Category: Self-Defense

Letter Re: Minimizing Magazine Confusion

Mr. Rawles: I think your readers may benefit from a recent experience of mine at the range. I was shooting several rifles and some friends were also shooting theirs. We noticed how similar (but not interchangeable)  many of the magazines were. In a stressful critical situation it would be very easy to try [inserting] a Mini-14 magazine in a M4gery or [inserting] a FN/FAL magazine in an M1A. Obviously it is best to keep them widely separated but if unfamiliar or under-trained persons were handling them, it could be a disaster. Our solution was to purchase a color assortment of …


Pat’s Product Review: Smith & Wesson Model 329 Night Guard Revolver

Make no mistake, I really like .44 caliber handguns, and in particular, .44 Magnum handguns. I still remember getting my first .44 Magnum handgun, back in 1974. Like many guys, I loved the Dirty Harry movie series, with Clint Eastwood. So my first .44 Magnum was a S&W Model 29, with a 6.5″ Barrel. I can still recall the first cylinder of ammo I fired on the gun shops indoor range – my hand stung! Before reloading another 6 rounds, I noticed that the grips on the Model 29 had cracked – on both sides – from the recoil. Luckily, …


Letter Re: Comments on OC Pepper Spray

Mr. Rawles, Your books are truly eye openers. Thanks for your work in the preparedness field. Regarding your recommendation of getting OC with at least a 12% concentration, as an OC instructor, I recommend that buyers ask: “12% of what?” A 12% concentration of a 250,000 Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) spray may prove ineffective. The true test of an OC spray is the SHU rating. I recommend a minimum 2,000,000 SHUs. The concentration only affects recovery time. The 5% is great for training. You should recover in 15-20 minutes. Anything over 10% is great for application to the faces of …


Reloading On the Run, by David L.

Your house might be secured. In your basement or workshop you have your reloading outfit, your press, your scale and all of your dies. You can load thousands of rounds in a couple of days if you choose. So what if you have to leave your home in case of the proverbial excrement hitting the rotating circulating blades? How will you pack up your reloading outfit? How much ammunition can you possibly carry if the need arose? Ammunition runs out, especially if you can’t get to the store to replenish that supply and you are away from home.   In …


A Firearms Battery on a Budget, by J.J.K.

There has been a lot written about firearms in a SHTF scenario. Plenty of information about which firearms are the “best” and which calibers are the “best” and so on. I have no interest in proceeding on that same tack. If you have the money, you can make any firearm choices you want, and if you have the time and authority, you can coordinate with those who are likely to show up to your retreat. Neither of these is possible in our personal situation. My wife and I have both been unemployed for well over a year. My unemployment is …


Letter Re: Low-Light Tactics and Options

Officer Tackleberry’s recent article was a rarely touched upon subject in the tactical world. People like to train what they are good at and not what they aren’t so good at. Low-light takes a lot more work for a variety of reasons. I hope to add a bit to Tackleberry’s very useful article. I will attempt to not be too redundant, as Tackleberry did a very good job of describing techniques and principles… perhaps we can overlap in a beneficial way. When activating your tactical light, be it handheld or weapon-mounted, always have the light pointed at, or nearly at …


Low-Light Tactics and Options, by Officer Tackleberry

I have had some people ask how I as a police officer can defend the concealed carry rights for citizens and private gun ownership as a whole along with personally teaching firearms and self-defense to citizens.  To me the answer is an easy one.  I believe all of us have the God-given right to defend ourselves and our loved ones and firearms are a very good option in doing so.  I also believe that if there would have been citizens/students at the tragedy at Virginia Tech and other venues who were armed, trained and willing, then the death/injury tolls wouldn’t …


Pat’s Product Review: Ruger SR40 Pistol

The handgun under review in this article is, the Ruger SR 40. The SR40 is the bigger brother to the 9mm Parabellum Ruger SR9. I jumped on the SR9 when it came out, as did many other gun writers. However, the new SR9 wasn’t without some birthing pains. The trigger pull was very gritty, and there were some reports of the SR9 firing if dropped. Ruger is quick to acknowledge when there is a problem, and they quickly sent out a recall for the first run of SR9s. Most owners got their guns back within a couple weeks – with …


Magazine Ban Legislation: Ignorant Statists and Terminology-Challenged Journalists, Unite!

