Economics and Investing:

Five Reasons Investors are Going Crazy for Farmland. (Thanks to Don W. for the link.)

Frequent content contributors Sue C. and C.D.V. both sent this: Housing Crash is Hitting Cities Once Thought to Be Stable. “Few believed the housing market here would ever collapse. Now they wonder if it will ever stop slumping.”

J.M.A. mentioned this essay over at American Thinker: A Tipping Point Is Nearing

Pierre M. pointed us to this: Roubini’s Next Crisis Is Scary Food for Thought: William Pesek

Geithner Quietly Tells Obama Debt-to-GDP Cost Poised to Increase to Record. Here is a quote: “It’s a slow train wreck coming and we all know it’s going to happen. It’s just a question of whether we want to deal with it. There are huge structural changes that have to go on with this economy.” (A hat tip to C.D.V. for the link.)

21 Signs That The Once Great U.S. Economy Is Being Gutted, Neutered, Defanged, Declawed And Deindustrialized

Robert Gottlieb (my agent) flagged this news article: Borders Books eyes store closings and liquidations

Items from The Economatrix:

“Get Ready For Margin Collapse” Goes Mainstream   

Oil Falls as US Supplies Outweigh Mideast Tensions  

Gas Pump Prices Highest Ever for This Time of Year

Major Food Distributor Sysco: “Immediate Volatile Prices, Expected Limited Availability, and Mediocre Quality at Best” “Now might be a good time to hit the frozen foods (or fresh produce if you’ve got a vacuum sealer) aisle at your local grocery store and stock up on your favorite fruits and veggies, as there may be a severe supply crunch coming in the next couple weeks lasting perhaps several months. Why pay premium prices later when you can prepare yourself today, before the rest of the country gets wind of it.”  

Odds ‘n Sods:

La fine del mondo come lo conosciamomeowner? Italy overwhelmed by Tunisian boat people. And a related news story: Tunisians vote with their feet, flee the country

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J.B.G. suggested this: Home Invasions: Side Effects of the Drug War Mexico’s war against the cartels is spilling over the border in the form of home invasions, kidnapping, and murder.

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I’ve previously mentioned the Gerber Omnivore flashlight. It is a white LED flashlight that is designed to be able to use size AA, AAA or CR123 batteries. The new 50 lumen version of the Omnivore looks promising. I’ll buy one or two for some tests here at the ranch and post a review.

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From Sue C.: Egypt echoes across region: Iran, Bahrain, Yemen

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Preparing for the Worst in Wisconsin: Walker Says National Guard could Respond to Unrest, as State Employees Learn of his Budget Proposal

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 33 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) 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 B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady TAP FPD 2-3/4″ OO buckshot ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $240 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) 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, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 33 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

How to Inexpensively Build Your Library of Information, by Sky Watcher

We all understand from reading SurvivalBlog that having information and learning how to survive and thrive are going to be the keys to survival post-TEOTWAWKI.  You need to start gathering that library now. There is an extensive list of suggested books and materials to obtain posted on the blog.  Purchasing those at even discount prices from Amazon.com or other discount book sellers can still run into quite a bit of money. 

Our local public library support group, Friends of the Library, have a twice a year discount book sale that my husband and I attend.  It fills the entire basement of our main public library, which covers an entire city block. Not only are books sold at this sale but also magazines, books on tape, DVDs, puzzles, music, etc.  Prices for hardback books are $1 and 50 cents for paperbacks.  Prices for DVDs and other items vary depending on condition.  One half of the basement contains “better” quality books that may be marked a bit higher, anywhere from $2 to $5.  But even these were listed for half off yesterday when we attended.  As an added bonus, if you become a Friend of the Library for just $10 a year, you get first pick on the evening before the public sale begins. 

