Category: Hunting

Letter Re: The Importance of “Weak Side” Firearms Practice

Sir, A recent shoulder injury has alerted me to the fact that my weak side drills were totally inadequate. Just tucking the strong side hand in and using the weak side does not equal the reality of having a useless and painful limb effecting balance, movement and concentration. This is a very humbling experience. I will try to use some sort of “handicap” rig to duplicate the effect at the range. Safety is the first rule. Long gun drills will be a real challenge. Sincerely in your debt for the great blog, – Spud JWR Replies: Al of the major …


Letter Re: Using .22 Rimfire Conversions for Low Cost Pistol Practice

Jim: I have just finished firing 500 rounds through an Advantage Arms .22 conversion for my Glock 17 and Glock 22 While not as accurate as my .22 Ruger pistol, it allows me to practice my shooting skills using the same holster and magazine carriers at fraction of what 9mm and .40 cost. More importantly, by using a conversion rather than a different pistol such as the Ruger, I am developing the same muscle memory, skills, and techniques I will use when shooting my service pistol. I chose the Advantage Arms over the Ciener conversion because the slide locks open …


Six More Letters Re: New-Found Respect for .223 as a Potential Man Stopper

Note from JWR: The string is starting to degenerate into one of those endlessly-mired “Ford Versus Chevy” or “Revolver Versus Automatic” debates, so this will likely be the last batch of letters that I post on this topic. Hey Jim: The .223 versus.308 [debate] is interesting. I think that several factors should be examined when selecting a cartridge and weapon. Military and police snipers shoot .308 or bigger. Why? Killing power. all the hype about .223 boils down to this. It is a varmint round meant to shoot things under 50 pounds. Jeff Cooper described the controversy very succinctly. a …


Letter Re: Advice on Buying AR-10 Rifles

James, I live outside of Boise, [Idaho] on 40 acres with a deep well and have most everything ready for a jump to my brother’s new ranch in Montana, if (when) the SHTF. While my place will be occupied by my friends that don’t have anywhere to go and /or want to stay in the area. I will leave for a better Bug Out Location where I and my family can better survive long term. I only live here because it is a good job and I can’t find anything even close to pay in the part of Montana that …


Letter Re: New-Found Respect for .223 as a Potential Man Stopper

Jim: When you stop an think about the thickness of the human chest as compared to a large well-muscled deer they are about the same. This is what my family and our friend have done with the same .223 rifle this year: – Buck 150 yards one shot one kill. Dropped on the spot, dead. – Doe 125 yards one shot one kill. Walked five feet and dropped dead. – Doe 220 yards one shot one kill. Dropped on the spot, dead. – Doe 275 yards one shot one kill. Dropped on the spot, dead. – Buck 400 yards one …


Letter Re: Recommended Spare Parts for Firearms

Sir: I am interested in acquiring a good stock of spare parts for my firearms but am not sure where to start. For my AR-15 I got a spare parts kit which covers all the likely culprits for failure (I know it well enough to be sure of that). Eventually I will get an extra bolt carrier group for it. However I do not know enough about the parts that tend to fail for other firearms in my collection. The other firearms I am concerned with are: Springfield Mil Spec .45 [Colt M1911 clone] , Mossberg 500 12 gauge, Ruger …


Letter Re: Curious About “Curio and Relic” Firearms Laws in the US

Hi Jim, I read from time to time “C&R eligible.” Can you please post a quick note on the SurvivalBlog that explains what that is referring to, as it relates to firearms. Blessings, – Mark B. JWR Replies: I often write about the full exemption in the Federal law for pre-1899 guns, but I haven’t given much attention in the blog to Curio and Relic (C&R) guns. A Type 03 Federal Firearms License (FFL) is issued by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) . It allows individual C&R collectors to purchase across state lines some specifically …


