News From The American Redoubt:

I heard about another two prepper-friendly churches the Redoubt. One is Providence Bible Presbyterian Church, in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. The other is Mountain View Baptist Church in Pierce, Idaho. Contact:

Mountain View Baptist Church
P.O. Box 186
Pierce, Idaho 83546
Elder’s Phone: (208) 435-4098

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Gary Marbut (of Montana) writes the Supreme Court about the “Made In Montana Guns” law.

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Perhaps the Redoubt is bigger than we thought… New Colorado? Rural voters approve secession idea. Meanwhile, partition plans are still in progress in the State of Jefferson counties. According to the National Constitution Center, a conservative organization based in Philadelphia, the state partition process “has been used successfully to create five states: Vermont (from New York, in 1791); Kentucky (from Virginia, in 1792); Tennessee (from North Carolina, in 1796); Maine (from Massachusetts, in 1820); and West Virginia (from Virginia, in 1863).”

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Police: Marijuana trafficking in Idaho triples in five years. (Thanks to R.B.S. for the link.) [JWR’s Comment: This news should be evaluated with a sense of perspective. If the California cops found just 800 pounds of loco weed in one year, then they’d be declaring “Victory ” in the War on Drugs.]

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Another very cogent essay has been posted over at Guerillamerica: Soups and Knives. (This one highlights the suitability of The American Redoubt.)

Economics and Investing:

In today’s economic environment, spot silver below $21 per Troy ounce is a bargain. For those who don’t consistently make dollar cost averaged silver purchases, this is a good time to hedge into physical silver.

Some clips from the 2013 Sovereign Man Offshore Tactics Workshop, Santiago: Violent Revolution coming to Europe; Ron Paul, Nigel Farage, Jim Rogers

Cue up an Asian rendering of Carmina Burana or some other ominous doom music: Canadian Province Issues Offshore Yuan-Denominated Bonds. (Thanks to AmEx for the link.)

Ann Barnhardt: The Survival of Civilization Depends on You.

Venezuela jails 100 ‘bourgeois’ businessmen in crackdown. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)

Items from The Economatrix:

Citi Warns “Fed Is Kicking The Can Over The Edge Of A Cliff”

The Fed’s 100-Year War Against Gold (And Economic Common Sense)

Moody’s Cuts Top Banks’ Debt Ratings; Doubts Feds Would Bail Them Out

Odds ‘n Sods:

The e-book version of Lisa’ Bedford’s Survival Mom: How to Prepare Your Family for Everyday Disasters and Worst Case Scenarios is on sale for just $3.99 until November 25th. Her popular blog is also quite informative.

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Noah (the ultimate prepper in history) comes to the big screen. Here is a quote from the movie trailer: “When They Come, They’ll Be Desperate; And They’ll Be Many.”

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Reader Peter S. sent: New Mesh Network Documents Confirm Police Vehicle’s Real-Time Access To DHS Spy Cameras

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Appellate court affirms unconstitutionality of California ammunition controls

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An interesting variation on Kickstarter campaigns: Ice Hammer.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt." – John Philpot Curran

A Message To Janet Yellen: Welcome to the Crack House

It appears that Federal Reserve Governor Janet Yellen will be taking over as Fed Chairman soon. (Although, I suppose that in the politically correct Newspeak, she will ignominiously be called a “Chair.” ) As she assumes command of that soiled centenarian private banking cartel, all that I can say to her is: Welcome to the Crack House.

Back in April of 2012, I wrote: “Remember when I compared Quantitative Easing debt monetization to crack cocaine addiction? It appears that Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke have moved up to the level of co-dependency and are only one step away from collapsing on an uncovered mattress on the floor of a squalid roach-infested apartment.”

I still stand by my assertion that the Fed banking cartel and the Treasury Department are hopelessly addicted to debt monetization, commonly called Quantitative Easing (QE.) At this stage, the Fed cannot stop monetizing without triggering an economic tsunami. Presently, they are creating $85 billion per month out of thin air. The Fed is now consistently buying 70% of the bond supply each month, and now owns 32.47% of all 10 Year equivalents. The net effect of the continuing Free Money Fix has been a false economic recovery, artificially low interest rates, and a zombie housing market. (It looks like it is breathing, but in reality it is still putrefying.) Again, the Fed cannot stop or even slow down their monetization, or the entire system will collapse. Mutual fund manager Peter Schiff has called the Fed’s predicament “QE To Infinity,” and he’s right. There is presently no exit strategy for the Fed, and in fact there can be no exit strategy. I now foresee monetization increasing in the months and years to come. Then there will come that inevitable Gideon Gono moment, when confidence in the Dollar is lost and it becomes effectively worthless.

You’re now the Madam of the Crack House, Janet. You might as well accustom yourself to your new surroundings, and buy yourself a dress suitable to playing the part. This is your new life, so get used to it. There is no rehab available. Tell your Wall Street buddies that their “fix” will continue to be handed to them through that hole in the door. Keep that QE money pumping, Janet. Laissez les bon temps roulez.

There is nothing more addictive than a free money fix, is there? – J.W.R.

Pat’s Product Review – Springfield Armory M1A SOCOM II

1

I cut my teeth on the military M14, way back in 1969, during my basic training at (now closed) Fort Ord, California. I learned to love it, and I qualified “Expert” with it – loved shooting that rifle. Later on, while working full-time for the Illinois National Guard, I joined the Illinois State Rifle & Pistol Team, and was issued a match-grade M14 (and 1911A1) along with all the ammo I wanted – those were the days. I shot in many competitions, and always winning in my classification with that M14. I always wanted an M14 of my own, however, they were, and still are a hard-come-by rifle, and are an NFA weapon – and I don’t care to jump through the legal red tape to own a select-fire weapon.
 
