10 Lessons From Venezuela’s Economic Collapse – J.C.
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Obama Kept His Promise, 83,000 Coal Jobs Lost And 400 Mines Shuttered – DSV
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Limited Spare Capacity Could Lead To An Oil Price Spike
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Sorry, Krugman: Austerity Is Good for the Economy
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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.
The good folks over at Alt-Market are offering a practical and affordable FLIR evasion camouflage ensemble.
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Is your rental car spying on you? FTC warns drivers over smartphone connections – DSV
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The Rand Corp think tank has released a study on War with China, thinking through the unthinkable. – A.W.
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Zika? Florida legislation passed to force vaccinate and “quarantine” under “health emergency” – G.M.
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“The whole principle [of censorship] is wrong. It’s like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can’t have steak.” – Robert Heinlein
On September 5, 1774, fed up with the meddling of the crown and being mostly independent-minded, our nation’s founding fathers met together in the First Continental Congress, in Philadelphia, to lay the foundation of what would become the world’s greatest nation.
When I first started writing about firearms, back in 1992, one of the first rifles I received for testing was the Ruger Model 77. It was a heavy barrel rifle in .308 that was meant for serious long-range shooting. To be sure, the rifle itself was heavy, with the wooden stock and the heavy barrel. It was not my first choice in a hunting rifle. However, it was a tack-driver! The late Bill Ruger, who owned Sturm, Ruger & Co., sent me a letter telling me to keep the rifle with his compliments because he didn’t have any use for a “used” rifle in the Ruger inventory!
If you’re a hunter, like I am, you are always on the look out for a new hunting rifle. I haunt my local FFL dealer almost on a daily basis to see what’s come in that is new or used that might catch my eye. Quite often, I step behind the counter to help customers out when the shop is busy. All too often, a month or so before deer season, hunters come into the shop and I hear them say, “I need a new hunting rifle.” I’ll ask them why they need a new rifle. They are just taken by surprise when I ask that. Last deer season they didn’t fire a round, or if they did they fired a single round! So, why do they “need” a new hunting rifle if the current one works just fine? It’s a good question!
I have to admit that I’m sometimes in the above crowd. However, I don’t really “need” another hunting rifle. I just “want” one. Maybe I just want a different caliber to shoot or a new rifle, just because. My wife often reminds me, “You said that last time, that you just needed one more gun…” Well, it is still as true today as when I first said it many years ago. And, let’s be honest. It’s not about needing a new rifle; it’s about “wanting” one. There is a big difference, eh?
Now that I’m in my Golden Years, I have all the time in the world for hunting and fishing, and if you believe that I have some ocean front property for sale in Oklahoma. Matter of fact, I didn’t get out and do some deer hunting for the past several years. There ‘s just never enough time in the day to get everything done I need to get done. However, this year, I promised myself I’m getting out there for some deer hunting this fall. Once in a great while my oldest daughter will go out hunting with me, but more often than not I’m out hunting alone. Well, I’m not entirely alone. One of my German Shepherds is in my pickup with me. Hopefully this fall, a long-time friend from Colorado will be here to go hunting with me. He plans on moving to my area, if he can get his home sold.
Ruger just came out with their American Rifle with the Vortex Crossfire II rifle scope package. The gun comes with the scope mounted; however, at least in my case, the scope wasn’t bore-sited, so it took some time to get the crosshairs where they needed to be. It is just another excuse to do some additional shooting, if you ask me. The Ruger American Rifle has been in production for a few years now, and it has been a winner for Ruger and hunters. I’m always on the hunt for a bargain in firearms, and more often than not I buy used guns that are hardly “used” at all.
A quick run down on the American is in order. I selected one in .308 Winchester caliber, which is hard to beat for much of the big game hunting we have in Oregon. If you do your part, the gun and caliber will bring the game home. The stock on my sample American is black synthetic. We have a lot of rain in this part of Oregon, and these days I prefer synthetic stocks over wooden stocks. Wooden stocks can warp and change the point of impact of your bullet. I’ve been there, done that! While I love a good piece of wood on a rifle, it is just more practical in my humble opinion to go with synthetic stocks these days, not to mention the weight-savings of synthetic over wood. As I grow older, I think I’m getting smarter, and I don’t want to pack any more weight when I’m hunting than need be.
