Category: Weapons

Sweet Spot For the 21st Century With Calibers Beating .308- Part 3, by Alpine Evader

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Yesterday, in part two of this “sweet spot” series, I moved beyond telling about my high altitude survival group and our plans and I began telling about my loadout long-term results and recommendations. I’ll continue with this by recommending some ammo. 115 Grain 6.8 Ammo You’ll find that 115 grain 6.8 SPC Sellier & Belliot (S&B) ammo just got undercut by 115 grain American Eagle; both are about $0.62 per round. 6.8 ball ammo will crush cinder blocks within 200 yards far more effectively than any 5.56 ammo. That’s true even if you include green-tip SLAP rounds out of either …


Sweet Spot For the 21st Century With Calibers Beating .308- Part 2, by Alpine Evader

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Yesterday, I began writing by telling the summary up front. I said we recommend against adopting the beautiful, survival standard of .308/7.62x51mm caliber semi-automatic rifles. Instead, I stated, “The least expensive and best upgrade to any existing AR-15 fire team for high altitude blended threats is to purchase standardized barrels and stock up on single-use, heavier bullets.” I also shared about our survival group’s location decisions. So, who am I to make these statements and recommendations? Author’s Relevant Background I climbed my first 14,000+ foot peak at the age of 12 in a summer camp located smack dab in the …


Sweet Spot For the 21st Century With Calibers Beating .308- Part 1, by Alpine Evader

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This week I finished my five-year analysis on five intermediate range cartridges. I did an overview of semi-auto rifle logistics in six calibers. Scope of operations must support mounted vehicle extraction (Getting Out of Dodge/Bugout). Hostage recovery (Close Quarter Combat) and  a more typical three to four-person Fire Team foot patrol/maneuver element 6,000 feet above sea level must also be supported. We train for pain. But we are smart, hairless apes/intelligently designed, free-thinking primates, so we plan-do-check-act (or use the OODA Loop) wisely. “Amateurs study tactics,” goes an old saying, “armchair generals study strategy, but professionals study logistics.” The Sweet …


Beretta APX 9mm Handgun, by Pat Cascio

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The new Beretta APX 9mm handgun is a hot seller, and it’s the subject of our review in this article. No other handgun has fit my hand better than the grand old Browning Hi-Power 9mm pistol, and I’m not alone in this feeling, either. I’ve heard the same thing over and over again from folks who own a Hi-Power. Well, all of that changed the moment I picked-up the new Beretta APX 9mm handgun. I have never, and I mean never, had a handgun feel so good in my hand, no exceptions! I just had to get that out of …


Guest Article: Considerations for Night Operations- Part 2, by Max Alexander

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Yesterday, we began looking at how to see and move at night with low tech- or no tech equipment. I shared about the importance of developing and protecting natural night vision and ways to more safely patrol at night. You cannot assume that darkness masks your movement, but you can adjust. Let’s continue with this in mind. Adjusting To Challenges of Moving At Night So there are challenges of moving at night when working low-tech. But it’s actually something that you can get used to after a little bit of practice. You can get very comfortable at it. You need …


Guest Article: Considerations for Night Operations- Part 1, by Max Alexander

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Let’s talk about night operations. This is a topic that often comes up, particularly with regards to modern night vision equipment. There are multiple aspects to discuss about night operations, so my intent will be to give a broad brush of the various aspects in order to clarify, and open it up to comment and discussion. We are primarily concerned with the armed civilian in an SHTF environment. Thus, you will only have the equipment that you purchased or acquired. We can certainly take pointers from practices within the military, and that is part of the intent of this article, …


CRKT TSR Knife, by Pat Cascio

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The Columbia River Knife & Tool – TSR (Terzuola Survival & Rescue) fixed blade survival knife is one of the newest designs from the mind of legendary custom knife maker Bob Terzuola. I’ve covered Terzuola’s background before, but a quick glean of his background is in order. Custom Knife Maker Bob Terzuola Before becoming a legendary custom knife maker, Bob Terzuola was into carving jade jewelry in Central America at one point. Then he moved to New Mexico and started making custom knives. Back in 1984, I saw an ad for his knives and sent away for his brochure. It …


