Firearms Training/Exercise #1, by Sparky

I have been a “gun nut” for some time now and I think that everyone should own a firearm of some sort whether it for personal carry or just home protection.  With everything that has been going on in today’s world, I can see no better time to own a firearm. There comes a big responsibility with owning a weapon of any kind and you must make sure that you are up to taking on that task.

I believe that good shooting skills are going to be needed very soon to come.  We are set in the front seat to possibly see a major change in life, as we know it.  When the less fortunate have nowhere to go they are going to come for you. Buy a firearm and learn to use it.  You can already see this happening every day, from people with handguns robbing convenience stores to home invasions. Buy a firearm and learn to use it.    There are approximately 14 million people (at least that is the number that the Government is putting out) out work in the US.  Desperate people will do desperate things in times of need especially when there is a family involved, Buy a firearm and learn to use it.  I think I said that earlier somewhere?  Here is where I step in and hopefully help you learn for use it.

I would like to start something here at SurvivalBlog that I hope everyone will find helpful in their firearms training.  I would like to pass on my training and experience to everyone in this community.  I would like to start making a post at the first of every month with firearms training exercises for beginner, intermediate and advanced shooters. I know that I will/should be under scrutiny from Mr. Cascio, since he teaches firearms training.  I would expect nothing but the best for the people here!  It will start off slow because I don’t know any of the ability levels of any of the readers here.  I DO NOT want anyone getting hurt trying to push too hard to fast.  Hang in there.  By posting every two weeks, it will give people ample time to work on the exercises with whatever time they have set aside for weapons training (hoping that everyone has this time set aside on a regular basis.)

Of course, I cannot tailor the training exercises to everyone’s specific weapon but the core fundamentals are still the same – proper breathing, trigger squeeze, trigger control, barrel action, sights (fixed/iron or optics), etc.  Most of the exercises that I will post will be more focused around iron sights.  Optics makes things easier but what if there was an EMP or your batteries die and your EO-Tech won’t turn on?  Do you have the same confidence to make that shot with iron sights?

I could think of no better time to begin than right now to start! 

Here are some basic fundamentals to remember when shooting:

 Take your time and work the fundamentals so that you do not start making bad habits that are going to be hard to break later on.  Repetition is your best friend when shooting and can be your worst enemy.  This is why it is key to work on the proper ways to do things.  I recommend dry firing your firearm on a daily basis (check with your manufacturer to see if it will harm your firearm first.) For the most part, centerfire weapons are okay to dry fire.  The most affected by dry firing are .22 rimfire guns.  The reason or that is the firing pin will actually hit the back of the chamber, which will flatten the tip of the firing pin or in some cases, even break it. [JWR Adds: See the many safety warnings about the clearing procedures, ammunition separation discipline, and use of a safe backstop for dry practice! Limited dry practice with a rimfire can be accomplished without damaging the gun if you insert a piece of fired brass in the chamber. But generally, you should do your dry practice only with centerfire guns.]

  • Holding a pistol is like shaking someone’s hand.  If you squeeze too hard then you will harm what you are trying to accomplish.  The hand that you are holding the grip with (considered your strong hand) should be light and your supporting hand should do most of the squeezing (strong hand ~30/40% and your supporting hand ~60/70%).  Be sure not to over squeeze because you will hurt your result. See: Travis Haley on Proper Grip Technique.
  • Trigger control or Resetting the trigger is key to being able to place multiple rounds on target with better speed.  What is resetting the trigger? When you fire a round keep the trigger back.  Slowly let up on the trigger (after the slide has cycled) until you hear it “click”.  At this point your trigger is reset and ready to fire again. (If you are dry firing you will have to rack the slide for the trigger to reset).  If you are firing rounds downrange, concentrate on your front sight and keep it on target while you are resetting the trigger.  Your next squeeze will be shorter than the first one.  For dry firing, rack the slide and put you sight back on target and start resetting your trigger.  Every shot should be made in this way! See: Resetting The Trigger.
  • You have to have a good strong base to manage the recoil and get back on target for multiple shots.  A good stance will also help your steadiness when aiming.  Your feet should be approximately shoulder-width apart, with the right foot (lets assume everyone is right handed) slightly back.  The ball of your right foot should be should be lined up somewhere in between the arch and the back of your left heel.  Your right foot should be pointed slight out. (Lefties: your stance will be the exact opposite).  You should have a slight bend in the knees and slightly at the waist. You want to have your weight over the balls of your feet.  This will give you the ability to move in all directions quickly and be able to maintain sight picture.  Your chest should be squared up to the target so that you maintain a “modified” triangle with your arms and the point being the pistol.  Your elbows should be slightly bent outwards, not downward and your shoulders rolled forward.   When you shoot the weapon will be pushed more straight back than up.
  • When you present your pistol to the target make sure that you are pushing it straight out and you are not raising it up with your arms locked out.  When you draw your pistol from its holster make sure that you keep it tight to your body keeping your wrist and forearm inline until you get to your chest and then you pick up your supporting hand and press straight out.  While you are pressing out slowly take out the trigger slack so that when you are at full presentation your next squeeze goes bang! See: Draw from holster and present Pistol
  • Breathing is another key to accurate shooting.  You have to control your breathing if you want to make accurate shots on target.  It doesn’t matter what position you are in, if you are winded then your sight is moving up and down as you inhale and exhale.  The best time to make an accurate shot is at the bottom of your exhale.  There have been people that have argued with me on this point saying that they shot better at the top of their inhale.  Try it out for yourself.  I have been taught to shoot at the bottom of your exhale and here is what I was told:  When you inhale your body naturally tightens up, your chest moves and can slightly raise your arms up pushing your weapon up or push against your butt stock, all causing you sights to move.  When you exhale, there is a natural pause before you inhale.  At that very point your body is at its most relaxed position where there is no movement. 

There are a couple of things that, in my opinion, everyone should have to help assist in his or her shooting with any weapon:

  • A good sling.  If you are going to have a sling on your weapon then why not make it a multi purpose tool?  I currently have Viking Tactics slings on all if my rifles.  Knights Armament makes small blocks that mount on a Picatinny rail system that has a swivel and a push button quick release loop to detach the sling (Push-Button Swivel & MWS Forend Rail Mount). See: V-TAC Sling Instruction & Part 2
  • Good Optics.  There is a plethora of different optics to choose from.  You should find one that is comfortable and you shoot well with it.  Most are expensive but if your life depended on it would yours to fog up or not work?  For my battle rifles I have went with EO-Tech since they are AR-15s.  An M4/AR-15 is really only a 200 meter gun (I will cover later because I know that this comment kicks a hornets nest).  An EO-Tech is made so that if it is mounted (without a detachable mount) directly to a flat top and the center of the sight window will be inline with your Iron sights.  So if your batteries die, you can still have a clear line of sight to use your iron sights.  I can use my EO-Tech just fine at 200 meters but not as effectively at 300 meters.
  • Setting your sights.  For pistols I like to zero them at 25 yards.  Depending on what you are shooting you might hit slightly higher at 5 yards but it is not even enough to worry about.  For an battle rifle (lets look at the M4/AR-15) I like to set my zero for the event that might occur.  I bounce between a 50m and 100m zero.  I always use a 62gr. round with a penetrating core, so I know how may clicks to move my sights to get to each setting.

Side Note: With an M4/AR-15 if you set your zero at 25m your POA (Point of Aim) and POI are the same (minus wind of course) as 300m.  Zero at 50m and your POA and POI is again the same at 200m (with a 5.56mm 62gr. Bullet).  In a combat situation would I take a 200 to 300m shot with an M4 if there were no sniper around. YES, only if the situation called for the shot(s) to be taken.  In a collapse/grid down of the US would I take that same shot? NO!  Why is there a difference you might ask?  In a collapse/grid down situation, I would want to remain as hidden as possible even if I had my sniper rifle.  I would want to stay as hidden as possible not to bring attention my way unless I could not help it.

  • A timer of some sort.  I recommend a digital one from Competition Electronics.  They are pricey at $129.95 USD but they are well worth it to improve your shooting.  The way they work is when you push the start button there is a buzzer that sounds at random intervals so you don’t know when it will go off.  Once the buzzer is sounded, the timer will record the times of your shots.  That way you can see how long it takes you from shot to shot.  You can learn so much from these timers.  I know that many people will/can not buy one of these timers so as long as you can use a stop watch or something to time your draw to last shot.