Over the years, I’ve owned a few Chinese-made M14 clone rifles, they were okay, some better than others, and they all functioned just fine. [JWR Adds: See the warnings on soft Chinese M14 bolts posted by walt at Fulton Armory.] But they still weren’t an M14. Almost three decades ago, Springfield Armory came out with their semi-auto (only) version of the M14 and dubbed it the M1A – it was, and still is a big hit for Springfield Armory. I’ve owned several over the years, and found them to be outstanding shooters. Well over a year ago, I reviewed a Springfield Armory M1A SOCOM II, that was set-up in a very compact bullpup configuration, that rifle — loaned to me by the good folks at US Tactical Supply — is called the Juggernaut. I was totally blown away by how compact this set-up was. However, for my own personal use, I decided I just wanted a SOCOM II as it came from the factory. Prior to testing the Juggernaut set-up, I had actually been searching for a SOCOM II at my local gun shop. They had a couple brand-new ones come in the shop, but I couldn’t afford the price.
 
About a month after testing the US Tactical supplied M1A SOCOM II Juggernaut set-up, my local gun show picked-up a like-new SOCOM II in a trade at a gun show. I was able to work a deal on a trade to get it – and cost me two M4-style rifles to get it! My sample was probably 98% as-new, too – but with no box, and the fellow who traded the gun, forgot the magazine. A quick trip to US Tactical Supply, and I was in business – they carry the outstanding, and mil-spec Checkmate Industries (“CMI”) brand of M14/M1A magazines – both 20 and 30 rounders – and the Checkmate 30 round mags are the only 30 round mags that I’ve found that will function 100% of the time. Over the years, I’ve tried some no-name 30 round mags, and there was a reason the maker didn’t stamp their names on the magazines – they didn’t work!
 
A quick rundown on the M1A SOCOM II is in order. It has a 16-inch barrel, compared to the full-sized M1A that comes with a 21-inch barrel. It is also capped with a muzzle brake, a very effective one, at keeping the muzzle down for faster follow-up shots. The rifle fires either .308 Winchester or 7.62×51 NATO rounds. The trigger is a 2-stage military set-up, with a trigger break between 5-6 pounds, but it feels lighter than that. Springfield Armory supplies one 10 round magazine with new guns. The front sight is the XS Sights post with a Tritium insert for night or lo- light shooting. The rear sight is an enlarged military aperture (Ghost Ring) adjustable for windage and elevation. The gun weighs 8.8 pounds and the overall length is 37-25-inches – every so slightly longer than an M4 with the telescoping stock fully extended. And, the 8.8 pounds – well, that’s actually lighter than many M4s I’ve handled – with so many added-on accessories – the guns were weighing in at a lot more than the SOCOM II’s 8.8 pounds. There is also an accessory rail on the top of the SOCOM II – should you want to mount some type of red dot sight up there – I didn’t!
 
When I got home from picking-up some magazines for this little beast, it was pouring down rain, and I didn’t go to my usual shooting spot, but I was determined to at least function-test this rifle. All I had on-hand, were a couple boxes of Russian-made .308 ammo – I loaded-up two magazines, and cut loose in my back yard – no functioning problems at all. Ah, one of the joys of living in the country – I can shoot my guns on my own property. However, I rarely do that, as I don’t like disturbing the neighbors – so I usually make a 5-6 minute drive up a mountain, to a couple shooting spots that everyone uses.
 
I contacted Black Hills Ammunition and Buffalo Bore Ammunition for some .308 ammo – some GOOD .308 ammo, to run through the SOCOM II. In short order, I received from Black Hills, their outstanding 168-grain Match Hollow Point load – that keeps on winning long-range shooting matches all over the country, and their 168-grain Hornady A-Max load, which is a great hunting round. From Buffalo Bore, I received their 175-grain JHP Sniper loading, and that one is known as a great long-range, flat-shooting load.
 
With my targets set-up at 100 yards, and using the a sleeping bag as a rest, over the hood of my car, I set out to see what the M1A SOCOM II could do – with open sights. Okay, for long-range, precision shooting, the XS front sight isn’t my first choice – it’s a bit large. And, no matter what I did, I couldn’t break 1 inch on the target, with 3-shots. I came close, very close a few times, but no matter what, that large front sight wouldn’t allow me to break 1 MOA. I believe the rifle is capable of sub MOA with a scope or a smaller front sight. The Black Hills loads tied each other – neither one was better than the other. The Buffalo Bore load shot a tad higher, which I expected, with the slightly  heavier bullet, and even with this load, I simply couldn’t break one inch no matter how many times I tried, and I went out several times over a month and just couldn’t do it – I believe the rifle can do it – with a smaller front sight, though.
 
I also fired several hundred rounds, rapid-fire, through the SOCOM II with a mixed variety of various foreign-made military surplus ammo – and the gun functioned 100% of the time – never had a failure of any sort, with any ammo, nor any problems with the Checkmate 20 or 30 round magazines. My local gun shop once gave me a no-name 30 round magazines – it was junk, I couldn’t fire more than a few rounds without rounds getting hung-up in the magazine.
 
