Ruger Mini-14, .300 AAC Blackout Tactical Rifle, by Pat Cascio

I still remember the very first Ruger Mini-14 I owned. It was in .223– the only caliber available at that time. It was 1983, and I really didn’t get a chance to shoot the little Mini-14 until a vacation from Chicago back to Oregon to my brother-in-law’s ranch a few months later. Some unforeseen circumstances found my wife and I stuck in the Chicago, IL area from 1982-1984. My stepfather and mother made the trip with us to Oregon, and my stepfather brought along his Universal M-1 Carbine. We had a lot of fun shooting, but my stepfather was blown away by the Mini-14 and the fast .223 round it was shooting. We would both fire at the same time into a hill about 200-yards away, and the rounds from my Mini-14 were hitting the hill a good second faster than the .30 M1 Caliber Carbine rounds were. You could hear the “thud” when the rounds hit the hillside.

Since 1983, I’ve owned quite a few Ruger Mini-14s, as well as the Mini-30 that fires the 7.62X39 round, and for some reason I’ve always had a difficult time holding onto a Mini-14. To be sure, some of the early Mini-14s were okay guns, but they were not the most accurate, in my humble opinion. That has changed a long time ago! When I went to work for the late Col. Rex Applegate, in 1990, I was afforded the opportunity to meet a lot of people in the firearms field. One I didn’t meet but talked to a number of times was Bill Ruger himself. He and Applegate were best friends, and they spoke on the phone weekly, if not more often. Not many gun writers could pick-up their phone and talk directly to Bill Ruger. So it was quite an honor for me, a fellow just starting out as a gun writer, to have that privilege.

I don’t believe Bill Ruger ever got the full recognition he so richly deserved as a firearms designer. Ruger probably designed more firearms than John Moses Browning did, and Bill Ruger wasn’t one to just copy someone else’s designs; he come up with fresh ideas and built his firearms tank-tough, to be sure.

When the Mini-30 first came out, I snapped one up. However, back then, there wasn’t much in the way of 7.62X39 ammo to be had. Additionally, the gun only came with a 5-rd detachable magazine, and everyone wanted 20 or 30 rd magazines. Some aftermarket magazine makers came out with higher capacity magazines, but none were very reliable. The Mini-30 languished for a lot of years. The gun was superb in all respects, and many people don’t realize that the 7.62X39 round is very accurate in the right guns. The AK-47 doesn’t allow you to squeeze the accuracy out of this round. It was my friend and famous gun writer, the late Chuck Karwan, who told me how accurate the 7.62X39 round was, and then he demonstrated it to me in a bolt action rifle he had. I don’t recall what brand or make it was.

Now, Ruger has come out with a new Mini-14, and this time it is in .300 AAC Blackout. To be honest, I didn’t have any first-hand experience with this round. Sure, I’d read about it quite a bit and was tempted to get an upper for an AR-15 in .300 Blackout, as it is commonly referred to, but I never did. I was content with the .223/5.56 round that most ARs fire. About a month ago, Ruger sent me a press release on the new Mini-14 in .300 Blackout, and for some reason it intrigued me to no end. A Mini-14 that can fire a more potent and .30 caliber bullet, using the same magazines that are used in a Mini-14 that fires .223 rounds. I had to have one. Well, it was two weeks before my sample arrived– a long two weeks. What we are looking at with the .300 AAC Blackout round is basically a .223 shell casing that is trimmed down and necked up to take a .30 caliber bullet. It works!

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A quick look at the .300 Blackout in the Mini-14 is in order. The gun comes with a black polymer stock with a nice recoil pad on it. It’s not that the recoil pad is needed; the gun doesn’t “kick” that much. The rear sight is adjustable for elevation and windage; the barrel is slightly over 16-inches in length; and needless to say, it is chambered in .300 Blackout. Instead of coming with a 5-rd magazine, like other Mini-14 do, this gun comes with two twenty-round magazines. In the press release, Ruger stated that the mags would be marked as .300 AAC Blackout; however, mine weren’t. The reasoning behind this is that you won’t load any .223/5.56 rounds into this magazine and then mistakenly load the mag into the rifle. It will more than likely chamber the round, and it might even fire it, but it’s a dangerous situation. I marked my two mags with a silver Magic Marker, writing .300 Blackout on both sides, and I purchased some aftermarket 30-rd magazines and did the same thing. The finish on the new Blackout is subdued black. It looks nice and very tactical in appearance. The front blade sight is protected by “wings” on either side of it. Looking through the rear sight, the front sight is nice and crisp for a good sight picture. The gun only weighs 6.75 lbs and has an overall length of 36.25 inches. It handles fast in the hand.

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By my count, there are at least 16 ammo companies that are making .300 AAC Blackout ammo. However, none was to be found in my neck of the woods. NONE! I called on long-time friend, Jeff Hoffman, who owns and operates Black Hills Ammunition www.black-hills.com with his lovely wife, Kristi. Jeff was able to help me out. Black Hills Ammunition is producing the .300 Whisper round that is almost identical to the .300 AAC Blackout round. The .300 Whisper was developed by J.D. Jones many years ago as a wildcat round that is extremely popular. However, what Advanced Armament Corporation did (they are the AAC in the .300 AAC Blackout nomenclature name) was to ever so slightly change their round and then call it something different. Now, Jeff Hoffman informed me that you can safely fire .300 Whisper in any rifle chambered in .300 AAC Blackout. However, there are reports of some .300 Whisper chambered firearms that won’t safely fire the .300 AAC Blackout round. So be advised, and don’t try to fire .300 AAC Blackout in a gun chambered in .300 Whisper. Jeff Hoffman knows what he’s talking about, and I take anything he has to say about ammunition as gospel.