Lets keep it simple to start off.
Exercise #1

  • Beginners
    • Pistol: Dry fire for at least one hour every day and work on the fundamentals of breathing, front sight post on target, your grip and trigger control.  When your setting there on your porch aim at something 5 yards away or why your watching television or whatever, aim at a stationary spot and practice good habits.  It doesn’t matter whether you are sitting and standing.  If you can practice more then that is better.
    • Pistol and Battle Rifle: At the range, work only from the 5 yard line.  Work on the same fundamentals as dry firing but with live rounds.  TAKE YOUR TIME!  Make accurate shots!  Run your gun dry.  Learn to know what it feels and sounds like when your firearm is empty (more for the battle rifle because you can’t immediately see if the bolt locks back).  Practice your reload without taking your eyes off of your target or be looking at your next. Watch as Travis Haley demonstrates just what I am talking about.
    • Work on getting tight groups.  Don’t worry about speed–it will come.  Stick with the fundamentals.  Muscle memory is what you are working on right now.
  • Intermediate
    • Pistol: Dry fire at least one hour every day.
      • Set up 2 bullseye targets roughly two feet apart.  At 5 yards from the ready, draw your weapon and fire 3 rounds at each target.  Complete within 6 seconds with all rounds inside the 8-ring.
      • If you do not have silhouette targets just used bullseye targets.  Place 4 targets (2 targets one on top of the other and same for the other 2.  Preferably 2 different sizes with the lower one the bigger) two feet apart.  At 5 yards from the ready, Failure Drill: 2 rounds to the chest (bottom target) and 1 to the head (top target).  Complete within 7 seconds with all rounds in the 7-ring.
      • Run each drill each drill at least 5 times so that you have to at least reload during shooting.
    • Battle Rifle
      • With your current zero, shoot from 5, 15, and 25 yards to get a point of aim (POA) and point of impact (POI).  Write it down for later review.  Write down all of your POA and POI for future review to be put in the memory bank.
      • Same as above drills at 5 yards and then from 15 yards.  Using iron sights, account for the POA and POI and place all rounds inside the 8-ring.  Complete within 5 seconds from 5 yards and 8 seconds from 15 yards.
      • If you do not have silhouette targets just used bullseye targets.  Place 4 targets (2 targets one on top of the other and same for the other 2.  Preferably 2 different sizes with the lower one the bigger) three to four feet apart.  At 5 yards from the ready, “Z” Drill: 3 rounds center mass/lower target, right to left and then place a single round in the head/top target of each target starting with the right.  Keep all rounds in the 8-ring for time.
      • Run each drill each drill at least 5 times so that you have to at least reload during shooting.
  • Advanced
    • Pistol: Dry fire at least 30 minutes everyday.
      • Set up 2 bullseye targets roughly two feet apart.  At 5 yards with your back to the target, turn and draw your weapon and fire 3 rounds at each target.  Complete within 6 seconds with all rounds inside the 8-ring.
      • Set up 2 bullseye targets roughly three feet apart.  Load 8 rounds in 2 magazines.  At 15 yards, start walking to the targets.  Fire 5 rounds at one target, take a knee, reload and fire 5 rounds at the other target.  Shoot for time.
    • Battle Rifle
      • Same as above pistol drills.
      • Set up 5 bullseye targets roughly 3 feet apart.  At 15 yards from the ready, fire 3 rounds per target while moving laterally from both, right to left and left to right.  Keep all rounds in the 8-ring for time.

Happy shooting, everyone!

Letter Re: .22 Handguns and Other Options For Self Defense

James,
I’m writing to follow up on the recent SurvivalBlog article “.22 Handguns and Other Options For Self Defense”. Another consideration to keep in mind when discussing the .22 rimfire: In a TEOTWAWKI situation the need for stealth will be paramount. The .22 LR cartridge lends itself to silencing better than any other caliber. [JWR Adds: Most of the “Target”-designated .22 LR loads are subsonic.] I think the legal purchase of a suppressor in the U.S. (“All NFA rules apply”) should be very high on the “to do” list of every “prepper”. The ability to silently eliminate pests, and to take game (in extremis) could go a long way in keeping you under the radar.
  
I’ve heard the old argument about being put on a Government “list” by buying a $200 transfer tax NFA item (suppressor, full auto weapon, short barreled rifle or shotgun) but the truth is that if you have bought any type of firearm, been on Internet sites such as this, or bought any number of items with a credit card or over the Internet you are already on one or more likely many “lists”. – Regards, – R.A.S.

Economics and Investing:

Michael W. sent: Alan Simpson: Financial markets will turn on U.S. – Freeland File (This is Part 4 of a longer interview–all worth watching.)

Does the Fed Print Money? Of Course! Jim Bianco Calls It “Fraud, Counterfeiting”

Items from The Economatrix:

Oil Set For Biggest 2012 Weekly Gain

Credit Suisse The Sequel:  “Probability Of The Largest Disorderly Default Loss In History On March 20 Has Increased

Gold Demand Hits New Records As Europeans Stockpile

Harvey Organ: MF Global Customers will not receive their money

Odds ‘n Sods:

Don’t Just Survive, Thrive. (In a recent podcast, Lew Rockwell talks with Tess Pennington about how to make the most of your survival resources.)

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Rick B. sent the link to this very useful set of charts, over at The How Do Gardener: Freeze and Frost Dates

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Russ S. sent this: Lehmann Aviation’s LFPV UAV . (Apparently the cool Landrover 109 is not included.)

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Commentary from JohnGaltFla: I am a Patrioterrorist

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Keith K. mentioned some lessons from a Mexican vehicle ambush: A Standard Feature Is Proving Deadly On Armored SUVs

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

The entire TSA paradigm is flawed. It requires an impossibility for it to succeed. For the TSA model to work, every single possible means of causing danger to an aircraft or its passengers must be eliminated. This is an impossibility. While passengers are being frisked and digitally strip-searched a few dozen yards away [inside the ostensibly ‘secure’ area], cooks and dish washers at the local concourse “Chili’s” [restaurant] are using and cleaning butcher knives.” – Former FBI Agent Steve Moore, writing in his G-Man’s Cafe blog

Note From JWR:

My #1 Daughter has launched The M16 Rock ‘n Roll Store at Cafe Press, to raise money for her “college and ammo fund.” Her T-shirts, mouse pads, mugs, phone covers, iPad covers, and other products all include the slogan: “Long Live Rock n’ Roll” and a photo of an M16 / M4 lower receiver with the customized selector switch markings: “Silence”, “Classical”, and “Rock n’ Roll”. This design was inspired by a description in my novel “Patriots”.

Could America’s Farmers and Ranchers Face a Rhodesian Future?

I envision one possible future for America that is fairly bleak, at least in the short term. If the economy deteriorates the way that I anticipate, and if the power grids ever collapse, then it could trigger that dreaded “worst case” situation. Such a socioeconomic collapse could precipitate a large population die-off in metropolitan regions, a bit less in the suburbs, and even less in the countryside. But an extended period of lawlessness would still cause considerable loss of life and property in rural areas. There will surely be a lot of refugees from urban areas, and some of them will turn to looting, in order to survive. The new paradigm for American farmers and ranchers might resemble the security situation faced by farmers during Rhodesian Bush War of the 1970s.

Life for farmers in Rhodesia in the 1970s was nerve-wracking. Starting in the late 1960s, communist guerillas, trained and armed by Cuban and Chinese “advisors”, had been slipping into the country to wreak havoc and terror on the civilian populace. While most of their victims were black, the communist terrorists (or “terrs” as they were called in Rhodesian slang) began attacking isolated farms owned by whites. Early on in the war, they were literally able to catch the farmers sleeping. Later, as defenses were raised, the terrs adopted the tactic of burying pressure-activated land mines on farm roads.

Since phone lines could be cut, a radio network was established in Rhodesia, called the Agric-Alert system. With it, there would be a chance to call for help if a farm came under attack.

Rhodesian farmers had to be constantly armed, and constantly vigilant. To carry just a pistol was considered foolhardy. Intrusion detection systems in those days were rudimentary. They were limited to trip wire-activated and a few photocell-activated bells or buzzers. (These days, of course there are more sophisticated infrared (IR) sensor systems, like Dakota Alerts.)

There was substantial reliance on dogs to give a warning if strangers approached a farm house. The Rhodesian Ridgeback proved to be a breed well-suited to this task. A few farmers also raised Guinea Fowl, specifically for their “watchdog” nature.

“Protective Works” became the norm at Rhodesian farms. Grilles to stop hand grenades were fitted outside of house windows. Floodlights were set up that could be used to daze attackers. Elaborate perimeter fences topped with barbed wire became de rigueur. Often these were constructed in depth, with two fences (or more) around a house, sometimes with tanglefoot wire in between. Traditional cow bells were sought after, for attaching to trip wires. At least one fence–typically the inner-most fence–would be constructed of chain link material, to pre-detonate rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).