The books are organized into subject categories and within the category organized by author’s last name.  For instance there are sections on religion, politics, mystery, science fiction, poetry, gardening, cooking, etc.  Within a span of less than three hours we walked out of there with four large canvas grocery bags stuffed to the brim for about $40.  My husband and I each went armed with the list off the blog and split up upon arrival to accomplish our task.  I was happy to say that we were able to claim at least a dozen books off the list and many more. 

In preparing for TEOTWAWKI don’t limit yourself to the so named books on the suggested list.  Look for other books that fit whatever your plan for survival post-TEOTWAWKI may be.  A few years ago we purchased an 85 acre farm with the idea of wanting to lead a more self sufficient lifestyle.  This was prior to formally “prepping” for WTSHTF.  We had already been attending these sales and acquiring books for that purpose.  We were pleased to find that in doing that we already had quite a few of the suggested books and DVDs.  We felt we were on the right track.

While much of prepping is learning how to be self sufficient in growing and preserving your own food, etc. it certainly is not all.  We realized there were other areas we also needed to focus on.  For instance, we recently bought a military grade diesel generator and already own a diesel tractor so a few books my husband picked up yesterday were on diesel equipment service and repair.  I found a medical dictionary, anatomy coloring book and Red Cross First Aid book as well as books on Lamaze childbirth, communicable diseases and nursing care of the surgical patient. I found several books on the end of peak oil and economics to educate myself about the issues and understand what signs to look for WTSHTF.  Because we have pets as well as livestock I looked for books on how to care for them myself as well as grow forage for the livestock.  We even found a couple of the Foxfire series books that were recommended by Jim Rawles.  There is no telling what all you may find.

But it is important to think long term for the future and what may come up.  My choices included pine needle basketry and the practice of dairying (although at this time we do not have any dairy animals) as well as more books on basic homesteading skills.  My husband selected books on making your own knives, arc welding, automobile engine rebuilding and maintenance and lead work for plumbing.  You may think that some of the information in these 50 year old books is outdated.  But remember that WTSHTF it will be those skills that we will have to relearn and use again. 

If you are not currently home schooling your children then look for textbooks, history books, math books, science books that you can use for that purpose for all age ranges.   Do not neglect entertainment for the family.  Puzzles, games, DVDs, music CDs , etc will help pass down time.  Buy inspirational and spiritual books for whatever your belief system is to help get you through rough times.  All this can be gained for just a few well spent dollars, dollars that can go to your other preparations. 

But there is another consideration in building your library.  In today’s world of iPads, Nooks, Kindles, etc. the day of old school “paper” books may be coming.  When the grid goes down people are not going to be able to access those devices.  My 15 year old daughter has her SAS Survival Handbook downloaded as a PDF on her iPhone, but when the grid goes down and she can’t charge it how will she access it?  Therefore we will be obtaining a paper copy of it in the future.  Two is one and one is none!  Even obtaining multiple copies of very useful books can be used as barter or charity in the future.  Put duplicate copies of books in your underground shelter or BOBs. 

I’ve always been an avid reader and thirsted for knowledge and envisioned having a vast library in my home.  Prepping has certainly cemented that want and need even more.  Who knows what a post-TEOTWAWKI society will do with its great literature?  We’ve seen recently the Egyptian people going so far as to ransack the Cairo Museum and attempt to destroy meaningful historic pieces of their culture.  The volumes of classical literature you store may be only a few that survive for future generations.

Letter Re: Investing in Nickels, in Quantity

Mr. Rawles,  
I took your advice and, this week, bought a large quantity of [U.S. Five cent piece] nickels for investment. I thought your readers might want to know how surprisingly easy it was. I only had to contact two branches (in a major East coast city) of a large US bank. I have had an account with that bank for a long time, but I had no personal relationships there. The nice lady at the first branch said that she was happy to help but, because the branch had a small vault, she could only get me three boxes ($300) at a time. So I called a second branch, where another nice lady placed a special order for me for 70 boxes ($7,000 and about 1,500 pounds). They arrived in a couple days and bank employees helped me load my vehicle. There were no charges [above face value] and they would not even accept a tip.   