The barrel is 22 inches long on my sample that I requested from Ruger, and that’s about all I need. I’m not firing magnum rounds that need the longer 24-26 inch barrels to gain all the velocity out of those rounds. So, in my book a 22-inch barrel works just fine for many calibers. The barrel has a 1:10 twist rifling, which is perfect! Plus, the barrel is made out of an alloy steel, making it even lighter than an all-steel barrel. Capacity is four rounds in the detachable magazine and one in the barrel; that’s more than enough to get any hunting job done. The magazine is polymer and very well made. Plus, the magazine locks securely in the gun. There are no worries about it falling out under recoil. Also, we have the proven push-feed bolt-action. Many gun owners believe nothing is better than the Mauser-feed system in a bolt action rifle. However, the push-feed is proven to get the rounds chambered nicely!
The American in .308 Winchester weighs seven pounds, which is not too heavy and not too light. The overall length is 42 inches, with a length of pull of 13.75 inches, which works for me and most hunters. We also have the Ruger Marksman Adjustable trigger, which the user can adjust to set the pull weight to their liking– between three and five pounds. My sample came out of the box with a 4-lb trigger pull, and I didn’t see any need to adjust it. However, adjustment is very easy and only takes a few minutes.
I’ve never found the .308 Win round punishing in the least. However, there is a very nice soft rubber recoil pad on the stock that absorbs recoil. The one piece bolt is a short throw one, with a throw of only 70 degrees. It has three locking lugs for a sure lock-up and provides ample clearance with the mounted Vortex scope. The bolt cycles smoothly, too. There’s no hint of it hanging up on anything. Another nice touch is the Power Bedding block in the stock that assures a solid fit of the action to the stock, for added accuracy. Ruger claims a MOA accuracy, and there’s more on that later. The tang safety operated smoothly, too. I like a tang safety on my bolt-action rifles.
Now, to the Vortex Crossfire II scope that came mounted on the American. It is a 3-9X40. I prefer this type of scope over most. I don’t need a more powerful scope for my hunting purposes. Bigger scopes means more weight. I’ve never taken a deer beyond 150 yards, and most have been taken at 100 yards or less. Remember, it’s called “hunting” and not just “shooting”. This was my first exposure to the Vortex line of scopes, and I’m here to tell you, I was totally blown away with the clarity and brightness this scope offered.
The Vortex Crossfire II also comes with the Dead-Hold BDC reticle that you can zero to your liking. I usually zero my high-powered rifles for 300 yards. However, this time, I used the BDC reticle and used the dead-center one and zeroed it for 100 yards, and you go from there as to what distance you believe your game to be at. If you think your deer is at 200 yards, then you move down to the next hash mark, and it goes all the way down to 500 yards. This will get you within a couple inches of your point of aim by using the hash marks as your aiming points.
I checked around, and the Vortex Crossfire II is selling between $125-$200. Quite honestly, I’ve owned scopes by well-known makers that cost a lot more, however, they didn’t offer any better clarity or brightness. As I stated, this scope just blew me away. There’s so much for so little money, and it came mounted on the Ruger American, too.
All my shooting was done at 100 yards, for a few reasons. Number one is that most of my deer have been taken at that distance. Secondly, I have severe osteo-arthritis in my right hip, and walking back and forth to change targets can be challenging on some days because of the pain I experience in my hip. The doctor said, “Hip replacement”, but I’m fighting it! I’ve had e-mails from some readers before complaining that I don’t fire high-powered rifles at longer distances. Well, if the gun is shooting great at 100 yards with the right ammo, why would I believe it isn’t going to shoot that well at longer distances. Think about it.
Hands down, I had the best selection of .308 Win ammo on-hand, for testing in the Ruger American. From Double Tap Ammunition, I had their new Ted Nugent 180-gr Sierra Game King load, 125-gr Nosler Ballistic Tip, and their 150-gr Barnes TTSX load. From Buffalo Bore Ammunition, I had their Sniper 175-gr JHP load, 150-gr Supercharged Lead-Free Barnes TTX, and their 180-gr Supercharged Sptz load. From the folks at Black Hills Ammunition, I had their 168-gr Match Hollow Point and the same in 175-grs. From their Gold line hunting ammo, I had 155-gr Tipped Match King, 155-gr Hornady A-Max, 168-gr Hornady A-Max, 168-gr Barnes TSX, 150-gr SST, 180-gr Nosler Accubond, and their 175-gr Tipped Match King.