Farmers resorted to constructing lethal electrified fences. Most of these were left on all night and were full current 220 volts, AC! They also set up remotely-fired shotguns and command-detonated directional mines. These were essentially ersatz Claymore mines. The farmer’s Claymore-like mines were positioned to cover the most likely crossing points for fences, and at other choke points that could be seen from a farm house. Assuming that terrs might climb up fence posts, some remotely-fired shotguns were buried and fired upward, parallel to fence posts. (Ouch.) Late in the war, some of the terrorist’s own contact land mines that had been recovered by demolitions specialists were re-purposed into command detonated perimeter security mines. There was also quite a cottage industry in mine-proofing vehicles.

Infrared and light amplification night vision equipment was very scarce and expensive in the 1970s, so it was out of reach for all but a handful of Rhodesian farmers. And light amplification gear (such as Starlight scopes) was–and still is–export restricted by western nations, as a military equipment, under the ITAR treaties. Furthermore, Rhodesia was explicitly under an arms embargo, so there was just a trickle of gear coming in from any nations other than South Africa, Mozambique, and Israel. Furthermore, of that gear, civilian farmers were “Third in line”, behind the Rhodesian Army, and the British South African Police (BSAP.) By the way, the BSAP didn’t change its name after Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declaration on Independence (UDI) in November of 1965.

The Watchful Daily Grind

Life on Rhodesian farms was largely routine, but farmers did their best to not fall into predictable patterns or lapse into inattentiveness. Each morning, farmers carefully examined their dirt roads, looking for signs that land mines had been planted. They kept in close contact with their resident farm workers, neighbors, and people living at nearby native kraals, to check on reports of any suspicious activities or any sightings of roaming terrorists. (By the standards of Rhodesian farmers, anyone living within five miles was a “neighbor.”)

All through the daily tasks of tending crops and caring for livestock, every adult and most older children went everywhere, armed. Many farm tractors were fitted with gun racks, to keep a rifle close at hand, at all times. A surprising number of the guns owned by the farmers were fully automatic. The selective fire Belgian FN-FAL battle rifle was widely used, and almost reverently cherished. Some HK G3 rifles (by way of Mozambique) were used in smaller numbers. Many folks, especially the ladies, carried Uzi submachineguns, or the Commando LDP (in later years the Sanna 77 variant) submachineguns. The latter were locally produced in Rhodesia and South Africa. Some farmers were also able to acquire hand grenades and rifle grenades.

At dusk, unless under the urgency of harvest season, farms “buttoned up” for the night by SOP, and no one ventured outside of the farm house’s perimeter fence unless there were exceptional circumstances. Dairy farmers felt particularly apprehensive, since at least one of their twice-daily milking sessions would be during hours of darkness, at least in winter months. So some security precautions were also set up outside of the outer doors of milking parlors.

Here is a quote from the book The Farmer At War by Trevor Grundy and Bernard Miller (Salisbury, 1979):

“In many of the sensitive commercial farming areas — and these now cover the majority of farms — homesteads have taken on the appearance of fortresses containing their own arsenal of arms that would not discredit military establishments elsewhere in the world. The chain-link security fences are usually wired to alarms designed to indicate exactly what sector of the fence has been interfered with or breached. In addition some are fitted with highly sensitive microphones to identify and pinpoint potentially hostile sounds from long distances — footsteps on gravel, movement through grass — and monitor these through a receiver installed near the farmer’s bed. Alerted, the farmer can at the press of a button, switch on blinding searchlights or phosphorus flares strategically placed in the garden, and fire sets of grenades usually concealed in the bush outside his security fence. Again instant and massive retaliation has beaten off many attacks.”

The Aftermath: Hyperinflation and Ruin

What was once Rhodesia is sadly now Zimbabwe, a nation that has been thoroughly pillaged by Comrade Mugabe and his cronies. This former breadbasket of Africa now has frequent starvation, is thoroughly bankrupt, its currency was destroyed by hyperinflation, and it has a crumbling infrastructure. The country is nearly in ruins. The grid power is on only sporadically. The water systems have been fouled, hunger is constant, and the life expectancy has dropped precipitously–although some of that is attributable to the advent of HIV-AIDS. Ironically, after UDI, Rhodesia had been snubbed by the international community in an effort to get them to institute universal suffrage. But now, following the predicted “one man, one vote, once” (installing a “President for life”), the former terrorists that took over instituted a quasi-dictatorship government so vile and corrupt that now it too is under severe diplomatic sanctions and military sanctions by the west. (The sanctions were imposed because of flagrant “electoral fraud and human rights abuses”.) In fact, a dozen people in the key leadership of Zimbabwe’s perpetual ZANU-PF government including Robert Mugabe are still banned from travel to most First World nations.

Following the war, the farmers have not fared well. Many were forced to surrender their guns, leaving them vulnerable to attack. Nearly all of them have lost their life savings, due to the combined effects of currency export controls and the hyperinflation. And many of those that continued to own and operate farms under Mugabe’s government were forcibly evicted, and a few were raped, tortured, or killed.

I recommend that SurvivalBlog readers take the time to study low level insurgencies in general, and the Rhodesian Bush War, in particular. History doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes.

Some good insights on the Rhodesian experience can be found in these books:

For further reading, I recommend the reference web page titled Rhodesian Farmers Defensive Arrangements at the Small Wars Journal web site, and the book The Farmer At War, now available online.

Remember Rhodesia!

Pat’s Product Review: Century Arms R1A1 (Inch Pattern FAL Clone)

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I’ve been a huge fan of the FN/FAL style of battle rifle for many years. I first carried one when I was in Rhodesia, back in 1976. I’ve owned a few FAL-style rifles over the years, and I reviewed the Springfield Armory version on SurvivalBlog last year. Too bad, Springfield Armory doesn’t make their version any longer, it was an outstanding rifle in all respects.
 
About 10 tears ago, I purchased a used Century Arms (L1A1-model “inch pattern” FAL style rifle from a gun shop in Boise, Idaho – it was an outstanding shooter. However in a moment of weakness, I later sold it – one of those decisions I regretted the moment I did it. Last I heard, the gun had passed hands several times.
 
Yes, I know the reputation that Century Arms has when it comes to assembling some of their rifles from parts kits, onto new receivers and new barrels. However, I’ve been extremely lucky in this respect, and I’ve had outstanding luck with most guns from Century Arms – their CETME being the exception – I’ve owned several and they were junk. There is lots of chatter on the ‘net about how poorly the Century Arms AK-47s are made. I’ve owned at least half a dozen, or more, versions of Century’s AKs and loved them all. Some people say it’s a crap shoot to purchase any Century Arms products,but I have to disagree.
 
My local gun shop knows my fondness for anything AK, AR, FAL and other similar types of rifles. At a gun show in Portland, Oregon they traded into a Century Arms R1A1, and they knew they had it sold to me as soon as I walked in the door following the gun show. The FALs that Century Arms manufactures are what a lot of folks call “FrankenFALs” because they are assembled using both metric and inch parts from various guns. I won’t go into all the details of the differences between an inch and a metric FAL (and, “FAL” is a generic term for the purpose of this article.) However, many parts interchange between the guns – not all parts, but many do. My Century Arms R1A1 is a combination of inch and metric parts on a brand-new metric receiver and new American-made barrel.—
 
Quite frankly, the folks at Century Arms did an outstanding job on this particular rifle, as it is fitted nicely and the finish is great – a nice, gray Parkerizing over all the metal parts. The lower receiver is inch pattern, and near as I can determine in my research, the lower is from an Australian-made L1A1 rifle (inch pattern). The stock, pistol grip, gas piston and forearm are all US made, in order to meet the stupid FedGov regulations pertaining to the number of foreign made parts, versus US made parts in these types of firearms. The bolt and bolt carrier in the upper receiver are inch pattern – you can interchange inch and metric bolts and bolt carriers. The lower fire-control group is a mixed bag of original Australian, British and US made parts.(The latter are for Section 922(r) compliance. The left-side mounted charging handle is the folding type – inch pattern – which I prefer. The sights are inch pattern as well.
 
Now, one would be led to believe, that such a mixed bag of original military inch versus original military metric versus US-made commercial parts simply wouldn’t work properly. Well, the folks at Century Arms did an outstanding job on this particular sample, and I well-pleased for the most part. Everything works as it should.
 
The rear sight is a peep-style, and it can be adjusted between 200 yards all the way up to 600 yards, but the .308 Winchester caliber can shoot accurately beyond 600 yards. The gun also shoots 7.62×51 NATO round, and be advised that these cartridges are not the same specification as .308 Winchester. The commercial .308 Winchester round is a bit hotter than the NATO round. And, the NATO rounds usually have harder primers. I’ve fired both through this gun without any problems.
 
