Odds ‘n Sods:

Orange Jeep Dad has made his move to Oklahoma! He wrote me to mention: “I have to go chop down some overgrowth and explore the farm.” (The family farm had been left vacant for more than 20 years.) He plans to be blogging regularly, as he gets the place back into shape. This should prove to be both instructive and entertaining. Please post a comment, to encourage him and his “Wifey.” Tell him that Jim of SurvivalBlog sent you.

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Reader Ellen E. recommended the resources at the Utah State Ag Extension Web Site. The site has may useful free PDFs on food storage, food preparation, water storage, et cetera.

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Mama Liberty reviews Joel Simon’s book: A Solar Electric System On the Cheap, On the Fly, and Off the Grid

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Over at Survival Mom: How will you know when the balloon goes up? Advice from survival experts

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The new “George Was Right!” T-Shirt says a lot, with brevity. Oh, and speaking of the Orwellian advent, here is some good news: Texas becomes first state to require warrant for e-mail snooping.

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Cause for concern: State photo-ID databases become troves for police. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.)

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More of the same old Schumer: Immigration-Reform Scare Tactics

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"With the exception only of the period of the gold standard, practically all governments of history have used their exclusive power to issue money to defraud and plunder the people." –
Friedrich A. von Hayek

Notes from JWR:

Another reminder to Coloradans: You have some paperwork to do, muy pronto. The state’s new magazine ban will go into effect on July 1, 2013. Of particular note is the fact that the new law’s grandfather clause is not multigenerational. It will be limited to only then-current owners of magazines, as of midnight on June 30th. (When the owner dies, the magazines must be destroyed or taken out of the state.) Therefore I again urge Coloradans to be sure to properly document the gift of your magazines to your children and grandchildren (preferably via a multigenerational trust–which creates a fictitious “person” that never dies), and have those records notarized, ASAP.

And of course this week is the last chance for Coloradans to buy your “lifetime supply” of certain types of guns and magazines if you plan to remain in Colorado. The clock is ticking… Something tells me that the Tanner gun show this coming weekend in Denver will be packed and there will be some frantic buying.

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I heard that there is a Wise storage food sale starting today at Camping Survival. The sale runs until June 28th, with a 20% discount on all Wise brand foods.

Michael Z. Williamson’s Book Review: Destroy the Enemy in Hand-to-Hand Combat: An Authentic Field Manual of the Red Army

Destroy the Enemy in Hand-to-Hand Combat: An Authentic Field Manual of the Red Army. (Also available as a Kindle edition.)
Gen A. A. Tarasov (Author), Boris Karpa (Translator)

Translated from the Soviet WWII original.  Boris Karpa has done an excellent job of maintaining the flavor of the Soviet manual, keeping the read interesting, and making it reasonably clear. Some sections are a bit awkward, but it seems to be from the original writing, not a translation difficulty.  Those areas that don’t translate well are covered more than adequately by the original illustrations.

The first half of the book covers moving in combat and under fire.  It addresses movement over terrain, over obstacles, in and out of trenches, and scaling of walls.  Most of it should be familiar to anyone who’s read similar military manuals.  The basics don’t change.  There are a couple of neat tricks I haven’t seen elsewhere, for small unit tactics crossing obstacles, as well as for entering close quarters while keeping the weapon ready to engage.

The second half deals with actual combat.  There is a lengthy section on how to throw grenades from various positions, that won’t currently be of much use to most readers, but is certainly useful for information, research, and for studying body mechanics, since one can throw other items besides grenades.

The next chapter covers the basics of bayonet and stock, and the explanations and diagrams clearly show the maneuvers, and the text covers specifics down to hip rotation and foot movement for generating the most power in the attack.  I found this section to be a very good summary of melee, and could be useful in event one needs to defend a position.  It does go into detail on using the bayoneted rifle like a spear—I recognized the techniques from medieval manuscripts and Asian martial arts.  This is very useful information, especially for one using a traditional bolt action rifle with its long stock.  One can use a full-length rifle as a very effective pike and club when empty, jammed, or when ammo is at a premium.

The manual advises practice and rehearsal of various other suggested moves on an individual case, basically, to learn one’s body and how it moves.

There are some supplemental descriptions of fighting into or out of a trench, actual bayonet fencing against an opponent, some stock strikes and blocks.  This was the twilight of the bayonet, as far as training, but most of the old tactics are still in here, and worth knowing.

