Category: Hunting

Letter Re: Weapons Maintenance — A Missing Element

Dear Mr. Rawles, I heartily agree with the “Weapons Maintenance — A Missing Element, by Odd Questioner”.  I would add that having lots of good bore cleaner handy makes maintenance a lot easier.  There are MUCH better and cheaper bore cleaners around than the classic Hoppes No. 9. Ed’s Red bore cleaner has been around for over 20 years now and has been mentioned before in your blog.  Even so its a good thing to repeat once in a while. “Ed’s Red” bore cleaner is credited to C.E. Harris.  Its an excellent, easy-to-make and inexpensive bore cleaner and lube.  It …


Letter Re: A Definitive Corrosive Ammo Test

Dear Mr. Rawles, Here is the definitive test to determine whether ammunition is corrosive or not.  The procedure is credited to Small Arms Review publisher Dan Shea. This test is simple, quick, cheap and conclusive. THE BRITE NAIL TEST 1. Take a suspect round, pull the bullet and dump out the powder. I like to also take a known corrosive round as well for a benchmark. 2. Take a few brand new “brite” (i.e. non-galvanized) steel nails with a head size just large enough to fit into the case mouth. Degrease the nails in acetone or other and roughen them …


Pat’s Product Review: New Ammo Offerings From Buffalo Bore

For the past several months, Tim Sundles, who runs Buffalo Bore Ammunition has buried me in some of his newest ammunition offerings. Somehow, I think he doesn’t like me. He just keeps coming up with more and more new loads for hunters and for self-defense use, for me to test. Seriously, I don’t know of any ammunition company, that is as innovative as Buffalo Bore is. Some of the big name ammo companies might come up with a couple new loads each year – if that. Most are content to sit back on their past accomplishments – not Tim Sundles!   …


Weapons Maintenance — A Missing Element, by Odd Questioner

Over the years, as I’ve been perusing the pages of SurvivalBlog and various other sites, one thing had been missing the whole time, and to my own mind, I completely missed it too. It wasn’t until this weekend that the point was driven home quite clearly. You see, I was out shooting with friends, and taking in a glorious day. In the course of plinking cans and putting various sheets of paper out of their misery, my favorite M1911 light-framed .45 ACP jammed. The slide was nearly locked solid, and after finally clearing out the cartridge and the magazine, I …


Three Letter Re: Cartridge Reloading Dollars and Cents

James, Having just read the letters regarding reloading economics, I noticed the following caveats and had two important points about them:   1.  “do not shoot lead bullets in a Glock” because of the polygonal rifling.  Polygonal rifling essentially creates rifling engagement angles that are less than 90 degrees, therefore whatever bullet material you use seals the bore better (because it’s easier to deform lead/copper into a rifling groove that has a more obtuse (open) angle) than a sharp 90 degree angle.    A standard cartridge fired out of a conventionally rifled barrel will travel faster out of a polygonal rifled …


Cartridge Reloading Dollars and Cents, by R.S.O. in Arizona

While we are all preparing for something most of us are not financially secure there for we must stretch our Dollars as long as we have them as a form of currency.  Here in falls the concept of reloading your own ammunition.  Because face it we need to practice and we need to store for when the supply runs out.  Let’s start by doing a little math, Ammo 9mm Luger Winchester USA 115 Grain FMJ 1190 fps 100 Round Box $21.11 x 10 = $211.10 bought online.  Now let’s order the individual component parts online and see how much we …


Letter Re: An Arrow Re-Fletching Project

Dear JWR: The writer about traditional projectile weapons seems to have missed the most used feather for fletching arrows.  The best ever used that I am aware of is the turkey feather. They are known to stop 12Ga. birdshot pretty successfully.  That is why turkey loads are more powerful, and contain larger shot sizes. Lesser pellets flatten out and fall off the bird. Good fletching.  The American Indians then used a fiber (perhaps of hemp?)  to wind them to the shaft of the arrow, after splitting and shaping, of course. Not sure if there was any other kind of adhesive …


