Category: Target Shooting & Marksmanship

Practical Preparedness Suggestions – Part 2, by R.J.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) 5. Self Defense This segment references reading, training and situational awareness that will be difficult for some people. Use what you can. Learn how to profile people and your surroundings. It happens in many forms, constantly. There are predators who don’t care about how nice you are. (Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”) They will take advantage of the graces and courtesies that we usually employ to soften or de-escalate a problem. Learn what and how those predators think. Trust me, you …


Mantis TitanX 702, by Thomas Christianson

The new Mantis TitanX provides a training pistol that is compatible with both motion-based and laser-based training systems. The MantisX motion-based training system is freely available for iPhone, Android and Kindle devices. It is a sophisticated app that provides an extensive collection of drills and courses. The TitanX pistol is also compatible with the Mantis Laser Academy Kit, which cost $159 at mantisx.com at the time of this writing. As a dry-fire training aid, the TitanX does not expend ammo, can be safely used at home, and provides immediate feedback. In this way, it improves marksmanship while saving both money …


Bullet Drop: It’s About Time, by Mr. Wobbet

This article gives another perspective on understanding ballistics charts. Introduction I am not much of a hunter. Over the past five years going up to my in-law’s place, I’ve taken about a dozen shots at the feral pigs that root up sections of their land. I have zero hits on running pigs. If you line up a handful of soda cans filled with water at 25 yards, I can go town on those. But with the pigs out at 200 yards, I am about useless, even when the neighbor has lent me his really nice hunting rifle. A few weeks …


Christensen Arms Ranger in .22LR, by Thomas Christianson

Every gun cabinet should contain at least one rifle chambered in .22LR. The .22LR rimfire ammo is available in a wide variety of loads at reasonable prices. There is minimal recoil, minimal noise, and .22LR is a whole lot of fun to shoot. For training, for pest control, and for an all-around good time, there are few chamberings to match .22LR. Weighing in at just 5.1 pounds, the Christensen Arms Ranger in .22LR is an amazingly light and well-balanced bolt-action tack-driver with an excellent trigger. The threaded, 18-inch, hand-lapped, carbon-fiber-tension-over-stainless-steel-core barrel is well matched with a carbon-fiber stock with a …


Profound Deafness, and Profound Sadness

This is an open letter to the members of the U.S. House and Senate. I am writing to encourage you to pass the Hearing Protection Act (HPA).  This legislation would remove most of the restrictions on firearms suppressors — devices commonly but erroneously called silencers.  (They do not completely silence guns.) I recently turned 65 years old. Because of my service in the U.S. Army and my many years as a target shooter and hunter, I have developed progressive nerve deafness. My hearing loss is rated at “Profound” by audiologists.  I have spent thousands of dollars on hearing aids in …


Buying and Testing a Dead Air RXD22Ti Silencer, by Thomas Christianson

When the Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law on July 4, 2025, it eliminated the $200 tax on silencers. This change will become effective on January 1, 2026. Many SurvivalBlog readers may want to purchase their first silencer now that the tax has been eliminated. I decided to go ahead with a silencer purchase before the big day so that I could describe what that process looks like for first-time silencer buyers. I contacted Dead Air Silencers to see if they would be willing to provide the silencer while I would pay the tax and the SOT/FFL transfer fee. …


Fully Practicing Your Preps, by A.C.

In our world of unpredictable emergencies, from natural disasters to personal crises, a common saying always holds true; “You don’t rise to the occasion, you revert to the level of your training.” This isn’t just my cynical view of human nature; it’s a powerful call to action, especially to us self-described preppers. It emphasizes that true readiness isn’t about spontaneous heroism or “hoping for the best”.  Instead, it’s actually about the deliberate, often unglamorous work of turning preparation into an ingrained, automatic response. When the “stuff” hits the fan,  our carefully laid plans are only as good as our ability …


