Zastava PAP M77PS .308, by Thomas Christianson

The Bottom Line, Up Front

Capable of surprising accuracy when using the right ammo, the Zastava PAP M77PS in .308 Win offers an AK pattern rifle chambered in .308 Winchester. It is durable, reliable, and comes with a 20 round steel magazine. If you are looking for a semi-automatic rifle chambered in a full-powered rifle cartridge with a magazine capacity of more than 10 rounds, this rifle may be a good choice.

The Back Story

I must admit to a certain fondness for AK-pattern rifles. They have durability and reliability that appeals to me. It is true that in some ways they resemble tractors more than limousines. Some might see them as ungainly or even ugly. But under field conditions, they are likely to function a higher percentage of the time than many more-refined-looking firearms.

Although I like rifles which were originally designed east of the Iron Curtain, I like those rifles best when they are chambered for cartridges that were originally designed west of the Iron Curtain. Simply put, 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm are ballistically superior to 7.62x39mm and 7.62x54R.  They both are also more readily available on the U.S. market.Continue reading“Zastava PAP M77PS .308, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week: Spoon Bread

The following simple recipe for Spoon Bread is from Good HouseKeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries (253 pages, copyright 1925, now in public domain). That is one of the 11 bonus books included in the 2005-2023 edition of the SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick.

Ingredients
  • 1 pint milk
  • 1/2 teaspoonful baking powder
  • 1/2 cupful cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoonful salt
  • 3 eggs
Directions

Heat the milk nearly to boiling. Stir in cornmeal gradually and cook until the consistency of mush. Add the baking powder, salt, and the yolks of the eggs beaten until tight. FoId in the egg-whites beaten stiff. Pour into a greased baking dish and bake one-half hour at 350 degrees F.

SERVING

Serve at once with plenty of butter, from the dish in which it was baked.

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Do you have a well-tested recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long-term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven recipes, slow cooker recipes, and any recipes that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 3, 2024

On March 3, 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes was inaugurated in a private ceremony, following a hotly-contested election.  According to the Rutherford B. Hayes Library web page:

“The election of 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel Tilden of New York was one of the most hostile, controversial campaigns in American history. Tilden won the popular vote and led in the electoral college, but 19 votes from three Republican-controlled states (Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina) remained disputed. Oregon’s count was also challenged. Allegations of widespread voter fraud forced Congress to set up a special electoral commission to determine the winner, composed of fifteen congressmen and Supreme Court justices. The commission finally announced their decision only two days before the inauguration. The vote was 8-7 along party lines to award the disputed electoral college votes to Hayes, making him the winner.”

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Today is the birthday of bluegrass musician Doc Watson. (He was born in 1923 and passed away in 2012.) His guitar work was phenomenal.

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This is also the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell, and actor James Doohan, in 1920. He played Montgomery Scott in the Star Trek television series and films. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He passed away on July 20, 2005.

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Today’s feature article is a guest piece selected by JWR.  It was written by Montana-based economist and commentator Brandon Smith, the Editor of Alt-Market.us. Brandon Smith is also the editor of the excellent subscription newsletter The Wild Bunch Dispatch.

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We are seeking entries for Round 111 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 111 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Globalists and Their Psychopathic Religion

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the western world experienced a sudden burst of open occultism among the ultra-rich elites. The rise of “Theosophy” was underway, becoming a kind of fashion trend that would ultimately set the stage for what would later be called “new age” spiritualism. The primary driver of the theosophical movement was a small group of obscure academics led in part by a woman named H.P. Blavatsky. The group was obsessed with esoteric belief, Gnosticism, and even Satanism.

Blavatsky co-founded the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875, claiming that she had a psychic connection to beings called “the Mahatmas” or “the masters.” These creatures, she asserted, helped her write the foundational books of Theosophy, including ‘The Secret Doctrine.’

I bring up Theosophy and Blavatsky because the movement she helped launch was primarily an elitist one – The spread of occultism in the early 1900s specifically targeted the upper classes and this resulted in many political leaders and financial leaders being involved in obscure organizations with secretive mandates. Such groups have existed in the past, from the Rosicrucians and Freemasons to the alchemists of the Middle Ages who hid their occult beliefs in coded texts. However, never before had they been so public in their efforts.

To their credit, the early theosophists were mostly apolitical (at least outwardly) and they argued against political intrusion into people’s lives. I suspect, however, that this was because at the time western governments revolved around Christian and conservative values. As politicians became more separate from Christianity, the theosophist interest in controlling government grew and the movement became increasingly socialist in practice.Continue reading“Globalists and Their Psychopathic Religion”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR:

Meme Text:

Houthis in Yemen Cut Telecom Cables That Linked India and Pakistan With Europe
So, Now Little Old English Ladies Will Be Safe From The Internet “Tech Support” Scammers

News Links:

Houthis hit submarine communications cables.

Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks!

Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” – 1 John 3: 11-24 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — March 2, 2024

March 2, 1965: The Sound of Music, a film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical play, premiered; the movie, which was based on the real-life story of the Trapp family of Austria, was a commercial success and won an Oscar for best picture.

On March 2nd, 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico. Today is coincidentally also the birthday of Sam Houston.

Today is also the birthday of Moe Berg, an American baseball player and clandestine agent. (He died in 1972.) His biography The Catcher Was a Spy is fascinating reading.