Okay, one of the first things I learned was, do not shoot the SOCOM II over the hood of my car, without a blanket under the muzzle of the rifle. The very effective muzzle brake, has horrendous muzzle blast, that was magnified off the steel hood of the car. I placed a blanket on the hood, and that absorbed a lot of the muzzle blast. While I appreciate the effectiveness of the muzzle brake in keeping the felt recoil down, I didn’t much care for the muzzle blast. I checked around, and at some point, I’m going to replace the muzzle brake with a flash suppressor, and that will take care of the terrible muzzle blast. It was strong enough that I could feel it on my face.
 
So, where does the SOCOM II fit into the scheme of things? Good question! The SOCOM II could easily be used as a big game rifle, with a 5 round magazine – Oregon requires a semiautomatic rifle to hold no more than 5 rounds in the magazine – not a problem. It is a fast-handling rifle, no doubt about it. I can easily see the SOCOM II being used by law enforcement – especially rural sheriff departments, when back-up is a long time coming, and you might have a suspect firing on you, from behind heavy cover. A short, fast-handling “carbine” like the SOCOM II, firing powerful .308 Win rounds, will get the job done. I don’t see the SOCOM II being used in a building clearing scenario – not with the muzzle brake attached – if you fired it in a room – heck, in a big house, the muzzle blast would be too much, and there is the chance of over-penetration with the .308 round, too. In a survival situation, I can see the SOCOM II being an outstanding weapon to have, especially in the wilderness. And, needless to say, in a combat situation, I would love to have this rifle – short and easy to handle, but it still is shooting a powerful round, that can easily take out an enemy soldier beyond 500 yards or farther.
 
Now, while I like the XS front sight post with the Tritium insert, I would replace it with a standard GI front sight, or an M14 match-grade front sight – if I knew I had to make some long-range shots – the XD front sight is too big for precision shooting beyond 100 yards. And, as mentioned, the muzzle brake would be replaced with a flash suppressor of some type. Other than that, I wouldn’t make any changes. The SOCOM II also comes with a poly stock, so there’s no worries about it swelling in wet weather – and that is always a concern in the western part of Oregon, where we get a lot of rain! Wood stocks can (and do) swell, and that can affect the accuracy of your rifle, especially at long-range shooting distances.
 
Before this article was complete, US Tactical Supply, sent me an X-Products magazine, 50 round M1A/M14 magazine for testing. This is a very compact 50 round drum magazine. All internal parts are machined out of steel and aluminum, for a sure-fire magazine that won’t fail you. It also loads easily and it is designed to work in semiauto and full auto rifles. (It is capable of cycling 950 rounds per minute without failing.) Best of all, it is the same length as a 20 round box magazine – yes, it’s much wider, needless to say, but it doesn’t stick out from under your M1A or M14 any more than a standard 20 round magazine does. I fired a good number of 7.62 NATO rounds through the X-Products 50 round magazine, and I also mixed in some Russian-made poly coated .308 rounds, and some of the Black Hills and Buffalo Bore ammo – and the magazine never once stuttered – it just kept firing – and I’m telling you, I put hundreds and hundreds of rounds down range, as fast as I could pull the trigger and reload the magazine – the SOCOM II got hot – VERY hot, but it never missed a beat. Of course, the loaded 50 round drum magazine added some serious weight to the SOCOM II. However, if I were in a combat or survival situation, this is the magazine to have locked and loaded in your gun – for some serious, initial fire-power down range when lead is flying your way. The X-Products M1A/M14 magazine runs $275 from US Tactical Supply – and it’s worth every penny, too.
 
The Springfield Armory SOCOM II is a real winner in my book, and I know it has sub MOA accuracy there, if that front sight is replaced – and that’s easy to do. And, in my humble opinion, the muzzle brake needs to go. (Yes, it does what it is supposed to do, but the muzzle blast was just too much for me, especially during a long shooting session.) I’d like to see Springfield Armory offer the SOCOM II with either a muzzle brake or a flash-suppressor to give the buyer a choice, and I’m betting a lot will prefer the flash-suppressor over the muzzle brake.
 
I won’t even attempt to give a price on the SOCOM II – as they are a hot-seller, and always in demand. And, we still have a buying frenzy going on these days, which only adds more to the cost of military-style rifles. Check around on Gun Broker and see if you can find a SOCOM II of your own. If you see one, then snap it up. They are one super-nice little .308 carbine.   – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio

Letter Re: My Experience in Expatriating to Panama

Dear JWR,
Regarding “My Experience in Expatriating to Panama”, by Chuck Holton: I too lived in Panama from 2008 to 2012 and while I agree with almost everything the author says, there are some exceptions I’d like to discuss.  First covers the medical system.  I was in the local hospital four times from 2010 to 2012 and the doctors were never able to discover what my problem was.  Nothing earth shattering or unusual, I have cancer and not a rare type either.  I used a private hospital the first two times and after running up bills in excess of $15,000 and still no answer to what the problem was, I signed myself out.  My next two sessions under Panamanian medical care was at a state run hospital and although the cost was much less, the results were the same.  So I’d have to say that my experiences there with the local doctors was vastly different then the authors.  I had to return to the states to find out what my problem was/is and that took about three days at a small county hospital.  My experience taught me that the private doctors are only out for the money when a “gringo” is the patient and the state run hospitals are seriously lacking in training or abilities.
 