An Arrow Re-Fletching Project by H. of Bradenton

I decided to begin approaching the problem of surviving a possible collapse from the perspective of after it happened rather than before. And unless there is some extraordinary and unlikely event that sweeps this nation, one commodity that will certainly be depleted is firearm ammunition. There will be no running up to Wal-Mart or you local gunsmith shop to purchase more. Exotic and uncommon calibers will virtually disappear; whereas the more common will be in high demand. Trade and barter will eventually ensue to replenish to some extent expended rounds; but, that will come from an ever-diminishing original supply. With …


Letter Re: Some Thoughts on Cartridge Handloading

Mr. Rawles, Kent C.’s article about handloading is a very informative piece.  However, I’d like to provide a little supplemental information.  First off is the matter of cost.  Kent makes the point, with good mathematical support, that reloading doesn’t really save much money when reloading common calibers (your primary guns are in common caliber, aren’t they?), but there are a couple elements he did not mention.  I have a friend who, in conjunction with a couple other guys, put in a large freight order of reloading components for several different common calibers.  We’re talking five-digit bullet counts here, with equal …


Some Thoughts on Cartridge Handloading, by Kent C.

In reading Don’s response to my first article, I’m going to write about a subject I was saving for next month, but I think is germane now. And I’ll probably forget it by then. Let’s talk about reloading, which also gets short shrift in a lot of books. Note–I’m not going to go into a great deal of technique here. There are books on that. If you like, I can provide my e-mail address and would be willing to answer questions that way. I’m also not going to tell you what brand of press or dies I use. If you …


Three Letters Re: A Second Look at the Mosin-Nagant Rifle

Mr. Rawles, I am writing in reference to Frog’s post about the Mosin-Nagant rifle. I have owned several Mosin-Nagant rifles myself. They were designed to kill enemies of the Soviet Union. They were not designed to necessarily be the safest rifle around. If you’re not very careful while using a Mosin-Nagant rifle, it can blow up and injure you. I learned that lesson the hard way in 1998. I also learned about the importance of eye and ear protection while shooting as well. No one should ever fire a Mosin (or any firearm) without eye and ear protection. When my Mosin …


A Second Look at the Mosin-Nagant Rifle, by Frog

I got myself into prepping and survivalism after the turn of the century, so my main resource was the Internet. That in and of itself was a whole learning process, as well — but the scope of this article will focus on what appeared to be an amazing find in that great, infinite Google. $80 for an accurate, reliable, rugged bolt-action repeater that was on-par with a .30-06, ballistically… and had dirt-cheap ammo, to boot? There had to be a catch, and oh, how the forum-goers toting $5,000 AR setups assured me (and plenty of people in similar metaphorical boats) …


Letter Re: Low-Cost Knives for Long-Term Survival

Mr. Rawles, I am writing with regards to M.B.’s piece. I have had the 12″ Ontario machete (economy version) with the the “D” handle for the past two years. I would completely agree that this is an uncomfortable handle which can be difficult to obtain a proper grip on. However, I solved this problem cheaply with a little bit if DIY, by folding some tough tissue paper and wrapping it around the handle two or three times. I then wrapped the handle and tissue in electric insulation tape, using about two layers of tape. Since doing this, the machete is …


Low-Cost Knives for Long-Term Survival, by M.B.

The purchase of good-quality knives for long-term use can be a huge challenge for preppers. Buying a knife is a lot like hiring a lawyer: when you ask how much a good one will cost, the answer you get is often, “How much would you like to spend?” A good knife for general usage often starts at $80 to $100, and prices can quickly escalate into the hundreds of dollars. Knife aficionados on the online forums often speak of spending several hundred dollars for the “perfect” survival/tactical/combat knife from a famous custom maker. To collectors and to some users, this …


Pat’s Product Review: Buck Knives CSAR-T Folder

I know a little something about being a first responder to an accident scene. In another life, I was a paramedic, and later in life, I was a police officer. So, I’ve been to more than my share of accidents, and one thing that was usually needed in many traffic accidents, was a good sharp knife, that could cut a person out of their seat belt, or cut some of their clothes off for urgent medical care. So, I appreciate a good sharp knife, more so than most folks do.   Buck Knives (www.buckknives.com) has been around since 1902. No …