Democrat congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy’s magazine ban bill (previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog) will likely die in committee. It has attracted 90 co-sponsors–hardly a “barn burning issue.” But meanwhile, of greater concern there are several bans being pushed at the state level: The first case in point comes to by way of a Buffalo, New York newspaper headline: Gun-toting senator pushes gun safety bill. “Gun safety”??? That is pure cant. A more accurate title for the article would be: Senator pushes New York law to ban sale, purchase, or possession of 11+ round magazines. It is notable that this law would eliminate …


Letter Re: Seeking Advice on Household Moves with Firearms and Ammunition

Sir, What advice could you give for moving one’s store of firearms and ammo a considerable distance in a relocation within the continental Unites States?  I am in one of the reasonably free northern New England states and figure that if I can make it through New York state without being stopped I can breathe a relative sigh of relief.  Still, I envision a scenario where the vehicle with the supplies is never left unattended.  And if I had to make this move alone I would consider doing so in a motor home so that I would only have to …


From Cartridge to Target: A Bullet’s Flight and Impact, by HardWalker

Lots of care and time are taken to select the appropriate firearm. A precisely crafted piece of machinery primarily designed to do one thing, send a chunk of metal downrange and high speeds with the intention of killing someone or something. There are many ways of doing this and many types of bullets designed for many different purposes. We all can gather the hearsay of what round is the best, which manufacturer has the furthers traveling, hardest-hitting or bang-for-buck ammunition. So when it’s all said and done, understanding what happens to that piece of copper, steel and lead once it …


Letter Re: Suburban Preps on Long Island, New York

Hi All, I’d like to contribute some details on my preparations in a region where tricky geography, difficult society, and extremely difficult legal issues can make planning difficult. As for tricky geography, Long Island is essentially a 100-mile long 23-mile wide (at its very widest) ‘no outlet’ roadway prison stuffed with nearly 8 million people. Take a peek at the Wikipedia page about the island to get the idea. We are east of New York City with its 50 million people in the immediate 35 mile radius. When things get Schumeresque – there is very little most residents will be …


Review of the USSA Tactical Shotgun Course, by Bubba Man

Here is my review of the USSA Tactical Shotgun #220 course, conducted in December, 2010. I started out with about 850 rounds of #7 bird shot, 150 rounds of 9 pellet 00 Buck and 50 slugs. I should have brought more slugs as I wound up borrowing about 10 from one of the other students. When I was done, I had about 200 rounds of #7 birdshot and 50 rounds of 00 Buck and no slugs. First let me get this out of the way; Those of you who know me, know that I am currently a fat, out-of-shape, somewhat …


Do Not Underestimate Airsoft as a Training Aid for Youths, by Scott D.

My son who is 15 years old recently got into Airsoft and started to amass a collection of replica looking, fully functioning and firing Airsoft rifles and pistols. I had planned on enrolling him in a Hunter’s Safety course soon as he is of age but the more I watched him and his buddies play Airsoft in the bush like a rag-tag wild bunch I decided to take action.  This was a good way to train them to be soldiers.  Mostly because it was out of fear of some of the younger children getting seriously injured, since those plastic pellets …


Letter Re: Advice on Shotgun Shells to Store

Hello Mr. Rawles,   Thanks so much for your efforts, they are appreciated.  SurvivalBlog has been a great help to me preparing for inevitable events.   Your suggestion to consider what you will be hunting is dead on.  I have hunted small game, as well as large for 35 years.  I have hunted in West Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Arkansas.  I have hunted squirrels, rabbits, turkey, grouse, ring necks, geese, ducks, Bob White, doves, quail.  #6 works well on squirrels, rabbits and small birds like grouse and quail.  I have taken several shots at turkey …