I’ll address next the gun laws in Panama.  The author is correct in what he says, up to a point.  Guns are available, at a very steep price compared to prices in the US.  And it takes almost forever to get said license from the government, after you have first purchased a firearm, but not received it, and supplied all the necessary documentation.  It took me almost a full year to get my license and in that time I was robbed of almost everything we owned of value by three young men.  The fact that I had been robbed didn’t do anything to speed my application either.  The author also didn’t go into the cost of purchasing a firearm and ammunition.  As I indicated, the costs are almost double for a pistol in Panama compared to what it costs here.  I purchased a Taurus .38 revolver that cost me almost $700 and ammo for it was going for about $30 a box or 50 full metal jacket (FMJ) ammunition.  You can’t legally buy any sort of more effective ammunition either, nor can you bring it with you when returning to Panama after a visit home.  On the flip side, firearms can be purchased from private parties without going through the time and hassle of doing it the legal way.  I was able to buy an old Colt police positive revolver from a neighbor after the robbery for about $100.  But when I tried to bring some frangible ammo back with me in 2010, it was confiscated at the airport and cost me almost $150 mordita [“the bite”] (aka bribe), to the local federal cops.  BTW, it took the police over an hour to get to my house after several calls were made reporting the incident.  The police couldn’t find my house.  In other words, response time in rural Panama is much worse then even Chicago or Detroit.
 
As for la mordita, that’s a way of life in Panama.  Most things can be gotten quicker if your willing to pay for it.  But not all.  About a year after my robbery I read in the local paper that 3 men had been arrested for a robbery similar to mine and their pictures in the article looked very similar to the men who robbed me.  I went to the police station and asked to look at the men in a line up to see if was them and to be able to add my experience to the current case against them.  I was told that my case was an “old one” and that I’d need to get a lawyer and petition a judge to “allow’ me to see the men and re-open my case.  In other words, I’d need some lawyer to “grease” the way for me to get some form of justice.  Mordita in another name.
 
All in all I agree with the author on most aspects of his article.  My experiences there were not all bad and I made some good, lasting friendships with the locals.  The climate is wonderful, the water is the best in the world, the foods are fantastic and the beaches are great.  But it isn’t for everyone.  It has some problems that need to be understood and addressed before you make a decision to move there.  One thing the author didn’t discuss was the taxes in Panama.  For me, a retired veteran owning my own home, there were no taxes.  However if you are working and own a business with local employees, the tax structure and employee benefits package can be tricky, especially if you have to fire an employee.  That can cost you big bucks.  Also the banking system in Panama has allowed the International Order to monitor and change it’s laws and procedures.  It is no longer the tax haven for expats it once was. – K.A.S.

JWR Replies: The situation for firearms ownership in Panama has actually worsened, since you left. There is currently a “freeze” on gun importation by gun shops in effect, and it is “hoped” that this freeze will end sometime in 2015. There is also a ban on centerfire semi-auto rifles as well as on any guns chambered for military cartridges. (The latter is the norm in countries that have been wary of potential coups and uprisings.)

It is unfortunate that one of the countries with the lowest crime rates in Central America has become less appealing, in recent years. The banking advantages are just about gone in Panama, and firearms ownership rights look doubtful. I am hopeful that some new free trade zones and zones and semi-autonomous districts might be developed in the next few years, but that remains to be seen.

Letter Re: Our Journey to the American Redoubt and My Experience with Todd Savage

Jim,
I have been a long time reader of your blog (several years) but have never posted. It is my recent experience with Todd Savage of Survival Retreat Consulting that has prompted me to write.

My wife and I have been married almost 27 years and have one child who is married to a like-minded young man. My journey to prepping started as a boy when I watched my parents garden, can, sew quilts, raise ducks and chickens and many other endeavors that were not considered prepping as such but just normal activities in the 1960s. We had a one acre homestead in a small Midwestern suburb complete with a “fraidy hole” for the inevitable tornadoes. My dad was a mechanic and carpenter and could build or fix just about anything. He took me camping, taught me how to fish (I wish I would have paid more attention) and tie knots (again with the attention deficit disorder). He drove a big 4WD truck and always carried survival gear with him, although I just considered it to be stuff he needed for his job. I attended one Cub Scout meeting but it didn’t appeal to me.

As I grew up, friends and I went on numerous camping trips all across our state. I don’t remember ever having a tent, just an old sleeping bag and a Coleman lantern and stove. We always had a great time sleeping under the stars.

As I grew older my dad seemed more eccentric about the gear he always had and as a normal teenager, I had no desire to copy him as I graduated high school and moved away to college. After college I lived the typical urban yuppie lifestyle and my accounting degree proved to be a good choice to help me make a living.

Fast forward to the late 80s. After several years of hard living, God sent me my soul mate. We quickly married and resumed the yuppie lifestyle. We had so much in common politically, spiritually and emotionally there was no doubt that our relationship was predestined by God. We cleaned up our acts, joined a local evangelical church and decided to raise a family. I don’t recall a time when prepping was on our list of things to do.

When our daughter was almost four, I was diagnosed with lymphoma. Twenty years later I am still in remission and give God all the glory. It was one of the highlights of our spiritual lives.

Like a lot of your readers, we first starting getting serious about prepping before Y2K. I can’t remember what all we bought but I remember feeling that we were probably better prepared than a lot of folks. Y2K came and went and most of our preps sat undisturbed in the garage.

Also in the late 90s we made our first visit to the American Redoubt (back before it was called that). We immediately fell in love with the area and the people and made it our goal to live there someday.

Things really started coming into focus after 9/11. I remember us watching it unfold on television and my wife saying “We’ve waited too long!” It was then that we started considering a host of “what ifs?”. We were self-employed and working together so even though our time was somewhat flexible our resources were limited. Having our daughter in Christian schools and looking down the road to college kept us limited on extra expenses. We did buy a generator after a storm knocked out the power to our home office which rendered us unable to work. By this time I was a CPA and did a lot of tax work. No manually prepared returns for me!