By the way, several [bank] employees were curious about my large order. (One of them asked if I was a poker player.) Although I have read advice about keeping explanations vague (or even providing misleading explanations), I saw no reason not to tell the truth. I thought the information might even motivate some of them to do the same thing. So I simply explained that there is more than 7 cents worth of nickel and copper in each coin, that I thought that the government would change the content for new coins, and that the old ones would increase in value.   

I enjoy your blog. God bless and please keep up the good work. – M. on the East Coast

JWR Replies: Congratulations on being a proactive investor! U.S. Nickels already have about 7.3 cents in base metal (“melt”) value. That represents a substantial gain over the face value, without even waiting for an upswing in the base metals prices. In a few years you will probably be very glad that you hedged against inflation by buying Nickels. It has long been said that “silver is the working man’s gold.” By extension, Nickels are the poor man’s silver.

But your nickels now, folks, before you have to sort them. (Once a new, debased Nickel is introduced and begins circulating side-by-side with the Nickels of the current composition, then the drudgery of coin sorting will begin.)

Letter Re: Advice on Shotgun Shells to Store

Hello Mr. Rawles,  
Thanks so much for your efforts, they are appreciated.  SurvivalBlog has been a great help to me preparing for inevitable events.  

Your suggestion to consider what you will be hunting is dead on.  I have hunted small game, as well as large for 35 years.  I have hunted in West Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Arkansas.  I have hunted squirrels, rabbits, turkey, grouse, ring necks, geese, ducks, Bob White, doves, quail.  #6 works well on squirrels, rabbits and small birds like grouse and quail.  I have taken several shots at turkey with #6 inside 30 yards and did not carry any of them home.  I have found with the large birds like turkey, geese, ducks, and ring necks #4 is about as small as you can go and be successful.  Here in Florida we do a lot of hog hunting on big ranches.  In the orange groves we carry rifles and big caliber pistols, .44 Magnum and .357 Magnum.  When hunting hogs in the [closed canopy] “hammocks”, I carry shotgun loaded with 00 buck. My son prefers slugs.  Some of these hammocks are like hunting in jungle so you keep that shotgun mounted [to your shoulder] all the time.  In the dense foliage, the slugs and 00 works much better where as lighter shot loses a lot of steam.   

If you have never hunted small game in the area that you live, I highly suggest that you find some farmer that will let you.  You will need to learn the habitat that suits each species in your area and the tactics need to successfully fill your game bag.  

I own a several shotguns but I have three favorites, Remington 870 and 11-87, Browning BPS pump.  All three use choke tubes and I have a full set for each.  All three are high gloss “sportsman grade” with blued barrels.  I think they are beautiful guns, which causes them to be left in the safe when hunting in foul weather.  For home defense I have the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500, both are improved cylinder bore with 20″ barrels and we have used these successfully to hunt hogs in the hammocks.  They are both “marine grade” stainless and work well in foul weather.  

I have had some exotic shotguns but most of the time they got left in the safe so I ended up parting with them.  Remington has built and sold a pile of 870s and about as many 11-87 shotguns, parts are plentiful and easy to come by.  I have had one 870 for about 30 years, I have put thousand of rounds through this thing and have yet to have used any of my spare parts.  I highly recommend the Remingtons, since they are relatively inexpensive, are easy to work on, and extremely durable.  The Brownings run a close second.  I know guys who say the same thing about the [even less expensive] Mossberg 500s.  

I store a lot of 00 buck, #3, and #7.5, roughly 500 shells of each type per gun.  My son stores a lot of slugs for defense.  I make him keep these segregated to avoid accidentally picking them up and shooting them in one of the guns with choke tubes.  I have seen choke tube-equipped barrels destroyed with slugs.  

