Category: Target Shooting & Marksmanship

State Defense Force Service as a Preparedness Training Resource, by M.K.

I advocate that you seriously consider incorporating state organized militia service as a key element of a developing or ongoing personal preparedness strategy.  At this time, twenty-two states have some form of active state sanctioned/sponsored militia organization, all of which are incorporated into each of those states’ military organization.  Generally, these state organized militias are collectively referred to as State Defense Forces (SDFs), though the various states refer to their organizations within a narrow range of naming conventions.  Some examples include, the Texas State Guard, Virginia State Defense Force, Ohio Military Reserve, etc. Though state defense forces are official elements …


Letter Re: Survival Aspects of Cartridge Reloading

Jim: In a recent article, Jerry M. mentioned: “One more thing worth mentioning is the small rifle and small pistol primers are the same size cups, same as the large rifle and large pistol primers are the same size. The cups on the pistol primers are a little thinner than the rifle, for obvious reasons, most rifle firing pins hit a lot harder than pistols do. I have used rifle primers in pistol rounds, and they seem to work fine. You might run into problems on S&W revolvers, using rifle primers, if you have the spring tension screw backed off …


Survival Aspects of Cartridge Reloading, by Jerry M.

Having spent my teenage years in my dad’s commercial reloading shop, circa 1955 to1958, I learned quite a bit about reloading ammunition. Back then we loaded mostly .30-06, .30-30 Winchester, .270 Winchester, .300 Savage, 250 Savage and other old calibers that were excellent deer and elk rifles. Long before the magnum mania came about, these rifles were killing big game, and doing it quite well. Many today find this unbelievable, but back when the silver certificates were money, and fiat currency was only a dream of the globalist bankers, you could buy a pound of DuPont 4895, a box of 100- .30 caliber JSP bullets, and …


Pat’s Product Reviews: Bassett Machine M1A/M14 Scope Mounts

When I entered Basic Training at Fort Ord, California, in August 1969, we were issued M14 rifles. I was a wimpy 17-year old weighing 135 pounds. I found the M14 was extremely heavy for me to carry, but I learned to love that rifle, and I still do! The M14 fires the 7.62 NATO round – it’s akin to the civilian .308 Winchester round. It’s a great all around caliber for (most) big game hunting, as well as defending your home or retreat. When I left Basic Training, and went on to my Infantry school at Fort Lewis, Washington, I …


Help For Those Who Have Recently Awakened, by Mike H.

Many SurvivalBlog readers have been prepping for awhile and are comfortable with their plans.  However, the process can be overwhelming for people who have recently “woke up” or who are trying to convince loved ones who aren’t sold on the need or desirability of prepping. This shouldn’t be minimized or downplayed.  It can be very disturbing when you first realize you aren’t   self-sufficient.  It is easy to become overwhelmed with the scope, cost, and time necessary to prepare.  The concept of TEOTWAWKI can be troubling and concerning even to completely self-sufficient preppers.  Even the possibility of angry mobs trying to …


Pat’s Product Review: Black Hills Ammunition

Twenty years ago, when I first started writing about guns, I also edited and published a rag called “Police Hot Sheet.” It was a pull-no-punches magazine reviewing firearms, ammo and gear. The very first companies to supply me with their products were Black Hills Ammunition and Taurus Firearms and to this day, both companies keep samples of their products coming my way. Over the past 20 years, I have easily fired hundreds of thousands of rounds of Black Hills Ammunition, and not once did I have a problem with any of their ammo – reloads, factory seconds or their brand-new …


Letter Re: Uses For Discarded Political Campaign Signs and Wickets

Mr. Rawles, I searched the blog, and found no mention of a tidbit I find useful. Political campaign yard signs made with corrugated plastic and H-style wire posts make very useful target backers for posting targets when you don’t have easy access to your own range. I like to make use of National Forest or National Grasslands, and these work wonderfully. Use a stapler to post the target. The plastic takes quite a beating before it needs to be retired. They also stand up fairly well to wind. Have fun in choosing your targets, and get out and practice! Also, …


Letter Re: Re: Making Your Range Time Real Time — Train as You Fight

James: H.R. here, to follow-up to one of the responses to my article: In no way do I divert from the baseline of “Shoot, Move and Communicate”.  They are the very core for any affective operation.  If you take any or all of the three capabilities out of the mix than you have severely disrupted any operation! There is a core concept to everything that should be thought about in anything that life throws at you…Crawl, Walk, Run.  When shooting you must make sure that you can complete a “Phase” before you move to the next one!  Let me break …


Three Letters Re: Basic Rifle Marksmanship–Is It That Basic?