The trigger pull on my R1A1 is outstanding for a military-style rifle and breaks at an even five pounds, with just a little take-up. The R1A1 weighs in at 9.5 ponds, not the lightest, nor the heaviest of the 7.62mm NATO battle rifle breed. There is a 21″ US-made brand-new barrel on the gun, with a muzzle brake/flash suppressor on the end of it – it really helps tame recoil, too.
 
One thing I really appreciate about FAL style of rifles is the adjustable gas regulator. There are various adjustments on the regulator, so you can adjust it to fit the ammo you are using. You can close the gas regulator down, if you need more gas, to make the gun operate properly, or open the gas regulator up as well. You can even shut the gas regulator completely off for firing grenade launching blanks. There is such a wide variety of 7.62 NATO and .308 Win. ammo out there, that the idea of being able to tailor the gun to function at it’s best with whatever ammo you’re shooting is a real plus in my book – especially in a survival situation. Some folks, who aren’t familiar with the FAL type of guns, and don’t know about the gas regulator, foolishly sell or trade their guns when they don’t operate properly. It’s a very simply matter and only takes a minute to adjust the gas regulator in order for the gun to properly function with whatever ammo you might lay your hands on. You can find instructions for this all over the Internet, so I won’t go into it here.
 
I have fired my R1A1 with a variety of different ammo, from Russian-made Brown Bear, to Radway from Great Britain, to include Pakistani-made 7.62 NATO to all manner of ammo, and haven’t had any problems. For the most part, my particular Century Arms R1A1 sample operates best with military-grade ammo when the gas regulator is in the #3 – #4 position. And, with commercially-made .308 Winchester ammo, it works best in the #4 – #5 positions. Some folks simply aren’t aware that there is an adjustable gas system on the FAL style of rifles, and when they change ammo, and the gun starts to malfunction, and not kick out the empty brass, or feed the next round – they get rid of their guns. And, many gun shop owners aren’t aware of the adjustable gas system on FALs – sad to say. This is an outstanding gas system, that allows you to use hot, medium and mild ammo through it, and it only takes a minute or two to adjust the gun to function with whatever ammo you might be using or run across.
 
The FAL, at one time, was adopted for military service by approximately 90-countries. That says a lot in my book. The FAL is well-known throughout much of Africa, and was the dominate battle rifle at one time on that continent. It has since be replaced by the AK-47 in many African countries. However, if you watched the uprising in Libya last year, you surely noticed more than a few of the rebels were carrying and using the FAL. Many countries still rely on the FAL as their main battle rifle, and for good reason, the gun works and works very well.
 
After playing around with my Century Arms R1A1 for a week, and blasting away with all manner of .308 Winchester and 7.62 NATO ammo, I decided to get serious and see just what kind of accuracy I could get out of this hummer. As usual, I turn to Black Hills Ammunition and Buffalo Bore Ammunition for some of the absolute best shooting .308 Winchester ammo. From Buffalo Bore, I got their 175 grain Sniper Load, and from Black Hills, I requested their 168 grain Match Load. I had 100 rounds of .308 Winchester ammo from each maker, and really had a ball dialing in my R1A1 for optimum accuracy.
 
The Buffalo Bore and Black Hills Ammunition ammo kicked differently than standard 147 grain ball. . Now, out to 600-yards, it might be a big difference. Black Hills Ammunition also makes a 175 grain match a little bit more than the military surplus 7.62 mm NATO ammo did for a couple of reason. First of all, I was firing heavier grain bullets in the Buffalo Bore and Black Hills Ammunition ammo compared to the lighter 147-to-150 grain bullets in the military surplus and Brown Bear ammo. Even with the gas system adjusted properly, I could still feel a bit more kick – nothing to complain about, as I believe the .308 Winchester is a fairly easy round to shoot.
 
At 100-yards, and with iron sights , I was getting groups of 2″ – 2.5″ with both the Buffalo Bore and the Black Hills Ammunition. It was a virtual tie when it came to accuracy between these two loads. The Black Hills Ammunition 168 grain load shot an itty-bit lower than the Buffalo Bore 175 grain load – which was to be expected, but honestly, the difference wasn’t anything worth load, too. I didn’t do all my accuracy testing in one session, it was spread out over several days.
 
One shooting session would find the Buffalo Bore load beating out the Black Hills Ammunition load. The next session would find the Black Hills Ammunition beating out the Buffalo Bore load. Like I said, both are outstanding loads, and they are capable of better accuracy than what I was getting out of my R1A1. I believe I can consistently get 2″ groups or better out of this gun – and that’s mighty good shooting for a military-style, run-of-the-mill battle rifle. I’ve gotten sub-inch groups out of the Buffalo Bore and the Black Hills Ammunition ammo in other rifles, so I know it’s great shooting ammo, and capable of better accuracy than I can wring out of it these days.
 
My shooting for accuracy with the Buffalo Bore and the Black Hills Ammunition loads was done over the hood of my car, using a rest. I think if I were to go prone, and used a sling to steady the gun, I could got more accuracy out of the gun. The Brown Bear .308 Winchester ammo I used – it was getting about 3″ – 3.5″ groups. Again, I think the gun is capable of better accuracy.

The Black Hills Ammunition .308 Winchester load is being used by our military snipers, as well as high-powered rifle competitors and they are taking down bad guys and winning matches with this load. The Buffalo Bore load is being used by high-powered rifle competitors as well, and they are winning matches with it. If anyone is making a more accurate .308 Winchester load than Buffalo Bore and Black Hills, I’d like to know who it is. Yeah, I know, the so-called “Gold” Standard in .308 Winchester has been the Federal Match load – I’ve shot it, and the Buffalo Bore and the Black Hills Ammunition shoot more accurately in my humble opinion.
 
A note on magazines, the Century Arms upper receiver will accept either the inch or the more plentiful metric magazines. I ordered some brand-new South Korean-made FAL metric mags – they wouldn’t function! The locking tab on the back of the magazines were all a tad too long, and when locked into the mag well, it caused the rear of the magazine to be higher than the front – rounds stripped from the magazine all nose-dived and wouldn’t feed. I ordered a good supply of military surplus FAL magazines from J&G Sales for $19.95 each. They were all like brand-new – they had Israeli markings on them. Every mag worked without a hitch. I had read that a lot of folks were having problems with the brand-new South Korean-made FAL mags, but I thought I’d take a chance, seeing as how they were only $14.99 each, but they didn’t work. I probably could have gotten out the ol’ Dremel Tool and ground down the rear locking tab a bit, but I found it easier to just return them and go with genuine military surplus FAL mags for a few bucks more. [JWR Adds: I concur about avoiding the South Korean-made FAL magazines. From all reports, the only after-market FAL box magazines that work as well as the original military contract mags made on Belgian or UK Commonwealth tooling are those made by DS Arms. They invested a lot of engineering hours into making magazines that feed flawlessly. DS Arms nows make 20, 25, and 30 round magazines. DSA will also be making SCAR “Heavy” .308 Caliber 25 round magazines.]
 
Now for the bad news. Century Arms doesn’t make the R1A1 all the time. It’s time consuming assembling this particular type of rifle and the availability of parts kits is spotty, so Century doesn’t always have this rifle available. When they do, you need to snap one up, ASAP. I’ve surfed the web, and GunBroker.com and GunsAmerica.com, as well as some Cabela’s stores have the Century Arms R1A1 available. Prices vary quite a bit from $699 upwards to $1,000. I paid $640 for my sample at my local gun shop, but I wouldn’t part with it for $1,000 if someone offered me cash money for it today. I like it “that” much.
 
When you really want to reach out there and touch someone, or if forced to shoot through heavy cover, it’s hard to beat the good ol’ .308 Winchester caliber. I will be buying a spare firing pin and spare extractor – just to have on hand. Other than that, this baby is ready for combat or survival purposes. I’ve got mine, and if you are in the market for a great shooting FAL clone, then take a close look at the Century Arms R1A1. – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio

JWR Adds: I’m also a big believer in L1A1 clone rifles. We have four of them here at the Rawles Ranch. They are all inch pattern, and all were built before the import ban or were rebuilt using pre-ban receivers. (FWIW, I explained my preference for the inch pattern rifles in a 2007 SurvivalBlog post.) Although I’m planning to gradually switch to AR-10 rifles (built on the SI Defense receivers that can accept very inexpensive HK G3 magazines), the L1A1 is still the primary “battle rifle” for our family.

An excellent resource for both FAL beginners and experts is The FAL Files. I’ve been a member for more than a decade. (I’m member #133, and there are now more than 55,000 members.)