With the above super selection of .308 Win ammo to test in the American, my testing took place over several shooting sessions. Ruger advertises that their rifles will give MOA, and it did not let me down. With the Black Hills 168-gr Match Hollow Point, it gave me groups just around an inch. Ditto was true for the Buffalo Bore 175-gr Sniper JHP load and the Double Tap 150-gr Barnes TTSX. No loads exceeded two inches, if I did my part, and most loads would give me a three-shot group of about an inch and a half, so long as I was on my game. Now, to be sure, on different days, different loads gave me better groups. One day one load would be the top group, and the next time out that same load would be beat out by another similar load from another maker. It had to do with me– the shooter– on particular days. Some days I just shot better than other days, period!
The American was very consistent, and it seemed to really like the Black Hills 168-gr Match Hollow Point load over its 175-gr sibling. There is just a few grains difference, and the lighter bullet gave me better accuracy.
The .308 Win offers the shooter a wide variety of loads, as demonstrated in my shooting, from the Double Tap 125-gr Nosler Ballistic Tip that would be great for coyotes to the heavy Buffalo Bore 180-gr Supercharged Sptz for bigger game, like elk and moose, to the 155-gr Hornady A-Max for deer and other similar-sized game. The .308 can do it all, and it is still the number one choice for many military snipers around the world, as well as long-range competition shooters.
All my shooting was done over the hood of my pickup truck using a rolled-up sleeping bag for the best accuracy I could wring out of the gun and the ammo. And, to be sure, it is always a marriage between a good gun and good ammo. Be sure to test different ammo to see which brand and type of ammo will give you the best accuracy, and match your ammo to the game you are hunting. It makes a big difference. Don’t go hunting moose or elk with a 125-gr light bullet; go heavier for bigger game with a bullet built to withstand all that bone and muscle it will have to penetrate.
The Ruger American with the Vortex Crossfire II scope package has a full retail price of $639, and it would be a bargain at that price. However, you can often find Ruger products deeply discounted, so shop around and get the best deal you can find on an outstanding rifle and scope package in a great caliber!
– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio
I call this Kitchen Sink Garden Muffins. It’s half a recipe that I’ve been experimenting with since there are only the two of us.
Sift together in small bowl:
Set this aside.
Whisk together in larger bowl:
This makes 5 giant muffins for me.
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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!
Sir:
Watching the video on the 12-ga. from today’s post, I am wondering about the safety of the cut-off shot shell. First, is it safe at the chamber/bore juncture? Secondly, is it dangerous in a choke? Thank you! – CF
HJL Comments: Shotgun slugs have only been with us for a little over 100 years. Prior to that, a cut shell was generally the closest a person could get to the modern slug. The fact the load is still made up of the typical birdshot and that the case is generally flexible (being paper or plastic), the load will deform as it passes through a choke. As shown in the video, they will fire as normal, and since the shell does not contribute to the strength of the chamber they do not impact its function. However, as seen, they will not eject reliably in a semi-auto or a pump. They were generally used in break-open type actions.
JWR covered this in his editorial safety warning in this article.
The Fed may be preparing for the unthinkable — negative interest rates in America – B.B.
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Global Recession? The Canadian Economy Shrinks At The Fastest Pace Since The Last Financial Crisis – H.L.
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Bloomberg: Abolish Cash to Create a Freer Market. Excerpt: “Some Bloomberg editorials are stranger than others. This one is especially strange because it argues that banning cash will create a stronger, freer market.” – B.B.
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Is Putin’s Support For An OPEC Freeze A Game Changer? – Oil prices bounced on Friday morning after Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for the OPEC output freeze deal
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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.
Another Cold Steel Rawles Voyager knife review video from a Brit, who bemoans the carry restrictions of English laws, who normally dislikes Tanto blades: Cold Steel Rawles Voyager.
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Chuck Baldwin releases his list of the 10 worst presidents. It’s a good list – I can’t think of anything I would change on it. Thanks to H.L. for the link. Pay particular attention to the proposed 13th amendment under Lincoln.
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Simple way to make Apple-Cider Vinegar – P.S.
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Turkey’s Government Blames Its Past Mistakes on Gülenists
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Can we hear the German people? Angela Merkel’s CDU ‘suffers Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania poll blow’ – D.S.
“Popular suffrage is in itself no guarantee of freedom. People can vote themselves into slavery.” – Frank Chodorov
September 4, 1862 is the fateful day that General Lee invaded the North with 50,000 troops. Historians will banter back and forth about the real reasons for the civil war, but we will probably never fully understand. It is my personal belief that General Lee was gambling on a quick offensive because the South did not have the resources for a prolonged war. Whatever the case was, President Abraham Lincoln trampled the Constitution and created the foundation for the “Big Brother” government we have today.