We soon had a chance to visit the Redoubt on business. My family joined me on a weekend and we had the chance to meet [name deleted for OPSEC] at her home (which was for sale at the time) and had some of her delicious carrot cake cooked in her wood stove. Dreamy! The time wasn’t right for us to buy her house but at least we were doing something to fulfill our dream.

Fast forward again to 2011. Our daughter was out of the house and we were empty nesters. We decide to vacation in the Redoubt and (unbeknownst to my dear wife) I was ready to look for our retreat. We drove around 600 miles (even looked in Canada) and fell in love with the place all over again. We looked at everything from ”Unabomber Cabins” to two story homes with acreage. Nothing seemed quite right for us. On our last night in town as we were returning to the cabin in which we were staying we got to within about a quarter of a mile of the cabin and we saw a house we had passed several times. My wife looked and said: “There is a ‘For Sale’ sign on it.”  (A God thing.) We whipped down the road, looked around the vacant house, peeked in the windows and decided to call the realtor. It was almost dark on a Sunday evening so we didn’t expect much. But as we later discovered, most small town people are very willing to help “flatlanders” like us. Twenty minutes later she was there and we conducted a thirty minute tour. We were hooked.

We returned home, called the realtor, started negotiating and closed on the property in 45 days. We remember thinking, “What have we done?”.

First, a little about the property. I consider myself to be a poster boy for SurvivalBlog. Based on your advice, we have both a precious metals IRA and a real estate IRA (which we used to buy part of the property). We have plenty a lot of beans, bullets and Band-Aids, lots of coins and bars. Most importantly we are on the same page about prepping and definitely have prepper mindsets. I recently have become Red Cross certified. The house is on 2-½ acres, has a well and septic tank, plenty of trees, good garden areas and a natural wetland bird and deer habitat. The neighbors are great and everyone kind of keeps to themselves. We are very close to a large fresh water lake. We quickly installed a wood-burning stove, a manual pump for our well and a gas range. The house has a good sized basement/bunker for food and supplies storage and maintains a constant 65 degree temperature year round. There is a root cellar that needs some work but will be great for food storage. The house had been completely remodeled so there was no work to do on the house itself. We feel truly blessed. Two major things convinced us to eventually move to the Redoubt. One was your giving it a name and encouraging folks to move there. The other was when Chuck Baldwin made the move and wrote about his reasons on his web site. We felt sure we were doing the right thing.

My job kept us from moving there permanently so we visited a lot. I installed a web-based camera security system and hired a good Christian man to be our caretaker when we were away. Earlier this year we sold our suburban house in our home state and decided one of us should move to the retreat. Still bound my job constraints, we decided my wife and dog would move to the retreat full time. Much like the protagonist in the novel Patriots, it looks like my boss is going to let me telecommute starting in January so I will be able to join my wife at the retreat soon.

So what’s the problem? Our perfect homestead/retreat sits very close to a major US highway. Even though there are advantages (access to town about 20 miles away, snow plowing, etc.) there are distinct drawbacks (the “Golden Horde”, potential for hazardous spills, limited defensibility, etc.). What to do?

Enter Todd Savage and his associate. Based on your recommendation, I talked to Todd by phone and explained our dilemma. From the outset I could tell he was the type of guy I like doing business with. We quickly arranged a time for him to come visit our retreat. He and his associate arrived promptly and hit the ground running. He took lots of pictures and measurements; we walked the entire property and toured inside from top to bottom. The entire time they were making observations and recommendations and also asking lots of questions. After a few hours I paid him (worth every penny),shook hands and he drove away leaving me with a lot of things to think about.

Approximately a week later I received a fifty-plus page defense analysis. He graded my property on various aspects of our retreat (food production, water availability and defense capabilities). It was extremely thorough and comprehensive and made me appreciate his abilities even more. It also caused me to ask him a very important question:
 
“So, all things considered, would you keep the property or look for another? It seems to be a perfect ‘homestead’ but less than ideal place for when the Schumer hits the fan.”
 
His answer: “If you like your place, stay, if not look to relocate. If you wake up every morning happy then so be it, be happy! Professionally speaking, yes, you should look for another place.”
 
What candor! He knew my dilemma and responded in a very practical manner that I very much appreciated.

Now as we enjoy our homestead/retreat and ponder our next move, we are most thankful to God for directing us here. We also appreciate your blog more than I can say. Finally, I would not hesitate to recommend Todd. He will be the first one I call if/when we decide to take the next step.

– Tom H.
Somewhere in the American Redoubt

Letter Re: Knob Creek After Action Report, Fall 2013

The weather at Knob Creek was great, the dust was minimal and the travel was above average.  The car ran fine, I didn’t die a fiery death and the CV joints only started making noise and going bad after I got home. Yeah!

Best price I saw on .308 ammo was Military Shooters Supply, Inc. with PMC and Lake City (the 2 loose packed boxes I examined all had 2005 head stamps, (de-linked I imagine) for $340 per 500rd. They had PMC 55gr .223 $389/1000 and 68gr 5.56 $429/1000. Brown Bear 7.62×39  $119/500. Pat’s Reloading prices were not as good as a show or two ago and was a little higher than usual with most of their Israeli .223 tracers coming in the $$00-450/1000 range (last time I bought some it was cheaper than all the ball ammo).  5.45 commie ammo was still exorbitant compared to a year ago at $220/1280 tin, $440 case of two tins (this was relatively strange as either J&G Sales or Century has it on their web site currently for $179 a spam can).  7.62x54R is still hanging in there at $90/440tin, 2 tins for $160. Pat’s Reloading had some Israeli 9mm SMG ball and tracer but all I remember is thinking it was a little high and I would wait for the next show.  Either Pat’s or Military shooters had some .30 Cal Carbine Lake City for $199/500 and the 20 rd boxes looked old and worn so they couldn’t have just come from sealed spam cans.