The final sections cover in extremis—using a standard shovel or entrenching tool against a foe with a bayonet, and even bare hands if need be.  The reader is motivated to believe the fundamental fact that the mind is the real weapon.

I found Destroy the Enemy in Hand-to-Hand Combat to be a readable, useful reference.  It’s not a large book at 45 pages, but it has quite a bit of content, and the original pictures are well-executed.  It’s also an interesting historical reference to the Soviet combat mindset. Mr Karpa has done an impressive job with this translation.

Disclosure:  I received a downloadable .doc file for review.  I have no financial interest in this book.

Pat’s Product Review: VitalGrill Stove

Back when I was in the military I would have loved to have had a way to heat-up my C Rations – yeah, I’m “that” old – that we were issued C Rations in the military, when out in the field. MREs (Meals, Read to Eat) were still only just a concept in the mid to late 1960s. Nothing beats a hot meal in the field, even if it was just C Rats – a cold meal just doesn’t seem nearly as comforting or filling, as opposed to a hot meal. My late friend, Chris Janowsky, who ran the World Survival Institute, up in Tok, Alaska used to say Fire is magic” and it sure is – very comforting, mesmerizing and warm. A fire can make a difference when you’re out in the boonies or in the field, especially when time comes for a meal.
 
Over the past year, I’ve tested several survival-type stoves for SurvivalBlog readers, all had their good points, and I especially like the light-weight they afforded me, and some folded-up for ease-of-carrying in a backpack or buttpack. Best of all is, they burned “whatever” combustible materials you could find; twigs, paper, wood chips, straw – whatever was laying around! You didn’t have to pack fuel, which is expensive and cumbersome to say the least.
 
When I received the Vitalgrill stove I couldn’t wait to get this one out and test it. Right now, I’m buried with products to test for SurvivalBlog – so much so, that testing one product each week – which is the pace I try to maintain – I have enough products to keep me busy for the next 4 or 5 months now. I make every effort to test products in the order I receive them – I want to be fair to everyone who takes the time to send me their products for testing. Thanks for your patience!
 
So, what do we have with the VitalGrill, that sets it apart from some other small survival stoves? Well, first of all, you can’t fold it up, but the compact size isn’t all that big – you can still fit it inside of a small backpack, and it only weights 1.5-pounds. Secondly, the VitalGrill will burn most combustible materials, and I found it works well with small twigs – they burn long enough that you won’t have to keep feeding the fire. I also used wadded-up pieces of paper, but they burn rather fast, and you have to keep feeding the fire while you’re cooking. You can also use heat tabs if you want to pack them along. What really sets the VitalGrill apart from the other small survival stoves I’ve tested is that it comes with a blower. Yes, you read that right, a small blower is attached and it operates from two AA batteries – that last from 35-40 hours – and that’s a lot of fires for cooking, and it’s not a big deal to carry a pack of extra AA batteries in your gear for replacement when the time comes.
 
The little VitalGrill can hold up to 50-pounds of weight on the cooking surface. However, I don’t see how you could put that much in a pot or frying pan, still the little stove will hold a lot of weight – I put some concrete slabs on the cooking surface, and the stove held them just fine. There are “diffuser” plates, that fit on top of the cooking surface, and this reflects the heat upwards, from the tiny holes in the bottom of the stove – where the forced-air blows, to produce as much as 20,000 BTUs – again, you read that right – 20,000 BTUs of heat. I had no way of measuring this statistics, but I do know this little stove really got extremely hot. There are also rods that are attached to the diffuser plates, that you can adjust inwards or outwards, to hold the pot or pan you are using – be it a big pot or pan or smaller ones, the rods did their job.
 
The diffuser plates, with the rods, store easily under the stove, and inside of a minute of less, you can have the diffuser plates installed on the cooking surface, install your batteries into the battery pack, and plug it in, and you are ready to start adding some fuel. Like I said, I found that small twigs worked the best for me, and in my neck of the wood, Western Oregon, we have no lack of trees with plenty of small twigs you can use for fuel. To make my job easier, I wadded-up some paper to get the twigs started, and in a matter of a minute or two, I had a very hot fire going. The VitalGrill web site said temps can reach as much as 1,200-degrees – and I have no reason to doubt this – just depends on the fuel you are using. I used some cardboard for some testing because I know how very hot cardboard gets when it burns. You can even use charcoal, if that is on-hand.
 
