Month: September 2021

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — September 1, 2021

September is Kilted to Kick Cancer Month. September is also National Preparedness Month. — There is just one week left to comment on the ATF’s proposed “pistol stabilizing braces” rule. If codified, this rule might make as many as one million American gun owners into unwitting felons. Please post your well-reasoned and polite comment, soon! The deadline is midnight on September 8, 2021. — I have put Elk Creek Company on another ordering hiatus, for the month of September, 2021. I’m now traveling, and gathering more inventory. I plan to reactivate our shopping cart system on September 29th. (Mark your …


Cleaning Mauser Rifle Bolts, by The Novice

The Bolt Action Rifle In 1836, Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse introduced the first successful bolt action rifle, the needle rifle, using paper cartridges. By the mid 1850s, bolt action rifles using metallic, centerfire cartridges were introduced. These, in turn, lead to iconic designs like the 1891 Mosin Nagant, the Lee-Enfield, Mauser bolt actions, and the 1903 Springfield. Among their many advantages, bolt actions tend to be strong, reliable, fast to operate, and easily-maintained. Cleaning the Bolt Over the course of time, a combination of lint, powder and primer residue, dirt, oil, and condensation can collect in the interior of a …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. We may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. To begin, reader H.L. sent this: With the lights off, food spoiling, gas pumps out of order, New Orleans faces an extended power failure. JWR’s Comment:  It is an interesting coincidence that Hurricane Ida made landfall 16 years to the day that Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. o  o  o Readers J&M wrote: “My son is nearing the end of …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Cartridge firearms are compact vehicles for change that have shaped modern history. The righteousness of their use is entirely up to their users, since like any other tool they can be used both for good or for ill.  A firearm is just a tool with no volition. A rifle is no different than a claw hammer. To wit: A hammer can be used to build a house, or it can be used to bash in someone’s skull—the choice of uses is entirely up to the owner.  A bulldozer can used to build roads, or to destroy houses. A rifle can …