Cold Steel’s Frenzy II, by Pat Cascio

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Cold Steel never ceases to amaze me, and this time around they sent me their new Frenzy II folding knife for testing. Long time friend and owner of Cold Steel, Lynn Thompson knows that our readers at SurvivalBlog keep asking me to review large folding knives.  Lynn is only too willing and ready to show us some of his newest and coolest blades. Knives Cold Steel Knife and Tool Company  is a knife and tool company dedicated to creating the world’s strongest and sharpest knives. They also create swords, tomahawks, machetes, cutlery, and tools for every day use. One of …


Review of MVT Combat Rifle Skills Class, by T.B.

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JWR & HJL, Below is my review of the MVT Combat Rifle Skills that was held at MVT Romney. As with the Defensive Concealed Handgun class that I attended in early 2017, I was greatly encouraged and motivated by the class. Again, thank you both for what you do! Past Experience I attended the Defensive Concealed Handgun class at MVT Romney in 2017. I greatly benefited from the well thought-out, deliberate, and detailed training I received at that class. One of the attendees of that class had attended the Combat Rifle Skills that had been held earlier in 2017. He …


Springfield Armory’s Range Officer Elite Champion, by Pat Cascio

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The all-new and improved Springfield Armory Range Officer Elite is under review today, and Springfield really went out of their way to update/upgrade this line of fine 1911A1 handguns. Springfield Armory 1911 Range Officer Review Plans I’ve been a huge fan of the Springfield Armory line of 1911 handguns since the mid 1980s for a number of reasons. Their very first 1911s were mostly mil-spec in nature, and they were priced extremely “right”; they still are. Springfield Armory offers great value for your money. I had recently received the Springfield Armory full-sized Range Officer (R.O.)1911A1 for testing and review and …


Letter: Questionable Ammo in Storage

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HJL, Just a quick heads up. As most like minded folks I’ve been storing food and ammo for some time now. Lately .22 ammo has been more readily available so my son and I decided to do a little plinking with our pistols. We each had two mags with our pistols that have been loaded for some time. When we started to shoot 16 of the 20 rounds didn’t discharge. After a bit we reloaded with some ammo that had been sealed and stored and had no problems. The ammo in question wasn’t cheap quality, but rather decent grade. I’m …


Cold Steel Heavy Duty Sword Cane, by Pat Cascio

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The Cold Steel Heavy Duty Sword Cane may well be the strongest and without a doubt the sharpest real world sword cane ever built. In 25 years of testing and writing about knives, firearms, and all manner of survival gear, it was done on a professional basis, and I always tried to maintain an unbiased opinion. However, in the case of the Cold Steel Heavy Duty Sword Cane, it was tested for real world use—my own personal, medical use. My Slow Hip Replacement Recovery As this is being written, I’m in my eleventh week of recovery from hip replacement surgery. …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on investing in firearms magazines. (See the Tangibles section, near the end of this column.) Precious Metals: Jack Chan: Silver Price Update o  o  o Gold Forecast for the Week of August 14, 2017, Technical Analysis Stocks: Top Four Gold Stocks as of August 2017 o  o  …


Kershaw Launch 7, by Pat Cascio

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The new Launch 7 by Kershaw Knives is their newest folder. It’s an automatic push button opening knife. Kershaw Knives I still remember when I took my first tour of the Kershaw plant how small it was. If memory serves me correctly, there were 17 people on the shop floor making knives. Since that first trip, Kershaw has moved into a much larger building, and no sooner did they move in they had plans to expand their operation. My last tour of Kershaw was several years back, and they had several hundred employees on the shop floor, in the warehouse, …


Springfield Armory’s XDe 9mm, by Pat Cascio

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The newest handgun in the XD line-up of Springfield Armory line-up is the compact XDe 9mm. I’ve been a huge fan of their XD line since the first one came out well over a dozen years ago. I purchased the first one I saw. It was used, and it looked “oh-so-GLOCKish” with a green polymer frame. But it was much more overbuilt than a Glock. And none of the parts will interchange with a Glock either. My first, but not my last, XD functioned with everything except Remington UMC bulk .40 S&W 180-gr FMJ ammo. I had numerous rounds that …