Odds ‘n Sods:

The New York Times gets down and dirty a with prepping issues and the requisite OPSEC: How to Survive Societal Collapse in Suburbia. (The article briefly quotes JWR.)

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Scientific American: How Safe Are America’s 2.5 Million Miles of Pipelines?

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JRH Enterprises is celebrating their 20th Year in business with a big Black Friday sale that starts Wednesday. The sale includes new Third Generation+ Pinnacle Autogated  Mil Spec PVS-14s with real ITT tubes and a 5 year warranty as low as $2595. And PVS-14 Third Gen + Pinnacle Autogated “Upgraded” monoculars are available as low as $2995. (Just like ours here at the Rawles Ranch. Also on sale are FLIR Scout Thermal Imaging units and the Ultimate Survivalist’s wood stove and many other items. This is a limited time sale.

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I noticed that SurvivalRealty.com (our spin-off site, operated by my #1 Son) has continued to grow rapidly. There are now more than 125 listings. It has become the premier site for buying and selling retreat properties. Full-length listings there are just $30 per month, with no sales commissions charged. Take a look.

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Our friend Tam at View From The Porch pointed us to: The proper way to load Mosin-Nagant stripper clips. (Note: The automated “ad*lt content” warning was no doubt triggered by the use of the word “stripper.” On a related note: Be very careful when you do web searches for information on Hustler brand ham radio antennas.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Even after the elite decamp there’ll be plenty of good eatin’ left on the carcass for the stay-behinds. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by the somewhat less than elite. For one, their toadies in DC have been building Führerbunkers and stocking them with supplies and ammunition for the day when they’re toadies no more. Some of the toady’s toadies have retreats and plans of their own. They keep it quiet, unsurprisingly. Then it’s all against all, a spectre of flag-waving warlords and tribal strong men, of alliances and secessions, of fiefdoms and redoubts and contested regions. Everybody who wants to be somebody will invite themselves to the fray. Who is king and who is not king will be the sum of all politics; asset-stripping the sum of all economics. It’s going to be a memorable squabble.” – Ol’ Remus, The Woodpile Report, in an essay on national insolvency (November 21, 2012)

Notes from JWR:

Ready Made Resources (our very first advertiser) has announced a Buy One, Give One (BOGO) product offering to benefit Christian Reformed Outreach, South Sudan (C.R.O.S.S.). The BOGO product offering is a 35 gram packet of CELOX wound coagulant. For each one that you buy, an identical one will be sent to distribute free of charge to villagers in South Sudan. I encourage other gear vendors to do likewise. Particularly needed are earth tone or Multicam magazine pouches (AK and HK-G3), canteens with covers, hydration packs, rifle slings, and rifle buttstock pouches.

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Today is the birthday of Walter “Joe” Marm, one of America’s few living recipients of the Medal of Honor. He was born November 20, 1941. He retired from the army as a Colonel, in 1995.

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Today we present another entry for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) 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. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, E.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 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.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 43 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Building a Super Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter System, by Pretty in a Blue State

The Sawyer Squeeze filter has become very popular with backpackers. The filter threads onto a variety of soft-sided bottles and hydration packs. By squeezing a bottle or bladder of dirty water you generate the pressure to push the water thru the hollow fiber filter. Here’s one review.

The biggest advantage of the Sawyer Squeeze filter is that it does not require a pump. This removes the potential mechanical failure of a pump and the hassle of tubing as you balance on the edge of a stream or lake. Just scoop up water, pour it into a bladder, and filter it elsewhere. Other benefits are the small size and light weight. 

It filters faster than many other designs (about one minute per liter) and can also be used as a gravity or in-line filter. It is very simple to back-flush. It is rated for 0.1 microns and is effective for bacteria and protozoa.  It is not rated to remove viruses – so if that is a concern in your area then many other treatments will be more effective after the suspended organic solids have been filtered.

Note that the Sawyer Squeeze filter does not include an activated charcoal element to remove dissolved chemicals. You can add an in-line activated charcoal filter, available from Katadyn or Platypus or you can make your own if you have any concern about chemicals or taste.

Sawyer guarantees this filter for one million gallons. Just for fun, let’s say their claim is only 5% correct – that’s still 50,000 gallons. For 4 people this equals one gallon per person per day for 34 years. 

A shortcoming of the Sawyer Squeeze system is the included mylar bladders for dirty water. They are more prone to leaking than other brands. (The kit comes with three bladders, I’m carrying one as a free backup). A bladder or bottle will require flowing water or some type of a cup to fill with dirty water.