There is also a mechanical shutter you can use, to adjust the air-flow, making your fire hotter or cooler if you so desire – neat idea! It works similar to a flu on a wood stove – adjust it up or down for more air-flow. The air intake is also split to prevent smoke or small particles for entering the fan, too.
 
The height of the VitalGrill is only 1.8-inches when folded, width is 4.9-inches and when in use, the height is 4.9-inches, so you can see, this stove is pretty compact. To make your camping or survival a bit more “comfortable” I would suggest carrying some kind of fire starter material, either cotton balls with Vaseline rubbed into, or even some commercial fire starter material. By doing this, you can have your fire up and running in a couple of minutes, and once the fire is going, get ready to cook because the stove heats-up fast – no waiting!
 
I played around with the VitalGrill for a couple of weeks, and really found it to be all it was advertised to be. I was able to cook soups, fry burgers, and even roast marshmallows over the twigs that were burning. A few times, I had to add a few more twigs to keep the fire hot, but it wasn’t any problem – and you should always keep extra fuel on-hand – make sure you have enough to get through your cooking needs.
 
I really liked the little VitalGrill, and I had some concerns about how the stove would work without the blower – so I tried cooking without it. While it still worked, it didn’t cook nearly as fast – I actually got spoiled using the blower motor. And, as I mentioned at the start of this, a pair of AA batteries will last 35-40 hours – that’s a lot of cooking. My batteries didn’t show any signs of quitting on me during my testing, and you can easily pack some spare batteries with the stove in your pack.
 
While cooking over a camp fire is a lot of fun, especially when out camping, you have to build a fire in a safe area, and more than likely, any camp fire you build will bring unwanted attention to you, and in a SHTF scenario, you may not want others knowing where you are at. With the VitalGrill, there wasn’t much smoke to be seen at all – and that’s a good thing. And, you burn a lot less fuel with this stove, than you would with a camp fire. I honestly couldn’t find anything to fault with this little stove – it worked as advertised and you can cook on it faster than you can with some other small survival stoves. Only slight drawback is, this stove doesn’t fold-up, but it is still a very compact stove and you can fit one in your backpack, or the trunk of your care with your bug out gear.
 
Now for the good news, and I expected this little VitalGrill to cost a whole lot more than the $69.99 retail price. I honestly thought, that because of the blower motor (fan) that this little stove would have cost at least a hundred bucks. So, I was pleasantly surprised at the $69.99 price. The VitalGrill is made in Canada, but can be found at retailers all over the place, or you can order direct from them, and they can ship this super-cool little survival stove directly to you.  Be sure to check out their web site because they also have a barbeque grill accessory that transforms your VitalGrill stove into a barbeque grill. – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio

Letter Re: Mass Versus Bullets (and Hail Stones and Gamma Radiation)

James,
I appreciate seeing some folks trying to build some sort of fallout shelter, as these may, unfortunately come in handy someday soon.   Since I build these for a living, I thought I’d throw some basic suggestions out there for the readers. For simple fallout shelters, assuming that blast will not be a factor, above ground concrete walls should be 24 inches thick (or better if you can afford it!).  Walls below grade can be a mere 10 inches thick.   Ceilings:  24 inches will provide fair protection, assuming “rainout” does not occur in your locale. [The Swiss shelter building code calls for 30 inches, but public shelters average about a meter of concrete with a meter of earth on top]  A rainout will cause a great deal of the fallout in a cloud that would have fallen to the ground hundreds of miles away to come down promptly, right on top of you, and it will be concentrated.  Dose rates many times higher could result, rendering a marginal shelter totally ineffective (occupants will die).  

We get calls from good folks who have designed and built a nice concrete garage with a shelter/basement.  They usually call to order an air handler to round out their shelter.  The first question I ask them is, “how thick is the ceiling?”.  Most excitedly reply “eight inches!”   My heart sinks, for they have expended a great deal of effort, time, and money to build a nice storage area…but it is totally unworkable as a fallout shelter.  An eight inch concrete ceiling has a protection factor of about 12, at best.  That is inadequate for even a mild dose of local fallout. Gamma rays are very penetrating, and heavy mass is require to defeat them, or reduce them to levels that can be managed by the body’s immune system.  Twenty four inches of good concrete between fallout particles and shelter occupants will do a pretty good job, even it there happens to be a rainout.  I’d be more inclined to push on the 30 inches if it were in my budget to do so.  