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The .300 AAC Blackout round was designed to be fired from rifles in one of two ways. The lighter rounds, that come in around 110-125 grains in weight, are supersonic rounds. The heavier 200+-grain rounds are meant to be fired in the same firearms with a sound suppressor on it. Yes, you can fire the heavier rounds in any .300 AAC Blackout chambered semi-auto; however, without the sound suppressor attached, the action won’t function, and you’ll have a single shot rifle. The idea behind the sub-sonic rounds is specifically for firearms with sound suppressors on ’em for taking out enemy sentries; at least that’s one function of the round. The Ruger Mini-14 .300 Blackout has a birdcage flash suppressor on it that can be removed and a sound suppressor installed. I refuse to jump through the red tape to obtain a sound suppressor! So, my testing was limited to supersonic rounds.

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Right off the bat, I noticed that this new Mini was dead-on zeroed from the box, for a 300-yard zero. Nice! The ammo from Black Hills is their 125-gr OTM (Open Tip Match) round, again in .300 Whisper. Just for fun and to test function, I managed to “kill” quite a few large rocks downrange at my usual shooting spot. To be sure, the .300 Whisper blew those large rock into little pieces; a .223 round wouldn’t have done the same. The recoil is worth noting. This round recoils slightly more than a .223 does and less than a 7.62X39 does, and it was the brainchild of Advanced Armament Corporation to have a round that closely resembled the AK-47 round 7.62X39 that could be fed from existing .223 magazines without any alterations. They succeeded! Using the factory Ruger magazines and the 30-rd aftermarket mags I bought, there were zero feeding problems.

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Ruger includes scope rings, as well as a flat-top Picatinny rail for those wanting to install some sort of red dot sight on this rifle. I installed an inexpensive, real inexpensive, red dot sight, and it failed me. After every shot, the red dot sight would turn off. I replaced it with another identical red dot sight, and it wasn’t much better – maybe I could get 2 or 3 rounds fired, before it would shut down. And, I do NOT attribute this to the recoil of the gun/caliber – it is the cheap scopes. However, when I could get the red dot to stay on, I was getting 2-inche groups at 100-yard with this little rifle – I was more than a little impressed, to say the least. I’m searching my office, for a Nikon 3-9X40 scope I have here……some place – so I can really wring the most accuracy out of this new Mini and the .300 Whisper rounds, I still have on-hand, from Black Hills Ammunition.

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These days, it takes a LOT to impress me, when it comes to knives and firearms – so many are just the same ol’ thing, just dressed up differently. Well, I thought the same of this Mini-14 in .300 AAC Blackout – before I got it. Yeah, there was “something” that drew me to this gun, when I got the press release from Ruger – still don’t know what that “something” was, though. I’m impressed with this new Mini-14 in .300 Blackout!

Near the end of my testing, my local gun shop happened to get in one box of Hornady .300 Whisper “Zombie Max” ammo in 110-gr with a green tip, of course, designed for killing the living dead. This lighter-weight round shot a little bit lower at 100-yards than the 125-gr OTM Black Hills .300 Whisper round did, as you would expect; to be expected, lighter bullets tend to fall faster than heavier ones do. I was getting 3-inch groups, but with more of this ammo I can probably tighten up the groups a bit. Overall, the Black Hills .300 Whisper OTM is the round of choice for my target shooting needs.

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Still, after shooting this .300 Blackout Mini-14 for several weeks, I’ve yet to run across any actual .300 AAC Blackout ammo in my area. All shooting has been done with .300 Whisper, with the compliments of Black Hills Ammunition. I’m hoping the .300 Blackout round shoots just as nicely and as accurate as the .300 Whisper round does. In the meantime, I’m in the process of requesting some more .300 Whisper ammo from Jeff Hoffman. The problem with this Mini-14 in this caliber is that it is way too much fun to shoot. Since I got this gun sample, I have forsaken my AK-47s and my AR-15s. Sorry guys, but I’ll take you out shooting again soon, I promise!

There’s still “something” about this gun/caliber combo that intrigues me to no end, besides the fun factor. I’m seriously thinking about getting a 5-rd magazine and taking this gun out deer hunting this Fall. All the deer I’ve shot in the past were all shot at well under 150 yards, and out of those most were 100 yards or under. With the proper hunting bullet installed, the .300 AAC Blackout will get the job done. Through my research on this round, I’ve come to the conclusion that this round was designed to take out enemy troops out to 450 yards, which is the same as the .223 round will do, however, the .300 Blackout will do it faster. A heavier bullet will get the job done, and the 125-gr fodder should do it. Of course, if your shooting skills are up to it, you can take out the enemy far beyond 450 yards. Just remember your ballistic tables and bullet drop at longer distances.

All that’s left to do is for me to get my hands on some .300 AAC Blackout ammo, or lacking that, a good supply of .300 Whisper ammo. For any semiauto center-fire rifles meant for self defense or going into a SHTF scenario, I demand no less than 1,000-rds for each gun in that caliber. So, I have my work cut out for me, because .300 Blackout ammo isn’t cheap. I’ve checked online and the same is true for .300 Whisper ammo. However, I’ll start building up my .300 Blackout/Whisper ammo supply just as soon as I’m done with a little more fun shooting with this sample. Then I’ll have to raise the funds to purchase this sample, because it is NOT going back to Ruger. It has found a new home. So, if you’re in the market for something with a little more “umph” than the .223, and you don’t really like an AK (for some reason) take a close look at the new Mini-14 in .300 AAC Blackout. Full-bolt retail is slightly over $1,000. However, checking gun broker, I’m seeing them for sale for slightly more than $700. That’s a bargain in my book for such an outstanding shooter in a hard-hitting caliber. I got mine; you get yours!

– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio

Recipe of the Week: Salmon ‘Souffle’, by JVB

My uncle likes his little luxuries, even when we’re eating LTS food. Here’s one of his favorites.