I’ve adapted the Sawyer Squeeze filter to plug directly into a Camelbak Hydrolink bladder in my backpack for quick and easy “on the go” refills and have a system for backflushing without using the syringe included with the filter. My approach also adds a pre-filter as well as protection from cross-contamination.  With so much flexibility I’m going to be listing a lot of options along the way.  Make the system work best for your needs.

Reminder: You should always have more than one way to treat water – I carry Katadyn tablets separately from the filter kit. And protect all filters from being dropped or frozen.

Here’s what I purchased and how I built my system:

1. Sawyer Squeeze Filter – the latest packaging includes a gray dirty water end adapter cap which has a semi-permanent cap on the hose barb. Includes a 60cc syringe for back flushing, 3 mylar bladders, and sport-style pop up drink cap. 

You may need to purchase a Sawyer adapter set. If your Sawyer did not come with the gray male adapter you will need to buy one to seal the dirty water end so that water doesn’t drain out in that direction when you disconnect the dirty water bladder. You will also need a thread protector cap from the hardware store. Buy one with a tight fit. The included blue female cap can be connected by tubing to almost any filter to turn it into a “Squeeze” filter – I recommend having this ability. If you have another filter system you prefer, at least get this adapter and a bladder as a backup to your pump.

2. Platypus or EverNew water bladder. Replace the Sawyer dirty water bladders with a stronger design. Platypus water bladders fit the Sawyer Squeeze (others have written the Soft Bottle style are harder to seal without replacing the Sawyer white washer with a thinner washer). EverNew bladders are described as more durable but they are difficult to find.  I am using the 2 liter Platypus Hoser bladder with a replacement solid cap.

Because there is the chance of confusion, label the bladders you’re using for dirty or clean water and don’t mix them up. And make sure the dirty water end fittings are tight and don’t leak contaminated water onto the clean end of the filter or clean water containers.

Pour dirty water into a bladder or bottle using a cup, a folding bowl, or one of the smaller Sawyer bladders with the top cut off. Still another useful idea is to use a flexible plastic cutting “board” to make a small funnel that will store flat. Or use a small silicone funnel that is sold in some kitchen supply stores. A funnel will double as a bladder filling scoop if you put a finger over the bottom. Don’t reuse a dirty water cup or bowl for eating or drinking.

3. Aquamira Frontier Pro water filter. I use the male/female pre-filter adapter which adds a thick felt pre-filter.  The Frontier Pro includes a Universal Quick Connect (UQC) which you might use on Camelbak or Source hydration systems. It includes 4 felt pre-filters. The Frontier Pro with chlorine dioxide tablets could be a lightweight backup to the Sawyer Squeeze.

A home-built replacement for the Frontier Pro pre-filter adapter can be made from the threaded top to a SmartWater bottle and cap (the threads and caps on the SmartWater bottles fit the Sawyer filter and are sold in many grocery stores – they seem more durable than other brands and are cheaper than the Platypus replacement caps).  Cut the bottle at the top of the neck under the solid plastic ring. Level out the cut on the bottle piece down to the ring with a razor knife and use sandpaper to roughen the surface. Sand the top of the cap and drill a ½” hole in the cap. Use plastic epoxy to attach the pieces.

The closest replacement for the Frontier Pro felt disks that I’ve found is a few layers of the synthetic chamois sold at Home Depot. The felt disks will be placed in the cavity of the bottle thread portion.

Pre-filters will slow the volume of filtered water, but will reduce the sediment getting into the filter and let you filter more water before having to back flush it.

If you want to add an additional pre-filter element you can trim down a Mr. Coffee permanent coffee filter (made of stainless steel mesh) with scissors into disks to fit inside the pre-filter adapter above the felt disk (or below the white washer in the Sawyer dirty water end if you don’t have the pre-filter adapter). The mesh filter is better in the pre-filter adapter for quick removal and backflushing.

Another way to easily minimize large particulates from getting into the dirty water bladder in the first place is to use a woman’s nylon footie (usually sold in a mini-egg container at drug stores) over the bladder mouth when filling.

4. Two bottle or bladder caps. Use 1- or 1.5-liter SmartWater bottle caps or Platypus closure caps to make a double-female fitting. Take two caps and sand the tops to make a rough surface. Use plastic epoxy and press the 2 caps together back to back. Once cured, drill a 1/2 inch hole in the caps.