Wood is an extremely poor shielding material, but earth is roughly half as good as concrete….and dirt cheap!  If you can cover your shelter room with at least forty inches of earth, you’ll have a protection factor of one thousand…probably adequate for most folks. [Do not use wood in your shelter structure, as it will rot and become dangerous in a short period of time.] The shelters we build typically get buried with ten feet of earth, and have a protection factor of over a billion.  But our shelters are designed to protect to within 1/2 mile of ground zero of the current heavy hitters in the Russian nuclear arsenal. Most folks living in a rural setting will not require this level of protection. If you can afford a good shelter, I think it’s a sound investment.  For those on a tight budget, try to build something that has adequate mass in it that will not collapse.  Don’t forget ventilation, sanitation, and a well-shielded entrance. As FEMA had a great deal of trouble delivering ice after a hurricane, it is clear that should a nuclear event occur here in America, we will be on our own. Plan, and build, accordingly. – Paul S.

Recipe of the Week:

Jamie’s Toasted Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars

1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
 
Glaze
2 Tbsp cookie butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp water
 
Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add oats and cook, stirring occasionally, until toasted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; place on a plate lined with paper towel to cool slightly.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter, peanut butter and sugars in a large mixer bowl at medium speed until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually add flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Fold in toasted oats and chocolate chips.
Press dough evenly into prepared baking dish and bake 14 to 15 minutes, until edges are golden. Cool bars completely in pan on a wire rack.
 
For the glaze, place peanut butter in a small bowl and microwave until melted, about 30 seconds. Whisk in powdered sugar and water; drizzle glaze over cooled bars and let set.

Chef’s Notes:

This ia s a good recipe for using your stored rolled oats.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies From Scratch

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics and Investing:

Some cogent observations by Bob Owens: Where is all the rimfire ammo?

The new modest-budget indie movie “Alongside Night” is now in early release. The film is based on Agorist-Libertarian activist J. Neil Schulman’s novel of the same name. It seems that some gold and silver coins deserve “best supporting” awards.

G.E.C. suggested: All the Gold in Fort What’s-Its-Name

Michael Pento: Market Calls Fed’s Bluff

Jim W. liked this piece by Alasdair MacLeod: Gold is being supplied by western governments. Here is a key quote: “From the point of view of the western central banks, as well as the bullion banks with short positions on Comex, in March the alarm bells must have been ringing loudly. Chinese demand was accelerating and there was an increasing likelihood that ETF liquidation would cease if the gold price stabilised. If that happened, as the table above clearly shows, an epic bear-squeeze would likely develop, fuelling a rush into gold and potentially bankrupting many of the bullion banks short in the futures markets and/or offering unallocated accounts on a fractional reserve basis. Therefore, investors had to be dissuaded from buying gold, otherwise the ensuing crisis would not only cause a market failure that could spread to other derivatives (particularly silver), but it would come at the worst possible time, given the coincidental programme of monetary expansion currently being undertaken by all the major central banks.”

Items from The Economatrix:

Taper Tipoff?  Bernanke Hinting Easing End Is Nearing

Fed Sets Roadmap For End Of Stimulus

Dr. Doom:  Buy Gold And These Two Things

Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson sent this from over at KK Cool Tools: Amish Hackers. Mike’s comment: “A very interesting article. By the way, my wife has always said if she were colonizing a planet, she’d take a contingent of Amish.”

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Senator Rand Paul has introduced S. 744, a bill that would prohibit a National ID card or biometric ID. Please contact your senators, and ask them to co-sponsor it.

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Michael Bane had some great commentary on ammunition “hoarding”: Michael’s Rant de Jour…

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Reader Stan T. saw the recent piece about automated license plate readers and thought it apropos to pass along a link to J.J. Luna’s privacy web site. There, Luna describes how to set up (or purchase an existing shell) New Mexico LLC and register your vehicle(s) to the LLC. If you set it up correctly, any official who pulls up the registration will not be able to determine who owns the LLC.

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The Montrose Prepper sent a link to this television news segment: OPSEC risk of retired photocopier hard drives.