Ingredients:

  • 1 14-oz can salmon
  • 1 can condensed mushroom soup
  • 1/2 cup powdered cheese
  • 6 Tbsp powdered eggs
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 tsp pepper (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder (optional)

Directions:

  1. Drain and flake salmon in casserole dish.
  2. Add mushroom soup; mix with spoon.
  3. Alternate powdered cheese along with half the water while mixing.
  4. Alternate powdered eggs, along with the rest of the water while mixing.
  5. Add spices, mix.
  6. Cover and bake at 350F until firm, approx 30-40 minutes.

Makes about four servings.

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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!

Letter: The Noose is Tightening

HJL,

Report from Maryland: I went to the bank today to make a deposit (two medical insurance reimbursement checks). I was informed that I had to show my drivers license or passport to make a deposit. (Up until now ID had to be provided only for withdrawals.)

Then, the teller told me I needed to provide personal information:

  • name of employer,
  • annual salary,
  • citizenship of another country or dual citizenship,
  • foreign bank account holdings, and
  • because it is a joint account, I was told to provide the same for my spouse.

I’ll let you and others imagine my response.

I asked the teller if she worked for TSA. “No,” she said, “but these are new government requirements based on a new law.” I told her I had been a customer of that bank for 35 years and asked why now do they need to know everything about me? – M.B.

Economics and Investing:

How Long Can OPEC Maintain Its Current Strategy?

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Here’s a sad statistic from a Georgia think tank—Georgia Public Policy foundation:

Cost of government: Federal regulation and intervention cost American consumers and businesses an estimated $1.88 trillion in 2014 in lost economic productivity and higher prices, according to “Ten Thousand Commandments,” by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. If U.S. federal regulation was a country, it would be the world’s 10th largest economy, ranking behind Russia and ahead of India. Given that our total national economy is somewhere in the $18 trillion range (GDP was listed as $16.7 trillion in 2013), government regulation adds 10% to the cost of all goods and services produced in the country. You can read the article “Ten Thousand Commandments” at Cost Of Government Regulation And Intervention – D.R.

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Video: US Economy Worse Than Originally Thought, US Government Readies For A National Crisis – Episode 679. – J.C.

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FATCA New Currency Law Could Be Devastating for Anyone Holding U.S. Dollars

Odds ‘n Sods:

The fine folks at the Paratus Familia blog have posted a very useful piece about U.S. military surplus GP Medium tents.

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Administration preps new gun regulations. – G.G.

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The working class Hunger Games – Reality TV show now pits working class against working class family for the chance to earn $101,000 for a mostly affluent audience.

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Lest you think the Fox Network isn’t part of the problem: Lucifer Makes Prime Time – M.R.

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And even more about the moral decline of of our society – When The “Sharing” Economy Goes Too Far: Syphillis Cases Soar 79% In A Year. – H.L.

Notes for Sunday – May 31, 2015

May 31st, 1895 was the birthday of George R. Stewart. Prior to his death on August 22, 1980, he was a novelist, university professor, and toponymist. In the preparedness community, he is best remembered as the author of the classic post-pandemic novel Earth Abides.

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Our friends Frank and Fern have just celebrated the second anniversary of their blog. It is packed with a lot of great information and some sage homesteading advice. If you have not yet visited, then be sure to check it out! – JWR

Street Combat – This Ain’t No Game! – Part 8 of 9, by Pat Cascio

Chapter Six

Carjacking

Carjacking has become such a serious and violent crime that I decided to include an entire chapter on this all-important topic. In the past if someone wanted to steal your car for a joy ride or to use it in the commission of a crime, they did so at night while you slept. Or for that matter, they would steal your unattended car from a mall parking lot, while you shopped inside. Things have changed! People are now being seriously injured and sometimes killed by carjackers.

In the blink of an eye, it could happen in your own driveway! Most carjackings happen in as little as 15 seconds. That 15 second timeframe is from start to finish!

While carjackings represent only two percent of the vehicles stolen, about 35,000 carjackings occur annually. FBI records show that in 52% of the carjackings, the offender succeeded in stealing the victim’s motor vehicle. Carjacking is now a federal crime– a felony.

FBI Reports

The FBI has recently released some interesting facts about carjackers. First of all, the carjacker is usually armed (77% percent of the time). Fifteen large metropolitan areas account for 90% of all carjackings. Most carjackings occur between 8:00pm and 11:00pm, and nearly half of all carjackings happen on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. More carjackings occur in December (27%) than any other month. Parking lots are the favorite areas for carjackers, followed by city streets, residential driveways, car dealerships, and gas stations.

Another interesting statistic that the FBI reports is that the primary motive for carjacking is to secure transportation after robbing the driver or to obtain transportation to commit a crime. Carjackers are real scum-of-the-earth, to be sure.

Carjacking Methods

There are several different carjacking scenarios. Carjackers can attack a motorist at a traffic light, gas station, parking lot, or any other area where a driver stops or exits their vehicle, even fast food drive-thrus. Carjacking gangs often employ the old “bump and run” techniques in which the thieves in one car pull up behind an unsuspecting driver and bumps their car. When the driver gets out to inspect the damage, the thieves forcibly take control of the situation and the car.

DOJ Report

The U.S. Dept. of Justice released a survey in March 1994, NCJ-147002, that gives us further information on this fast-growing type of crime. Each year on average between 1987 and 1992, .2 per 1,000 Americans age 12 or older (or 2 per 10,000) were victims of a completed or attempted carjacking.

Here’s some information that I found of interest. Men were more likely than women (.3 per 1,000 compared to .1 per 1,000) and blacks were more likely than whites (.4 and .2 respectively) to be victimized by carjacking. Persons age 35 or older were less likely than younger people to become carjacking victims. I would have bet good money that women would have placed higher in the “victim” category. I wonder if the U.S. Department of Justice is being honest with us on this one.