These caps are also a little too tall to screw down to a tight seal on the filter body (or the Frontier Pro UQC) and need to be trimmed down with a razor knife. The double female lets you fill an attached clean water bladder and also backflush the filter with a bladder.  

5. Camelbak Port Plug. You need to protect the fresh water end of your system from contamination and the Camelbak plug is the best choice. A cheaper option is a soft plastic thread protector from the hardware store that fits just over the end of the fitting.

I found the Camelbak Port Plug release button to be difficult to operate with the Frontier Pro UQC. I removed the plastic button/spring piece on the plug by pinching the “spring” portion together and lifting it out. I then trimmed down the guard lip around the button so I could get more fingertip on the button.

I also trimmed about 1/2 the thickness of the spring (“dishing” it out only on the sides away from the closed end of the cap) to reduce the pressure needed to press the button. I attached a loop of cord to reduce the likelihood of losing this piece.

I noticed the O ring of the Frontier Pro UQC was getting roughed up from the edges of the spring so I very slightly smoothed inside both ends of the spring. Keeping the O ring coated with food grade silicone grease will help. I recommend carrying a couple spare greased O rings.

While working out the fit and release problems with the UQC into the Camelbak Port Plug I found that the diameter of the UQC is slightly larger than a Camelbak Hydrolink.  The UQC was difficult to remove from the Camelbak Port Plug and the Hydrolock on the Camelbak bladder tubing. The O ring was occasionally being knocked off. 

Because of this I recommend another home built adapter – using a Platypus cap and a Camelbak Hydrolink adapter in place of the UQC.

Drill a tight-fitting hole in the top of a bottle or bladder cap (a Platypus cap is stronger than a SmartWater cap for this use – or even better use a Sawyer blue female adapter) and cut down the hose barb end of the Camelbak adapter.  Sand the contact areas and use plastic epoxy to secure the adapter to the cap. Trim down the sides of the cap to seal on the Sawyer filter. This adapter/cap will work better in the Camelbak Plug and replaces the Frontier Pro UQC and double female adapter, attaching directly to the filter body. The hose barb inside the clean water end of the filter may have to be trimmed down for clearance from this adapter/cap. An option is to use a Sawyer blue female adapter with 1/4” tubing connected to the Camelbak Hydrolink adapter.  This may not be as functional as the tubing can kink during use.

7. Additional ideas.
From your hardware store you can pick up a Watts PL-215 Nylon barb-to-MIP adapter 1/4” x 1/8”. Installed in a Nalgene wide mouth cap this will adapt a Nalgene Cantene or MSR Dromedary to 1/4” tubing and fit on either the dirty water or clean water hose barb of your system.

To drink directly from the Sawyer filter or a bladder you could use the cap from a 23.7 oz SmartWater bottle which has a better drink-thru cap (with attached cover) than the Sawyer cap. Trim down the cap so it will seal properly when attached to the clean water end of the filter.  Or Platypus has a bite valve cap (which will also need the sides trimmed down for a seal).

Putting it all together:
Starting at the dirty water end – place the wire mesh pre-filter into the cavity of the Frontier Pro pre-filter adapter, followed by a felt pre-filter disk. (You will notice that this adapter also has a tubing barb if you wish to use it with a gravity filter or in-line setup.) Then attach the Sawyer gray male adapter. This seals the dirty water end of the filter. If your filter didn’t come packaged with this adapter then you will need the hardware store thread protector to seal the Sawyer adapter hose barb. Attaching a loop of cord on the Sawyer adapter might be a good idea to avoid losing this piece.

On the clean water end – to fill a Camelbak bladder attach the Camelbak Hydrolink adapter/cap (or the UQC with the double female adapter if you prefer).  To fill clean water bladders or bottles attach the double female adapter.

The Camelbak Port Plug seals the clean water end and completes the Super System. 

Fill a soft sided bottle or bladder with dirty water and attach to the dirty water end of the filter.  Begin to gently squeeze the container and check for a tight thread seal.  Don’t twist or wring the bladder.  Roll it up as water is expelled. Treat the bladders with care to extend their life.

Don’t contaminate the clean water fittings with hands wet with dirty water.  The Camelbak adapter/cap prevents this. Dry your hands and use a little Purell that you carry in your filter kit.

Remove the pre-filter adapter and dirty water bladder before backflushing. Sawyer advertises that the Squeeze filter does not have to be backflushed as often as other filters, but with the double female cap or Camelbak adapter/cap it’s easy enough to backflush after every use.