This may be helpful, but it is not the right solution for everybody.  If you have never hunted small game learn now, while you still have time.  You will fail if try to learn this quickly when you are hungry.  Hunting small game is not as easy as it may seem.  If you are hunting an area that is under a lot of hunting pressure, small can be just as illusive as big game.  If you have never used a shotgun but think you may need one in TEOTWAWKI (I know I will need my shotguns) then get one know and start learning to use it.  Though shooting rifles, shotguns, and pistols are all similar, I taught my children that all three are different disciplines of the same thing. 

Shotguns work differently than rifles, they move heavier loads slower over a shorter area.  Lead times on moving game are much greater than for a rifle.  You will also need to know the effective killing range for each load of shot.  Flying geese can shrug off #7.5 shot at 45+ yards where as they drop like rocks with #2 or #3.  Shoot a turkey at 25 yards with 00 buck and you get turkey nuggets, shot the same turkey with #4 and you have a fine meal ahead.  Shoot quail or dove with #4 you may have some meat left on the bird, #7.5 leaves these smaller birds pretty well intact.  Shoot a hog with #7.5 he will probably run over and remove your leg for you, but shoot him with 00 or slug and you will put him down for good.  

My 2 cents worth, hopefully it will help someone.   Thanks again,  – C.D.P.

Letter Re: Packing your Bug Out First Aid Kit

Mr. Rawles,
After reading J.V.’s article on “Packing your Bug Out First Aid Kit” I feel the need to comment on his approach to anesthesia. Anesthesia as practiced today is safe and effective due to the training and equipment modern medicine provides. The technique of “open drop” anesthesia, which is what J.V. describes, was utilized until the mid 1960s. Aspiration, anesthetic overdose leading to respiratory or cardiac collapse occurred in major hospitals at an alarming rate. Current anesthetic death rates run at 1:30,000 cases, while in the late 1950s (a comprehensive study out of Boston) showed anesthetic mortality of 1:1,500. This poor outcome was in centers with the finest equipment and training of the time. What J.V. proposed is completely untrained individuals using diesel primer to attempt this technique on injured friends and family. I am a board certified anesthesiologist in practice for 20 years and I would not even try this if I had a bottle of medical grade diethyl ether and diesel primer is not pure diethyl ether. It contains petroleum oils that if inhaled could cause an acute lung injury. This would be just as fatal as an anesthetic overdose, just not as quick. 

Anesthesia is not a binary state of awake or asleep but rather a continuum. To perform a safe anesthetic of this type you must be able to vary the depth of anesthesia in relation to the surgical stimuli. There are time lags between administration of the anesthetic agent and its physiologic effects. Not understanding this aspect alone could cause someone inadvertently kill another by overdose. Being a prepper and an anesthesiologist, I have spent some time attempting to build a reasonable medical kit. Given the facts above, I have focused on local infiltration and regional anesthesia as the techniques of choice in the event of the end of modern medicine. Regional anesthesia focuses on blocking specific nerves using the injection of local anesthesia. There are some significant advantages to this technique:
First, the patient stays awake. Being able to talk to your patient is the best way to assess how they are doing. Second, you provide post operative pain control. Third, the equipment is portable, small and light. Regional anesthetics require a needle, syringe and local anesthesia. Local anesthetics such as lidocaine, bupivicaine and tetracaine are inexpensive, non addicting and not controlled substances. While regional can be an effective anesthetic for many surgical procedures, it is not well-suited for cases involving the chest, neck or head. However, in these cases, serious injury would most likely be fatal in a grid down situation.  Performing a regional anesthetic takes years of practice and training. 

I would caution readers that regional anesthesia is technically difficult and in untrained hands dangerous. While prepping is about being prepared, there are limits. If you are thinking about how to live in a grid down situation you are also accepting that medical care will rapidly slide back to the 1860s where most gunshot wounds resulted in amputation for the lucky and death for the rest, infant mortality was 10% – 15% and everyone knew someone that had a wife die in childbirth. Life will be brutal and short.