Of the 77% of carjackers who were armed, handguns were the most commonly used weapon in the completed offenses but not in the attempts. It sure sounds like the serious carjackers favor firearms in the commission of their crime. The DOJ breaks this down as follows: offenders were armed with handguns in 59% of the completed carjackings and 17% of the attempted carjackings.

Carjacker Profile

Another statistic worth noting is that the typical carjacking offender’s age was between 21 and 29. About half of the completed carjackings were committed by offenders in this age group. An additional 12% were committed by offenders 18-20 years of age.

About half (54%) of all completed or attempted carjackings were committed by groups of two or more offenders, so you have a pretty good chance of facing more than one offender should an attempt be made to carjack your vehicle! A prepared and aware motorist might be able to defend himself from a lone unarmed carjacker, but the odds are against you if there are multiple carjackers who are armed.

The DOJ report states, “Carjacking, a type of robbery, is theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle by force or threat of force.” This sounds pretty serious to me, and it is! In 24% of the completed and attempted carjackings, the victims were injured. Four percent of all victims of attempted or completed carjackings suffered a serious injury, such as gunshot or knife wounds, broken bones, loss of teeth, internal injuries, loss of consciousness, or “undetermined” injuries requiring two or more days of hospitalization. On top of the loss of your car, you can expect a day in the hospital to run you approximately $1,000. Unfortunately, the DOJ report doesn’t give any statistics regarding actual deaths of motorists at the hands of carjackers. I find this omission strange, to say the least. Why did the DOJ leave this statistic out of their report?

Okay, now that I’ve made you aware of the seriousness of carjackings and probably scared the bejabbers out of you, what can you do to defend yourself against a carjacking?

Carjacking Defense

First of all, keep all your doors locked in your vehicle, even if you’re only driving down the street to the local 7-Eleven. Secondly, when you’re at the gas station, turn off your car, no matter what, whether you pay at the pump or pay inside. Third, always be aware of your surroundings. (Remember to exercise mental awareness.) As you approach your vehicle, glance underneath it to check for danger. Also, before you open your car door check the back seat for anyone who might have gotten in and be “hiding.” Fourth, install an anti-theft device that has a “panic” button that you can activate if you sense trouble. Fifth, drive in the center lane (if possible) when on highways; this reduces your chances of becoming a “bump and run” theft victim. Sixth, seek out a good, unarmed self-defense instructor, and take your training seriously. Lastly, if confronted with a carjacker(s) who is armed and intent on using deadly force against you, use your legally-concealed handgun to fend off the attack.

Firearms Training

All this brings us to the use of point shooting to defend yourself if attacked while in or near your vehicle. I know this will sure raise a “red flag” of the aimed shooting proponents, but please hear me out on this subject before you criticize my logic.

First of all, I want to stress the importance of being a well-rounded combat shooter. You MUST be trained in both aimed and point firing techniques. I believe it’s important to ALWAYS use aimed fire when you have the time, distance, light, and so forth. Unfortunately, you probably won’t have these luxuries at the hands of carjackers. As reported by the DOJ, most carjackings are over in less than 15 seconds. This hardly gives you time to react, draw your weapon, aim, and fire, and do all of this from the driver’s seat of your vehicle.

My friend and associate, John McSweeney, teaches a point shooting technique I have dubbed the “Swing”. John and I have honest differing opinions on some subjects, and our teaching techniques are somewhat different. However, when it comes to employing the “Swing” in carjacking defense, we are in 100% agreement!

I’m a “disciple” of the legendary Col. Rex Applegate. Much (not all) of what I teach in my point shooting classes is based upon the real-life combat, proven, methods of point shooting developed by Captains Sykes and Fairbairn. However, Applegate further refined Fairbairn’s and Sykes’ techniques over the years, so much so that in my humble opinion Applegate is the true father of real-life combat (handgun) techniques.

John McSweeney also teaches some of Applegate’s point shooting techniques in his handgun classes. Where McSweeney’s system differs from Applegate’s is with McSweeney’s use of the “Swing.” McSweeney has studied distances involved in law enforcement officers being killed/assaulted. The FBI report on this subject (1992) concludes that five feet (and less) were the distances involved in 367 officers being killed/assaulted. Another 127 law enforcement officers were involved in deadly confrontations from 6-10 feet, 77 officers were involved in a deadly confrontation of 11-20 feet, and only 79 officers had a deadly confrontation at 20 plus feet.

Therefore, McSweeney concludes that the greatest number of shootings (367) of police officers took place at five feet or LESS! The circumstances of a typical gunfight (if there is such a thing) involves three things:

  1. close range,
  2. low light, and
  3. extreme stress.

As we have seen by the DOJ report, carjackings pretty much fit the above three conditions.

No matter what I may write, there simply will be those opponents of point shooting who refuse to be swayed by the facts involved in real-life handgun combat. McSweeney relayed a real-life story to me about one of his point shooting students. A security officer in Chicago, IL was working as a bouncer in a bar on the near north side. Earlier that evening this bouncer had bounced four Mexicans out of the bar. (The bouncer was of Mexican descent as well.)

The bouncer was followed home by the above four individuals. As he (the bouncer) got out of his car, they surrounded him. The bouncer was legally armed. All four attackers had knives, which they thrust at the bouncer. He drew his 9mm Glock and fired three rounds in point shooting fashion– McSweeney’s “Swing”. He swung from one to the other. He hit three of the assailants in the gut; the range was two yards (6 feet)! The fourth assailant knifed the bouncer in the back, just missing his heart. The bouncer told McSweeney that he had no time to aim; he simply drew his 9mm and fired, hitting three assailants before being knifed in the back. Fortunately, the bouncer’s wife heard the commotion and called the police. The fourth assailant fled the scene but was captured later. All four assailants were arrested and sent to jail.

