Economics and Investing:

WARNING: The Coming Collapse Of U.S Net Worth Will Wipe Out Millions Of Americans –

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From: Wells Fargo, Re: Closing The Accounts We Secretly Opened For You – DSV

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Items from Mr. Econocobas:

Backlash to World Economic Order Clouds Outlook at IMF Talks – Here is Globalism on the defensive. The world’s economy has been destroyed by globalist policies and now they want to blame the impending recession/depression on others who are rejecting globalism.

Video Interview : Is Canada’s Economy on the Verge of a Financial Crisis? – This is a very good interview on Bloomberg.

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Interesting Coincidence – U.S. Internet Disruption Maps During WikiLeaks Presser. – C.S.

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Video: Trey Gowdy Took Only Three Minutes To Silence The Media – B.B.

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On The Precipice Of World War III: Russia Prepares For War On Multiple Fronts – B.B.

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In the news, I notice that Russians are participating in large nuclear preparedness drills. While it seems based on Russian sources (and all that implies, based on Sun Tzu), I would certainly say that a pre-emptive strike is in their arsenal of options and should be considered when evaluating our own state of preparedness. 40 Million Russians To Take Part In “Nuclear Disaster” Drill, Days After US General Warns Of War With Moscow – EJR

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The Threat is Real and Imminent: “Two North Korean Satellites Orbiting Over U.S. May Be Armed With Miniaturized Super-EMP Weapon” – G.L.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” Vanity asks the question, “Is it popular?” But, conscience asks the question, “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one that it is right.” – Martin Luther King

Notes for Tuesday – October 04, 2016

October 4, 1923 is the birthday of the late Charlton Heston, who was born John Charles Carter. He died April 5, 2008. He is often remembered for movies like Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, Soylent Green, The Planet of the Apes, and the survivalist classic The Omega Man.

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SurvivalBlog would like to welcome Max Velocity Tactical as a new sponsor in our writing contest. They will be donating a gift certificate good for any two or three day class of training. Stop by their website today and see what they offer.

We are also welcoming back SafeCastle as a contest sponsor. They will be donating a package of 15 Life Straws. If you are a regular purchaser of survival/prepping materials (and who among us isn’t?), you owe it to yourself to check their website out.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 66 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value),
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chrome-lined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul PMAG 30-rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt; (an equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package (enough for two families of four) plus seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate (a $325 retail value),
  8. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  9. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating an AquaBrick water filtration kit with a retail value of $250, and
  10. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  3. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  4. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  9. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A $245 gift certificate from custom knife-maker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
  3. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value),
  8. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value), and
  9. Fifteen LifeStraws from SafeCastle (a $300 value).

Round 66 ends on September 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

How To Find Food in Your Own Backyard, by Z.M.

If it ever really comes down to it, you can easily find food in your backyard. I remember reading a survival book when I was younger that mentioned how absolutely ludicrous it is to die of starvation in the wild. The book mentioned the sheer number of times that starved lost hikers’ bodies are found lying in a patch of edible plant life.

After reading that, I agreed with the author and set out to educate myself on the edible plants I walk by every day. The end result is that I can now take a hike through the woods and readily identify plant after plant that I can eat along the way. If I’m ever on a dayhike and find my food is running low and I’m hungry, I know which plants I can munch on that’ll allow me to enjoy my hike much longer. It’s pretty fun.

I think plants are pretty neat. The tiny little red clover lives in its own little world, while the massive oak will fill you with a sense of awe.

With a little bit of training, those plants can fill your belly with food as well!

Here are seven very common and very easy to identify edible plants that you most likely have in your backyard already.

  1. Red Clover

    This is your typical three leaf clover, just with red-ish flowers. If you live in an area with rabbits, sooner or later you’ll see them munching on red clover flowers. The cool thing is that those red flowers are edible for you as well.

    The central stalk can be kind of tough, but if you have the time and desire to strip all of the little red florets off of the main stalk, then you’ll be in for a real treat. You can eat the little flowers raw or use the dried florets to make tea.