My best advise on how to prep fro m a medical standpoint is get all your vaccines up to date, have some antibiotics on hand, have some basic medical supplies, live healthy, pray hard and let the folks you care about know you love them.  If the grid goes down, most of the medicine provided for the seriously injured will be love, prayers and compassion as you watch them die.  You just can’t prep for the skills and missing infrastructure that medicine requires. – Dr. John F.

Avalanche Lily’s Bedside Book Pile

Here are the current top-most items on my perpetual bedside pile:

  • I got sidetracked from my planned queue of review books to read the autobiography Fingerprints of God by O.A. Fish. One of our readers sent it to me, thinking that I might enjoy it. O.A. reminds me that yes, God can ask us to do projects that would be impossible to do with just our own knowledge, wisdom and expertise. But through our daily petitioning and dependence upon Him, He will perform miracles. He will bring the people into our lives through divine appointment who are willing and able to perform the tasks to complete projects. God called O.A. and his wife to build a Christian camp on their property in North Carolina. Each chapter tells of how God brought one person after another to help in all the various aspects of building and running a camp, from building the house, digging the lake and pond, clearing brush, and even lawyers to help with finances, permits and taxes. Each of these people heard the story of what God was doing and how God led O.A. to them. They also caught the vision of the camp, offered their services and gave God all the glory. Some of you may ask, “Well, what does this have to do with SurvivalBlog topics?” My answer is: If we have a close daily walk with the Lord Jesus Christ from Nazareth (His correct title), then the Holy Spirit will guide us in every difficult situation we may encounter in our lives, now and in the event of TEOTWAWKI. Now is the time to develop the ability to hear His quiet voice guiding us! I do recommend this book. The Holy Spirit definitely guided Jim and I to meet each other much the same way as He guided O.A. Fish to build his camp.
  • Jim and I are slowly working our way through the Northern Exposure television series episodes on DVD. We are now starting into the second season. This is definitely not a show for kids. We enjoy watching it mostly because there are several characters that remind us of the real-life characters that live nearby us, here in The Un-named Western State (TUWS). The dialogue is witty, but there are a disturbing number of moral lapses portrayed, often without corresponding consequences. That is disappointing.

Economics and Investing:

Produce prices skyrocket with freeze in Mexico, Southwest. Stock up on dehydrated veggies, now!

Sid C. sent a link to some more about those fake Morgan Silver Dollars made in China. This television news piece mentions a couple of key indicators that you can use to detect fakes.

G.G. sent this: White House Expects Deficit to Spike to $1.65 Trillion

Goldrunner: The Golden Parabola

F.G. flagged this one: Will Chocolate once again become a rarefied luxury?

SAA Joe mentioned: U.S. Corn Reserves at Lowest Level in More than 15 Years

J.D.D. spotted this: Alan Simpson: U.S. Deficit Is ‘a Disaster’

Odds ‘n Sods:

Great news for Swiss gun owners: Swiss voters throw out gun law reform. I’m sure that Pro Tell members were instrumental in rallying this vote for liberty. (A hat tip to M.O.B. for the link.)

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Some SCA types muse about WWIII and societal collapse in a rousing filk ballad: Serious Steel. Despite the reference to “The Crunch”, I can’t claim to have had any influence on them. If anything, I think that they’ve been reading S.M. Stirling’s excellent “Dies the Fire” series rather than my novel “Patriots”. (Thanks to Alan B. for sending the link.)

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I just heard that Ready Made Resources now has in stock a small supply of “Just In Case” seven day food supply units from Mountain House. These are great to include in your bug out tote bins. They are  $129.95, shipping paid. I don’t need to tell you how scarce Mountain House foods have become in recent months. The supply on these particular units is so small (just 15 cases), that they are not listed on the RMR web page. Call them for details: 1(800) 627-3809.