Dr. Bob on Snakebites in TEOTWAWKI

This article was requested by a reader from SurvivalBlog and therefore is published here before it even appears on my own web site next week.  In reviewing the snake-related material in the history, no review of snakebites was found.  There was some reference to people that have been bitten by rattlers, and the July 2006 run in that the fine editor of this blog had with a 3-footer, but no review of risk and advise for treatment.  We will change all that in one swoop here, and the review will be as thorough as my capabilities allow, but hopefully will also generate many responses that will also help fill in some of the gaps or correct some of the information.  Sometimes more can be learned reading the comments that come after some of the articles than the article itself, as savvy readers are already very aware.  So, my advice is hopefully helpful, but keep checking back over the next 10 days while JWR sorts through the comments from other readers and posts some of their knowledge in the coming days.

Snakebites kill 125,000 people worldwide every year.  Here in the US deaths are much less common as our snakes are relatively lame in the deadly venom category, and something does need to be said here about risk.  Roughly 8000 people on average are bitten by venomous snakes each year in the US and about 5-10 per year die, making the risk >0.1% after being bitten!  That number would surely be higher with no treatment, but even being 100 times higher post-collapse would still put your risk of dying at >10%.  For comparison, bee stings kill an average of 120 people a year and lightning kills 150 per year.  That doesn’t really help our mental health when tromping around in the grassland though on a sunny Fall day.  Similar to the idea of shark attacks, the risk is not the same as our fear when floating in the Gulf 30 feet out.  Hopefully these stats will help put things in perspective for the serious prepper, as having Benadryl and Epipens for bee stings is better prepping than snake worries.  But, even more important from a risk category:  get inside if it’s storming out!

Anyone in snake country knows that snake risk is also regionally very different.  And even within that region the snakes are usually fairly predictable about where they hang out at.  Risk along Montana riversides is about one billion times higher than a northern Minnesota open field (mostly because there are no venomous snakes in northern Minnesota).  We saw more Prairie Rattlesnakes in Montana than any other type of snake there.  One of my tough-as-nails Vietnam Veteran friends had many hunting trips ruined blasting birdshot into rattlesnakes, sending him home early with shaky hands as he was deathly afraid of snakes.  He once got struck by a bigger rattler on the ankle of his boot, didn’t get bit, but related that it felt like Pujols took a full swing and landed the bat on his ankle.  After unloading and then reloading, 12 shells of dove-killing birdshot rendered the snake unrecognizable (he really doesn’t like snakes).

With venomous snakes here in America the general rule for worry is this: Person size relative to snake size predicts risk of death.  In other words, big dude vs small snake:  very little risk of death; big snake vs small child:  trouble.  Snake size does not mean relative to the person, it means relative to the type of snake it is.  However, the problem with that general rule is that bigger snakes are usually smarter about not wasting their venom and will often give you a “dry bite” warning first and then inject you with the venom if you don’t get the message they are trying to send.  Younger, smaller snakes often will inject more venom because they are not veteran biters, so they may inject more venom the first time than the older, bigger snake.

But, snakes often do weird things too.  In our area here in Missouri, the most common venomous snake is the Copperhead.  Time and time again, little kids will pick one up and carry it into their house or put it in a bucket, and the snake is cool with it.  How does that work?  Does the snake know that the kids are just stupid and give them a break?  Patients/friends of mine have a posse of hillbilly children that gathered up a couple buckets of about 40 snakes this year by pulling up rocks and grabbing them (a two-child operation).  In the buckets [among the other snakes] were two Copperheads!  They did take a teaching moment and tried the “this is a no-touchy snake” lecture, but no one really believes they won’t do it again next year.  One of the kids was a 3 year old, certainly at high risk for trouble if he had been bitten by even a middle-sized Copperhead.  Life in the Ozarks, gotta love it!

The other major problem in patient risk assessment is misidentifying the perpetrating snake and therefore the venom risk.  Here in Missouri, if someone is bitten by what they think is a small timber rattler and is a normal 200 pound guy, we watch him and away he goes with little in the way of symptoms and very little risk of death.  But, if he was wrong and it was a Eastern Massasauga rattler instead, which has very toxic venom, we watch him get very sick and his risk of death is certainly real.  So, in your retreat area, know your snakes.  Again, in the Ozarks, the Copperhead is by far and away the most common venomous snake that we see.  The good news for us:  there has never been a recorded death from a Copperhead bite in Missouri.  This would very likely change without medical support, but the risk of death is still very low from a Copperhead bite in our area, which is good peace of mind when your 3 year old is flipping rocks for fun.

Great, Dr. Bob, most snake fears are out of proportion to risk so we should all just walk around barefoot in Texas rock piles, eh?  Don’t do that please.  The first plan for snakes, no matter which area you live in is:  

PREVENTION.  Imaging a doctor saying that; shocker.  Know your area, know your snakes, know your risk and then protect yourself.  Personally, the “1/2 Mile Rule” is one that we followed in Montana when we lived there.  [“Kill any rattlesnake within 1/2 mile of your habitation.”] It is generally a good one in my book.  As many previous readers have mentioned, have the correct firearms and ammo for snake-blasting when working fences or other high-risk areas for snake contact.  A .410 shotgun works well, but the weapon choice is personal and there are better articles available on this blog and others.  Boots.  End of story.  Type, style, etc., can be found here and the choice is yours.  Wear them though, and wear gloves when certain high-risk activities are necessary.  Rocks and woodpiles are dangerous snake areas, wear heavy gloves when reaching into these areas to reduce risk of bites.  We rolled hay bales down in a stack and knocked a section of wood over before pulling each bale or piece out to put in the wheelbarrows.  Knocking them over would scare or crush any potential snakes away was our thought, and it seemed to work as we didn’t see any close to us during that time.  Figure out your own plan and practice consistently so you build the good habit now.

Also needing mention is animals.  Horses in Montana often got their noses bitten, which can be life-threatening for a horse as they can’t breath out of their mouths.  When Docswife ran a boarding stable for a year, we had more than a couple horses that stayed for stable observation after a Rattlesnake bite.  We also had some neighboring ranchers that actually lost a horse to multiple rattler bites after collapsing a den while dust rolling.  Freak accident, but still, a loss of a valuable horse that may have been able to be prevented if that den had been identified and could have been fenced off.  A couple patients had been bitten by snakes when in Montana, but the only family member bitten in our Montana years was Aine, my wife’s border collie.  The poor dog still has a spot on that elbow where the hair won’t grow.  She laid around panting for a day before we found the bite, and then laid around sleeping a lot for another day while we worried–but she recovered just fine.  We assume it was a Rattler, not too big from the fang separation, but only she knows.  If we had lost her, my wife would have been devastated and we would have probably gone on a snake roundup for revenge and then one of us would surely have been bitten.  Moral of this story, animals are at much higher risk of contact and therefore illness and death due to snakebites.  Cats, dogs, and horses all were killed by Rattlesnake venom in our Montana neighborhood, while we did not know of any humans bitten during that same time period within the same area.

So let’s talk a bit about what you actually can do if bitten to reduce your risk of death or tissue loss.  You will not be able to count on any medical support necessarily, and without the support of your local ER after TEOTWAWKI, it might be worthwhile to know a little bit about treatment options.  The first and foremost thing about snakebite management is field management done correctly.  The following should be done for a snakebite victim:

• Remove yourself and patient from the snake’s territory, or the snake from the territory (via hot lead injection from of safe distance)
• Try to immobilize the area bitten below the level of the heart
• Clean the wound as well as you are able in the field
• Do not allow the patient to drink alcohol or take medication that may cause sedation
• Transport the patient to any available medical facility (will there be one?)
So, one of your members gets tagged “it” by a local venomous villain, now what.  Let’s say it was an “oops” moment reaching into a storage area and a snake had holed up there unexpectedly.  Remove that snake safely, in 12 gauge fashion to prevent return.   The back of the bitten hand is painful, swollen, and there are 2 little holes present.  Calm the person!  Lay them down and keep that hand below the cot, bed, or litter the “patient” is now on.  Wash it with clean, soapy water and if not available use peroxide.  If neither is available, alcohol is the last resort; either medical or social.  Don’t let the patient have any of the social type, and move them to your main housing area (it is assumed that is the available medical facility).  For the first 12 hours, the person needs to be encouraged to drink fluids and stay still and calm.  That hand needs to stay below the heart if possible the entire time.  Elevate the patient with blankets or cushions and leave the arm lower, but try not to “hang” it below as that can sometimes cut off circulation at the armpit and cause nerve damage, especially if the patient is unconscious.