The Sawyer Squeeze filter can be backflushed while attached to a clean water bladder by applying rapid pressure to the bladder. Watch the videos at Sawyer’s web site and experiment with the supplied syringe to understand backflushing. You are trying to dislodge particles – slow water flow will not work.

To store the filter after use – flush the filter with a diluted bleach and water solution and let stand for one hour. If you suspect a biofilm buildup is slowing the flow rate try soaking longer with this solution. If you suspect the flow is slowed by mineral buildup try flushing/soaking with a diluted vinegar solution. Drain the filter by shaking water out of both ends. If you must drain the filter faster you might try blowing on the clean water end (mouth only – not with a cold or flu). With even a slight amount of water in the micro tubes make sure the filter doesn’t freeze. Don’t seal the filter with the caps in storage before it has completely dried out.

Understand the limits of your filter as with any other vital piece of equipment. With up to 4 pounds of water in a wet and slippery bladder attached to the filter be careful to not drop it. I would recommend using the filter while kneeling. The Sawyer Squeeze filter is quick and easy to use. Adding a few parts makes it even more flexible and effective.

Addendum: In case you are wondering: I checked Sawyer’s customer service desk, and they told me that their filters are manufactured in Safety Harbor, Florida. (Not overseas!)

Letter Re: Secession in These United States

James,
In response to the article involving the constitutionality of secession, a few other points to consider to perhaps gain a clearer view of the secession situation.  Understanding the individual states sovereignty in relation to the United states government is crucial.
 
1.  Abraham Lincoln claimed that the Union preceded the states which gave the Federal government authority over the states.  This view is incorrect as the original 13 colonies adopted the Articles of Confederation in which each state retained its freedom, independence, and sovereignty.  Each state delegated a portion of its sovereignty to the Union, thereby making the Union a creature of the state, not the other way around.  Further each state was by name acknowledged as free, independent, and sovereign in the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
 
2.  Sovereignty is indivisible.  A portion of a states authority, or power may be delegated as is seen in the 9th and 10th amendments to the Constitution.  But the sovereign state retains the right to recall its authority otherwise it is no longer sovereign.  “The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”- 10th amendment. In Chisholm v. Georgia (1793) the court found “To the Constitution of the United States the term sovereign, is totally unknown.  There is but one place where it could have been used with propriety.  But, even in that place it would not, perhaps, have comported with the delicacy of those, who ordained and established that Constitution.  They might have announced themselves “sovereign” people of the United States:  But serenely conscious of the fact, they avoided the ostentatious declaration….Let a State be considered as subordinate to the People:  But let every thing else be subordinate to the State”.- Chisolm v. Georgia, 2 US 419
 
3.  Shortly after the ratification of the Constitution, the federal government began its encroachment upon the states.  With the passage of the Sedition Act in 1798,  Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, (creator of the Virginia plan which evolved into the Constitution), were asked by the state of Kentucky and Virginia to  author the “Kentucky and Virginia Resolves of 1798” which nullified the enforcement of the Sedition Act within their states.  All three branches of the Federal government had conspired against the people of the states in violating their right to freedom of speech and press.  The sovereign authority of the states of Kentucky and Virginia interposed between the citizens of these states and the Federal government.
 
4.  For those states which were admitted into the Union who were not participants in the ratification, the equal footing doctrine would apply basically stating that all states shared the same powers and sovereignty as the original thirteen.  See: Pollard v. Hagan, and Permoli v. First Municipality of New Orleans.
 
5.  This now brings us to Texas v. White.  This case was decided on a 5-3 vote.  The 5 who voted as a majority were Lincoln appointees.  One of the three dissenters Justice Robert Cooper Grier, an appointee to the court by President Polk in 1846, called Chief Justice Chases opinion a “legal fiction” as he considered Texas to not be a state in the union at the time this case was being decided.  Further  Chief Justice Chase should have recused himself from this case do to himself being involved in the case in 1862 as secretary of the treasury.  There are many more details involved in this case in which one who is interested in further details should consult John Avery Emison, Ph.D. book called Lincoln Über Alles: Dictatorship Comes to America.
 
