Many of you have already seen this video clip of a Blackwater shooter plying his trade in Najaf, Iraq. (Warning: some coarse language, but no gore.) Talk about taking the wrong rifle to a gunfight! It appeared that he was dinging Bad Guys at “800 Meters” with a .223. He surely would have been much more effective with a scoped .308 Winchester. (Such as a match grade M14.) He had the wrong tool for the job, but at least the man behind the rifle appeared fairly competent. (He was not using the traditional fire discipline of a sniper, so obviously he was either very excited and wasting ammo, or he was in a truly “target rich environment.” (It is hard to say which.) Regardless, it is an interesting video to watch. OBTW, note his fumbling during his later magazine changes, under stress. As the instructors at Front Sight are fond of saying: “Remember: In the stress of a gun fight you will only be half as good as your worst day at the range.”
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K&S dropped us a line to mention that the classic Thermette (aka “`Benghasi Boiler”) is back in production. This device was invented in 1929 by New Zealander John Ashley Hart . They are still hand made in New Zealand, from solid copper.
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French-speaking readers of SurvivalBlog should be aware that there is a new French language forum on emerging threats and survivalism, called Le Projet Olduvai.