Category: Weapons

Off-Paper: The Importance of Making Private Arms Purchases

Firearms sales in the United States, as measured by the number of completed National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background checks, are near an all-time high. In February, 2016, there were a whopping 2.6 million background checks! But those sales numbers only reflect the sales of new guns sold by Federal Firearms License (FFL) holders. The bigger and largely unreported news is of the upswing in the sales of used guns (“secondary sales”) by private parties. At a recent gun show, I observed that the folks who were there selling guns from their private collections were met by very …


Letter: Long Question About Eotech Lawsuit

James and Hugh, A while back I was reading The Reluctant Partisan from John Mosby. One of the suggestions was getting an optic on your AR or battle rifle. (The whole book is really good info from someone who was special forces, so I respect what the guy was saying!) Long story short, I went out and picked up a Eotech for my AR and another one with magnifier for the PS90 carbine, well because the FN sight on the PS90 is a joke. so yeah I have about $2000 tied up in optics on my two weapon systems. Just …


The Survival Battery- Part 3, by B.F.

Mid-Level Battery The mid-level battery I will recommend is as follows, with four each in most categories of guns for redundancy and so that they don’t have to be shared. Mid-Level Everyday Battery There are two choices here for a handgun– one semi auto and one revolver. Four Glock Gen four model 21 in 45acp. The 45acp may not be quite as powerful as a 44 magnum, but the 13+1 rounds it carries should compensate. If you don’t mind stocking a less popular more expensive caliber, then the Glock model 20 in 10mm gives you 15+1 rounds that have close …


The Survival Battery- Part 2, by B.F.

On to the firearms batteries. I am a big fan of used guns. Most of the time, a used gun has not been shot much and you can pick it up for a significant savings over a new one. Right now is a great time to pick up trade-in police department handguns. Police trade-ins make an especially good deal for the person who is buying a gun to use rather than to show off. Even though the finish may be worn and the grips in need of replacement, they may only have been shot 100 rounds per year at annual …


The Survival Battery- Part 1, by B.F.

I recently “rediscovered” the late Mel Tappan’s book Survival Guns. I remember reading his articles in Guns and Ammo and Soldier of Fortune back in the ’60s and ’70s, and I had a copy of Survival Guns when I was stationed in Germany as a small arms repairman in the mid ’70s. I left that copy in the unit’s common library when I PCS’d back to the world and had not thought about it until lately when I found a reprint available on Amazon. A lot of writers have shared their thoughts about what should constitute a survival battery. JWR, …


Occupy Wall Street Versus Occupy Malheur: Clear Cases of Selective Prosecution

This news headline makes it clear that the BHO Administration is widening their net:  Nevada Standoff Indictment Names Bundys, Five More.  These “add-on” indictments are quite troubling. I believe that the assessment by Brandon Smith’s (previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog) may be correct:  A Warning To The Feds On Incremental Prosecutions Of The Liberty Movement.  There may be dozens of more indictments of people who attended the Bundy Ranch protests in 2014 that filter out over a the next six to nine months. Let’s draw a comparison: There were overt and quite visible physical threats and considerable actual violence in the …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: North American Arms .32 Auto– A Closer Look

Over the years, I’ve gotten quite a few requests for a followup article on a gun I tested either on SurvivalBlog.com or when I was writing for the printed gun magazines. I usually decline to do these articles for several reasons. First of all, it’s next to impossible to get one of the firearms printed magazines to accept a followup article. Secondly, I can’t duplicate the torture tests that most gun makers put their guns through. However, I have received quite a few requests for a followup article and report on several firearms I’ve tested for SurvivalBlog.com, and I thought …


Letter: Ammunition Versus Silver for Barter

Dear Editors, So here is my ten cents worth… I believe in buying silver bullion now, but dumping it when spot silver hits $30, $40, or $50 per ounce. If you are buying now, then a $20 per ounce (or more) gain per ounce is far better than most any other investments. In fact, I would be happy to sell my bullion at $3 below spot, when silver is $40 an ounce! Remember, if things get really bad, you can’t eat gold or silver. In my estimation U.S. pre-1965 silver coinage is apropos for what I would call the intermediate …


Know Your Limits, by Molon Labe

In these times, there are many activities that we must train to be able to do, many skills we must know, and many tasks we are forced to accomplish to sustain our lives and those who we care about. In the days ahead, there will be even greater and more difficult things that we will have to do should a collapse or failure of civility occur to any degree in our area. Many things that are abhorrent to us may become required in order to righteously protect what is ours. Taking lives in the defense of our lives, our property, …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Benchmade Steep

I think I’ve been getting knife samples from Benchmade for articles about 23 years now, and I’ve toured their factory several times, though I haven’t been up there for a while. So, I’m over due for a visit to see how much they have expanded since my last visit. Les d’Asis, the owner at Benchmade, always seems to find the time to sit down and visit with me, and it has never, ever been a visit that was cut short. Les is “good people”; with no dress shirt and tie, and I’ve mentioned this before about him, he’s a real …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Gerber Prodigy Tanto Knife

For a lot of years, Gerber knives was a major player in the cutlery field. However, some years back, they fell out of favor with a lot of consumers, and their line-up of knives really shrank quite a bit. Honestly, it’s been at least 15 years or longer since Gerber sent me any knives for articles. I don’t know if it was a change of shifts or powers-that-be, but they stopped sending me knives to write about. That’s okay; there are more than enough knife companies that do send me samples for testing and articles. One of the best fixed …


Letter Re: Constitutional Carry

Hugh, I’d like to make a comment regarding “Constitutional Carry” laws that are in the works around the country. We had one here in Maine pass last year. Ours has conditions mandating the disclosure of carrying should you encounter a police officer. The premise of creating a state law (with conditions, infringements, etc) in order to enforce a Constitutional law is unconstitutional. This is usurping the Constitution at the state level. Even worse, the “Constitutional Carry” law is just another typical state law that can be repealed by any future legislature. I would encourage anyone in any state that is …


Letter Re: Constitutional Carry

Hugh, I noted the entry in SurvivalBlog.com today about Idaho seeking passage of a “Constitutional Carry” bill. Here in West Virginia, with great grassroots mail, email, and phone support, as well as attendance at the capitol in Charleston, a similar bill passed last year in both the House and Senate, only to be vetoed by the governor in the final week of the legislative session, leaving “no time” to override the veto. This year the measure got an earlier start, and hopefully we will get it passed and manage to override the promised veto in time for the end of …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Update on .300 Whisper Ammo, by Pat Cascio

I did two articles on Ruger firearms. One was on their Mini-14 in .300 Blackout, and the other was on the new Ruger SR-556 Take Down rifle that comes in .223/5/56. In the latter, you can swap out the barrel and convert it to fire .300 Blackout/.300 Whisper ammo, which is a neat idea. I didn’t shoot any heavy, sub-sonic .300 Whisper ammo that Black Hills Ammunition produces, because this ammo is meant for use in guns with a suppressor on them. This isn’t the first time that Jeff Hoffman, at Black Hills Ammunition, asked me to do some testing …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Springfield Armory EMP 4

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When the first Springfield Armory EMP series of shrunk down 1911s came out, I took a wait and see attitude before requesting a sample for an article on SurvivalBlog.com. I was really impressed with that little gun. It was darn near the perfect packin’ pistol, as my long-time friend and fellow gun writer, John Taffin, has been searching for all his life. The little EMP sample I had was in .40 S&W, and it was a very snappy pistol in the recoil department, very snappy! There wasn’t much I didn’t like about it. Last December, my super-secret contact at Springfield …