Letter Re: Eating The Food That You Store

Mr Rawles, First off, let me start by saying, I loved “Patriots” Kudos to you. The thing I’m writing to you about is an idea I came up with after reading one or the suggestions for single survivalists using # 10 cans of foodstuffs in their preps. The reduction of waste is a serious subject. I think it would be a good idea for all of the folks that use these food stores, to invest a bit of their survival funds on a vacuum sealer system, and kitchen scale. The cans could then be opened, divided into individual portions, [labelled] …


Letter Re: The Falling Dollar–Sheltering Your Assets in Steel and Alloy Tangibles

Jim, I really appreciate your web site and your wisdom. I agree with your evaluation of the need or the wisdom in storing magazines. You recommend original factory or military surplus. My question is what would you advise as far as AK mags go? Any thought on the polymer mags would also be appreciated. Thanks, – Andy JWR Replies: For steel AK magazines, I recommend buying any of the magazines made in the former Soviet Bloc that have a full length standing metal rib on the back. Virtually all of those are quite robust and reliable, regardless of the country …


Letter Re: Advice on a Rust-Resistant Method to Store Spare Magazines

Hello Mr. Rawles, I just read your recent post on investing in full capacity magazines and was motivated to place several large mag orders. I already had at least 150 rifle mags, so I have quite a few mags around. I recently have been trying to get my preparedness storage organized so that items can be stored for long periods without being damaged. As part of this I have been vacuum sealing mags in my Tilia Food Saver with an oxygen absorber thrown in for good measure. These will then be stored in bins in my clean, dry attic. (I …


Building a Scout Rifle on a Budget, by Paul B.

The late Jeff Cooper described a scout rifle as “a general-purpose rifle [that] is a conveniently portable, individually operated firearm, capable of striking a single decisive blow, on a live target of up to 200 kilos in weight, at any distance at which the operator can shoot with the precision necessary to place a shot in a vital area of the target.” Some of the basic requirements are a maximum unloaded weight of 3.5 kg (3 kg optimal), an overall length of 1 meter or less, a Ching sling, a forward mounted scope, a .308Winchester / 7.62mm NATO chamber, and …


Letter Re: Advice on Private Party Gun Purchases

Mr. Rawles: We have a few guns that were passed down from my father, father-in-law, and grandparents. But after reading SurvivalBlog, I’ve determined that its wise to buying a few more, ahem, “capable” defensive guns. (Like an M1A and a scoped Remington 700 Sendero or maybe a Remington 700 PSS .308.) I would rather not buy them from a [Federally licensed] dealer, so I can avoid that whole paperwork trail. My difficulty here is that I live out in cow country where guns shows are infrequent. And the few we do have, have a poor assortment of guns to choose …


Letter Re: A Reader’s Perspective on Assembling a Survival Firearms Battery

Jim, it seems that several of your readers have been exercising their keyboards on the subject of “survival batteries” lately. This has been great sport since the days of Mel Tappan and I have seen countless lists of just was is “absolutely” needed. Methinks that many of these well-meaning folks have never carried firearms on a regular basis and used them for work. I spent 12 years in the law enforcement business, eight of which I was an NRA certified instructor. I carried a gun, both in uniform and concealed, for every day of those 12 years. Based on my …


Letter Re: A Reader’s Perspective on Assembling a Survival Firearms Battery

James I am a 10 Cent Challenge subscriber and daily reader of SurvivalBlog.com. I have found much helpful information provided by you and other readers and appreciate all of the work you do. Having read the articles concerning self-defense weapons, It seems that many readers get side tracked I have owned, fired, hunted with and reloaded numerous caliber’s over the last forty or so years and although I by no means consider myself an expert I am very experienced and well informed. That being said I would like to talk about weapons and calibers relating strictly to the purpose of …


Letter Re: A Reader’s Perspective on Assembling a Survival Firearms Battery

James: As far as a perfect survival firearm you are right there is no one fire arm, I have seen many people give there opinion on this and in calibers also. As far as I am concerned there is only one all round weapon of perfection, that would be the 12 gauge shotgun with the many different types of ammo offered for slugs to bird shot it is an all around must have in the pending days. As for a protection in a high capacity fire arm I would be trust anything less then a 7.62×39 it has enough stopping …