No .22 rimfire to be seen except for one forlorn guy selling American Eagle .22 for $50 a brick by the entrance gate. In my home area I have found some here and there for $25- $35 plus tax.  Haven’t seen much for a while but there was some pallets of .303 British and 8mm Romanian Mauser that must have come out of some dark corner of a warehouse. I think the spam can of 8mm was $240/$420 for a case from Century and a few others. That’s enough to give you a nervous twitch in your eye, but where else are you going to get it? A lot of places, soon, I hope.
 
I heard one dealer tell another (neither of whom were selling ammo) that the prices of ammo were dropping like a rock and all the dealers were afraid of losing their u know what. That should be somewhat encouraging for the readership.  I saw a bunch of small dealers with a couple of cases holding out hope that someone would pay $475-$600 for a case of .223 good/better stuff.   On my return trip I passed through a Scheel’s superstore that had Federal .223/55 gr for $430/1,000. A Gander Mountain store had the same stuff as far as I could see, for $599/1000. The Scheel’s also had federal .308 $360/500, so there is some price differences to be taken advantage of depending on your locale. Apex Gun Parts (or someone next to them?) was selling USGI M118 sniper ammo for $660/600 and had a pallet load of it.

Someone must have unloaded a warehouse full of Sten gun stuff out of the Middle East,  Mk II kits that were selling for $400 are now $120 from APEX.  Centerfire systems also have a ton of converted 20 round Sten mags for $5 that are not all that bad for having sat in crates for 40 years.  These mags are exactly the same length as the standard 32 rd mags and have 4 brass pins driven through them. The two at the top are through the magazine housing and I don’t know what their function was other than if the mag body and the feed lips and mag stop may have been two separated pieces and locked into place by two brass pins that are ground off flush with the outside and inside of the mag body. Two other pins were driven through the mag body about an inch to an inch and a half from the bottom of the magazine. The protruding parts of the pins are then bent flush with the mag in a rounded fashion.  I believe that these two bottom pins can simply be removed and the magazine easily restored to their full capacity glory. The only thing that would make this impractical is if some Middle East armory worker snipped the mag spring as well and used the two pins as a base to rest the mag spring on. That seems like a disaster waiting to happen but how often do you find a finely designed and operating piece of equipment that comes from the Middle East? The answer: Outside of Israel, never.

Another fine piece of sage wisdom was proffered by someone’s mother or grandmother working the Centerfire table as I looked through the boxes of Sten gun mags. She interjected several times to tell me “their all the same” as if I had requested her advice. Ah, I beg to differ, blue haired fount of SMG wisdom, all mags are not created equal, as you can plainly see, all those rusty ones there look like hell. And when they stop making feed lips that get bent out of shape I will lend some credence to your overbearing, annoying and unsolicited advice and hovering.

A word to the wise here, I don’t know how they got this stuff in the country (other than the barrels are obviously missing), but I wouldn’t wait for the prices to go up again.  Less desirable Sten Mk III kits are still hanging around at the $79-89 and full 32rd mags seem to be close to $20. This large lot may put some pressure on the prices, which would be welcome, but who knows?

Magazines 
Bad news for all FAL owners, DSA has run out of used Austrian metric FAL mags. They claim to have no more left in the warehouse and sold the last two 1000 mag crates to a dealer at the show who consciously sold them for $5 (where they should be).  To that dealer in the back to whom I gave $200, you’re my hero.  Here I spent the last couple of updates complaining about DSA’s $10 used mag prices and you made my dreams come true: 2006 pricing on FAL mags. Unfortunately, they are probably all gone by now. DSA had a few used things here and there, but is seems to be all new production for FALs for the foreseeable future. DSA marked 20 rounders were $20 and 30rounders were $25.  I am sure that there are some minor stashes of used FAL mags out there but they are going to much smaller and harder to find.  I did buy some trigger US compliance parts from DSA last show. When I got home, all of them were plainly marked USA/DSA markings except for one package. I have no idea whether they were imported parts or USA ones and I forgot to bring it back this show to exchange. The parts looked new but who wants to take a chance with the current crazed imitations of law enforcement on the prowl out there.

Copes Distributing had noticeably less AR mag product available versus last time and no Checkmate (“CMI”) M14 mags. However, they did have a blow out on Gen 2 Magpul mags for $10 (everyone else had them for $13-14) Their Gen 3’s with the nifty little attached dust cover were $14 ($20 from the manufacturer).  I made a tactical shopping error in only getting ½ dozen of the Gen 2 ones in favor of the D&H Tactical aluminum mags with the Magpul no-tilt followers also for $10 bucks. When I went by a couple hours later, the couple of cases Magpuls were all gone. I like the Magpuls, troops returning from the sandbox swear by them, but, I can’t get the disappointment of Thermolds and other synthetic Canadian and Israeli mags out of my mind (I still have a dozen or so of them with various cracked body parts that I was going to cannibalize), therefore, the D&H fixation, I can pound a dent back out of those magazines. I did see several dealers with small bags of the Magpul no-tilt followers for retrofitting those crappy black, orange and sickly green USGI followers of the last few years. They came in a 3-pack for $7 which seems kind of steep and daunting when you’re looking at retrofitting 100 to 200 mags.  I am sure that somewhere out there they can probably be purchased by the 100 or a gross for a lot less money. Long live the no-tilt follower, anyone without them will just have to suffer from inopportune jams. (Seriously, I wouldn’t even think of not using these when my life was on the line or in snowy or sandy areas.)  Centerfire Systems had some Korean AK mags new for $9 and someone else had some used Polish mags for $20.  Last show some mathematically challenged individual refused to be convinced that 3 AK mags for $30 on sale was a totally different final price when you purchased 6. The guy exhausted me and made my brain hurt and I finally gave up and took the 6 mags back home for a buddy for $30.