  2. Chicory

    I’m a big fan of this pretty little blue/purple flower. The leaves make an excellent addition to salads, and you’ve probably eaten them before without ever really realizing it. They’re a very popular addition to mixed green salad bags that you can buy at the grocery store.

    You can actually buy seeds for these little guys at your local hardware store as well, which I find funny since I consider it a weed. However, this weed is incredibly tasty and versatile. When harvesting, try to pick the younger leaves, as they’ll be less bitter.

    The taproot can be used as well. If you dry, roast, and grind them, you can use them as a coffee substitute, just like you’ll find in New Orleans.

  3. Crabapples

    You know these little guys as the notorious blobs that end up all over your sidewalk every fall. Well, give them a piece of your mind this year by fighting back with your stomach. That’s right, you can eat these little fruits as well. I’ll give you fair warning though, they’re extremely tart.

    Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of Granny Smith apples. However, if you do like Granny Smiths, there’s a good chance that you’ll like these as well. They have roughly the same taste and probably a bit more of the tartness. You can cook with them, just like you would a Granny Smith though, and they make pretty good applesauce.

  4. Dandelions

    Here’s another little green that I’m a pretty big fan of because of how great of an addition it makes to salads. The leaves get more bitter as they grow larger (read: extremely bitter), but if you can get them while they’re young they’re fantastic.

    I find eating dandelion leaves is very similar to drinking coffee. Nobody drinks straight up black coffee and likes it the first time. It’s an acquired taste. The same can be said of dandelion as well. Once you develop a taste for the bitterness, you won’t be able to get enough.

    Like chicory, you can use the roots of dandelions for a coffee substitute as well. Dry, roast, and grind the roots, and you’ll be on your way to a beverage that’s at the midway point between a coffee and a tea.

  5. Acorns

    The only way I’ve ever eaten these are as nuts, but you can use them to make flour like the Indians used to as well. The key to making acorns edible is to get rid of all of the tannins inside of them.

    Tannins make the acorn incredibly bitter. The key to removing tannins is water, and lots of it. By boiling acorns in several changes of water, until the acorns taste decent, you will safely dispose of the tannins. When you boil them, make sure to remove the outer shells first too. Otherwise, you end up with a mess. After you boil them, you end up with a pretty pleasant nut meat that can easily fill some bellies.

    If you use cold water to leach out the tannins, THEN you can use acorns as a source of flour to make breads and such. Tying up your acorns in a bag with holes in it, and placing them in a flowing stream will leach out the tannins over a period of time (potentially three days). Then, you’ll want to dry the acorns out, and peel off the thin little papery skin around each one before grinding them down to use as a source of flour.

  6. Wild Garlic

    These are very easy to identify little boogers that you’ll see popping up all over your yard from spring to fall. We always called them wild onions growing up, but wild garlic is the proper name. They send up long, green, tube-ish stalks that are hollow inside and tend to tower over the surrounding grasses.

    You can use the green part chopped up like chives. The teeny little onion at the base you can use, well, like an onion. I think they taste pretty good too. Some people say that the taste is too powerful though, so be wary of that before you substitute them in recipes in the same proportions as regular onions.

  7. Kousa Dogwood

    If you live in the South, you’ll find these things all over the place. Dogwoods are incredibly popular down here, and the Kousa variety is just as common. Kousa dogwoods are recognized by their pinkish-red globular fruits. They kind of look like bumpy soccer balls.

    What most people don’t know about this tree is that those little soccer balls are edible. Personally, I find them kind of mealy, but if you’re truly hungry you probably won’t mind. The fruits ripen in late summer, and turn from yellow to pink-red when they are fully ripe. The skin is pretty bitter, so they’re gonna taste better if you can avoid that part.

Conclusion

Should something crazy ever happen, such as a loss of power, flooding of your community, or storms that leave roads impassable, you may find yourself marooned at your house for a period of time. I don’t consider my current residence out in the boondocks by any means, yet we’re faced with at least one of those problems every year.

Should such an event come to your doorstep, the ability to forage food out of your own backyard will make your life much less miserable. Think about the peace of mind that comes from knowing that there are plants out in your lawn that you know your kids can safely eat should your food stores run out.

