Mr Rawles:
Thanks for your review of The Weapon. I get a lot of feedback on it, regarding the risks of attack and terrorism. I’m glad to see people thinking about the subject more.
Currently, I’m gearing up to do a nonfiction work about medics in combat in the current conflict. If any of the SurvivalBlog readers are or know anyone who is, do please have them contact me. I’ve got approval from the various branches public affairs, and I’m Guard myself. I’ll be treating the subject and troops as they deserve to be, and not looking to misquote for headlines. This is an anecdotal history.
It’s true that soft body armor will stop 12 gauge slug and .44 magnum rounds. However, there’s an asterisk here. The armor can deform up to THREE INCHES from a 12 gauge slug. The blunt trauma itself can be lethal under those circumstances.
One of the common complaints of the Interceptor Body Armor is shoulder chafing and pinching of the abdomen when lying prone. My wife just returned from a year on active duty, and didn’t have this problem. She ordered her armor a size large and it had enough extra space to disperse the load. This also offers a gap against the above mentioned blunt trauma. Of course, it also increases carried weight. There is no free lunch.
www.theboxotruth.com covers a lot of comparison shoots of different weapons in different media. One important note is the myth that a .308 “turns cover into concealment.” If the material is timber, sandbags or brick, this is pretty much not true. There are ballistic reasons for this, but they’re lengthy. The test shots are shown. On sandbags, both 7.62 NATO and 5.56 penetrate 5 inches or so and STOP. 5.56mm will penetrate 12″ of pine and still have energy to spare. Upshot: bullets kill, and you want hard cover and lots of it for yourself, and a target that isn’t in hard cover.
I cleaned out an old BOB last month that had been in three vehicles over 20 years. I ate some MREs packaged in 1980-1983. The applesauce had turned brown and wasn’t interesting, so I tossed it, but I believe it was still safe. All other components were edible and tasty. I can’t speak as to the remaining nutritional value, but I suffered no ill effects. These MREs had cycled seasonally from well over 100 degrees down to sub zero. It seems as long as the packages aren’t swelling, the contents are safe.
Another option for firearms with no paperwork are black powder reproductions with aftermarket cylinders. The 1858 and 1860 models, among others by Uberti, Pietta and Ruger, can be equipped with a .45 Long Colt cylinder (or .38 Special). www.taylorsfirearms.com is one source of these. It has to be removed, opened and manually extracted/loaded, but you get 6 completely legal shots with no paperwork. Price for a revolver and extra cylinder runs around $400. I also think it wouldn’t be too hard to load black powder into a small plastic pouch made from sandwich bag polyethylene, sealed with epoxy. A single dessicant pellet might be a good idea. Such a load would last several weeks at least in the weapon, possibly years. The percussion cap should have enough power to puncture the plastic and ignite the propellant. Again, completely legal and paperwork free, if labor intensive. I will attempt to conduct a range test shortly. I expect cleaning the cylinder will be a bit of a chore, but it’s a good idea to have spares anyway. Best wishes, and keep your powder dry. – Mike
Letter from Michael Z. Williamson Re: Body Armor, Ancient MREs, and Federally Exempt Handguns