Parts
More bad news for FAL owners, Dan the FAL guy sold off all his stock to some undetermined derelict somewhere (who will undoubtedly quadruple the prices) and has almost nothing left. They told me the Steyr barrel on the table was the last one they had.  So I guess he no longer has any nomenclature to identify him, other than Dan the Zombie t-shirt seller or Dan the purveyor of Dominican cigars. Until we can get some FAL’s past the anti-freedom coalition in Austria and Australia and not have them cut into pieces, the heyday of FAL building is a thing of the past. You could build one from scratch using DSA and other manufacturers, but there is a whole lot of difference between $600 and $1600. The only real kits out there seem to be the Argentinean ones for $500-600 (some do not come with barrels) so you’re looking at $800 to start for an ordinary retail individual to build one.

CMMG out of Fayette, Missouri had the best prices on lower parts kits for AR’s at $50. Most others were $60-69 and I have to believe that in its basic form, all the pins and springs come from the same place.  So I’m looking at AR parts at the J&T table and I run into a show dealer friend of mine and inquired why he used J&T.  “I like their quality and they treat me right, and they should, I bought almost a million dollars’ worth of stuff through them (I assume since he has been in business?). Ok, then as he is leaving with several armfuls of upper assemblies, he tells the guy there to treat me right, that he (meaning me) is with him. So I asked for a 6 position stock and all the rear end of the gun with an ambidextrous sling washer thingy.   The guy brings it all over and puts it together and is hemming and hawing between $60 and $70 something. I have a $50 in my hand and hold it out to him and he said “alright, $50 bucks”.  So I probably saved $50 bucks by that guy vouching for me. Of course I could have saved $50 in gas by staying home and paying full retail online, but whatever, that wouldn’t have been much fun.

One table had some CETME kits (minus the barrel) for $125, which one dealer nearby said was about a hundred dollars too much since he thought G3s/CETMEs were a horrible mechanical mess. That kind of deflated my interest and I reaffirmed to myself that a I was a FAL and M1A guy and to not get distracted. I don’t know for sure, but this would lead me to believe that one could possibly purchase a receiver in the $300 range and do a CETME build for under $500? Someone else may have more direct knowledge of this than I do.

Miscellaneous
I saw lots of cases of USGI spec MREs for $50 to $69 each.

I found some 7.62 (147 gr) API projectiles from a dealer that were listed for $1.25 apiece. Most of the bags were 250 or 500 packs. But in digging around I found 3 baggies that had odd numbers of projectiles. One of them only had eight in it (don’t ask me why) and together they added up to 72. I talked the guy down to $50.

I moseyed up to a private sale going down as I spotted a fine FAL specimen begging for attention. This guy had a nicely put together Argentinean FAL on a Coonan receiver and was asking $850 by the sign hanging off the barrel. What piqued my interest was when the owner said to a potential purchaser “you’re gonna queer this deal over $25?” Not me, I was all ears, he had me at sight of a FAL and “$25”. I lustfully caressed the weapon with my eyeballs as I waited for these two schmucks to head off into the sunset. Alas, it was not to be as the other guy finally talked his friend into it as I was nearing exasperation.

I did have a first at this show. As I am talking to this ex-Green Beret sniper, he reaches out past me to tap this geezer with a WWII veteran hat on, and making his way with his walker, to thank him for his service. To both of our surprise he said he didn’t serve in the US military. When he said he was from Canada, I just had this feeling he was going to say he served in the Wehrmacht. But he didn’t, he served in a Canadian Regiment and was in one of the first waves at Juno Beach on D-Day. I resisted the urge to ask if Sean Connery played him in The Longest Day and we found out that he was there to shoot some Lewis and Bren machineguns before he died. A pleasant experience to have met him and his wife, to say the least.   

This Green Beret was telling me that when President Bush came to his base for Thanksgiving, he sent all the FBI and Secret Service guys over for a good time at the range not too far from the mess hall where the President was serving dinner. Fast forward to 2010 when the great imposter shows up at the base he was stationed at. The bolts were taken out of every gun on the base and put under lock and key. Even the guards out front at the gates didn’t have a functioning weapon. You have got to give this Marxist his due he knows his audience, and the history of tin pot dictators who were disposed of by prompt military action by a group of motivated Colonels.

So this Green Beret is discussing some guerrilla warfare with me and he offers up his opinion that The Powers That Be won’t give a fig about what happens out in the countryside, they know that whomever controls the cities controls the country (as you can obviously see the Marxist cities of America are currently in control of the political class.)  He also said that they would probably send the starving hordes of urban slum dwellers out into the countryside to fight the decent people in order to get food rations issued to them. Left unanswered due to customer interruptions, was how The Powers That Be would feed this assortment of human debris that would be used to suppress freedom without controlling substantial portions of food producing areas or incentives for farmers to sell (beyond food raids and coercion, of course.).