McSweeney does comment about Applegate’s method of point shooting in Applegate’s book Kill Or Get Killed. McSweeney claims that Applegate says if you “swing” this causes you to shoot before or after the target. McSweeney’s method calls for you to “swing” on to the target, then stop, then fire. The process is:

  • swing,
  • stop, and then
  • fire”.

This is a mite slower than firing while you swing, but it’s 100% more accurate, according to McSweeney. I’ve tried swinging and then firing; it doesn’t work, just like Applegate said. I’ve also tried swinging, stopping, and then firing. McSweeney’s method works!

At first, it would appear that Applegate and McSweeney are at odds, when it comes to “swinging” in their point shooting methods. Such is not the case! Applegate states in Kill Or Get Killed that “you can’t swing and shoot.” He’s right! McSweeney states that you can swing, stop, and then shoot. He’s right!

Testing the Facts

Now, I have a little test for all you proponents of aimed shooting (only). Get into the driver’s side seat of your vehicle, and let’s assume you’re sitting at a stoplight. A carjacker approaches with a weapon in hand; he’s intent on using deadly force to relieve you of your vehicle. Now, draw your handgun and attempt to aim it and fire. It’s pretty difficult, isn’t it? The range is probably no more than two or three feet. Any attempt to stick your handgun out the window to aim and it will more than likely be met with the carjacker taking control of your handgun.

Now, let’s suppose that you are faced with two carjackers (read the statistics). Both are armed; one approaches from the driver’s side window, and the other approaches from the passenger side window. Draw your handgun, aim, and fire first at one carjacker and then the other. It’s probably impossible or at the very least extremely difficult, isn’t it? Again, the range will probably be just two or three feet on the driver’s side and no more than four or five feet on the passenger’s side.

McSweeney also related a story to me about two shoplifters in Plantation, FL. A parking lot security patrol officer, with his gun in hand, attempted to grab one of the suspects, who was armed. The bad guy falls on his back, draws, and fires four shots at the security officer and hits him with all four shots. The bad guy was only doing what came naturally– pointing and firing. What was the range involved? It was probably no more than three or four feet!

I don’t know how many times I’ve read the proponents of aimed fire-only claim that point shooting takes many hours to learn and is difficult to retain. To them, I say “nonsense!” McSweeney, Applegate, Brad Steiner, myself, and other point shooting instructors have found that you can train a person on a one-to-one basis in point shooting in a mere hour or two. A class of 10-12 students can be trained in point shooting in four to six hours. Plus, contrary to what many aimed shooting-only proponents claim, point shooting doesn’t require a great deal of practice on the range in order to retain the skills you learned. When faced with multiple attackers at very close range– 10 feet or less– it’s tough to beat McSweeney’s method of “swinging” from one assailant to the next.

When faced with up-in-your-face ranges of two or three feet at a stoplight in heavy traffic, the McSweeney “Swing” is the best method to use.

It would be nice if we could have our gun in-hand and have plenty of time, light, and distance to enable us to aim shoot. Unfortunately, real-life scenarios don’t provide for this.

Having deployed point shooting techniques myself, I can attest to the close range(s) involved, the low light, and the extreme stress. Under extreme stress, your fine motor skills (like aiming) a gun go out the window.

I’m sure the proponents of aimed fire-only will disagree with the Applegate method of point shooting or McSweeney’s “Swing.” I’ll not attempt to confuse them with the facts, as reported by the DOJ and the FBI. However, for me, I’ll be sure to be “Swinging” if I’m unlucky enough to be a victim of a carjacker who is intent on using deadly force against me.

I must stress that the information related to you in this article that was gleaned from the DOJ is a bit dated; it is from March 1994. If what I’m seeing on tv and reading in the newspapers is any indication of the current trend, carjackings are on the increase.

Your Best Defense

Your best defense is a good offense. Be alert and aware of your surroundings at all times. Make every effort to stay out of the “bad” part of town, especially at night. Use your “sixth” sense; if something doesn’t feel or look “right”, it probably isn’t, so get out of the area as quickly as possible. Keep your car doors locked at ALL times. If you have air conditioning, use it in the summertime, and keep your windows rolled up.

Remember, this is Street Combat – This Ain’t No Game!

May In Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover the price action of gold and examine the “what” and “why” behind those numbers.

May was a dance between gold and the greenback, as the two fell back into a negative correlation. Gold traded in a tight range between $1185 and $1195 for the first part of the month, before a weakening dollar helped both gold and silver rally to a three-month high. The dollar hit a four-month low on May 15, then rallied into the end of the month, putting pressure on commodities. Even though the dollar was gaining strength from a euro that was weakened by quantitative easing from the European Central Bank, gold fought hard and kept the $1206 support level for days. When that broke and prices fell under $1200, the $1186 support level proved resilient.

Precious Metals Market Drivers in May

(Still) Greece

The socialist government in Greece, determined not to give up its pledge to rescue the welfare state, continued its attempts to extort more bailout funds from the rest of the EU. However, their brinkmanship has destroyed much of the sympathy they formerly had from other nations. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced growing opposition to sending the Greeks more German taxpayer money in yet another bailout, especially one that does not live up to the previously agreed-to provisions of the last bailout. Even members of Merkel’s own party are threatening to break ranks and would rather see Greece leave the EU than to pour more money down that hole.

One prominent opponent to letting Greece renege on its bailout conditions is the influential German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble. Schaeuble turned the Greeks’ threat to hold a referendum about accepting a bailout back against them, saying that perhaps the Greek public should vote on whether to continue under the established bailout rules or not. In a Dirty Harry “make my day” move, he has also publicly said it would be prudent for the leftist government in Athens to prepare a form of scrip (IOUs) to pay domestic bills with, if they can’t agree to terms with creditors.