Antibiotics are not necessary unless the wound is heavily contaminated.  In a study of 53 snakebites here in the US, none developed infection following the bite.  If the wound is contaminated, then use generic Augmentin (amoxicillin/clavulanate) if available, and generic Omnicef (Cefdinir) as a second choice.  On the other hand, Tetanus contamination of a snakebite can occur, and keeping up to date on your Tdap vaccination is essential prevention while the grid is up.  If the patient is conscious and becomes nauseous, use any anti-nausea medication that you may have to help the person keep fluids down.  Fluids are vitally important to help the body “thin” down the toxicity of the venom over the next 24 hours after being bitten.  So, you have the person calmly resting with the bitten area below the heart, the wound was cleaned, fluids are flowing, now what?  Pray and wait.  We will discuss severe symptoms and signs of trouble later in the article.  The large majority of the time the person may feel a little ill and nauseated, with sweats and a rapid heartbeat, but will stay conscious and recover with a nasty scar.

What should you NOT do?  Well, that is where the heated debate comes in.  Using the latest medical information available, these are the things that are largely believed out there that DO NOT have any proven medical benefit:
• Incision
• Oral suction
• Suction devices
• Freezing
• Electric shocking
• Tourniquets

A large study using mock venom showed that suction of venom reduced the toxin in the system by 2%, meaning 98% of the venom still made it into the tissues.  Not enough to make a difference in life or death, and certainly not worth the risk of increased infection from some of the methods used (like putting your nasty, bacteria-filled mouth on an open wound).  Tourniquets can damage nerves, tendons, blood vessels and cause infections themselves.  Therefore, they are medically not recommended.  This is constantly a topic of debate, as well as all of these recommendations above, because people just want to be able to do something.  Medically speaking, from the research available and the results from that research, these things will not help and will likely cause more harm than good.

Now, snakes are generally good survival eating, so it would be best to kill the snake and get some extra protein for a meal if possible.  An amazing fact: dead snakes can still bite!  Snakes are muscle and reflex, that’s about it.  Even a dead one can reflexively latch on to the unsuspecting doofus’ arm and even inject venom.  Amazing but true, so watch out.  Most snake-savvy folks cut the head right off and then the problem is solved. [JWR Adds: Reader Dan J. notes: “A decapitated snake head can skill inject venom. The head must be buried, put in a bucket with a lid, or otherwise made safe and not available to dogs, cats, curious children or foolish adults for a long time.”

US snakes we really need to worry about are in the subfamily of Crotalinae.  This includes rattlesnakes, water moccasins, copperheads.  99% of all US venomous snakebites are from these snakes.  The only other snake outside that family that causes significant risk is the Elapidae family which includes the coral snake.  Coral snake bites are rare due to the limited distribution and are primarily found in Texas and Florida.  The most venomous snake from a venom potency standpoint aside from the Coral snake is the Mojave Rattler.  This nasty crawler’s venom can cause neuromuscular weakness and respiratory depression and should be taken as a serious risk if it is in your area; which includes the south western United States in southern California, southern Nevada, extreme south western Utah, most of Arizona, southern New Mexico and western Texas.  From the risk standpoint though, even this deadly enemy is no match to the more populous snakes that we encounter more often.  The following is stolen directly from www.snakesandspiders.com:

With this in mind, the two snakes that jump out at me are the Western Diamondback the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes. The Mojave Rattlesnake would likely be right there with these two if it were a bit more common, and more widespread. They are found in a pretty focused area that is often not inhabited by human beings. This leads to fewer bites, and therefore precludes their being included as one of the deadliest.

The Western Diamondback has no such qualms. They are around plenty of humans and do plenty of biting when compared to the majority of venomous snakes. Their venom is powerful, and they deliver the bite with large fangs that can give a large dose of that deadly venom. Many consider the Western Diamondback to be the deadliest snake in the United States.

For my money, the Eastern Diamondback is about as deadly as they come. This is not only the deadliest snake in America in my opinion, it is also the largest venomous snake as well. They grown big, fat, and can have a nasty disposition when they are bothered. The venom glands are huge on the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, and they are not shy about injecting that venom.

Of all the snakes in America, I call the Eastern Diamondback the deadliest overall. The Western diamondback is a close second, with the Mojave close behind them.

Unfortunately for us, the Western Diamondback is commonly encountered by those in its territory, which ranges from California to Arkansas.  These powerful, dangerous snakes can reach 7 feet long.  As noted above, the Eastern Diamondback is even nastier and can be bigger, reaching 8 feet long.  The recent popular email of a 15 foot Eastern Diamondback in Florida was a camera trick and the snake was actually 7 feet 3 inches, which was still a monster and did weigh over thirty pounds.  Their range is from North Carolina to Louisiana and all points south.  95% of all deaths from snakebites are from Diamondbacks, so they are to be feared if you live where they do.  Children, small females, and pets are at the highest risk for death due to the size ratio mentioned earlier.  Usually, these snakes do lie in wait and are not aggressive hunters, so avoiding them and sealing up your housing and storage areas is the best protection from their wrath.

Now, for some of the more technical medical information for those that would be in charge of the medical aspects of their group, it is recommended that the non-medical folks proceed with caution as there is lots of bad news in the following paragraphs.  Again, keep in mind that most snakebites are not severe and that 25% of all venomous snakebites have no envenomation.  For those 75%, there are two types of venom problems medically:  hemotoxic and neurotoxic.  Hemotoxic symptoms are far more common as the neurotoxic snakes are the Mojave Rattlesnake and the Coral snake, along with any exotics that may escape and survive as short time.  Hemotoxic and neurotoxic symptoms:

Hemotoxic symptoms Neurotoxic symptoms
Intense pain Minimal pain
Edema Ptosis
Weakness Weakness
Swelling Paresthesia (often numb at bite site)
Rapid pulse Numbness or tingling
Ecchymoses Diplopia
Muscle fasciculation Dysphagia
Paresthesia (oral) Sweating
Unusual metallic taste Salivation
Vomiting Diaphoresis
Confusion Hyporeflexia
Bleeding disorders Respiratory depression
  Paralysis

The usual Rattlers can cause death with severe envenomation by profound hemotoxic effects, mostly through clotting problems.  The unusual snakes that cause neurotoxic symptoms cause death much more often by percentage, due to respiratory depression and paralysis of breathing muscles.  If there is any doubt as to the type of envenomation, this chart can help sort it out as the patient deteriorates, not that it will be of much consolation.  The risk of death is also increased by the distance to the heart.  A chest or back bite by a decent sized Rattler is very likely to be fatal.  The meaty part of the thigh, shoulder or buttocks is also risky due to the blood flow present and closeness to the heart.  Any bite to the face is nearly always fatal due to airway swelling and plentiful blood flow.  Use this information to allocate resources and effort, as it may save others that suffer a survivable bite in the future.

Tissue damage is very common with Rattler bites.  Sometimes dramatic and impressive, it is rarely infected and not usually life-threatening.  Some pictures of dramatic cases are found here [Warning: Graphic!]

Many more dramatic and impressive examples can be found with a simple web search if you need more grossing out.  This tissue damage can be extremely painful, and medication available will be used to help bring down swelling and control pain.  Caution will have to be used with NSAIDs as the risk of bleeding from the venom will have to be considered against the benefit of the medication, especially in the first 12 hours.  For someone without tachycardia and systemic symptoms on a distal hand or ankle bite, it will likely be fine to start NSAID therapy and then discontinue if there are any signs of bleeding that develop. 

There are five degrees of envenomation that are predictive of death in a TEOTWAWKI situation:

Degree of Envenomation
Presentation
Treatment
0. None Punctures or abrasions; some pain or tenderness at the bit Local wound care
I. Mild Pain, tenderness, edema at the bite; perioral paresthesias may be present. Aggressive hydration, Benadryl, NSAIDS
II. Moderate Pain, tenderness, erythema, edema beyond the area adjacent to the bite; often, systemic manifestations and mild coagulopathy Aggressive hydration, Benadryl, caution with NSAIDS, consider IV fluids if available, death possible but unlikely if the patient continues to be conscious and able to take po fluids
III. Severe Intense pain and swelling of entire extremity, often with severe systemic signs and symptoms; Coagulopathy IV fluids, Benadryl, consider Epipen use if available, avoid NSAIDS due to bleeding risk, death will be very likely
IV. Life-threatening Marked abnormal signs and symptoms; severe coagulopathy Death even with all efforts, are up to God

This will not be a happy time to be in charge of the medical care for your group if you are tasked with caring for a patient with grades III and IV envenomation.  Again, information may help allocate resources in the future if you live in an area where snakebites will be likely within your group in the future.  Notice that these gradings are done on an extremity, as the trunk, chest and face wounds will almost always be grade IV.  The photos at my web site all show bites that are grades I and II, although the third photo may have been grade III at its peak.  In caring for the more severe snakebite patient, urine output is a helpful sign of stability.  If urine output falls, kidney failure is likely and death will likely result.  Bleeding can occur, and intercranial hemorrhages can even occur with severe cases.  Monitoring the gums, eyelids, and fingernails can indicate hemorrhage.  Unfortunately, if coagulopathy does occur, it can only be corrected by antivenom, which in TEOTWAWKI will surely not be available.