In conclusion,  as one searches out the true history of the formation of our Federal government through the eyes of the anti-federalists who foretold with incredible accuracy the results of adopting this contract known as the Constitution with its inherent flaws, one of which would be a supreme court which could interpret its own actions and laws within itself.  A court which eventually saw its actions as sovereign having no higher authority to hold them in check.  Is it any wonder that we should have such absurd decisions as that found in Texas v. White, which become the foundation for the premise of secession as being unconstitutional or at the very least, the supreme court being accepted as having jurisdiction in this area which has not been delegated to them by the states?  I would think that we have been swindled into the notion of thinking of secession as a “rebellion” and  should rather view it as a God given right which is protected under the 9th and 10th amendment to our Constitution.  In contrast the terms and phraseology used to characterize the actions of the Federal government over the past 150 years I’ll leave for the reader to decide. – C.L. from Montana 

News From The American Redoubt:

Washington’s wolf packs are spreading west to the Cascade mountain range. [JWR’s Comment: I predict that it won’t be until wolves start snatching dogs, cats and perhaps kids out of back yards in western Washington that the state legislature takes action.]

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Election maps show “shrunken” Redoubt. These maps illustrate how light the population density is here!

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A reader told me about another prepper-friendly church in Idaho: Grace Sandpoint Church.

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Montana lawmaker asks to be paid in gold. His request was very quickly denied.

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A rare event: Bank robbery in Rexburg, Idaho. SurvivalBlog reader “Jen” sent the link and mentioned: “Look at the picture of the robber leaving the credit union. He is reported to have “cleaned out” the bank after he locked all of the employees in the vault. Note how empty the bag is. That credit union had very, very little cash in it. I guess even the bank robbers are going to have to work a little bit harder. A bank run there would have been over in minutes;”

Economics and Investing:

Paul Krugman suggests a 91% top income tax rate. (If this happens, the congresscritters will see a million or more Americans go Galt.)

R.M. sent a link to article that serves as a word of warning for those who run businesses that have large cash customers: Williamsburg gun business, owner, punished by feds. R.M.’s Comment: “This is a fine shop, with great husband and wife owners.  The shop is in the lower floor of their home in tiny Williamsburg, Iowa.  Great people getting trampled by the government.”

The System Will Collapse, It Must Collapse

FHA Red Ink May Be $32.8 Billion, Double Official Audit. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.)

Items from The Economatrix:

Banks Told By Feds To Test For 12% Unemployment (See next article which contemplates a 9.1% unemployment rate just from the fiscal cliff.  It’s probably going to be worse than that.)

Industrial Production In US Drops 0.4% On Sandy Effect

Odds ‘n Sods:

November is the month of the year that new phone books are released in most of the country. Take this opportunity to lawfully collect un-used or lightly used copies of obsolete phone books that would otherwise be recycled or hauled to a landfill. A stack about 6 feet tall would make a good paper reserve for a typical family. The paper in phone books has many uses including kindling or ersatz toilet paper.

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32 dead. They have serious cattle rustlers in Africa, and they are obviously willing to kill, to protect their food source.: Kenyan Police Massacre: Residents ‘Flee Homes’. (Thanks to F.G. for the link.)

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Possible cause for concern: New sinkhole image shows ‘original edge’ of Napoleonville salt dome may be gone — Section thousands of feet tall. In case you are wondering, it is in Louisiana. Here is a map.)

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Joel Skousen interviewed by Alex Jones about relocation. (Two hour long video!) Thanks to Jim W. for the link.

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Several readers sent this: Growing concerns over ‘in the air’ transmission of Ebola

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"We have four boxes with which to defend our freedom: the soap box, the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box." – Congressman Larry McDonald

Note from JWR:

The fine folks at Pantry Paratus have announced a Buy One, Give One (BOGO) product offering to benefit Christian Reformed Outreach, South Sudan (C.R.O.S.S.). The BOGO product offering is the Stronghold Haywire Klamper. For each one that you buy, an identical one will be sent to distribute free of charge to villagers in South Sudan. I encourage other gear vendors to do likewise. Particularly needed are earth tone or Multicam magazine pouches (AK and HK-G3), canteens with covers, hydration packs, rifle slings, and rifle buttstock pouches.

Pat’s Product Review: DPMS AR-15 Lower Receiver Group

As I’ve mentioned before in my SurvivalBlog articles, I’m am swamped with requests to do firearms articles on particular firearms. While I would love to accommodate all the requests I get, it is impossible. I know a lot of folks believe that gun writers get guns for free to write about, that simply isn’t the case. We have to request a firearm from gun companies, I either have to return it, or buy it when I’m done testing them. As much as I’d love to purchase all the firearms I write about, I can’t do it – my finances don’t allow it – not even close. So, I return many of the firearms I write about. And, many times, I have to pay for the return shipping, which means, it actually cost me money to do an article – I’m a volunteer editor at SurvivalBlog, receive no pay. So, as much as I’d love to write about all the firearms that you request me to review, I simply can’t do it. What I will do is, from time-to-time is, request some of the newest firearms that I think would be great for survival purposes – street, wilderness or end of the world survival.
 