Greek citizens aren’t showing much faith in their leaders, as they continue to pull billions of dollars worth of deposits out of the banking system to keep the government from seizing it. Much like the Germans during the Weimar Republic did in the 1920s, they are buying hard assets, such as gold and durable goods like cars, in case the country exits the EU and introduces a greatly devalued drachma as the new national currency.

Although the almost complete lack of cash forced prime minister Tsipras to go back on a major campaign promise and stop blocking the sale of Greece’s largest shipping port (which had been started by the previous administration,) he drew the line at reforming Greece’s bloated welfare state and government.

Things came to a head, when the Greek government used its emergency funds at the IMF to pay its bill to… the IMF. This prompted the IMF to begin work on implementing “The Cyprus Plan” on Greece, where the banks would be shut down and deposits over the insured amount seized er “exchanged for bonds in reconstructed banks” in order to recapitalize the Greek financial sector. This caused gold to spike to a three-month high and silver to jump close to a four-month high.

The Greek Interior Minister, who has no say in economic policy but is used by the leftist government to scare EU creditors, announced on May 24 that the government would not be making any more IMF loan payments without a new bailout being approved. It was learned that the previous weekend the ruling council of the governing Syriza Party had voted on pre-emptively defaulting on the nation’s debts. The final vote was 95 against, 75 for, meaning only 11 more delegates would have to change their vote next time it comes up (and it WILL come up again), for Greece to self-destruct.

Despite the fact that Greece has plummeted back into recession under the leftist Syriza Party after the economy had started growing again under the previous administration, other socialists and anti-austerity parties have been gaining ground in southern Europe. The Socialist Party of Portugal has announced that it will reverse austerity policies there if elected this fall, and the Podemos Party in Spain, often called “the Spanish Syriza,” made gains in recent elections, helped by serial political corruption scandals in the ruling party.

David Stockman, in his “Contra Corner,” gives us a look at what happens when a nation lives beyond its means until the entire system collapses, in this article on the hardships suffered by everyday people in Greece.

Start Of The Market Collapse?

The global bond market suffered a meltdown in early May and dragged the stock market down with it. Liquidity is disappearing as the “big boys” get out of the market, taking their profits while the mom and pop investors keep piling in. More than $450 billion in the bond market was wiped out, as investors found out that the “sure thing” of deflation and falling oil prices wasn’t as certain as they’d thought. Even without the Fed raising interest rates, signs of inflation heating up are already appearing. The high prices, negative yields, and high volatility of the bond market has changed bonds from being “risk-free returns” to “return-free risks.”

Older, wiser heads are warning that the stock market’s days are numbered, too. Stock prices are now 10% higher than the entire worth of all the companies. You could sell all the stocks, take the money and buy everything every company owns, down to the staplers in the offices, and still have billions of dollars left over. That doesn’t sound like a rational stock market to me, and more people are taking notice. This is why Bank of America is telling its clients that the markets are in a Twilight Zone, and they need to reduce exposure to stocks and bonds and stock up on cash and gold before it’s too late. ScotiaMocatta notes in turn that gold is a cheap safe haven right now and says a strong upside surprise may be in the cards.

Jim Rickards says that Warren Buffett already sees a Weimar-style hyperinflation scenario building, and you can tell it from what he’s investing in.

Middle East

We are perhaps closer to a nuclear war in the Middle East than we have ever been, and we’re getting closer. In addition to Israel’s nuke arsenal, Iran’s efforts to build The Bomb has prodded the Wahabbi royalty of Saudi Arabia to go public with plans to counter Iran with an atomic bomb that they will buy “off the shelf” from Pakistan. Saudi foreign aid is the only reason the Pakistani government hasn’t collapsed from its debts, and Islamabad will be more than happy to provide the protectors of Mecca with a turn-key solution to counter the Shiite threat of Iran.

Emphasizing both the betrayal the Kingdom feels has been perpetuated by Obama and the extremist views of the royalty, the Saudi King refused Obama’s invitation to a summit of Persian Gulf leaders and instead met with the most fanatic Muslim clerics of the kingdom.

The Saudi-led coalition of Sunni monarchies continues conducting airstrikes in Yemen, where they say Iran is supplying the Shiite insurgency that has forced the government into exile. Fighting along the border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen emphasize the danger to the oilfields of the world’s largest oil producer, especially since the richest oilfields are in areas that have a sizable Shiite population.

Speaking of extremists, the terrorist army ISIS has conquered Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province in Iraq. The Iraqi army, which outnumbered the Sunni terrorists, fled in terror instead of fighting, leaving hundreds of vehicles (including at least ten fully-functional M1A1 Abrams tanks) for ISIS to capture. Since many former Iraqi army soldiers from the Saddam era are now in ISIS, they have the crews to use these tanks against Baghdad. The only effective force the government has to counter ISIS are the various Shiite militias, including the Al-Sadr Brigade, which killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers during the American occupation of Iraq. These men hate the U.S. as much as they hate ISIS, and their prime goal is to extend Shiite hegemony (and Iranian influence).

To follow up on the stunning victory in Ramadi, ISIS took the last of three border crossings between Syria and Iraq from the Syrian army, and now they have a clear highway linking their holdings in eastern Syria and Anbar province in Iraq. Of the three border crossings between Iraq and Syria, ISIS controls two, and the Syrian Kurds control the northern-most one.

The Salafist terror group has also conquered the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, whose historic ancient ruins the jihadists have sworn to destroy. (This is only partially true. In order to raise money, they video the large buildings being destroyed, then sell the smaller antiquities on the black market after the videos have increased demand for surviving relics.)