An Everyday Pellet Gun, by Lodge Pole

Where I grew up, we called them pellet guns, not pellet rifles or air rifles. I am by no means a pellet gun expert. Nearly all of my experience is with a single-shot, break-action pellet gun. The knowledge and advice I offer in this article is solely based on my experience and familiarity of single-shot, break-action pellet guns. Depending on your age, physical build and desired purpose of use, pellet gun actions vary, though in application, the concept remains the same. There is an option for everyone. About twenty years ago, I was camping with a friend who had a …


The “Come as You Are” Collapse–Have the Right Tools and Skills

Introductory Note From JWR: This article is an update and small expansion to a succinct post that I made back in February, 2008. When the Second World War broke out in September, 1939, the United States had nearly two full years to ramp up military training and production before decisively confronting the Axis powers. In the mid-1970s, looking at the recent experience of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the Pentagon’s strategic planners came to the realization that the next major war that the US military would wage would not be like the Second World War. There would not be the luxury …


Zastava ZPAP M70 Underfolder, by Thomas Christianson

AK platform firearms have a well-deserved reputation for rugged reliability. This is due (among other factors) to their simple design, sturdy construction, generally loose tolerances, and over-gassing. As a result, AK platform rifles have been a long-time favorite of mine for potential use in situations in which normal care and maintenance may be difficult. The Zastava ZPAP M70 Underfolder is a credit to its AK family lineage. It is compact (just 26.25 inches long when folded), reasonably accurate for an AK (those loose tolerances don’t make for an ideal sniper rifle), with above-average fit and finish for an AK, and …


Preparedness Primer for an Uncertain Future – Part 5, by Single Farmer

(Continued from Part 4.) Most survivalists tend to concentrate on their area of expertise and interest. The majority of survivalists I know are men and we tend to accumulate guns. It is just part of the nature of man that we like tools and guns are at their most basic level tools. I know of no survivalists or preppers without at least one gun unless they are just starting out. Over time, gun collections have a tendency to grow. Gun control for a survivalist is as the joke says means “buying just one gun instead of five.” One major problem …


Heritage 92 in .44 Magnum, by Thomas Christianson

Inspired by John Moses Browning’s iconic Winchester Model 1892, the Heritage 92 comes in a number of different models with various barrel lengths, finishes, and chamberings. The version that I tested has a 20 inch barrel, is chambered in .44 Magnum, holds 10 rounds in the tubular magazine, has semi-buckhorn sights, and walnut-colored tropical hardwood furniture. The Heritage 92 is light, attractive, and well-machined, operates reliably, and puts the shooter in touch with his inner movie cowboy. The .44 Magnum chambering has enough energy and a flat enough trajectory from a rifle length barrel to make the Heritage 92 useful …


Preparing To Go To Gunsite – Part 3, by N.C.

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Flashlight I bought this from Gunsite’s pro shop where they have a couple of options. I bought their bottom of the line (but still expensive to me) Fenix PD36R V2.0 Rechargeable Flashlight for about $100. I agonized a bit over this decision, I did not normatively carry a flashlight and I was not planning to begin carrying one. When I started researching I found that Flashlight guys are like Watch guys, they speak their own language and very quickly start spending huge amounts of money for the model that’s “just right” for …


Preparing To Go To Gunsite – Part 2, by N.C.

(Continued from Part 1.) Physical Requirements Can you stand for six hours a day in the sun and weather? Be brutally honest with yourself here. I saw one gentleman who came who could not. I felt so bad for him. To have spent all the money and time and be unable to actually complete the training would be heartbreaking. On the other hand there were absolutely people north of 60 completing the course. You don’t need to be able to run a marathon but you do need to be able to stand in the sun for several hours. Bear in …


Preparing To Go To Gunsite – Part 1, by N.C.

I think the most important preparations we make are those that overlap in “fun” and “useful” categories. For me, that overlap is best represented in marksmanship. I’ve always loved marksmanship and being a better marksman makes me better able to defend my family if the second worst day of my life happens to be today. I used a SurvivalBlog Writing Contest prize Course Certificate toward the full Gunsite 250 class. The 250 defensive pistol is their standard basic defensive pistol class. Because 250 Defensive Pistol is a 5-day course, the credit that I won writing an article for SurvivalBlog only …