Shotgun News’s drawing for free weapons took place in the afternoon before I got around to registering. Too bad, I would have liked to have a .50 cal BMG rifle. Lance, the purveyor of exotic books and videos was a no show on Friday but there was an empty spot so I don’t know if he came later. I was talking with some fellows about Century and J&G Sales. They used to bring a ton of products and really move it. Century used to have a large area and racks upon racks of Mosins, Mausers, Nagant pistols, etc. You would see tons of people with them slung over their shoulders 3-8 in a bunch. I haven’t seen that for six years and I hear their overseas sources of product are drying up. J&G doesn’t seem to bring nearly the quantity of products they used to and neither them nor Century seems to set the bottom price like they used to. Oh well times change. Speaking of that the elevated observation deck with stands on top of the building is no more and another level has been added and the stands are now off to the side. The huge machine shed is gradually being encased in concrete pads and block. The place is beginning to lose its free for all flea market look. In a certain way it’s starting to resemble a regular large gun show except for some of the product for sale and the occasional blowout or bargain bin at prices you just have to buy some for.  For me it’s still a one stop shopping experience and I am bound to find things I won’t locally.  The number of visible Kentucky militia and re-enactors has noticeably dropped. I especially noticed the absence of the WWII American camp outside the gates complete with vehicles, machineguns and howitzers. There is usually only one Huey giving helicopter rides anymore. It’s still a good time and one you should try if you ever get the chance. – E.T.

Wanted for a Project: Your Dead IR Web Cams

I’m working on a security project here at the ranch. For it, I’m in need of a few web security cameras to cannibalize. I need the type that have a cluster or ring of infrared (IR) illumination LEDs. So if you have any spare cameras that no longer work (typically this happens because of rainwater intrusion) I would greatly appreciate it you would mail them to:

Jim Rawles
c/o P.O. Box 303
Moyie Springs, Idaho, 83845

I will be happy to reciprocate by sending you a like number of SurvivalBlog Archive DVDs.

Thanks! – J.W.R.

Recipe of the Week:

Old Kimber Girl’s Freezer Slaw

DRESSING:
1 cup vinegar
1 tsp. mustard seed
1 tsp. celery seed
2 cups sugar
¼ cup water
Combine the above dressing ingredients and boil 1 minute.  Cool

SLAW:
1 medium head cabbage, shredded
1 tsp. salt
1 carrot, grated
Mix cabbage with salt; let stand 1 hour
Squeeze out excess liquid and then add grated carrot

COMBINE:
Dressing and Slaw.  Place into freezer containers, canning jars or freezer bags.  Freeze.
This slaw remains crisp.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Coleslaw Recipes

Cabbage Recipes

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In particular, we are currently seeking Christmas Holiday Recipes. Please send your favorites via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics and Investing:

Inside Coin’s techie vision for the all-in-one credit card.

Sovereign Man: No inflation to see here….

C.I.A. Collects Global Data on Transfers of Money

Items from The Economatrix:

As Goes Wal-Mart, So Goes Global GDP?

The Two-Income Trap For Americans: How Dual Income Households Are A Financial Necessity In A Time When The Median Per Capita Wage Is $27,000.

How China Can Cause The Death Of The Dollar And The Entire U.S. Financial System

Odds ‘n Sods:

Readers in the Washington, DC region take note: a Survival Medicine 101 Workshop taught by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD (SurvivalBlog’s Medical Editor) has been scheduled for December 6-8, 2013, in Leesburg, Virginia. This three-day class includes suturing, minor surgery, splinting, casting, bioterrorism defense, clinical labs, emergency preparedness, and much more. Don’t miss this rare opportunity, as Dr. Koelker only rarely teaches classes on the East Coast.

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Seattle police deactivate surveillance system after public outrage. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.)

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Just two days left! Safecastle is wrapping up their last Mountain House cans sale of the year, with maximum allowable discounts, free shipping, and some special loyalty reward bonuses for buyers club members. The sale ends on November 20, 2013.

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Chad Z. suggested: Charcoal Remedies.

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File under: Non Sequiturus Maximus: Supporter of Anti-Gun Colorado State Senator Threatens to Kill Recall Supporters… With a Gun

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The fact is clear and obvious, all national and most state elections are bogus. The corruption has congealed and hardened in place, there is no viable way to significantly influence governance at those levels much less change it. Their elections are their elections, not ours. Nothing of consequence can be changed this way. Elections are a roadblock, not a road. Congressional districting and other election rigging ensures fewer seats are actually contested than were in the Politburo of their late and lamented USSR. Their federal judges routinely set aside state referendums that offend their personal sensibilities, one more avenue of redress criminally denied. Nobody should expect criminals to change their ways when they can prevent having to do it. It’s their ball, their ballpark, their rules, their umpires, and they bat last.” – Ol’ Remus, Yer Old Woodpile Report

Notes from JWR:

100 years ago today, the first ship transited the nearly-completed Panama Canal. The original canal construction debts are long gone, but the recent multi-billion dollar canal expansion contracts have had a checkered history.

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Today we present another entry for Round 49 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $8,500+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) B.) 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, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), F.) A $300 Gift Certificate from Freeze Dry Guy. G.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. H.) A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com. The current value of this roll is at least $225, and I.) VPN tunnel, DigitalSafe and private e-mail annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad. They have a combined value of $265.

Second Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. C.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. D.) $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P.), E.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials F.) A full set of all 23 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is more than a $210 value, and G.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) 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, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security., F.) A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises , and G.) A Nesco / American Harvest Gardenmaster Dehydrator with an extra set of trays, and the book The Dehydrator Bible, from Mayflower Trading. (A $210 value.)

Round 49 ends on November 30th, 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.