I’ve also mentioned before that I’m a habitual gun trader – and there is one very good reason for this – I don’t have the funds to purchase all the firearms I’d like to purchase, so I do a lot of gun trading. I honestly don’t own as many firearms as most folks believe. So, with this said, let’s take a look at one of my latest gun trades. I recently ran into a great deal on a brand-new DPMS AR-15 lower receiver, with a fixed butt stock and fully assembled. My local gun shop also had a used M4 Carbine upper receiver, with the complete bolt carrier group. So, I did some horse trading, and walked out with the DPMS and unknown make of upper M4 Carbine receiver group for some testing.
 
The DPMS lower receiver had the fixed butt stock as mentioned. And, just when I needed a telescoping 4 or 6 position butt stock – my local gun shop didn’t have one in-stock. However, they did have a banned no position “telescoping” stock – which means its basically a fixed position stock, but it was going to look better on my project M4 than the fixed butt stock that came with the DPMS lower receiver. Also, the upper receiver I got in the trade – someone had did a camo job on it – spray paint – and it was painted in blue and gray – I’m assuming this was meant to be some sort of urban camo job – and whoever did it, didn’t do a very good job.
 
The first thing I did was swap out the fixed butt stock for the “telescoping” butt stock on the lower receiver, not a problem. I examined the lower receiver and everything was working as it should. I attached the upper receiver to the lower and it actually fit together snuggly – GREAT! I took the gun apart and checked the bolt and bolt carrier group, to make sure everything was there and working – it was. I examined the barrel for obstructions – none to be found. However, the barrel and chamber weren’t chrome plated. In my wet climate, I prefer a chromed chamber and barrel to help prevent rust. Also, this upper had the 11-inch barrel with the permanently attached 5 1/2-inch flash suppressor, and I’ve always just like the look of this set-up. Only thing is, with the shorter barrel, you don’t have the accuracy and longer range shooting abilities, as you’d have with a 16-inch barrel. Still, you’re good to go for a couple hundred yards. This set-up is really meant for close-up use and not longer range shooting. The upper receiver is of the A1 configuration, which means the A1 rear sight, which is a bit harder to adjust for windage than the A2 sights are, and there is no brass deflector – which isn’t a problem for me, as I’m a right-handed shooter. I cleaned and lubed the upper and put the gun back together and took it out for a simple function test – everything worked great.
 
Next up was a camo spray paint job of my own, and I used an OD green spray paint with a desert camo spray paint. All things considered, the gun looked pretty good – at least it looked better than it did with the upper receiver with the blue and gray camo paint job did. I also used a drill bit to open-up the 200-yard rear sight peep hole – I just found it to be a little bit too small for close-up and person CQB work – it took all of 30-seconds to open-up that peep hole aperture – the longer range peep sight aperture was fine. After the spray paint camo job was dry, I took the gun out to the range for some serious testing. I had a good variety of ammo on-hand from Black Hills Ammunition, Buffalo Bore Ammunition and Winchester. The first thing I did was run three 30-round magazines of the Winchester 5.56mm 55-grain FMJ ammo through the M4 as fast as I could pull the trigger and change out magazines – this really got the gun hot and it is a good function test. There were zero malfunctions at all!
 
During hunting season, there are a lot of deer hunters out in my area, so I restricted my accuracy testing to only 50 yards, with a mountain for a backstop – I didn’t want any rounds going downrange where they shouldn’t be going, and having a hunter return fire on me. I don’t do a lot of long range shooting during hunting season. But a 50-yard target would give me some idea as to how accurate this little parts gun would be. I tried some of the Buffalo Bore .223 Remington 69-gr Sniper ammo – and I was getting nice cloverleaf clusters for my efforts – shooting over a rest over the hood of my rig. Second up was the Black Hills 68-grain Heavy Match ammo – again, nice little groups of around an inch. I was starting to get impressed with this little M4 parts gun. I’ll take an inch group with this little gun, at 50-yards all day long – that computes to two inches at 100 yards. Last up was the Winchester 55-gr 5.56mm white box ammo – and I not only got one inch groups out of this ammo, I also had some 3-shot one hole groups – which was well under half an inch. At first, I thought I had missed the target with a shot or two. I repeated my accuracy testing, only to find out, I was actually getting some very small, one-hole groups with 3-shots – and we’re talking one small hole – not a clover-leaf hole, where all shots are touching – but one hole, and not a “ragged” hole – one neat little hole.
 