Most severe cases of envenomation will show signs within 6 hours, but with neurotoxic venoms there can be a delay.  Be sure to monitor any patient suspected to have the possibility of neurotoxic venom for a minimum of 24 hours, even if they show no symptoms.  For hemotoxic envenomation, the 24 hour mark is critical for those cases of grades II and above.  All grade II patients showing improvement at 24 hours will very likely recover completely, and even those that are touchy but conscious will also likely recover.  Grade III patients showing improvement or at least stability at 24 hours have a good hope of survival, and efforts towards recovery will usually not be in vain for grade III patients that are improving.  Grade IV patients will very rarely survive to a 24 hour assessment.  Without antivenom available, these patients will not survive outside Divine intervention at TEOTWAWKI.

For those of you that are still with me after almost 4,000 words and a lot of information, hopefully this was a helpful review and will perhaps save lives someday.  It needs to be repeated that the best possible treatment for poisonous snakebites is prevention.  Please feel free to comment to me directly at survivinghealthy@hotmail.com and updates will be made to this article on my site as information that is helpful or useful becomes available.  Stay strong and wear your boots! 

—

JWR Adds: Dr. Bob is is one of the few consulting physicians in the U.S. who prescribes antibiotics for disaster preparedness as part of his normal scope of practice. His web site is: SurvivingHealthy.com.

Letter Re: Natural Gas “Drip” Condensate

Hello James,
To follow up on the recent letter about running gasoline engines on “drip”: I have never used drip gas, but an old friend of mine who lived and worked in Texas told me it was often necessary to remove the sulfur from drip gas. I would suspect your nose would tell you if sulfur was present [in high concentration] by the rotten egg smell of hydrogen sulfide. The trick used back then was to let the drip gas sit in a container full of copper wool.  Obviously copper wire will work, but over a longer time period, as the copper wool has more surface area. The sulfur in the drip gas reacts with the copper to form a very black flake that then falls off the wire, leaving a black sediment in the container.  

The reason this is important is that the sulfur can also react with the copper in bearings of your engine, leading to a major failure. Burned sulfur in fuel, now sulfur dioxide gas, after passing through a catalytic converter is converted to sulfuric acid, leading to a rust out of your exhaust system. All of this can be eliminated and tested for by soaking with shiny copper wire, wool, or even pennies.  

Watching a sulfide containing liquid, such as Ortho Dormant Disease Lime Sulfur spray, to remove all the copper off of a post-1982 penny is an interesting experiment. It leaves the pure zinc penny naked of it’s copper shell. Now imagine it is pulling the copper off your engine’s bearings. Best to you, – Dave B.

Five Letters Re: Living Through the Real Estate Crash and Bankruptcy

Mr. Rawles,
After reading the article entitled “Living Through the Real Estate Crash and Bankruptcy” by Brad C., I was absolutely livid. I am not an economics major but I firmly believe that our country is in the shape that it is due in large part to people like Brad C. who leveraged everything that they could to live “the American dream” and then screwed all of his creditors by simply deciding that he was not going to pay. Even going so far as to max out his credit cards knowing he was not going to be paying the bill because after all who wouldn’t want “free money”. It must be nice to take vacations with the family while not paying your bills. Then he has the nerve to reference thanking Jesus when he still has a job. He then justifies his actions by saying “…it’s just business.” Just because something is legal does not make it morally right. Like many people, I owe more on my modest home than it is worth. Yes, I could walk away and say “screw the greedy bank that was nice enough to loan me money so that my family has a roof over their heads”. After all, it’s just business. I signed on the line and made an agreement. I am not going to back out of it because it is no longer convenient for me. There was once a time when a man’s word meant something. I pray that Brad C. has truly learned his lesson. – Jason J.

Mr. Rawles,
I read your blog every day and appreciate all the knowledge you provide my family and I with. I am 28 years old and own a small company with 10 employees, in San Diego, California. I work hard and try to live a just and Christian life honoring my family’s name and values. 

I can honestly say that I have never disagreed with a single thing written on your blog until today. The article “Living Through the Real Estate Crash and Bankruptcy, by Brad C.” was very informative, but ultimately disheartening. I was sad and annoyed that a person as pathetic and weak as Brad C, would have the honor of being posted on your wonderful blog. I appreciate your note at the bottom regarding theft, but I must say that it can be misinterpreted to mean that Brad C did nothing wrong. Brad C is a common thief. Nothing more. As you, Mr. Rawles, have stated and shown us on many occasions, just because the government says something is okay, it doesn’t mean that it is. Bankruptcy is a perfect example of this. I actually liked the posting until Brad C got to his self justification of theft with, ” Do I feel bad?  Yes, but keep in mind this is just business.” Brad obviously doesn’t feel bad. I mean heck…he got a Lincoln Navigator, right?

As a business owner I have dealt with people like Brad C., who feel that debt failure is “just business” as he pathetically stated. I would love for Brad C. to let me know how I am supposed to explain this “just business” attitude to my employees? When people of Brad C’s character don’t pay me or go BK then buy a ’98 Lincoln Navigator the next week am I supposed to just pretend that’s OK and not feel ripped off? Brad seems to feel like this whole “real estate” thing popped out of nowhere and he was an innocent bystander? Like he took a business risk and he failed and it isn’t his fault? He has no remorse for the bank or the companies that lent him credit to which he defaulted. This is wrong. He continually notes that he rented to “low income” housing regions. Why did he think these areas yield higher rental profits? Higher profits are justified by higher risk! Brad took a higher risk to make more money and failed. 

I am so tired of people justifying that walking away from obligations is acceptable because it is not convenient for them to stand by decisions. I was raised to stand by my decisions and live with them. It is people like Brad who have wrecked the country that I fought for and made it what it is today, not because Brad went bankrupt, but because Brad justified in his head that going BK wasn’t his fault, is acceptable behavior, and is “just business”. I compare Brad to people who are shocked their 401K went down 30%? Do they not understand what an investment is?

Brad is the type of person who lives by the motto “if you can’t beat ’em, might as well join em”. Good Christians and honest Americans like myself live by the motto “If I can’t beat ’em then they are going to kill me trying to beat ’em”.

Also please don’t make us get out the scratchy violin for your poor “older RV” and ’98 Lincoln Navigator, Brad C. That would be a heck of an upgrade from some of the rest of our situations and we all pay our bills. 

Regards and God bless, – Jimbo

JWR:
I read the article entitled “Living Through the Real Estate Crash and Bankruptcy”, by Brad C. As I read the article I became increasingly disgusted and angry. I have long believed that the “get rich quick at the expense of all else” mentality is what is wrong with this country. Brad’s article reinforces this belief. People like Brad, who bought up huge amounts of real estate back in the early 2000s are the ones who caused the real estate bubble. They queued up in front of development offices, months before construction even began, and they bought homes and immediately flipped them to make a quick buck with no intention of ever living in the homes. Meanwhile, folks like myself who just wanted to buy a home to live in had to pay inflated prices or move into smaller, more affordable places. I did the latter, and I am currently one of the unlucky homeowners who is underwater, thanks to the actions of folks like Brad C. But unlike Brad, I continue to make payments on my house – I am a man of my word and I live up to my obligations. So many these days do not.

I have heard a lot on the news lately about predatory lenders, but folks like Brad are just as guilty, if not more so, for the housing crisis. I call them predatory borrowers, and the article that Brad wrote makes me think (just for a split second) that it might be a good idea to bring back debtors prisons. I was shocked when he said that as he’s going through bankruptcy he advocated continuing to spend on credit cards and rack up debt. When he said he had recently bought an RV, I literally shouted at my computer screen. I was heartened to hear that no credit card company had issued a new card to Brad, despite his attempts to get one. I hope he never gets one again.

I see Brad as a selfish person, and he is exactly the kind of person I expect will behave quite poorly in a TEOTWAWKI situation – the kind that will attempt to take from others what he has not earned for himself. He of course will justify it much as he did his bankruptcy situation in the article – “trying to make the best of a bad situation” or “doing what you can to provide for your family”. He seems to have no problem rationalizing away these actions, which I (and probably many others) see as abhorrent. I fear that there are many others out there like Brad, and the size and the scope of the housing crisis reinforces this fear since there were so many others doing the exact same thing.