ISIS’s next target may be breaking the government siege of rebel-held areas near Damascus, thereby winning the starving people there to their side in the final fight for Syria.

On The Retail Front

German demand for physical gold jumped 20% in the first quarter of 2015, as neither a Greek default nor more German taxpayer money being given to them were particularly appealing.

The Perth Mint bullion blog has posted a handy guide to spotting fake Perth Mint Gold Bars and cautions against buying precious metals on eBay. (Gainesville Coins is an authorized Perth Mint distributor.)

The Royal Canadian Mint, which releases reports on a three-month lag, has reported that silver demand held steady in 2014, and the Mint recorded the second-highest profit in history.

Market Buzz

Speaking of Canadians and silver, the Motley Fool says that “Silver is shaping up to be the precious metals deal of the decade.”

This report says that we may have seen “Peak Silver” in mining supply. There’s simply not been enough exploration to find enough new deposits to replace the existing silver mines that are running empty. Unfortunately, the new deposits that are being discovered are not nearly as large as the ones that are running dry.

MarketWatch’s commodities reporter notes that the frenetic pace of stimulus measures in China could mean a 40% spike in silver prices by the end of the year.

On the subject of China and precious metals prices, Jeff Clark at Casey Research thinks we will see the next gold bull market start before October, since the IMF may require China to reveal its gold reserves before deciding in October whether to include the yuan as a reserve currency or not. If it is added to the SDR basket, then the U.S. dollar, euro, and Japanese yen will have to give up some of their weighting. It looks like the demise of the dollar as the world’s most important currency is continuing.

The Financial Times notes that the power in setting the global gold price is moving from London to Shanghai as liquidity in the West dries up.

The World Gold Council reports that the first quarter of 2015 was the 17th consecutive quarter of net central bank gold purchases, and Russia added 30.5 metric tonnes of gold to its reserves in March (the latest date for which figures are available).

Austria’s central bank has announced that it is repatriating 140 tonnes of gold from England. This will bring the amount of Austrian gold reserves at the Bank of England from 80% to 30% (224 tonnes to 84 tonnes). Austrian gold held at home will rise from 17% to 50%, and the amount held in Switzerland will rise from 7% to 20%.

Austria has company; Texas is building its own state bullion depository in order to repatriate its gold from New York.

Jim Rickards thinks that central banks will need bailouts themselves in the not-so-distant future, causing the public to make a run on gold.

Looking Ahead

Janet Yellen is saying to prepare for an interest rate hike before the end of the year. While we really don’t think it will happen in June, watch the “good news is bad news” meme whipsaw both the stock and bond markets, especially since so many of the big players are taking profits and heading to the sidelines. This is going to mean less liquidity, which means large orders are going to move the market prices much more than normal.

Of course, the Greek crisis is supposed to come to a head in a couple of weeks, but that’s what we’ve been told for months. If the socialist government messes up and pushes Germany too hard, they may find themselves out of the EU and sinking near to third-world status with no one willing to lend them money (except possibly Russia). It remains to be seen if the Arab monarchies are going to do something about ISIS before it’s too late, and Iran is likely to keep pushing the Sunni kingdoms as hard as they dare.

In closing, it’s sobering to look at this chart from the Washington Post and realize that many of our children have never lived in a world where their nation was not at war: Here’s How Much of Your Life the United States Has Been At War.

– Steven Cochran is the Content Manager/Editor for Gainsville Coins

Letter Re: Surviving Science

HJL,

Your surviving science log reminded me of a high school chemistry class experience. The year before had been physics. That class I aced with no problems. (I had lots of garage experience with levers and such.)

However, chemistry was something I couldn’t get my brain “wrapped around”.

In chem class we had the typical of the times (1959 to 1961) chem class desks that included flasks of hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and some glycerin for lubricating the glass tubes for going through the rubber stoppers used in various experiments.

We had desk partners; mine was a typical girl (sorry) who memorialized the week’s chapter and vomited back the answers on the Friday test. (There was no association of the subject with the real world.) I, on the other hand was always asking myself, “Can I use this somehow?”

Later in the year, (remember that for later), I came across a formula in the text book that was only half there. That irked me. I thought I should remember the rest of the formula. (I do have a good memory, even for stuff I don’t care about.) I paged back through the previous chapters until I found what I was looking for. The first half of the complete formula for nitroglycerin!

I wrote out the complete formula, checked it against the rules, and put it in my text book.

The next “lab period” I started in. My lab partner had no idea what I was doing. I told her to just look like I was copying her. However, as the teacher came around, he noticed something was amiss. He looked over what I had spread across the desk, asked to look through my text book, found my scribbled formula, looked at my desk partner and asked “What is he doing?“ She got the classic deer in the headlights look and shrugged her shoulders. He looked at me and said, “Pour it out the window.” (By now it was spring, and we had the windows of the classroom open. There was a bush row under the downstairs classroom windows.)

The teacher said to me, “You were on your way for a “D” in this class. You just earned a “C”. Do not turn in any more weekly tests. I do not want papers showing that you do not deserve a “C”. I thought “I can do that.”

The lesson to be learned? Even “book learning” can have a practical side. – K.S.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.” John 11:40-44 (KJV)

Notes for Saturday – May 30, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 58 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be 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,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have 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),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd 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.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  12. 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 FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, 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,
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. 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,
  3. *Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a Locking Rifle Rack (a $379 value), and
  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).

Round 58 ends on May 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.

Compressed Air Well Pump and Pressurized Home Water System Bubbles- Part 2, by H.W.

Acquiring Parts

To build this pump, I wandered for about two hours through the plumbing section of one of the big box home improvement stores. I love it when the guys who work there come up to me and ask what I’m looking for. I tell them I have no idea, and then I show them the back of my envelope with still-wet scribbles, as I design my project in real-time while I’m walking through the store! They see this a lot, I think. It might be called Home Depot engineering.