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Some good advice from an attorney Harvey Silvergate on FBI 302 reports: Protect Yourself from FBI Manipulation.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Those entrapped by the herd instinct are drowned in the deluges of history. But there are always the few who observe, reason, and take precautions, and thus escape the flood. For these few gold has been the asset of last resort." – Dr. Antony C. Sutton

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 47 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The 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.) Two BirkSun.com photovoltaic backpacks (one Level, and one Atlas, both black), with a combined value of $275, G.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and 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.

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 and F.) 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.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value), and F.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 47 ends on July 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.

Air Guns as Long Term Survival Weapons, by M.D.W.

The term Air Gun brings to mind the classic Red Ryder BB gun to many. It is often met with the question “You mean Airsoft and BB guns?” Those are not what are being discussed here. We are talking about weapons that are capable of taking deer, bear, buffalo, and two legged predators. We are talking about weapons that can take squirrels from 50 yards with Hollywood like quite. We are talking about weapons that can make ammo from a tire weights, previously fired bullets, or any other source of lead. We are talking about weapons that you can shoot for 2 cents per shot even at today’s inflated ammo prices. We are talking about weapons that are not dependent on primers or gunpowder (neither of which 99.99% of people can make).

AirGuns, obviously, use air to propel a projectile. There is no fire or explosion involved in moving the projectile. There are several different ways in which airguns create the required air pressure to more the projectile. These different ways of creating the pressure divide airguns into different types and generalized attributes. The major types are single stroke pneumatic, multi stoke pneumatic, spring, precharged pneumatic, and CO2. Rifles and pistols are available in all these types.

Single stoke pneumatic (SSP) airguns use a single stroke of a lever to create air pressure in an internal reservoir. This air is stored until the shot and all the air is released to propel the projectile. This type of power plant is generally limited to target weapons, or very small game. Projectiles leave the barrel at about 500 fps and weight about 7 grains.

Multi stoke pneumatic (MSP) airguns work just like SSP, but they allow for additional strokes to store additional air, and thus more power, in the internal reservoir. Most MSPs release all the air at once when shot, but there are a few that only use some of the air and save more for a second or third shot. These are usually called Air Conserving Pumpers (ACP). This type of power plant is limited by the amount of effort the user is will to put into pumping for each shot. Projectiles leave the barrel at about 700 fps and weight up to 30 grains. These are capable of taking up to rabbit sized game effectively.

Spring guns use a single stroke of a level (or the barrel) to compress a large spring inside a hollow cylinder. At the front of the spring is an air tight seal. The trigger releases the spring and compresses the air in front of the seal. The compressed air what pushes the pellet down and out of the barrel. There is a great amount of heat created during the compression of the air, but it is dissipated quickly as the air expands. There is a dual recoil in these weapons that first recoils forward as the spring finishes expanding and a second smaller rearward recoil as the pellet move down and leaves the barrel. This recoil behavior does require a good scope. Most quality scopes do not have a problem on spring guns, but cheap scope will break quickly because the optics are not supported during the forward recoil. Make sure to get a scope that is airgun rated. This type of power plan can produce a wide variety of power. With pellets leaving the barrel at 1000 fps and weight at 7 grains and different versions causing the pellet to leave at 800 fps and weight 30 grains.

Precharged pneumatic (PCP) use a reservoir of high pressure air from 800 PSI to 4,500 PSI. Each shot uses an amount the stored air. This allows a number of shots before having to refill the reservoir with air. Since the air for several shots is stored follow up shots, there are models that are magazine feed and bolt action as well as magazine feed semi automatic. There are even a few fully automatic (unregulated federally) models. This type of airgun is the most powerful and can range from target use to taking any game in North America. There are airguns that shot a .308 caliber 158 grain projectile at 900 fps. There are others that shot a .357 caliber projectile at 800 f.p.s. There are airguns that shot a .50 caliber 500 grain project at 700 fps. For those familiar with firearms projectiles and speeds, these are slower, but make no mistake they will take down any predator (2 or 4 legged).

PCPs require a method to fill the reservoir. Shop compressors are good to about 200 PSI at the most. This is enough. These weapons usually require a 3,000 PSI fill. There are two methods to do this; a tank (that must be filled) and a hand pump. There are several models of hand pump that will pump 3,200+ PSI of air. This is not a task that kids can do, but any adult in decent shape should be able to pump a gun from empty to full in about 15-20 minutes. There are air compressors you can get for between $600 and $4000 to fill the gun or tank for you without effort, but they need more maintenance than a hand pump. The pumps need only a few small o-rings and a small amount of lubricant to be rebuilt and usually last a long time between rebuilds.