I really feel like a farmer’s wife this week. We’ve been busy up to our eyebrows harvesting, processing the harvest, canning, freeze drying, dehydrating, and even butchering as well as doing some welding and other structural homesteading chores. Whew! It’s been a hard but productive week. I am exhausted and thankful that Sabbath is almost here so we can rest, and even before it arrives I give God great thanks for His goodness and provision and for the knowledge to participate in the cycle of life!
There are mornings when I wake up really tired and just think I would really like to roll over and stay in bed for another hour or two before facing my very long “to do” list, but then I think of my family. I picture the big round eyes of my grandchildren, who are continuously seeking to explore, learn, and understand the world around them and are such soft pieces of clay needing to be gently molded and firmly protected so that they can become the unique and productive masterpieces God has destined in His heart for them to become. I think of my adult children and the hard work they invest in caring for our family and their own families and the productive physical, intellectual, and creative contributions they make to society, their families, and to me personally. I think of my hard working husband who is just brilliant and relies upon me as his help mate to oversee many aspects of our living, including our nourishment and supplies for such, and I think of the friends, extended family, and community that need our help, too. I think of our parents who we care for who got up to check on us in the night when we were children eve when they were very tired and would rather have just rolled over and gone back to sleep. I think about the future that seems more and more likely, where there just aren’t enough resources and people are hungry, sick, homeless, and desperate to survive. It usually doesn’t require me to get that far into the thought process before I am up and getting going, but some days I have to go all the way through this logic to get the motivation to push this aging body onward. This body that used to belong to a “morning person” and jump out of bed before sunrise is not so enthusiastic about leaving the comfort of her very comfortable Temperapedic bed after a short night’s sleep. The days are long and the nights too short, but we will do what is required during the harvest season, because it won’t always be a harvest season. Winter is coming. Hard times are coming. Some are already here around us, from what I am hearing.
Are you prepared to care for yourself and your loved ones in the event that the produce trucks stop rolling into your community, if stores close due to lack of electricity or commerce? Do you have the resources, knowledge, and experience to be able to provide for your family long term, if California and Florida don’t produce and we can no longer import produce? What if your community were cut off from the rest of the world? How would you survive without the grocery store, gas station, bank, or dollar store?
While I listen to some of my lady friends talk about their experiences with high prices and even recalls on store produce, meats, and supplies, our family is enjoying a plentiful supply of homegrown fruits, vegetables, and herbs as well as eggs and meat. We are at the peak of our garden’s harvesting and I am enjoying being able to share the bountiful blessing with them. They are grateful because they either don’t have gardens, have given up on their garden, or only had a tiny one that merely gave them a small taste of the potential goodness a garden offers. Guests at our dinner table rave over the feasts of whole grain breads, flavorful vegetables, tender meats, herbed side dishes, aromatic beverages, and delicious desserts.
Some of the friends who had gardens have given up on them due to weeds, drought, heavy rains, or just the busy-ness of life. It wasn’t as easy as they expected it would be. They enjoy the delicious proceeds from my garden but just weren’t willing to put in the time and energy to give their own garden a real go this year, or they only had a few containers and barely had anything to show for the work they put into growing a few plants. Those in that latter category are the ones most earnestly seeking more. It is my hope that they will expand their gardens next year, because they have learned and tasted the difference in homegrown and store bought. They’ve seen some success and know it is possible. Some of these folks are farmers who produce grains for livestock in massive quantities, but their families just don’t grow food for themselves. It is an adjustment to pursue self sufficiency by growing small beds of many types of crops, but it is necessary.
I sometimes think about the childhood story: The Little Red Hen and wonder at what point it will begin to apply. So far I am still able to share, some. However, I am careful not to allow anyone to become dependent. Other families need to become self-sufficient on their own. There will be a day when I cannot share any longer. What they have is what they will live (or die) with. It is my hope that they will see the benefits of my garden and desire it for themselves. I am happy to help them along the way, but they have to do the work.
Like anything, you get back what you put into it. Fruits, vegetables, eggs, and meat don’t just drop out of the sky like manna. It takes work, practice, and some failures to teach you along the way before you begin to really get it right. Also, what works for me where I live– with my soil, weather, water, seeds, and practices– may not work well for you. There are basic principles, some of which I will describe below, that apply everywhere, but we have to find what is required for where we live. I have repeatedly read and experienced that the greatest investment should be in the soil. It takes time and effort to get the soil right. It is the foundation and the “ground work” so to speak upon which the garden depends. One of the biggest differences by area is pests. What pests I battle may be very different from what you battle, so solutions are different, too. However, having healthy plants is a great weapon against pests, and you don’t get healthy plants without good soil– the foundation of your garden.