James: That was a great article on marksmanship and very relevant for me as this last weekend I participated in an Appleseed shoot.  The instructors are volunteers who did a great job (and refused any monetary tips).  It is a great organization!  They covered many of the topics you mentioned in this article.  For the first time in my life I feel like I finally have the fundamentals necessary to be a skilled shooter. I’ve grown up plinking with BB guns and .22 rimfires all my life and have always been a decent shot.  Assuming 95% of your readers will …


Basic Rifle Marksmanship–Is It That Basic?

To be the best at something we must start out at the basics.  But in marksmanship, what are the basics?  The basics don’t start when we put the magazine in our rifle.  The basics start well before we fire the first shot.  We don’t want our first marksmanship test to be when we absolutely have to fire a shot in defense or necessity.  Marksmanship is something that many don’t come by naturally.  It must be worked on.  For those who it comes naturally to, practice makes perfect and some things need to be discovered in practice before they are discovered …


Letter Re: Magpul Dynamics The Art of the Tactical Carbine DVD Set

I also thoroughly enjoyed The Art of the Tactical Carbine DVD as an instructional video to become more proficient in carbine operation.  I also agree, Chris Costa’s drop pouch explanation is hilarious but at the end, he makes a more important point: “You, the shooter, have to determine what you want to do.” In most of the training I’ve taken with tactical carbine and pistol operation, the emphasis has generally focused on winning the fight without much consideration for long term logistics.  This has given much credence to the practice of emergency reloads – dropping the mag to get the …


Letter Re: Para Ord Pistols and Serpa Holsters, by G.N.

I’m writing to contribute my first hand experience to the recent review of the Para USA P14.  After desiring one for 20 years, I became the very disappointed owner of a US-made model nine months ago. First,  P14s for the last few years have the Power Extractor (PXT), which is a non-standard 1911 extractor. This means you’re stuck with it. You can’t readily replace it with off the shelf 1911 extractors and you can’t tune it.  Mine broke at under 200 rounds.  Although Pat summarily dismisses this as mere ‘Internet lore’, where there is smoke, there’s fire – and there …


Product Review: Magpul Dynamics The Art of the Tactical Carbine DVD Set, by Mac D.

As many people who are presently watching local and global events I have a heightened concern with our general social situation on many levels. As part of my preparations I had identified some potential deficiencies with my actual ability to use firearms in a defensive manner if it were to be necessary.  Like many, having the time, funds and opportunity to attend formal instruction in utilizing a rifle in a tactical manner just was not coming together in a timely manner. To my advantage I have actually spent time in the Marine Corps (combat veteran) and Coast Guard (boarding team, …


Letter Re: Making Your Range Time Real Time — Train as You’ll Fight!

Dear Sir, I’ve been a fan ever since I read your novel “Patriots” a couple of years ago.  I’d like to point out that with regard to the “Making Your Range Time Real Time – Train as You’ll Fight!” post, the ability to shoot and move and to shoot while moving should be included in your training.  Furthermore, the use of cover versus concealment should be included.   I bring this up because for years in federal law enforcement we qualified every three months, we did use silhouette targets, but all the shooting was done from a static position at varying …


Making Your Range Time Real Time — Train as You’ll Fight!, by H.R.

When you go to the range, whether it is in your or a friends backyard, at a local indoor or outdoor range how do you practice?  What do you practice?  Do you just put lead downrange as fast as you can in hopes that it hits the target because people are around and you want to sound like you know what you are doing (this is way more common than you might think)?  There are some things that I would like to put out to everyone that I hope can help you out in your range training. There are many …