I repeated the accuracy testing with the Buffalo Bore and Black Hills loads, knowing that both of these loads have always been extremely accurate in any ARs I’ve tested them in. I continued to get the clover-leaf patterns with both of these loads. I went back to the Winchester white box 5.56mm 55-grain load, and continued to get the smallest groups with this load. So, I’m assuming that this barrel liked the 55-gain better than the heavier loads from Black Hills and Buffalo Bore. So, you should always test various brands of ammo, as well as bullet weights, to see which loads shoot more accurate in your guns. I was really surprised that the less-expensive Winchester 55-grain 5.56mm rounds shot this fantastic in this little parts M4. I like to use Winchester white box for a lot of my function testing.
 
Okay, so how would the little parts M4 shoot with another brand of .223 ammo? I dug out some Black Hills 55-grain remanufactured .223 ammo and ran that through the gun – it too shot one hole groups at 50-yards. So, this confirmed my belief that this barrel really liked 55-grain bullet weights the best. I also ran three 30-rd magazines full of the Black Hills remanufactured ammo through the gun as fast as I could pull the trigger – the gun got hot, but no malfunctions – this little gun was a gem. And, to those of you who don’t believe in remanufactured ammo – I’ve never had a single problem with any Black Hills remanufactured ammo – not one round. That can’t be said for all remanufactured ammo. I once had an Ultramax .40S&W round let loose in a Glock 23 – it blew the case head off the brass – and I had to dig the case out of the chamber. I wrote Ultramax about this twice – never got a reply – so they weren’t too concerned about some bad ammo – I’ll never use Ultramax remanufactured in any of my firearms again. I know that Black Hills hand checks each and every round of ammo they make – even remanufactured ammo!
 
I only wished this little project gun had a chromed bore and chamber – I mean, I can live without it, but in my wet climate, it just means I have to keep an eye on the barrel and keep a light coat of Barricade in the barrel and chamber to help prevent rust. I know many folks prefer a non-chromed barrel, as they get a little better accuracy from their ARs than from chromed ones. But unless you’re shooting in high-powered rifle competitions, you should go with the chromed barrel and bore in my humble opinion. My total investment in this parts gun, not counting the spray paint that I had on-hand, was only $520 – and that is a real bargain for an M4. I wouldn’t hesitate to take this gun into a gun fight, or use it for long-term survival. The upper was obviously well-used, which meant, at least to my way of thinking, that whoever owned it before shot it a lot – so I figured it would work for me. As for the brand-new lower receiver from DPMS – I knew it would work, too. Whenever I look at a completed “parts AR” I take a really close look at everything – some folks just don’t know what they’re doing when they assemble guns – and just because the parts all fit together, doesn’t mean the parts were “fitted” to specifications and it can be dangerous to shoot those guns. So, be advised, if you happen upon any parts ARs – take it to a gunsmith and let them check it out before you shoot it. I felt confident in my abilities as a trained military armorer on the AR, that I knew this little M4 would work properly. However, if you have any doubts, take your AR to a qualified gunsmith and have them check it out before you shoot it.
 
One of these days, I’m going to replace the non-telescoping butt stock, with a 4-position telescoping butt stock. I could go with the 6-position telescoping butt stock, but with the carbine handguard on the upper, and the barrel/flash suppressor set-up, I think the 4-position butt stock will work out better, and the gun is fast handling, too – it only weighs slightly more than 6-pounds. It would make a great bedside gun for home protection, or for use in a survival situation. And, for a $520 investment, it’s hard to find much fault in this little outstanding shooter. A person could do a lot worse, and best thing is, it really loved the less expensive 55-grain bullet loads, for best accuracy. A parts AR that always goes “bang” when the trigger is pulled, and outstanding accuracy…what more can you ask for? – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio

Letter Re: Lakota Warehouse Bank?

James Wesley:
Can you provide any insight on the banking services and the Lakota [copper, silver and gold] coins from the Lakota Bank? Thanks, – Bryan E.