A garden should be the foundation of your food supplies. I cannot emphasize this enough! While you may be storing years of dried foods in your larder, there will come a time when that food either expires, gets used up, gets destroyed or stolen, or has to be left behind for some reason. It simply won’t last forever. I do encourage everyone to have a larder of stored foods, preferably several year’s worth of food that they are accustomed to eating and that can be easily prepared. However, knowing how and having the means to grow and produce food as well as preserve it is much more valuable than having a really large larder, because you can then renew your food inventory when there is no food to be purchased and shipped to you. You are not dependent on others, so long as you have stored seeds, maintained gardening tools, access to water, and good soil.
Are you willing to begin the journey to gardening? Do you want the confidence that you can provide food for your loved ones? It is work, but you can wake up thinking about those you love and know that you have the ability to invest in literally nourishing their future. It takes work and perseverance, and in some locations and environments it requires more effort than in others. Are you willing to begin the journey to lay the foundation for a renewable food supply? If so, start laying the ground work– plan the location and start building the soil right now and through the fall and winter. The soil needs time to become rich. It may actually take years before your garden soil is producing optimally, so do not delay.
I don’t think we have time to waste. I know that I am already grateful not to have to spend hundreds of dollars a month on meats, eggs, and produce and to have a higher quality than what is available at the markets, with absolutely no pesticides or genetically modified organisms. Wouldn’t you like this same satisfaction? Wouldn’t you like this kind of security, even if the banks and grocery stores close? Wouldn’t you like to not begin a countdown to the end when the SHTF but rather know that you will be able to continue growing and increasing your supplies (or at least slow your depletion rate through your garden supplementation)?
In part 2 of this article series, I will share ideas for how to determine the best location for your garden and prepare the soil, including possible crop covers to put in right away. Please start thinking about how you can be part of the production of your food rather than just a consumer and storer! Your life and those you love may depend upon your knowledge and experience with food production and preservation. There is no time to waste in learning these skills! Even our government is telling us to begin preparing, though Obama says it is because of “global warming” that we need to do so. Finally, he doesn’t act like he is our savior and that everything is okay. Of course, he can’t be blamed for global warming, can he? Global warming is not even on my list of concerns. Temperature fluctuation cycles take place and are normal. What is not normal is a cosmic (way beyond skyrocketing) level of national indebtedness, irresponsible government bail outs, and red carpet invitations to terrorists to come and dwell among us. We must learn to care for ourselves and those we love at home!
Food production and preservation is a fundamental skill I encourage you to begin pursuing and practicing NOW!
Hugh,
I’m not sure how I came across SurvivalBlog, but I’ve been reading it for a while now and really like it. I’m glad to see someone “telling it like it is”.
Anyway, the post about dehydrator screens caught my eye, ’cause I’ve been thinking about that very topic lately. And wouldn’t you know it, I got my dehydrator from Aldi (my default grocery store) and it has (just as I wanted) round trays. Yesterday, I went into Dollar Tree (another favorite) for something entirely unrelated and came across some splatter guards for skillets. (I should probably get one for my cast iron skillet for the next time I make Maryland Fried Chicken.) The inspiration hit. I grabbed a tape measure and measured one. When I got home, I measured the trays on my dehydrator. The screen is ~1″ smaller than the tray. The next time I’m at Dollar Tree, I’ll pick up five of them. -The Old Sarge
Conor Sen: Conditions Are Ripe for a Big-City Exodus
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Which shipping company is next to fall? People should view this as a canary about the decline of the global economy. Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy unlikely to ease glut of ships – P.S.
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OPEC Pumps Record Crude In August
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Yet another example of consolidation of ownership at a local level. McDonald’s Is Pushing Out the Small Fries
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The Ethics of Entrepreneurship and Profit
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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.
Another Cold Steel Rawles Voyager knife review, this time from Germany (auf Deutsch): Cold Steel Rawles Voyager XL Tanto
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‘Prepper’ Obama: Says nation is on its own, preparing is your ‘duty’ – G.G.
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Leaked Catalogue Reveals a Vast Array of Military Spy Gear Offered to U.S. Police – B.B.
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