It’s a good feeling knowing that you can do that.

If you want to know more about foraging for your own food, there are a couple of resources out there that I rely on and have found to be a great source of information.

  1. Edible Wild Plants: Eastern/Central North America by Lee Allen Peterson

    This is the most comprehensive book on edible plants as far as I’m concerned. I carry this book with me everywhere. Not only does book do an excellent job of telling you what part of the plant to eat, but it also shows you poisonous look-alikes. The only negative is that most of the pictures are hand drawn.

  2. Backyard Foraging by Ellen Zachos

    Another great foraging book that goes in depth into the wild edibles growing in your own backyard. The pictures are fantastic, it tells you what parts to harvest, and tells you how to prepare the food to eat as well.

  3. Southeast Foraging by Chris Bennett

    I use this book mainly for verification issues. If I’m not 100% positive about what I’m about to eat, I pull out this book as a last resort just to make sure. It’s got a number of lesser-known wild edibles within it, and I like the extra perspective regarding how to eat different plants.

  4. Willowhavenoutdoor.com

    If you’ve ever watched Fat Guys in the Woods, then you know who Creek Stewart is. This is the website of his survival business that he runs out in Indiana. His blog has some great posts on lesser known edible plants.

Letter Re: Moving to Alaska

Good Afternoon Hugh,

This is a response to the Letter regarding Alaska as a Survival Location. I am sure you are getting piles of letters from people in Alaska who claim many things. We have owned our property in Alaska for eight years. Here are some pointers for being successful in Alaska, which people down in the States don’t seem to understand.

  • Location – Most people think that the only places to relocate to Alaska are in the “mainland” part. We live in Southeast Alaska, which is a rainforest. Water is plentiful here. Getting here is not difficult and the hub is Ketchikan. It’s like any other place in the country. Location, location, location. Don’t move someplace that is too far, too cold, too difficult… etc. Do research ahead of time. Just like you would before moving anywhere remote. Also, it makes no sense to pull up stakes and homestead if you have tons of bills and can’t make it without a job. There are jobs available, but if you are an unskilled worker, Alaska may not work for you. If you have a profession such as teaching, working in a medical field or some other skilled job, you will likely find a good paying job.
  • Food – As the author indicated, many people barge their food up. However, we have purchased food from the Mormon Cannery and Costco and although we do pay a price for barging up from Seattle, it is worth what we have here. We also garden year round, have deer, salmon, halibut, herring, crabs, freshwater fish, etc. Some locations have moose and caribou, but those typically are on the mainland so we satisfy our needs with what we have. Thinking you are moving to Alaska so you can live in a suburb makes no sense. Get out of debt, make a plan and make a decision. It’s the same as if you made a decision to give up high paying jobs in the city and moving to a remote location in the country. Buying food locally is expensive, but again, barging up food, growing it, hunting and fishing more than satisfy our needs.
  • Fuel – It’s slightly more than down in the states. But, on the flip side, it doesn’t have ethanol.
  • Housing – Buying near Anchorage or Fairbanks is expensive. But buying near Chicago, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, etc… is also expensive. I thought we were trying to get out of the city, not buy a place in the city. Outside of the city there are plenty of places that are reasonable, but again, moving there with loads of debt needing a high paying job will not be possible.
  • Employment – My husband and I work for our school district. We are very satisfied with our jobs. If you are a skilled professional, there are jobs available in Alaska. Thinking that there is free land, you can homestead and commute, or come up as an unskilled worker and find something that will pay for a nice place to live is simply not possible.
  • The Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) – I don’t know of any other location that will give people “free” money just for being a resident.

If you are committed to coming to Alaska the recommendations are the following:

  1. Make sure there are jobs for your profession. Don’t come expecting to find something when you live out in the boonies.
  2. Get out of debt.
  3. Look for property in places that make sense. Don’t think you can live in the middle of the state 300 miles from any populated area and be able to make it unless you are a serious outdoors person with a trust fund who doesn’t need to work. Even if you are, being alone in the middle of nowhere is not easy. Everything has to be flown in by bush plane or float plane. Do you want to live like that?
  4. Don’t think you can move to a native village unless you are being hired by a school. Most native villages are closed to outsiders. You also can’t purchase property there if you are not part of the tribe.
  5. Look for a small town and explore possibilities there. It may be possible, or it may not. Alaska is not for everyone, but there is nowhere like it. – A.C.