JWR Replies:
They are to be commended for their pluck, but their fees are high. More importantly, their arbitrary Cu/Ag/Au ratios (2/50/5,000) will certainly come back to bite them.  (Fixed ratios are a bad idea! The silver-to-gold ratio is constantly changing. I expect to see a 10-to-1 ratio by the middle of this Century. Anyone that locks themselves into a fixed bimetallic ratio is sowing the seeds of their own downfall. The Liberty Dollar folks made the same mistake. (But they were shut down by the Feds long before the fixed exchange bimetallic ratio caught up with them. In their case, it was their use of the word “Dollar” and the Dollar sign ($) that cost them.)

The concept of selling a 1-ounce .999-fine copper coin for several dollars is laughable for anything other than perhaps a collector’s piece. Copper is a base metal (not a precious metal), and its price ratio to silver is FAR, FAR, FAR from 50 to one! (Copper is priced on the futures market by the TON, rather than by the Troy ounce.)

Sadly, they will likely to get shut down by the IRS, for money laundering and/or constructive tax evasion.  The same thing has happened again and again to other warehouse banks inside the United States.  See, for example the sad story of Richard Flowers and the Christian Patriot Association.

For the present time, it is far better to anonymously buy one ounce silver rounds at just over spot on the open market and store them at home.

Recipe of the Week:

Steve in Rhode Island’s Dish With No Name

Here’s a recipe I’d like to share that’s both inexpensive and nutritious. It’s been around for years and I’m sure it goes by lots of different names. It was passed down to my Mom from my Grandmother and she fed four of us kids back in the day when prepping and just getting by was a way of life and had no name. I raised my two daughters on it and now that they are grown and it’s just the youngest and myself I still make it.
 
The great thing about this is that it makes a LOT of food and the ingredients are simple and can be bought in any market. It’s cheap and you can stock up on the ingredients as they last for years. This is a two pan meal. I can make this meal for under $3.00.
 
Ingredients:
One 28oz can of Whole Peeled Tomatoes.
Two 16oz cans of Pork and Beans. Campbells or store brand. The 16oz is average size.
1lb of Elbow Macaroni.
Optional is a diced onion and some spices. I like garlic powder, oregano, and black pepper.
 
In a good sized sauce pan, cook up some diced onion in a little oil.
Add the Whole Tomatoes and mash them up with potato masher or something similar.
Simmer, add spices, then add Beans.
Cook up the Elbow Macaroni.
Add the cooked and drained Macaroni to the sauce and mix. Let it sit for a bit.

Chef’s Notes:

Add some Parmesan Cheese to taste.
 
You’ll be amazed how good this meal is and how many people it can feed.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

28 Basic Kitchen Safety Tips

The Do’s and Don’ts of Food Storage, Separation and Segregation and Packaging

Cooking with Basic Food Storage: Rice Recipes

Currently Available as Free e-Books (in PDF):

Healthy Rice Recipes For Dinner

11 Free Recipe Ebooks (in one file)

(Note: SurvivalBlog’s once burgeoning recipe queue is running low! Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. At present, holiday recipes would be particularly appreciated. Thanks!

Economics and Investing:

And you thought the upcoming 39.8% Federal tax rate sounded bad… Did you see this cliff coming? Ranchers, farmers brace for ‘death tax’ impact. The exemption drops from $3.5 million $1 million, and the rate jumps to a confiscatory 55%.

B.B. sent: Peter Schiff: Dollar Collapse Before Obama’s Out

I missed this when it aired last June: CNBC pundits admit we’re all slaves to the central bankers.

Items from The Economatrix:

Ron Paul On Secession

No Surprise!  Jobless Claims Up 78,000 Week After Election; Pennsylvania, Ohio Worst Hit

John Galta:  Gold Will Move $500 Per Ounce Per Major City

Europe’s Economy Returns To Recession

Odds ‘n Sods:

Don’t miss this: Mother Lode: Big caches of free and legal TEOTWAWKI downloads

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Reader Dave G. wrote to mention: “If ‘Superstorm Sandy’ was just a Level 1 hurricane, then how well will FEMA and the state-level disaster agencies cope with a Level 3 or Level 4 in the same region? I’ll never move back to the coast! And I’m avoiding tornado country, too. American Redoubt, here I come…”

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Preppr Bawb sent a link that he found to a UN manual on drying meat. It is only a few pages but very detailed. Looks like it was developed for Third World countries–or just what you’d expect after an TEOTWAWKI  incident.

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Congressman Ron Paul’s Farewell Speech to Congress. (Lengthy, but thought-provoking.)

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The Land of Not-So-Free Speech: In UK, Twitter, Facebook rants land some in jail. (Kudos to J.B.G. for the link.)