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Pierre M. suggested this news story: South Korea chaos after ‘heaviest’ snowfall

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Readers in Canada will be happy to find an Ontario-based dealer with products available without the Customs Canada hassles normally associated with mail orders: Providence Supplies.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it is assumed all right-thinking people will accept without question. It is not exactly forbidden to state this or that or the other, but it is ‘not done’… Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness.” – George Orwell

Note from JWR:

Great news! The recently-completed SurvivalBlog archives database will allow us to produce an archive CD of all of the SurvivalBlog posts from 2005 to 2010. It will be fully searchable, and will be provided in both HTML and PDF. Effectively, it will emulate SurvivalBlog offline, on your PC or Mac. With this CD-ROM, you’ll always have access to the SurvivalBlog archives, even if the Internet is not available. And if you are on-line while using the CD-ROM, then the links to external web sites (from both HTML and PDF) will be fully functional.

The amount of information on the archive CD-ROM is immense. The HTML file has 44.6 megabytes of text and the PDF is more than 7,200 pages long! (So I don’t recommend printing a hard copy.) The new CD-ROM should be orderable from our Cafe Press store within a couple of weeks. (Please be patient.)

The Archive CD-ROM project is now in Beta testing. I’ll post an announcement once the CD-ROMs are orderable. The price should be around $20. Subsequently, we also plan to produce annual update CD-ROMs, with additional bonus materials.

America’s Transition to Preemptive Law Enforcement

There is a disturbing trend in American law enforcement and in our courts: They have been enforcing nonexistent laws, misapplying laws, arresting people who are obviously innocent, and arresting people on suspicion that they might be thinking about doing something illegal. This is similar to the policing philosophy in England, where police often preemptively detain people and seize household goods “for the safety of all concerned”. In my estimation, this is just one notch below arresting folks for “thought crimes” (a la Orwell’s novel 1984) or “pre-crime”, (a la Philip K. Dick’s novella that became the movie Minority Report.)

Here are some recent examples:

  • In 2006, Ward Bird of Moultonborough, New Hampshire was legally carrying a firearm on his own property when he warned a mentally disturbed woman trespasser to leave his property. She later filed charges against him and he was convicted of “Criminal Threatening.” (The jury was not allowed to hear about the woman’s mental history nor her long history of filing frivolous lawsuits.) His sentence was later commuted, but he didn’t get the full pardon that he deserved. As a convicted felon he can no longer vote or own a gun for the rest of his life.

The most recent article about Rev. Henry bothers me for several reasons:

1.) From the report, all of the guns seized seem to be perfectly legal, and the largest number of any category seem to be .22 rimfires. (I counted 54 of them listed.) This is hardly some would-be mass murderer’s arsenal.

2.) The report listed all of the guns by serial number. So they obviously ran traces on them. But there was no mention of any of the guns being stolen or in an illegal
| configuration.

3.) Since when is being a clergymen incompatible with being a gun collector? If it were, then they’d have to defrock more than 70% of the ministers who live in the southern and western United States.

4.) Why did the police lay out just the black guns from Henry’s collection for the press photographers? (I guess that the majority of guns with wood stocks looked too mundane and nondescript, hmmm?)

5.) Why would the guns and ammo even be seized at all, without a criminal charge or even reasonable suspicion to believe that a crime had been committed?

6.) Why do the police so consistently store seized guns by tossing them in garbage bins, resulting in lots of dings and scratches? Would they treat someone’s collection of Meerschaum pipes, antique radios, or Hummel figurines the same way?

7.) What exactly constitutes “too many” guns? (Where I live, 230 guns would be considered “a real nice collection”, but in Texas, Rev. Henry would just be considered a novice collector.)

8.) Since statistically cars kill more people than guns each year, then why is a big collection of fast cars cause for admiration, but a large gun collection cause to suspect the worst? (Unless, of course you are an anonymous millionaire.)