Economics and Investing:

Gold Price Reversal

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Winners Of The Oil Bust: How Much Oil Did China Store? New satellite images suggest that China might be able to store much more crude oil than previously thought

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Three reasons why the banking system is rigged against you – DSV

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Deutsche Bank Received a U.S. Bailout Twice as Big as Lehman Brothers – P.M.

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Today NOAA Adds Solar Storms to the Weather Forecast – G.G.

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Several readers sent this link in: Gun-Show Customers’ License Plates Come Under Scrutiny. Well worth reading, though you may have to sign in to get it. You can get a summary of the article at Bearing Arms.

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Gun sales hit 17th straight monthly record, up 27 percent – G.G.

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‘We run the streets’: Video shows angry mob attacking CHP patrol car with officer still inside – W.C.

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A bit of humor for your Tuesday morning – Music Video: Liar Liar Pants On Fire Hillary Song

Notes for Monday – October 03, 2016

October, 3, is the anniversary of the Mogadishu, Somalia raid. The 18 Americans killed were: MSG Gary Gordon, 1st SFOD-D SFC Randy Shughart, 1st SFOD-D SSG Daniel Busch, 1st SFOD-D SFC Earl Fillmore, 1st SFOD-D MSG Timothy Martin, 1st SFOD-D CPL Jamie Smith, 3/75 Ranger SPC James Cavaco, 3/75 Ranger SGT Casey Joyce, 3/75 Ranger PFC Richard Kowaleski, 3/75 Ranger SGT Dominic Pilla, 3/75 Ranger SGT Lorenzo Ruis, 3/75 Ranger SSG William Cleveland, Jr. 160th SOAR SSG Thomas Field, 160th SOAR CW4 Raymond Frank, 160th SOARD CW3 Clifton Wolcott, 160th SOAR CW2 Donovan Briley, 160th SOAR SGT Cornell Houston, 10th MTN DIV PFC James Martin, 10th MTN DIV

The Somalis killed were unnamed and un-numbered, but estimates range from 315 and 2,000 KIAs.

The events of October 3, 1993 were memorialized in the movie Black Hawk Down.

Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Springfield Armory TRP vs TRP Operator

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The 1911 handgun has been around since, well, 1911, so the design is more than a hundred years old. For an old work horse, the design shows no signs of slowing down. As a matter of fact, there are probably at least 50 companies producing the 1911 in one form or another. We can have a 1911 in the basic mil-spec version or a fully decked out custom gun with more bells and whistles than we could ever use. We can find 1911s imported from The Philippines for well under $500 or acquire custom guns that easily cost tens of thousands of dollars. We can have a full-sized 1911 or a sub-compact version and everything in between those sizes.

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One of the major players in the 1911 field is Springfield Armory in Geneseo, IL. They have some 1911s produced in Brazil, and many are made in-house. You can choose anything from a mil-spec version, which are very nice guns, to one from their Custom Shop and once again everything in between. Also, Springfield Armory has one of the best warranties in the business, too.

I rarely, and I mean rarely, do a side-by-side test of any firearms. For good reason, no matter how fair one wants to be, we will always favor one gun over another, for whatever reason. This doesn’t mean that one gun is necessarily better than the other gun. It’s just our preferences and personal tastes. We can take two identical guns from the same manufacturer, and we will most likely favor one over the other. Go figure.

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With the above in mind, I thought it would be interesting to test the Springfield Armory TRP 1911 against the TRP Operator 1911 to see how they compared. The TRP has a 2-piece guide rod, while the TRP Operator has a 1–piece guide rod. Both guns have Tritium night sights. The TRP has fixed Novak combat sights, and the TRP Operator has a full adjustable rear sight. Both come with two 7-rd stainless steel mags with slam pads, both have their frames made out of forged steel, and ditto goes for the slides. Both have identical grey G-10 gips, and both have 5-inch match grade stainless steel barrels. Both have the outstanding Armory Kote on the slides and frames that really resists the elements. The TRP weighs 42 oz, while the TRP Operator weighs 45 oz, due to the Picatinny rail on the frame for lasers and lights. Actually, there are very few differences at all between the two guns.