Thanks for your blog, I continue to read and learn. – Ian

Mr. Rawles,
Brad C. seems to be a real piece of work. I have a real estate sales license and used to be an appraiser. We have a name for guys like this and it’s “Slumlord”. Reading this letter made my blood boil and to be honest I couldn’t even finish it. If the housing authorities told his section 8 tenants they could leave without notice it’s because he failed ( I’m assuming after numerous notices ) to maintain his properties at a minimal standard. Then he talks about his “clean and sober” houses ( we call them “halfway houses” ) and how he can put ten beds in a house. First of all whoever thought it was a good idea to put up to ten parolees together in a house should have his head examined. I’m sure he didn’t live in the neighborhoods where these houses were and I’m sure the neighbors were none too happy about it. Secondly, these parolees are not clean and sober. I live in a nice middle-class suburb ( I’m planning my escape but it takes time ). That is except for the “clean and sober” house down the street ( by the way, these properties are usually run down and poorly maintained ). These guys are always in the yard smoking grass and drinking. Calling the police is fruitless because the response times in our area are so slow. Drug testing these guys is a joke. There are numerous products to beat drug tests and I’m sure these guys are experts on the subject.

To read this guy’s letter crying about his misfortunes and quoting scripture like he’s some kind of pillar of the community was really more than I could take.
Thanks, – D.W.

Dear Mr. Rawles:
I was so stunned and upset by the recent posting by Brad C. I am writing to you for the very first time. This man doesn’t understand the first thing about being a Christian and the fact that he included a verse at the end of his disgusting display of greed and sloth is just the icing on the cake. 

With all due respect, your total lack of moral regard for those that were living in your rental units is startling. You regarded them as being unworthy to know what was going on even though your poor planning placed them within 20 days of homelessness.  Did you ever stop to consider how many of these individuals would find shelter if suddenly one day the Sheriff’s Department showed up to force their eviction because of your personal recklessness?  Your own words convince me that you didn’t give a flying fig about anyone but yourself and your material possessions.  The fact that after though such financial difficulties your priorities are focused around your own extravagant creature comforts (You need that RV for what, exactly???) convinces me that you have learned absolutely nothing and will end up getting yourself back into the exact same situation as soon as you possibly can. Your own statement that you are already applying for credit cards again is proof of your continued ignorance. PAY YOUR DEBTS – LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS!
When I combined this with your apparent lack of sense of responsibility to pay your credit cards I sir am amazed.  Your determination that the credit card companies whose money you spent wasn’t really lost is ridiculous. You took their money and refused to return it. That is theft.  I cannot think of many posters on this site that have displayed less ethics.  The fact that you ended your post with a Biblical verse, Luke 12:15: “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth.” is laughable at best.  You obviously have no true understanding of Christian charity.  I hope your current landlord doesn’t regard you with as much disdain as you showed your tenants. Although I’m sure most that read your post would agree that you would deserve it. Perhaps then you’ll get it!

I will pray for your family that you will wise up and realize how foolish you really are before you end up homeless and hungry. Sincerely, – M.M.

JWR Replies: As I was first reading Brad C.’s lengthy article, I kept expecting to see a transition to genuine repentance and restitution. But there was none! I realized that there would be lots of righteous anger in rebuttal letters. (I chose the best five from among the nine that came in.) Despite my initial reservations, I’m glad that I decided to go ahead and run the article as a pointed example of how not to live. Hopefully his poor example will encourage SurvivalBlog readers live within their means and not fall into into the same debt trap. I also hope that you can see the peril of equivocating and convincing yourself that “it is just business” to cheat your creditors. Theft is theft. Calling it something else doesn’t change it, or it’s consequences. There is a Supreme Judge of the universe, and ultimately we will all answer for our unrepentant sins. Perhaps not in this life, but surely, beyond.

As my mother is fond of saying: “Time wounds all heels.”

Recipe of the Week:

Recipe of the Week

D.T.C. in Maryland’s Favorites

Hot Milk Cake:

2-eggs
1/2 c. milk
1 Tbsp. butter
3/4 c. Sugar
1c Flour
1 tsp – Baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 325 deg.
1) Put milk and butter in saucepan on low heat. Melt butter into milk. Do not let milk boil, but it should “steam”.
2) Mix eggs and vanilla together until “airy” then add, slowly, the sugar to the egg/vanilla mix until dissolved.
3) In a separate bowl, add the remaining dry ingredients and blend well.
4) Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture until it is the consistency of cookie dough.
5) Add the hot milk to the mix and blend gently until thoroughly blended and “thin”.
6) Coat a 8″x8″ square or 10″ round baking pan with Pam, margarine or butter and flour.
7) Place in oven quickly… The purpose of adding the milk/butter already heated to the mix is that it starts the action of the baking powder so the cake begins “cooking” before it gets to the oven.
8) Bake for 25 minutes or until a knife pushed into the center of the cake comes out clean…

Whole Wheat Bread:

This recipe gives loaves with a thin, crisp crust and a soft, but not grainy, center.. I made 1 loaf in a loaf pan and 1 braided loaf. Enjoy!

Step 1- grind enough wheat for 3 cups of whole wheat flour…

Ingredients
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup warm water
1 package dry yeast 
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups white flour (approximately)

Directions
Bring 1/2 cup water to boil. Add to it the milk , sugar and salt in a large bowl. Let cool to luke-warm. In a separate container add the yeast to a 1/2 cup of warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes… Add the dissolved yeast, whole wheat flour and 2 cups of the white flour to the first mixture. beat thoroughly then turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough and add more white flour as needed so it becomes easy to handle. Let dough rest for 10 minutes. resume kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size. Punch dough down and cut into two loaves, place in greased loaf pan (or form into loaves) and let rise again. Once the dough has risen, put into a preheated 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. Check bread and remove from oven when it makes a hollow sound when you thump your finger on it. Allow to cool on racks. Enjoy.

 

Four Baby Food Recipes

Here are a few baby food recipes…

Rice Cereal using “powder” 
Ingredients:
1/4 c. rice powder (brown rice ground in blender or food processor)
1 cup water
Directions:
1. Bring liquid to boil in saucepan. Add the rice powder while stirring constantly.
2. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly, mix in formula or breast milk and fruits if desired
3. Serve warm.

Rice Cereal with whole rice 
Ingredients:
1/2 c. rice (brown rice, basmati or jasmine)
1 cup water
Directions:
1. Bring liquid to boil in saucepan. Add the rice and stir.
2. Simmer for 20 minutes or according to package directions; stir 1/2 way through cooking time.
3. When rice is finished and a bit cool, add it in 1/2 cup measurements with liquid of your choice (breast milk, formula, water etc.) and puree as needed. Keep a watch as you puree so that the rice does not turn into paste!
4. Serve warm mixed with fruits, veggies and liquid of your choice. 

Oatmeal Cereal 
Ingredients:
1/4 cup of ground oats (do not use the Instant or Quick Cook varieties), ground in blender or food processor
3/4 cup – 1 cup water
Directions:
1. Bring liquid to boil in saucepan. Add the oatmeal powder while stirring constantly.
3. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly, mix in formula or breast milk and fruits if desired
3. Serve warm.

Barley Cereal 
Ingredients:
1/4 cup ground barley (barley ground in blender or food processor)
1 cup water
Directions:
1. Bring liquid to a boil. Add the barley and simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly
2. Mix in fruit juice or add fruits if desired
3. Serve warm

Chef’s Notes:

These recipes came with permisssion from the site, Maryland Preparedness Forums.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

K.A.F. recommended a site with a lot of recipes for storage food: EverydayFoodStorage.net.

Susan C. in Texas sent a link to a web site that has all sorts of mixes you can make yourself to save money. Susan notes: “Many of these mixes are healthier than store bought ones. OBTW, I find that these recipes call for too much salt.”

Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively? Then please e-mail it to us for posting. Thanks!

Odds ‘n Sods:

F.J. pointed me to the latest over at Instructables: Build Your Own Electric Motorcycle.

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Two months without food: Swedish man survives for months in snowed-in car. (Thanks to Wally for the link.)

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Oh, but here in the States we have our own self-selecting candidates for snowy suicide: Couple survives three days stuck in snow on Girl Scout cookies, peanuts. Here is a key quote, that sounds all too familiar: “Searchers say it was difficult to find the couple because they were searching in the wrong area. The couple did not tell friends or family where they were going.”

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Guide to Veterinary Drugs for Human Consumption, Post-SHTF

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A new free iBook for the iPad: Food Inflation: Gardening Just Makes Cents

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Had the Japanese [army’s territorial conquest in Asia] got as far as India, Gandhi’s theories of “passive resistance” would have floated down the Ganges River with his bayoneted, beheaded carcass.” – Mike Vanderboegh.