I’ve noticed that the big box stores have stopped carrying many of the parts I used in my pump. I guess the market for these oddball parts is not too large. However, you should be able to find them at a plumbing supply house locally. Just take a lunch and ask if you can wander through the warehouse!

To connect the parts, I used generous amounts of PVC cement. I also ran two stainless steel sheet metal screws through the end caps into the PVC pipe with some cement in the pre-drilled holes, just to be sure it would all stay together. Heating the screws before installation makes for a permanent fit. Don’t rely just on glue to hold the weight of the pump; it could be an expensive mistake if you loose the pump or parts of it down the hole!

The check valves are the most expensive parts of this pump, costing about $20 each. They are brass. My water has a lot of lime in it, but the valves have continued to work well in spite of that. You might want to put a filtered foot valve on the bottom of the pump, if your water contains a lot of silt.

One Internet source recommended removing the springs from the check valves, but this will totally disable the pumping action, so please ignore that advice.

On the compressor side, it’s a good idea to use a filter on the air line going to the pump, as you don’t want to be drinking whatever crud is in your air tank. This made me a bit leery about using compressed air, especially since we have no idea what is going into these Chinese compressors that we buy from the discount tool stores. However, I have had no problems or funny taste in the water with the filter in line.

Water Storage

After getting the water into your home, you will need to store it. You can purchase what are called “doorway tanks” from reputable suppliers. These are poly tanks that will fit through a 30” wide doorway, which are typical of residential installations. I was able to wrangle a 250-gallon tank into an isolated basement utility room with a helper. You should expect to pay about $2 per gallon of capacity for these tanks. The tanks at the farm store typically run $3 to $4 per gallon. My 250-gallon tank cost about $500, delivered on a truck to my door. This one weighs about 100 pounds when empty.

Before installation, I used a garden hose and a new floor mop to clean out the tank in the back yard, with liberal application of bleach. This was a new tank and had not contained any other materials before purchase. Once installed, I did fill the tank and let it sit for about a month before emptying it and refilling. That took care of any plastic odor or taste.

You’ll need to locate the tank on a concrete floor, as water weighs about 8.3 pounds per gallon. My tank weighs over one ton when full!

I set the tank not directly on the concrete but on a piece of concrete backer board used as a foundation for tile projects. Many sources recommended not setting the tank directly on concrete because of absorption of chemicals through the plastic. I’m not too sure about the veracity of that advice, but I compromised by using the backer board. I sprayed the board with some bleach on the bottom side, so that if the tank wept condensation at least I would not have a mold issue. So far, the tank outside has been bone dry, and the water tastes great.

To fill the tank quickly from my regular well pump, I put a tee fitting and ball valve draining into the tank from the incoming well line with an inline cartridge filter. It takes only about 15 minutes to fill the tank initially. I also add bleach to the tank if the water will be sitting for a considerable period. I use a liquid ounce of bleach for the 250-gallon tank. The odor is detectable, but not objectionable, and the water is crystal clear.

Raising Water to Upper Levels of House

I pondered how to get the water out of the tank in the basement up to the living levels of the house. Eight point three pounds per gallon is not a wife-friendly number when carried up the basement steps! I first bought some foot operated galley pumps that you might find on a boat. These worked merely okay, but they did not seem to hold their prime. I would have had to pump for a while to be able to brush my teeth.

Next, I researched electric water pumps and found that the RV industry has a ton of options. I settled on a 12V pump that has a servo controller to provide proportional pumping action, to maintain a constant pressure. This pump was about $250 at a camping gear chain store. There are less expensive pump options with the usual pressure switch at about half that price. These pumps will run dry without damage, in case the tank empties.

With the pump in hand, I plumbed it into my house’s system. I ran a spare piece of half-inch PEX from the water tank over to the pump, which is near my well pressure tank and main cutoff valve. This had to go up and over a wall, and it turns out I needed a check valve at the tank end to prevent the supply line from draining dry with the pump off. From the output of the pump I ran the line through a manual valve and then into my main water supply pipe.

I have the two manual valves situated so I can supply the main house water line from the well and pressure tank, or from the 12-volt RV water pump. The servo controller in the RV pump is confused by the pressure tank, and the instructions say to avoid using one with that pump. When the pressure tank is on the line, the servo controller generally works, but when no water is running the RV pump sometimes turns on at a very slow speed or oscillates. Turning off the valve to my main well and pressure tank line solves that problem.

The proportional action of the RV pump means that it does not run full bore when running the water slowly. When taking a shower, the pump runs flat out and makes a bit of noise in the basement, but we cannot hear it on the first floor of the house. I run the RV pump from my 12V solar batteries through a Rigrunner fused power feed block. The pump draws about 8 amps maximum (100 watts) and uses a lot less when it’s running slowly.

It is very nice to have pressurized water running through my normal house plumbing even when the power is out. My family has not expressed any reservations. In fact, the RV pump maintains a constant 30PSI, while the regular well pump with pressure switch allows the pressure to roam over the typical wider range of 25-50PSI. I actually like the constant water pressure better.

Another of the aspects of this system I like is that all the equipment down in the hole is not electric, and so it is not susceptible to EMP. If you keep your air compressor and power source shielded, you can have water whenever you need it.

Expense

As for my costs, not including solar power, here is the breakdown:

PVC pump parts: $100
PEX tubing, 500ft: $129
Wire rope, 1/8 inch: $61
Well cap: $15
Air compressor, 20 gal: $250
Water tank, 250 gal: $500
Air valve control rig: $75
RV water pump: $250
Total: $1380

I hope my experience will help those of you with electric well pumps have some other options to get water out of the ground after the lights go off. Keep your powder dry, water wet, and be ready for constitutional reconstruction after the crash!