: Remington Riot Shotguns

Jim: My survival shotgun is surplus from the Michigan state police, through a dealer–Remington 870, well worn, but with a glass-smooth action. $125, with plastic stock already on. Nothing against Mossbergs; I have one of those also, but the Remington is exceptionally common, which is a plus. As I’m not too concerned with keeping it looking like an innocent hunting weapon, I’ve added a tube extension, side sling mount, fluorescent orange hard plastic follower, and Cavalry Arms stock conversion that let me fit an Ergo grip and AR stock. This creates the exact same length of pull as my ARs, …


Letter Re: Investing Gold Through and IRA or 401(k)?

Dear Jim: With all of the prevailing concerns about the USG economy and the specter of a hyper-inflated or collapsed USG dollar, many people are seeking to invest in the precious metals like silver and gold. But, unfortunately, many of us have previously invested in dollar-denominated IRA‘s, 401(k) and other pension plans. As you know, if a person withdraws money from these plans he must pay all applicable taxes PLUS a 10% penalty which makes this a prohibitive thing to do. Therefore do you have any suggestions on what to do with existing retirement funds? Are there any precious metal-backed …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (ODAC)  (http://www.odac-info.org) recently updated their site with several interesting articles related to the much-debated Hubbert’s Peak in Oil production.   o o o SurvivalBlog reader R.B.S. recommends this commentary posted at Gold-Eagle: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/willie021506.html   o o o Doc of  http://www.bigsecrets.cc recommended this source for “truckable” water tanks: http://www.aquaflex.net/



David in Israel on the Grid-Up Bugout Bag

Grid-up bugouts of the non-universal TEOTWAWKI type (more like Hurricane Katrina) allow you to take advantage of modern infrastructure even if you have limited means. If your escape happens during a time where resources allow a hotel may be a better choice for those who have lost their primary residence (rural or urban) and do not have a fallback location yet. In the event of a major power outage the cellular infrastructure has several days of generator power at each tower so the ease and reliability of mobile telephony may have advantages over ham radio for contacting family. In unaffected …



Repost of an Old Letter Re: Hyperinflation in Indonesia

Back in the late 1990s, I corresponded via e-mail with a gentleman from Indonesia who had read the short “Triple Ought” draft edition of my novel Patriots. One of his letters in particular (from October of 1998) had some interesting insights and a valuable perspective on what it is like to live through a period of hyperinflation. (This was back during the time of wholesale inflation of the Indonesian Rupiah.) He started his letter by responding to my request for a sample of the Indonesian paper currency for my collection. To explain: I collect fiat paper currencies that have been …


Letter Re: The Demise of Winchester and Request for Suggested Brands for Bolt Action Rifles

Jim: It’s kinda sad that Winchester is going out of production. I’ve owned a couple over the years and they gave good service. My Model 70 .308 is still a favorite gun. Light, accurate, pretty, tough. What more can you really ask for?  I don’t have Boston’s Gun Bible at this location so I can’t remember where he came out on the Remington/Winchester scale (and of course there are Browning/Savage/Ruger/Sako/Weatherby/Tikka arguments to be made – not to mention surplus guns. I wrote the homage to the Mosin-Nagant last week)… but no matter where your loyalties were seeing another finely crafted …


Odds n’ Sods:

Boston T. Party has announced the date and location for the Third Annual Free State Wyoming (FSW) 2006 Jamboree. It will be Worland, Wyoming from May 26 to May 29, 2006. (Worland is in north-central Wyoming, north of Thermopolis.)  He writes: “We are fortunate to have the use of the fabulous rifle range there for Saturday to Monday, inclusive. The Jamboree schedule is being worked out, as well as our campsite.If you plan to hotel it, get going now on your reservations. Stay tuned for more details, but we’ll see you all in Worland.’ The Jamboree will be held in …



Kicked by a Mule – An Introduction to Tactical Shotguns by Shooter

We spent an evening back in June working on our tactical shotgun drills. Everyone brought their preferred shotgun, and the instructor ran us through the basics of Tactical Shotgunning. I was really impressed to learn that most everyone was carrying a Remington 870 in one configuration or another. It is a very popular shotgun. Sturdy and robust, and like a Jeep, very easy to modify and improve. I was the only one carrying in the “anti-aircraft howitzer” mode, which is to say that I brought my goose gun with 28″ of max choke power. Everyone else had shorter barrels sans …


Letter Re: Advantages and Disadvantages of New Zealand

Hello James, I recently found your website and have been reading through the archives. You’ve put together an enormous resource that can only become more valuable over the coming years. I’ve tried to purchase your novel Patriots through Fred’s M14 Stocks but unfortunately he doesn’t ship internationally. I feel we are relatively fortunate in New Zealand regarding direct threats: 1) The closest part of Australia in 1,275 miles to the west, although the prevailing wind is from that direction. 2) We are an island nation and there are plans to close the borders in the event of bird flu pandemic. …


Letter Re: Alternate Short Term Sources for Drinking Water

Jim, An inexpensive way to store a couple hundred gallons of water is simply in install an extra water heater. Electrics are cheap (a couple bucks a gallon), and don’t even need to be electrically connected. The fresh water continually flows through, and can be drained down for short-term needs during an interruption. If installing in new construction, it’s even easier, and an electrical connection means that you have hot water in the event of a natural gas interruption. Plumbing and valving should ensure that the tank can be gravity drained, and that either heater may be taken out of …



Note From JWR:

As you can see from our new ClustrMap web visit tracker, there are now SurvivalBlog readers all over the world: http://clustrmaps.com/counter/maps.php?url=https://survivalblog.com&type=small&clusters=yes&map=world BTW, it appears that we will have a new foreign correspondent, in Brazil. I’ll have more details about that in the next few days. Thank you for making SurvivalBlog such a rapid success. Please keep spreading the word. One awareness tool that has been proven to work well is a “fortune cookie” paper strip that you can hand out at public events such as gun shows, ham radio swap meets, first aid courses, et cetera. Or you can “carelessly” leave …