Category: Retreat Logistics

Letter Re: Lee Handloading Tools

Jim, I’ve been following the links to all the surplus ammo dealers..most of that ammo is corrosive, old junk. Totally unreliable. This is a great time for people to start reloading, on the cheap! Here is a great link to Lee brand cartridge reloading tools. I bought the Challenger press kit and now reload .308 and 8mm Mauser. Lee Precision has the best prices I’ve seen and the product is top notch..The hand press is also cool. Its easy and after the initial investment things really go down in price: bullets, powder and primers are still cheap and brass, at …


Letter Re: The Firearms Battery and Ballistic Wampum–Shallow and Wide, or Narrow and Deep?

Hi Jim, You may have answered this question before, but I haven’t seen it addressed specifically. Over a significant period of time reading about (including the Profiles of people on your blog) and talking with people about preparing for the future, I’ve noticed two schools of thought regarding establishing a firearms battery for use in the event of societal breakdown. (Although the concept could be applied to most areas of preparation.) The two are: 1. Maintaining a broad range of firearm types and calibers, but in a shallow depth of supply. The idea here seems to be that of maintaining …


Two Letters Re: .223 For Long Range Sniping?

Dear Jim, I’d like to kick in my two cents worth on the Blackwater snipers in Najaf, seeing as how I was in country when it happened and know a number of the people involved. There appears to be a great deal of Monday morning quarterbacking going on regards this incident, so I will lend some background on it. The entire thing started when US troops tried to shut down Moqtada Al Sadr’s newspaper and arrested a number of his henchmen (I won’t call them lieutenants, because they’re not worthy of it). The response from Sadr’s followers was rather unexpected …


Letter Re: Advice on Aftermarket Barrels for Glock Pistols

Jim, I am contemplating purchasing the Glock 21 (.45 ACP). I am concerned that it is not a fully supported chamber, should this be a worry with the low pressure round like the .45 or is it just a factor in the higher pressure round like the .40 caliber. I have larger hands and the grip is not a problem for me. I hear that you can get a replacement barrel that fully supports the round, would you recommend this. Thanks for any help with this matter, JWR Replies: The Glock 21 is a good choice, especially after adding tritium …


Three Letters Re: Comments on High Capacity .45 ACP Pistols

James, In the late 1990s I bought a Para Ordnance P-14 [double column magazine M1911 variant], without first test shooting one. I never could get it to shoot well, the sights sucked and the grip turned out to be too fat (this was before somebody invented the slimming grip panels.) Anyway I sold it after about 1,000 rounds. The good news was I sold it just before the California magazine ban went in[to effect in January, 2000) and I just about tripled my money on that gun and all the magazines that I had. There is not really any group …


Letter Re: Stocking Up On Full Capacity Magazines

Jim, I took your advice and recently purchased some more full capacity mags for my Glock. Glockmeister has new mags for $20.00 a piece right now as well as +2 extensions for $15.50-to $18.00, Glock 33rd(!) 9mm mags for $39.00 and rebuild kits for $20.00. Another great deal is at Dillon Precision. They sell Arredondo’s [Glock magazine base pad] extenders that increase the capacity of smaller calibre mags by 5-6 rds and larger calibers by 3-4 rds. These aren’t cheap at $39.95 each but quality is reportedly very good and really adds firepower to your pistol. If the socialistas have …


Letter Re: Stocking Up on Augmentin–the Antibiotic of Choice

Jim: I’m somewhat reluctant to offer blanket medical advice to non-patients, but after reading SF in Hawaii’s comments about Augmentin (Amoxicillin-clavulanate) bears comment. There is no ‘one best antibiotic’ for all purposes. Antibiotics have to be administered based on the specific type of bacteria causing an infection. Administering the wrong antibiotic doesn’t just not work, it causes bacteria that are not killed outright to become resistant to it – which can cause problems down the road. People have pathogenic bacteria in and on them all the time, when something causes them to go out of balance and cause disease. At …