Most airguns come is a relatively small number of calibers; .177, .20, .22, .25, .357/9mm, .308, .458, .50. Each caliber has a purpose.
1. .177 is the most common and used mostly for target and small game (up to rabbit with head shot)
2. .20 is the least common and used mostly for target and small game.
3. .22 used to be the “big” size and is still the most common small game hunting caliber.
4. .25 is the current “big” size for small game, up to fox or small coyote size game.
5. All the other sizes are called big bore and use cast ammo just like some firearms.

Making airgun ammo is just like making firearms bullets, with the exception that soft lead is preferred.
1. Melt the lead (which can be done over an open fire outside).
2. Pour the lead into a mold
3. Open mold and drop out bullet
4. Repeat 1 to 3 until you are out of lead, or have enough bullets.
5. For the most accurate shooting, size the bullets through sizing die.
Tire weights, reclaimed bullets and pellets from targets, lead fishing weights, and any other source of lead can be melted for airguns bullets. The softer the better.

[JWR Adds: Don’t expect to be able to buy a bag of “BB” size shot made for shotgun shell handloaders, and have it work in a BB gun. The dimensions are different!]

Below are a few types of airguns and models in each category to start your research.

SSP
1. Beeman P17 – cost $40 – pistol – excellent for target practice and plinking
2. There are currently no rifles produced in this category.

MSP
1. Crosman 1377 (or 1322) – cost $50 – pistol – good for small game and fun/easy to modify
2. Benjamin 397 and 392 – cost $150 – rifle – good for small game, and should last a lifetime
3. FX Independence – cost $1800 – rifle – excellent self contained MSP/PCP. High quality, but complicated to maintain if it breaks.

Spring
1. Gamo (various models) – cost $100 to $300 – rifle – good for small game, moderate quality
2. AirArms TX200 – Cost $700 – rifle – good for small game, excellent lifetime long weapon
3. HW97 – cost $600 – rifle – good for small game, excellent lifetime long weapon.

PCP
1. Benjamin Marauder – cost $475 – rifle – good for small game with bolt action repeating
2. Airforce Talon SS – Cost $575 – rifle – lots of power in a take-down package that can go in a backpack.
3. AirArms 410/510 – cost $1,000/$1,200 – rifle – excellent weapon that should last a lifetime.
4. FX Independence – see above.
5. Quackenbush .458 LA Outlaw – Cost $700 – Rifle – Big game capable, low volume production weapon that can be a little hard to get, but worth the effort.
6. Extreme BigBore airguns – Cost $1,200 – rifle – Big game capable, low volume production weapon.
7. Croman Rogue .357 – Cost $1,300 – Rifle – Big game capable, has built in electronics that run on AA batteries, but is readily available from many distributors and shots standard firearms size .357 bullets in hard or soft cast lead.

These are just a few of the models to choose from. The hobby of airguns is vast and there are many models to suit most budgets and requirements. It is a hobby that is mostly unhindered by the ATF and firearms laws.

A long term survival situation that requires hunting (and fighting) can be well served by a collection of airguns to supplement firearms. The gun fighting is best left to firearms, but if you run out of powder or primers, a big bore airgun will do much better than a knife or bat. Small game hunting with an airgun is very stealthy and can be done without anyone knowing you were there. The airgun ammo is easily replenished much longer than firearm components will be available.

As always check local laws ordinances before purchasing or shooting to ensure you do not end up on the wrong side of the law.

Letter Re: Media Misrepresentation of Guns and Gun Laws

Mr. Rawles,
 I read with interest the bit you wrote on the television show “Longmire.”  I, too, have found the show somewhat entertaining so have been following it the past few weeks.  Doing so recently I watched a bit that I thought you might find interesting.
 
During a recent episode Longmire is inspecting the body of a murder victim while talking about the victim with the owner of the property upon which the corpse was found.  Longmire notes that the property owner is wearing a holstered firearm, probably a 1911 or other semi-auto pistol, with some “angst.”  I use that word for a reason.  The look Longmire gives the property owner is one of “why do you think you should be wearing a firearm?”  The look, of course, sets up the response by the property owner that explains why she thinks that she needs a firearm.  But she also explains to the sheriff that “it’s all registered and all.”
 