Conclusion

I urge SurvivalBlog readers to be vigilant. If you see or hear of incidents of “pre-crime” policing going on in your community, then speak up about it quickly and vociferously. Cell phones equipped with built-in video cameras are now ubiquitous, so film everything if you witness a questionable encounter with law enforcement, or have one of your own. Offer to help with the legal defense of those that are wrongly accused. Write letter to the editor of your local newspaper. If the “pre-crime” policing trend is allowed to continue, we can kiss the Fourth Amendment goodbye. We must be just as steadfast about the Fourth Amendment as we are about the First and Second Amendments!

I also urge law enforcement officers to show restraint when in doubt about the innocence of a suspect. You never know when you are going to push a wronged person the wrong way. You might end facing a Brian Christine, or a Gordon Kahl, or a Joe Stack, or a Carl Drega. Whether they are right or they just feel that they’re right, sometimes people are willing to stand up and fight to the death if they believe they’ve been wronged.

Letter Re: Advice on Shotgun Shells to Store

James: Some of your SurvivalBlog.com posts recommend storing 500 rounds per shotgun, but does not mention which types of shells.

How much should I stock of the following: Slugs, 00 Buckshot, #7-1/2 birdshot, #8 birdshot.

How many of each? Any other 12 gauge ammo type?  Also, what shotguns do you use?   Thanks for publishing a great blog! –  Jim B.

JWR Replies: The ratio of shells that you store all depends on where you live.  Do you live in duck country?  Quail country?  Rabbit country? Deer country?

If you live in duck country, then you should buy mostly #2 or #3 birdshot. (I used to use #4 lead shot, until steel or tungsten shot became mandatory.) In grouse country #6 birdshot should be your priority to stock. I like to keep a lot of the #6 size shot on hand because it can also be used to shoot rabbits. The #7-1/2 or #8 birdshot is preferred by most shooters for grouse, doves, ptarmigan, and pigeons, but I generally use #6 birdshot because of its greater versatility. (I’ve also found that my Saiga semi-auto shotguns are not reliable with smaller shot, but they cycle exceptionally well with #6 birdshot when the gas port is set to “1”–wide open.) I do have a couple of cases of #8 shot 1-ounce low base loads that I keep on hand for garden pest shooting, but that is mainly when I don’t have a .22 rimfire handy.

I generally prefer #4 Buckshot for self defense–not 00 or 000 Buck. I only have about 100 rounds of 12 gauge rifled slugs, since rifles are more appropriate than shotguns for deer hunting here in The Un-named Western State. BTW, I’m planning to test the new Hexolit slugs, once I find a stocking dealer in my region. That might become my preferred self-defense load, to alternate in my magazines with buckshot.

FWIW, I do not recommend any of the exotic shotshell loads that are heavily marketed at gun shows and in gun publications. “Dragon’s Breath” for example, is just an over-priced novelty item. I do have a few tear gas “Ferret” rounds, but I wonder if a situation that warrants their use will ever arise.

You asked about shotguns. I’m mainly a rifle shooter, so I don’t own many shotguns. Here at the ranch, our family has:

  • A Remington Model 870 Marine (corrosion-resistant variant) 12 Gauge with a black fiberglass stock and foreend.
  • A Remington Model 1100 “Youth” 20 Gauge.
  • Several restored Winchester Model 1897 12 Gauge. All of these are 1898 production, so they are Federally-exempt antiques.
  • Several Saiga 12 semi-autos. Some of them are waiting for the forthcoming Kushnapup bullpup stocks, while one is about to be converted by Tromix Lead Delivery Systems into a folding-stock gun. (Since left-handers cannot use bullpup shotguns.) All of our Saigas will soon be fitted with Monster Brakes that I ordered from Carolina Shooter’s Supply. The barrels will be cut and the brakes will be high temperature silver-soldered on by a gunsmith, yielding a 18.5-inch barrel length when completed.