Month: November 2008

Product Review: Ultramag .50 BMG Upper Kit for AR-15, by Michael Z. Williamson

I recently tested the Ultramag .50, manufactured by Safety Harbor Firearms (SHF) of Florida.The Ultramag .50 is a bolt action, side-fed magazine, .50 BMG upper that uses the AR-15 lower and trigger group. The two big advantages to this setup are that [in the US,] the Ultramag .50 [barreled upper receiver] requires no paperwork to purchase, and is not on record as a large caliber weapon, since it is bought strictly as “replacement parts.” As far as anyone is concerned, you own an AR-15, which can be more discreet if either purchased privately, or by using a forging such as …


Letter Re: Give Your Kids $100 Billion for Christmas: An Economics Lesson

Hi Mr. Rawles, Thanks for SurvivalBlog and for your novel “Patriots“. Both have been real eye-openers. I have several nieces & nephews that I (like many people, I’m sure) take care of on birthdays (and sometimes Christmas) with a card and some money enclosed. This year I thought it might be fun to send them 100 billion dollars along with the card and note. I looked around, and lo and behold, several people are selling Zimbabwean currency on eBay. Prices and denominations vary, and of course it costs millions (trillions?) percent more than it’s actually worth, but we’re still talking …


Two Letters Re: A Vehicular BoB

Mr. Editor: I have been a reader of this blog for a little while now and one of the earlier postings I read caught my eye: In regards to a vehicle “bug out” kit. That list was certainly a good place to start, but it was missing a few items, so I thought I would put my “two cents” worth in. To give you a little bit of background, I would describe myself as essentially being a realist. I watch the news, I read the papers. I know what is going on around me. I am aware of today’s political …


Odds ‘n Sods:

A brief update on magazine prices that I’ve observed in gun shops and at recent gun shows: M16 (AR-15) magazines have jumped from around $17 in October to close to $40 each. The hot seller in that category, BTW, seems to be MagPul PMAGs. The once cheap and plentiful US M1 Carbine 15 round magazines were under $3 each in the early 1990s. After the 1994-2004 Federal ban expired, they were around $8. But in just the past two weeks they’ve catapulted to $25. The so-called “SWAT” factory original 20 round SIG P226 magazines went from $36 to $60. “Glockamole” …



The Time Has Come to Cache Some Cash

Looking at the escalating global credit collapse it now appears to be precipitating global economic depression. I can foresee conditions in the United States getting far worse in the months to come. There is now a fairly high likelihood of a general banking panic, with a large number of bank failures. The next few years will most likely be marked by significant deflation, followed by a tremendous surge of consumer price inflation. (Much of the $7.7 Trillion in bailout money that Uncle Sugar has promised will be created via highly inflationary monetization.) As the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) grows, …


Letter Re: The Year Gift that Cards May Spell “Gotcha”

James, I stumbled over this, earlier this week, and I feel it may be of interest to you and your readers. Certainly, this warning needs to be passed around to as many as possible, here in the US. Many retail stores are planning on declaring bankruptcy after the holiday buying season is over. Many more are planning on closing down stores, once the holiday sales have emptied inventory. This means trouble for one of our newest ‘gift choices’, the Gift Card. Gift cards are not actual money. They are treated as “Unsecured Loans” from the purchaser, to the company who …


Two Letters Re: A Vehicular BoB

Jim: There was some interesting commentary posted to your blog about a vehicle bug out kit and how to keep your vehicle running during a time of troubles. Most of us concentrate on using the vehicle for a short period of time to get out of Dodge and then [if need be] plan on walking from there. I would suggest that we also look at using the vehicle as our bug out kit. At least at first when we have to get out quickly, and if we don’t have a longer term farm/ranch that we are planning on going to. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Montana real estate agent Viola Moss sent us an interesting snippet from The Christian Science Monitor, that illustrates that while most residential real estate is going down in value, some agricultural rural real estate is going up: “Farmland is hot property these days. Nationwide, it is up nearly 9 percent from a year ago. Iowa farmland has increased in value 18 percent. South Dakota’s value has risen 21 percent. The rise reflects rising profits from agriculture. The use of corn to create ethanol has driven up the price of corn and beef cattle that feed on corn. The U.S. Department …



Note from JWR:

The high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $1,050. The auction is for a large mixed lot that includes: A.) 15 brand new 30 round M16/M4/AR-15 magazines from JWR‘s personal collection. These include four scarce and desirable brand new HK steel “Maritime Finish” magazines, and 11 new USGI alloy magazines made by Center Industries. (Note that most of these were made during the 1994-2004 Federal ban, so most of them have restriction markings, but those became null and void after the ban sunsetted.) Even if you don’t own an AR-15, these magazines are great to keep on …


Letter Re: Food Storage Versus Expecting Manna Falling from Heaven

Dear Sir, Thank you so much for your insightful and educational blog. I highly respect your opinion and I am e-mailing you today to ask for your advice. My husband and I are both conservative Christians who are totally committed to being prepared. Our problem is that we have encountered other conservative Christians who believe that manna will literally fall from Heaven if famine comes upon the land. I was personally told by my former pastor that I was “stupid” for storing food and owning guns. He also told me that by being prepared I was demonstrating a “lack of …


Letter Re: Montana Bound–Recommended Sidearm for Rural Living?

Mr. Rawles, I was able to buy 20 acres in Montana, and wanted to get your advice on a sidearm to carry while out on the property. I have a S&W K19 .357 Magnum revolver, SIG Sauer P220 in .400 Cor-bon, and a Beretta 96 in .40 S&W. I am sure that the .40 S&W is not enough to stop any large animal unless the shot is perfect. The same probably goes for both other rounds. I would prefer a semi-auto over a revolver, and wanted to get your thoughts on a Glock 20 with a barrel in 9 x …


Letter Re: South Dakota as a Retreat Locale

My spouse and I lived in South Dakota for about 18 months in the Sioux Falls area. People might be interested to know that there is only one place other than New York City where the United Nations flag flies on US soil and that is at the EROS Data Center just outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They might also like to know that not everyone in South Dakota welcomes “outsiders” as folks are called who are not of pioneering stock to the area — of either Norwegian or German ancestry. Once when I was in the checkout line …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Sean M. spotted a New York Times article on the recent theft of solar panels. Sean’s comment: “With the economy the way it is, crime will increase.” JWR Adds: If your retreat is unoccupied for long stretches of time then your photovoltaic (PV) panels should be dismounted and either locked up securely or hidden in a secret room or cache. If your panels are roof mounted, then I should mention a clever option that was revealed to me by one of my consulting clients in Arizona: camouflaging PV panels underneath well-aged black plastic pipe solar hot water panels. The latter …