Something didn’t sound right about that statement. First, that a Wyoming rancher and a Wyoming sheriff would give the idea of a holstered firearm even a one little bit of thought.  In my experience in the west, a firearm is a tool like a shovel or a pick.  Nothing at all to be concerned about.  Unless it comes out of the holster and ends up being pointed at you.  At which point you do likewise and point your own gun at the other guy.
 
Then there is the question of registration.  Again, in my experience it didn’t sound right,  Now, I’ve been to Wyoming a few times but, as a Wisconsin boy, I don’t get there that often.  So, to get the definitive answer on gun law in Wyoming I did what any other red-blooded American would do.  I turned to Wikipedia.
 
Wikipedia has lots of information about gun laws.  Some of it is even accurate,  This I’m pretty sure of: Nowhere in Wyoming is it necessary to “register” a gun.  It is no more necessary to register a gun in Wyoming than it is in Wisconsin.  Maybe New York.  Maybe California.  But not Wyoming.  In 2011 Wyoming became another state that has shown that it respects the Constitution of the United States by now not requiring any kind of permit at all for concealed carry.  But the state will gladly give you a permit for a modest fee if you want it. (So that you can carry it when you visit other states [with reciprocity agreements.)
 
I’m sure you will agree with me that there is an enormous amount of bad information about firearms in the popular media.  That includes both news and entertainment media.  The most egregious example, of course, is the magical handgun that never needs reloading.  In this case I think that the script writers brought their own ideas and/or prejudices to the table.  It’s likely that the screen writer is a resident of California or New York or some other state where citizen’s God given rights are abridged so they bring that bit of “knowledge” to their script.  They’re certainly not residents of Wyoming.  Maybe they’re Australians.

As Will Rogers once said: “The problem ain’t what people know. It’s what people know that ain’t so that’s the problem.”  Regards, – E.B.

JWR Replies: The root of the problem is that most script writers come out of leftist universities and are ignorant about both guns and gun laws. A few of their flubs get corrected on the set by the weapons wranglers just before filming, but many don’t. And the actors aren’t much help, because most of them aren’t genuine shooters, either. (There are a few exceptions but unfortunately the Tom Sellecks and Gerald McRaneys of the acting world are vastly outnumbered by actors who know very little about guns. Many horrible gaffes get filmed.)

In Longmire, the gun-handling is overall pretty decent. However, there is one thing makes me absolutely cringe: The leading man (“Walt Longmire”) carries a Colt M1911, which is designed to be carried “cocked and locked.” (Condition 1.) But he carries his hammer down, and at least twice we see him thumb cock the hammer while his pistol is holstered. This is an unsafe practice, because it implies that he carries the pistol hammer down on a live round. Unless you are at a shooting range with a safe backstop or you are standing before a specially-built clearing tube backstop, there is NO REALLY SAFE WAY to lower the hammer on a live round to put a M1911 in that condition. (Condition 2.) And if you do slip while lowering the hammer and the pistol fires and cycles, then the back of the slide might tear off your thumbnail and/or rip all of the skin off of the top of your thumb. (Ouch!)

Now I understand that seeing a cocked M1911 in Condition 1 makes some people nervous. (Although it shouldn’t.) But Condition 1 is the preferred carry mode. The only truly safe way to carry a M1911 or other single action semi-auto hammer down is with a full magazine but with an empty chamber. This is properly called Condition 3. But it is commonly called “Israeli Carry” , because it was popularized in Israel in the 1950s and 1960s. This carry mode is fairly fast but cumbersome, since you have to rack the slide to ready the piece for firing. Unless you do something fancy and rack the slide on your belt, web gear, or holster (which violates a muzzle safety rule, for most of us) this requires two hands, which isn’t always possible. (Such as as when one if your hands is holding another object, when you are grappling, or when you are injured.) So I DO NOT recommend Israeli Carry unless you live in some strange jurisdiction where you can carry a pistol but not one with a loaded chamber.

I also agree that the whole concept of a “registered gun” is absolutely foreign to folks in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. If you were to ask them if their guns were “registered”, they’d look at you like you were from Mars, unless you were talking about the small numbers of Federally-registered machineguns, short-barreled rifles (SBRs) or short-barreled shotguns (SBSes) in those states.

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