Category: Investing/Barter

A Cottage Industry Suggestion: Holsters and Slings

It is well-reported that America is a land of 312 million people and somewhere between 310 million and 320 million guns. (There is no firm figure, because thankfully only a small fraction of Americans live in locales with gun registration.) Of those, there are about 80 million handguns in circulation. And of that 80 million, I would venture an educated guess that there are less than 50 million holsters, to match. This is because most handgun owners are not regular handgun carriers. The most lopsided “gun-to-holster” ratios are with .22 rimfire handguns, and large-frame, long-barreled revolvers. I suspect that perhaps …


Letter Re: The Barter Store — Update #2

JWR: To make the most sense of this note, please refer to the SurvivalBlog archives for the December 22, 2011 original post with an update March 29, 2012.   The range of feedback to the post and update ranged from supportive to beyond hostile–which was more or less what I expected. Those critical to the “Barter Store” concept mostly missed the premises–that at least in some smaller, conservative towns/cities, small-scale commerce will help preserve order and civilization; security is handled and will not be a driving issue; that “preppers” have stocked up on and will be willing to sell/trade/barter some …


Gun Shopping for Self-Defense, by Chief B.

I have read article after article on gun reviews, the best pistol to buy, how to fire one, etc.  However, what about those who don’t even know where to start on what type of gun they need? I will give a brief synopsis on where to begin when buying guns for self-defense. First, we need to look at what exactly you will be defending yourself against.  For self-defense away from home, there is no better protection than a pistol. But before you go and buy yourself a sidearm and pack it inside your waistband, be sure you know the legalities …


Letter Re: Synthetic Motor Oil as a Gun Lubricant in TEOTWAWKI

Sir: During my two tours to the Sand Box with the U.S.M.C., we encountered some of the worst conditions weapons can endure. The sand in the Middle east is fine “moon dust” similar to talcum powder. The problem is that when mixed with water or oil commonly used in cleaning weapons systems it turns to a mud like paste. We discovered that the regular issue Cleaner, Lubricant, Protectant (CLP) [which is a Mil-Spec lubricant, sold commercially under the trade name “Break Free CLP”.] CLP was contributing to the problem more than fixing it. It is true that we cleaned our …


Pat’s Product Review: Masterpiece Arms M11/9 Clone

About this time last year, I did a review for a print publication on the Masterpiece Arms MPA10T – a semiauto only .45ACP MAC-style pistol. The gun was fun to shoot, and worked 100% of the time. The only thing I didn’t care for was the weight of the gun – it was heavy, and a little bit bulky, especially with the 30 round magazine in-place and fully loaded. If you’re interested in a short history of the MAC-style of submachine guns, check out this web page.   When I lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado some years ago, a friend …


Letter Re: American Ingenuity–Oil Filters for Firearms Suppressors

Good Day, Mister Rawles. Thank you as always for the good work you do. I was trawling around on the interwebs and came across this DIY suppressor solution. This may be old news to some but for everyone living in nations where suppressors are banned (or far too heavily regulated) then this is absolutely vital viewing. The fitting displayed is what would be registered as the suppressor in this instance, but I can think of a few particular plumbing fittings at the local hardware store that I might be needing in the near future. For home renovations of course… Kind …


Letter Re: Weapons Maintenance — A Missing Element

SurvivalBloggers: A note on finding Lanolin, for making Ed’s Red bore cleaner: Lanolin is readily available in the breast feeding supply section at most big box department stores, or baby specialty stores. A full tube the (last I checked) is $8-9 but it lasts a very very long time. (And I once scored an unopened, factory sealed tube at a garage sale for 25 cents.) – Alyssa


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 …


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: Barter, Post-TEOTWAWKI: The Micro Store

Dear Mr Rawles, I’ve been reading your archives. I loved the December, 2011 SurvivalBlog article titled Barter, Post-TEOTWAWKI: The Micro Store. This one is a natural for me.  One way that I have been collecting barterable items is at yard/garage/estate sales.  Estate sales in particular are excellent for the micro store collection.  You hit the kitchen area and get current food items for your own stores and then the bathroom for bandages and sample size items such as soap, shampoo, shaving gel, toothpaste and so forth.  I’m not talking about items used but items never opened; I have even found …


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 …


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) …