If you like adjustable sights, the TRP Operator is the way to go. If you like fixed sights, the standard TRP is the right choice. If you want that Picatinny rail for mounting lights and lasers, then the TRP Operator is your choice. Other than that, the guns are pretty much the same in all the areas that count.

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Springfield Armory has a limited edition of only 1,500 TRP Operator 1911 available that are set up the way famed Navy SEAL Chris Kyle had his that he carried in Iraq. The gun with serial #1 was sold at auction, and if I recall it went for over $22,000. However, if you can find any of the other serial numbers, the retail price is $2495, however I suspect they will all sell for even more than that.

Both of the TRPs come from Springfield Armory in a very nice polymer carrying case that includes the two magazines, a double magazine pouch, a paddle holster, full instructions, and a cleaning brush. The two magazines have slam pads for a reason; there is an extended magazine well “funnel” on the gun for faster reloads, and mags without the slam pads would be difficult to insert. The slam pads are the way to go. The trigger pull on both of my samples came in right at 4½ lbs, and I didn’t see any need to adjust it lighter than that; this is a good trigger pull for a self-defense handgun. The TRP had a slightly, every so slightly, crisper trigger pull. Both guns also have the extended beaver tail grip safety that were timed perfectly. Both guns had ambidextrous thumb safeties as well. They snicked on/off with authority; there’s no slop! The barrel on the TRP Operator is a heavier bull barrel, as opposed to the standard diameter barrel on the TRP.

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Both of the TRPs fit nicely in a Blackhawk Products tactical thigh holster and their SERPA hip holsters. I was a little concerned that the Operator with the Picatinny rail wasn’t going to fit in those holsters; it fit nicely. However, the Operator needs a specially molder leather holster that will have room for the Picatinny rail. The TRP fit in every 1911 holster I tried it in.

Many years ago, I co-authored a book called SWAT Battle Tactics with my friend John McSweeney, who passed away about a dozen years ago. McSweeney was the founder of the American Kenpo Karate Association, and he is credited with introducing Kenpo Karate in Ireland. He was also well-known for his handgun skills, especially when it came to Point Shooting. He and I used different methods, but they were compatible with one another, as demonstrated in our DVD “Tactical Point Shooting” that is sold by Paladin Press. I used to teach SWAT tactics many, many years ago, and my SWAT book is in need of a serious update when I can find the time, or perhaps I need to write a completely new book.

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I’ve stated before that if I had to go into an active shooter situation and I could only have one handgun, the 1911 would be that firearm, with plenty of spare magazines. The .45 ACP puts the bad guns down faster, in my humble opinion, and the TRP 1911s are both chambered in .45 ACP. When I taught SWAT tactics to police officers, it became apparent that they had difficulty moving through the hallways and small rooms with a shotgun or an AR-15. I suggested that they try house clearing with a handgun instead of a long gun, and it worked better. That’s not to say that a shotgun or an AR-15 shouldn’t be used. Take it for what it’s worth and save the hate mail. Use what you use best if you’re a SWAT officer. If I knew I was going up against several armed suspects who were armed with AK-47s or AR-15, my choice would be an AR-15 WITH a 1911 on my hip. It just depends on the situation. Choose the tools you’ll use carefully, and train with them. I have every confidence in the world, if only armed with a good 1911, the right ammo, and plenty of spare magazines, going into many dangerous situations.

Highly trained SWAT teams, like the world-famous Los Angeles PD, issue 1911s to their officers. Each officer is actually issued two 1911s– one has a rail for a light, and one without a rail. They choose accordingly when going into a dangerous scenario. Many other SWAT teams around the country, even around the world, pick the 1911 as their sidearm. Take it for what it’s worth.

