Jim,
First of all I am glad your newest book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” is selling very well. It is a great book and I think just about everyone could benefit from reading it and having a copy on the shelf to reference. Anyway my question is about firearms spare parts. I have stashed a good amount of cash to purchase spare parts for my essential firearms and am not sure what to get. Thanks to a previous post here I have a a list for the AR platform. I am however just about clueless for the Remington 870, the Glock 9mm and the M1911. I have done some looking online and have seen lists here or there which are completely different from each other. I know you use the Remington 870 and the 1911 at the Rawles Ranch so I imagine you have thought those over a little bit. Also any thoughts you or your readers have about spare parts for the Glock platform would be highly appreciated.
Thank you very much for your time and effort. – TheOtherRyan (Co-editor of Total Survivalist Libertarian Rantfest)
JWR Replies: For some suggested spare parts to keep on hand, see these articles in the SurvivalBlog archives and at my static pages:
- My FAQs on magazines (M14/M1A, M16/AR-15, FAL, M1911, and M1 Carbine.) Magazines are often the most crucial spares. Readers are urged to get a good education before shopping for spare mags. Don’t waste your money on unreliable aftermarket junk!)
- Lists of my recommended spare parts for AR-15s/M4s, Ruger 10/.22 rifles, M1911s and Clones, and Winchester Model 1894s
- Discussion of real world M1911, Glock, and XD parts failures, by a firearms instructor
- Discussion of Mini-14s
- Discussion of M1911 pistols spare magazines
- Brief discussion of Glocks spares, and Glock spare parts vendors
- Recommendations on Glock spares, from a legendary senior gunsmith
- Brief mention of FN-FAL spares and parts vendors
- Discussion of G3, M14, FAL, and L1A1 parts sets
- More discussion of AR-15/M4 spares
- A list of recommended spare parts sources (Also includes a list of some likely-to-fail AR-15/M4 parts)
Beyond those references, you should talk with specialist gunsmiths that are well-experienced with your particular models. Be sure to ask them not only about high breakage parts, but also high loss parts. Some parts under spring pressure tend to go flying across the room, during disassembly. Have you ever spent a half hour with a magnet, trolling through shag carpet in the search for a tiny, errant spring detent? I have!
In closing, I should remind readers to take full advantage of the SurvivalBlog archives, via the “Search Posts on SurvivalBlog:” box at the top of the right hand bar. If your question is technical, then odds are you can quickly find the answer in the more than 7,600 archived posts. They are all available free of charge.