Four Letters Re: Comments on High Capacity .45 ACP Pistols

James: You asked for comments on the Taurus 24/7, so I thought I would give you my opinion. The major appeal of this gun to me was the price. I got mine for about $315 brand new with three magazines. Aside from price, the other deciding factor was the ergonomics. With the Ribber grip, the gun is very comfortable to hold and to shoot. Since I bought the gun for my wife, who has small hands, this was a major factor. The manual safety was also important to my wife, although I don’t find them necessary if you know what …


Letter Re: Honey–Storage Life, Crystallization, Storage Quantities, and Medicinal Uses

Jim: I was at Costco this week and paid particular attention to the bulk honey supplies they had . (I was buying a few 96 ounce jugs of Clover brand honey – good stuff). I had last purchased some of the same honey two months ago. It is now up nearly 80 cents from that time. In speaking to a friend who is involved in honey sales and production of bee related product, waxes, etc, they are very concerned about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and declines in the [bee] populations. They agree with points made at SurvivalBlog that prices will …


Letter Re: Advice on a High Capacity .45 ACP Pistol

Jim, Tell me, what is your view on the Glock 21 platform? I made an election to go with this as opposed to a 1911 platform…mag capacity, accuracy, etc. The only down-side to the Glock 21 or any of those platforms, is the absence of a manual safety. It must always be holstered. For $450, they tend to outshoot their contemporaries; at 13 rds per magazine they pack a payload of punch.Your feedback? – Matt JWR Replies: I think the Glock 21 is a fine pistol. As I have mentioned in SurvivalBlog before, if I hadn’t 30+ years of “muscle …


Letter Re: Stocking Up on Augmentin–the Antibiotic of Choice

Jim: I finally bit the bullet and bought 100 tablets of Augmentin (Co-Amoxiclav), the survivalist’s antibiotic of choice (or so I’m told). It was a tidy sum and unlike the rest of my supplies, it is not something that will store indefinitely (18 month expiration date, but I’d use it at twice that date as it is being stored in a refrigerator), nor is it something that I can rotate though and use like food. On the way back from the pharmacy I showed the kids what I’d gotten. “But dad, I thought you hated antibiotics.” my eldest said. “I …


Letter Re: From a USFS In-Holding in Colorado’s High Country–Snowed-In!

Mr. Rawles: I just wanted to send you a thank you note for your novel “Patriots”, your “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course and for SurvivalBlog.com. We’ve been having a winter weather adventure, which I’ve chronicled in this thread at The Claire Files. If I hadn’t found SurvivalBlog.com some time back in late 2005, it might have been a very different story than the mainly humorous tale I was able to relate. Catching up on some of your entries that I missed over time, I found one that was particularly pertinent to our situation. On February 14, you did a …


Two Letters Re: Kanban: America’s Ubiquitous “Just in Time” Inventory System–A Fragile House of Cards

Jim, I recently shared “Letter Re: Propane Shortage and Rationing in the Frigid U.S. Northeast” with several friends. Surprisingly, a new friend who does not know that I am into “Prepping”, sent back the following. – Douglas in C. in Connecticut Hi Douglas, I work in the grocery industry. I can tell you first-hand that this industry (as most others) has expended incredible amounts of time and energy over the last 20 years into streamlining the supply chain. More than anything else, this means reduction of inventory held within the system – starting with the raw materials on the manufacturing …


Letter Re: Stocking up on Horse Tack

Jim, If there were an EMP event, what would be the primary mode of transportation: shank’s mare; the bicycle; horses? Likely all three would rate pretty high on the list of most likely. Accordingly, are most prepared? I would anticipate most have the necessary footwear. A bicycle would be viable for personal and logistics transport…if one has an appropriate unit and the maintenance supplies…in fact, this would be a practical way to move young children from one location to another as they already have their bikes. But what about the eventual and likely need for horse transportation? While it may …


Four Letters Re: One Common Caliber for Retreat Rifles and Handguns?

James: I would like to add a comment on the viability of the “same caliber pistol and rifle” concept. The .357 Magnum offers an interesting choice for a survival rifle. In a revolver, the .357 is certainly powerful enough to be considered a defense caliber by most folks. The 16″ barreled Winchester or Marlin lever action rifles can push out a 180 grain slug at close to 2000 fps with handloads, making it usable on deer out to 150 yards or so. Loading up light .38 special loads makes this rifle capable of taking small game without destroying all the …