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Many of my long-time readers will know that I just can’t help but change something on my 1911s or tinker with them to make things more to my liking. The only changes I did on both the TRP and the TRP Operator were to replace the standard 16-lb recoil spring with an 18.5-lb heavier recoil spring. I shoot a lot of +P ammo through my 1911s, and I think the heavier recoil spring just makes sense. It protects the frame from getting battered by the hotter rounds. Other than that, I made no changes to either gun.

Black Hills Ammunition and Buffalo Bore Ammunition kindly supplied me with a great assortment of .45 ACP ammo for my testing, and I did a lot of shooting for this article. From Buffalo Bore, I had their 160-gr Barnes TAC XP low recoil, standard pressure, all-copper hollow point round, their 255-gr Outdoorsman Hard Cast +P load, 230-gr FMJ FN +P, 185-gr JHP +P, 200-gr JHP +P, and their 185-gr Barnes TAC XP all-copper hollow point +P. From Black Hills, I had their 200-gr Match SWC, 230-gr FMJ, 185-gr JHP, 230-GR JHP, 230-gr JHP +P, and their 185-gr Barnes TAC XP all-copper hollow point +P.

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I fired more than 500 rounds through each gun over my testing period of a couple months, and there were zero, none, nada malfunctions of any type. The TRP Operator needed to have the fully adjustable rear sight adjusted a bit. It was shooting too high and to the left a bit. The fixed sight TRP was dead-on at 25 yards.

Accuracy testing was done at 25 yards with the TRPs resting over a sleeping bag over the hood of my pickup truck– my usual routine. Both guns would easily shoot under three inches with all of the ammo. Some rounds gave me groups of 2½ inches, if I did my part. One ammo gave me a 2-inch group, if I did my part, and that was the Black Hills 230-gr JHP, with the Buffalo Bore 200-gr JHP +P load right on its heels. I also allowed several friends to shoot both guns, and none of them could decide which one they liked better. I believe, on a good day, when I’m really on my game, I can get groups down below two inches.

So, what did I learn from the TRP vs TRP Operator testing? Well, I thought the heavy bull barrel TRP Operator would give me smaller groups. It didn’t. There really wasn’t any measurable differences between the two TRPs. This surprised me, because a heavier bull barrel has given me better accuracy in the past on 1911s. It just show that Springfield did an outstanding job fitting the barrels on both guns for the most accuracy.

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Did I have a preference at the end of my testing? Yep, I liked the TRP a little bit better than the TRP Operator, for concealed carry! It just seemed to balance a little better in my hand than the TRP Operator did with the rail on it. Now, going into a dark building at night not knowing what was hiding and waiting for me, it would be a complete toss up as to which TRP I grabbed. If using a rail mounted light, the TRP Operator would win. So, when it comes down to it, I wouldn’t feel the least bit undergunned or outgunned with I had the TRP or the TRP Operator in my hands. There was no loser here. Both guns are winners in my book. The Operator retails for a little bit more than the standard TRP does, and I’m not listing prices here. I checked all over the Internet, and prices are all over the place. So shop around on the ‘net or at your local gun shops, and see who has the best prices. However, don’t be surprised if your local gun shop doesn’t even have either TRP in-stock; they are hard to come by, and Springfield works overtime to try and meet demand. The guns are very popular. You can’t go wrong with either one.

– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio

Recipe of the Week: Chicken Sesame, by R.C.

Ingredients:

  • 1 frying chicken, cut up
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 3 tbs sesame seeds
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • ¼ cup salad oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 1 chicken bouillon cube, crumbled
  • ½ tsp tarragon
  • ¼ cup water
  • ¼ cup cornstarch
  • 1 cup dairy sour cream

Directions:

  1. Coat chicken with mixture of flour, sesame seeds, salt, and pepper.
  2. In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil, then place in a slow cooking pot.
  3. Add onion, celery, wine, bouillon cube, and tarragon, then cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
  4. Turn the control to high and remove the chicken to a warm shallow dish.
  5. Dissolve the cornstarch in water and stir into the pot.
  6. Cook on high for 15 minutes, then turn the heat off and stir in the sour cream.
  7. Pour sauce over chicken and serve hot.

Makes 5 servings. This goes especially well with hot rice.

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