And this is the birthday of libertarian economist Murray Rothbard (born 1926, died 1995) His book For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto is highly recommended.

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Today’s feature article is by Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.  This article ties into his knife review that was posted on Monday.

We need entries for Round 111 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 111 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Liberty Safe HDV-150X Biometric Handgun Vault, by Thomas Christianson

I have grandchildren. I love my grandchildren very much. I earnestly desire for them grow up safely and to enjoy a healthy and productive adulthood. I also own handguns. I have other handguns that are entrusted to my care periodically for review. One facet of my strategy for helping my grandchildren grow up safely is keeping handguns and other firearms out of their hands until they are old enough to know how to use them responsibly.

I own a full-size gun safe. The gun safe was getting a little full. If I was going to keep my grandchildren safe, then I needed space for another handgun or two. I also desired access to a handgun elsewhere in the house — other than right by the gun safe. So I decided that a handgun vault would be a useful addition to my safe gun storage plan.

The Search

To help find an appropriate safe, I entered the phrase “American Made Handgun Safe” in duckduckgo.com. One of the first returns was www.libertysafe.com. When I clicked on the supplied link, I was glad to read that “Liberty Safe is the #1 Producer of American Made Gun Safes.” Based on that information, I browsed through their product line and decided that their HDV-150X Biometric Handgun Vault was just what I was looking for. I contacted Liberty Safe, and they were kind enough to provide me with a sample for testing and evaluation.Continue reading“Liberty Safe HDV-150X Biometric Handgun Vault, by Thomas Christianson”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

On Monday, I hitched up our three-horse trailer to our pickup and we made a trip to town, to stock up. This included picking up several hundred pounds of cut and wrapped beef, from one of our yearling heifers that we just had butchered. We also bought two large compressed square bales of alfalfa for our horses — for supplementary feeding. And we also bought 14 sacks of assorted grains, to mix for chicken feed. On the same trip, we also stopped at two supermarkets, where we mainly bought fresh vegetables and fruit.

On Wednesday, I re-attached our snowplow blade. If the forecasts are true, it now appears that we may receive up to two feet of snow in the next two weeks.

Now, Lily’s report…Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.

And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.

Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.

Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God.

Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:

And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.” – Amos 7:1-11 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Friday — March 1, 2024

Today is the 70th birthday of filmmaker Ron Howard, who first achieved fame as a child actor in The Andy Griffith Show and later became an Academy Award-winning director.

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March 1st is the birthday of actor and former WW2 commando David Niven. His full name was James David Graham Niven. (1910-1983.)

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And today is the birthday of the late singer, songwriter, and cowboy poet Allen Wayne Damron. Damron was quite the Texan, through and through. (Born 1939, died August 13, 2005, in Terlingua, Texas.)

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Here is an interesting North Carolina property listing at SurvivalRealty: Private and Remote Mountain Retreat!499 Porterfield Gap Rd, Robbinsville, NC.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 111 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2,000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $359 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  5. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  3. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 111 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

 

What to Wear for Concealed Carry?, by TravelinMan

Most of us ask ourselves the “What to Wear?” question at least once a day. This can be an especially daunting question to answer for those of us who conceal carry a firearm on a daily basis. These days, the pervasive idea when concealed carrying is, you should always carry the same firearm, in the same holster, in the same place each time to be the most effective. To be fair, this probably is the most efficient way to carry. When you need it, you know right where it is and muscle memory should help you draw and aim it where you want it as speedily and as accurately as possible. Unfortunately, this causes you to “dress for the gun”. This may, or may not, be ideal for the situation(s) you are dressing for during that day.

I would like to take this opportunity to look at choosing the gun/carrying position, to match your attire for the day. I know…heresy!…lol.

First, let me say, I am no expert. I’m writing this from the point of view of “this is what I do”. I’m not recommending anything to anybody, again, this is just how I do it. Also, as I said before, if you want to be the absolute fastest, most accurate shooter, always carrying the same firearm in the same holster in the same place on you is good advice. If you are willing to trade a little bit of that speed for the luxury of wearing what you want, read on.

I basically have 3 different styles of clothing that I wear. The first is what I think is called “active wear”. These are sweatpants, sweat shorts, and those knit type “basketball” shorts along with a T-shirt. The second is what my wife jokingly calls my “fancy shorts”. These are mostly cargo and pleated shorts that are worn with a belt and a T-shirt. Jeans with a T-shirt falls into this same category/carry style…any pants I can wear a sturdy belt with are the same “style” as far as how I concealed carry. The third style is basically anything worn with a collared over-shirt or jacket.Continue reading“What to Wear for Concealed Carry?, by TravelinMan”

February 2024 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, presented by Gainesville Coins. Each month, we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. We cover gold’s performance and the factors that affect gold prices.

What Did Gold Do in February?

Everything moved against gold in February. Hot inflation numbers and a stronger dollar pushed back the probable date for the Fed’s first rate cut. A huge tech bubble in stocks pulled money out of bonds and other safe havens to chase record stock prices.

Spot gold started February at $2,054 an ounce and ended the month $20 lower at $2,034 an ounce. The February 1st close was the highest for the month. The lowest settlement for February was $1,992, hit on both the 13th and 14th.

Spot silver began February at $23.15 an ounce and ended at $22.46 for a loss of 69 cents for the month. The high close was $23.40 on the 16th, and the low for the month was $22.07 on the 12th.Continue reading“February 2024 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran”