Three Letters Re: Frequency of Firearms Practice

James:
I’m writing in response to the woman who has enrolled in the Front Sight “Get a gun” [training, gun and gear] deal.

My wife and I (and our two kids) all went to Front Sight in June. I have always been a prepper wannabe. bought several firearms and all kinds of holsters and web gear. My wife really wasn’t interested in firearms.The Front Sight instructors were great. They really took extra time with my wife. She is very proficient now, we practice once a week “dry practice” in the basement when the kids are at school. then about every third week we go out into the wilderness and set up a couple of targets. I have a [Springfield Armory] XD45 and love it. She uses a XD9 and loves it. All of my other pistols are not really appealing to me anymore.

Be sure you buy a roll of Front Sight [gray paper pistol] targets while you are there. They really help you bring back to remembrance things they taught you. Don’t skip any of the sessions, be sure to go to the night shoot as well. There is so much information, and after you leave you won’t really have a chance to try it again.

BTW, my kids loved [the Safety and Youth Achievement course], and are begging to go back. We have a 6 year old boy and an 11 year old girl,)
Have fun. – Brad

 

James,
Regarding your reader who asked about dry practice and how often she should shoot: Shooting is important, but “dry practice” is almost magical. Done properly (Dr. Piazza’s manual is a perfect example), dry practice will keep you up to speed and even improve your shooting skills – all without firing a round. While I agree that you should shoot as often as is practical, remember that many people think you have to shoot tens of thousands of rounds yearly and go to the range weekly to keep up on your skills. Not so. While I don’t recommend it, I’ve gone 3-to-4 months without firing a single shot on more than one occasion. But when I finally got to the range, I did just as well or better than before because I kept up on my dry practice. Dry practice builds and maintains muscle memory, and reinforces good trigger control. Of course the old adage still applies: “Perfect practice makes perfect.” It sure isn’t as cool to “click” when you could be shooting real bullets, but if you’re limited on time or budget, it is a valuable substitute. Remember that even if you’re Joe millionaire, you should do more dry practice than live-fire. Shooting at the range is simply verification that your dry practice is being done correctly. – PPPP

 

Hi Jim-
The Front Sight pistol manual clearly states a preference for dry-firing practice. The rationale is that 1: you need to practice daily, if at all possible; 2: live-firing may produce bad habits before good habits can be ingrained. The manual emphasizes that “perfect practice” makes perfect. I think very few ranges allow the kind of “draw to the ready”, “point in” and “fire” anyway. If one did, I would never go there–who knows what clowns may be there with you.

By the way, with a decent CO2 pistol and holster, you can practice all the procedures, plus fire at a target in your garage or basement.
Added thought: at our latest visit to Front Sight we met a doctor and his wife who bought Certificates on eBay. I checked and they’re going for about $300. That’s a bargain! I guess that some First Family folks don’t care to share their certificates with family, friends or local police. (Which would be a wonderful idea!).

We stayed at the Saddle West RV park for $20 per night with full hookups and very clean restrooms. This Casino also gave us $5 vouchers for breakfast for each day of our stay. We had very nice breakfasts for only a dollar or two more. They also gave Brunch vouchers, but of course, we weren’t there to use them.

Do you remember the “hostage shoot-off”? You go one-on-one with another member of the group and whoever puts down the hostage-taker and two other bad guys first, eliminates the other shooter. The surviving shooters continue facing off till only one is left. A 16 year-old girl won that one on another range down from us. We had a couple of grizzly rambo types in our group, plus several older women (50 -65). In our group a rambo-type with cut-off t-shirt and tattoos, was beaten in the shoot-off by one of the women! As you were, we were once again astounded by the confidence and proficiency that resulted from the thorough, patient instructors.

We were there with about 400 others, the 2nd biggest group they’ve trained. But there’s plenty of room for more. – Bob B.

Odds ‘n Sods:

FFF mentioned this interesting forum thread: Going Off Grid in East Tennessee

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From our volunteer Economic Editor: Disheartened Wall Street Plunges For Third Straight Session — Paulson Says Troubled Assets Will Not Be Purchased — Best Buy (US #1 Consumer Electronics Co) Slashes Forecast Due To Consumer Slowdown — Bailout Already $3.5 Trillion; Expected To Get Much Bigger — Citigroup Freezes US Home Repossessions — Fannie, Freddie Ease US Mortgage Payments — Oil Falls To 20-Month Low — Dow Could Reach 5,000 By January 2009 — Gloom Commentator Gerald Celente Predicts Revolution — Possible Gun Ban/Increase Tax Creates Panic — Yellowstone Ski Resort For Super-Rich Files For Bankruptcy — Uncle Sam’s Credit Line Running Out? — US Unveils Mortgage Plan

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Tim K. suggested this: Unemployment by industry: Brace for Impact

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Howard in Wales been compiling a preparedness “manual” based on the US television series Jericho.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance, self-control, diligence, strength of will, content, and a hundred other virtues which the idle never know." – Charles Kingsley (1819 – 1875)

Letter Re: Frequency of Firearms Practice?

Mr. Rawles;

I took your advice and signed up for the Front Sight Gun (XD), Gear & Training special. I’ll be taking my classes in January. I’ve shot my boyfriend’s Glock .45–a “Mini” Glock Model 30– several times out in the desert. Oh, and BTW, I don’t know why the .45 [ACP] got such a bad rep[utation] for “heavy” recoil. It is not bad at all. My conclusion: The 9 Milly is not a “lady’s gun” [caliber]–its actually a round for training children. So I’m getting the .45 version of the [Springfield Armory] XD.

My question is, after my boyfriend and I get this training (he is now just about convinced to go with me), how often should I/we take target practice to keep up to good proficiency? Is the “dry practice” that Dr. Piazza mentions worth doing? (I live in an an apartment in the suburbs, and I’m not sure how I often I can get to a range, or out in the cactus (on BLM [-managed public land].) And, BTW, just for comparison purposes, how often do you go to the [shooting] range?. – Maria in Mesa, Arizona

JWR Replies: First, congrats on taking the plunge and attending Front Sight. You won’t regret it!

I recommend shooting as frequently as your time and budget allows. Once a week would be ideal to stay in top form. But with the current high prices of centerfire pistol ammo, you might consider conducting two out of every three shooting session with semi-auto .22 rimfire pistols. Dry practice is indeed quite useful, particularly in developing muscle strength and motor control. Note, however, that some stringent safety rules must be enforced and a safe backstop constructed, to eliminate the risk of a negligent discharge. Needless to say, failure to do so could have tragic consequences in an apartment building.

The Memsahib reminded me to mention that bird watching with heavy binoculars or a camera with a long lens is also great exercise for building arm muscles, acquiring targets, and practice holding a considerable weight perfectly still. The first time that the Memsahib ever shot a pistol (some 20+ years ago), she did amazingly well–in part because she already had several years of experience toting around a 35mm camera with a 200mm lens (and a 2X extender).

We rarely “go to the range”, since we live way out in the hinterboonies and we can step out our back door and shoot whenever we’d like. I generally shoot about once a month in bad weather, and once every 10 to 15 days in good weather.

Letter Re: Advice on AR-15 Magazines

JWR:
I am a bit confused on your recommendations for magazines for AR-15s. I don’t own an AR yet, but have been buying some magazines (30 round) from the manufacturer I have chosen to buy my AR from (Stag Arms). My question is this: would it be unwise to invest in mags such as Tapco or the Magpul brands? What do you mean by purchasing OEM mags? can these be from any AR manufacturer, even ones that are different from my AR manufacturer? Please clarify your thoughts on OEM versus aftermarket (e.g. Brownell’s, Tapco, Magpul, etc.).
Thanks a lot for your amazing blog! – J.B. from Michigan

JWR Replies: For most guns, I generally recommend buying only original government issue magazines, or factory original magazines. As I mentioned in several of my FAQs on firearms magazines, I consider most brands of aftermarket magazines little more than unreliable junk. Many of these have either dimensional problems (due to poor quality control), or insufficient heat treating of their feed lips. Both of these issue make these mags prone to jamming. You should avoid any magazines that are listed in mail order catalogs or online as “afterrmarket”, “commercial”, “G.I. type“, or “generic”.There are, however, some exceptions to this rule for AR-15 magazines that are made to full military specifications, and some brands or polymer magazines.

The makers to avoid include Triple K and the “USA” brand. This includes most of the steel M16 magazines on the market with the notable exceptions of SA80 magazines, HK steel (“Maritime finish”), and Sterling (England) steel magazines. (The Sterling mags work in both AR-180s and AR-15s.)

Some polymer magazines that do work well are Thermold, Beta (CMAG double snail drum) Orlite, and MagPul. (The latter makes the much-touted and incredibly robust PMAGs)

Most of the USGI contract alloy magazines are trustworthy, with the exception of Cooper Industries and some of the early (with black follower) DSI/Sanchez 30 rounders. For further details on M16 and AR-15 magazines, see my M16 Magazine FAQ. The “mil-spec” magazines sold by Brownell’s work fine, because they are sourced from a military contract manufacturer that has genuine mil-spec tooling and employs proper quality control.

Letter Re: Advice on Sources for Sandbags and Sandbag Filler

Mr. Rawles,

You mention about mass and the wisdom in buying sand bags stating ‘they are cheap’. I guess that is relative to ‘something’. I can not find them for less then $2.50 each and that is empty.
Have you priced sand lately? Where we live (midwest) it is not cheap. You would need a huge pile of it to fill enough sandbags to do much good for any purpose.
So, am I missing something here? Maybe I do not understand the ‘sandbag theory’. Please advise. Thanks, – Polly

JWR Replies: In the U.S. there are several good sources for sandbags , but prices do indeed vary widely, so shop around.  (From as much as $3.75 each in small quantities to as little as 38 cents each if you buy in lots of 1,000.) For example, see:

Ranger Surplus

Preparedness.com

1st Army Supply

If you want to buy in quantity (perhaps a group purchase that you can split several ways), it is best to order direct from a manufacturer, such as Dayton Bag, or Mutual Industries, or United Bags. (The latter charged $380 per thousand the last time I checked .)

And for our readers across the pond, here is a source in England: Surplus and Adventure

OBTW, be sure to buy the later variety synthetic (such as polypropylene) sand bags. The early burlap (or “Hessian”) bags tend to rot and rip out too quickly. The latest and greatest mil-spec bags use Linear Low-Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) or Polyethylene film laminated with a third layer of molten polyethylene. These have the best UV protection (and hence the longest useful life out in the elements), but they are also the most expensive. Even the standard military polypropylene bags will last two to three years in full sun, and much longer if painted or kept in the shade.

As for filler material. if sand is expensive in your area, then do some comparison pricing on “one half minus” road gravel, delivered by the dump truck load. (This is gravel that has been screened so that the largest pieces are no more than 1/2-inch in diameter.) I don’t recommend using soil, since sand or gravel are superior for stopping bullets. If you must use soil, then try to get either very sandy soil or heavy clay soil. Dry loam soil is the least effective for use in sandbags. Remember: the more vegetable matter in the soil, the lower its ballistic protection.)

Letter Re: Finding Retreat Locales in the US with the Lowest Taxes

Mr. Rawles,

I am a fairly new reader, but have been interested and amateur-involved in survival for years now. I came across a solid compendium of tax information on local tax burdens. Scroll to bottom and download Special Report 163. I find it very useful. This might be helpful in deciding on retreat locations, where you can get the most from your money. Thanks, – Stuart E.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Paul D. and Rourke both mentioned this Time article Extreme Green: Living Off the Grid

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Thanks to Garth S. for finding this: US May Lose Its ‘AAA’ Rating

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The 25% off sale on Mountain House and AlpenAire freeze-dried foods at Ready Made Resources ends in just two days. Don’t hesitate!

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News and commentary from the Economatrix: Credit Crisis Tentacles Reach Everywhere — Fed Okays AMEX to Become A Bank — Asian Stocks Fall as Confidence Drop — Countrywide Gas Prices — Crude Oil Falls Below $59/Barrel — These are Unprecedented Times (A nice re-cap that shoots down the idea this is merely a “recession”) — UK Mortgage Market to Shrink By 80% — Mexico Hedges Almost All of its Oil Exports — More Unintended Consequences of The Bailout — Greenspan: Clearly in Severe Recession (“Severe recession is newspeak for depression”) — Bond Insanity (from The Mogambo Guru)

Note from JWR:

Today, the US, Canada, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland honor military veterans, and those that made the supreme sacrifice. To those of you that have served, my heartfelt thanks. And for those of you that have lost loved ones, my sincere condolences!

Letter Re: Survival is About Skills–Practice Makes Perfect

Mr Rawles,
You’re regularly posting first hand stories about the need to test gear. Imagine my surprise when my arrogance that that didn’t apply to me proved false! You really do need to test equipment and skills! Unused tools (both physical and mental) are useless tools!

I store gas for my lawnmowers in two five gallon plastic containers. I figured that I’d pour what was left in them into my car when I put the mowers away for the winter. I know you always recommend being able to relocate more than one tank of gas away, so I figured I’d keep them rotated and full, emptying them into the car instead of bothering with fuel stabilizer. Lo and behold, you can’t just pour gas from these containers into a gas tank! Even with the nifty built in nozzle gadget that makes it perfect for lawnmowers – it doesn’t fit in my car! I need to buy a long-stemmed funnel like the kind my dad’s been using for decades. Your readers should check their equipment and their gas tanks for compatibility.

I also assumed I was good at building a fire from nothing because I was in the Scouts “back in the day”. Once again; unused skills deteriorate and disappear. I’ve been building fires in my home and in my backyard with big handfuls of crumpled newspaper. I thought I was skilled because I was gluttonously using an overabundance of available resources. Tonight I tried building a fire from a small handful of crumpled (and dry!) leaves. It turns out that often leaves will just smolder. I managed to build up my fire using two or three cotton ball sized pieces of newspaper instead of the six or seven whole sheets I used to use. But in doing so I also discovered the small pocketknife I regularly carry is only useful in shaving off tinder – it’s useless in splitting logs for kindling. My bugout bag has several larger knives, but now I will consider adding a hatchet (recommendations?).

I will also be making about a million fire wicks out of leftover supplies from an entertaining bout of candle making in my old apartment.

Finally, a note about teamwork and information. My wife is definitely coming on board for the whole “Preparedness” mindset. She’s started taking a martial arts class (a real one; not cardio kick boxing or other useless courses), we talk about what to do in case of emergencies, we’ve bought a small treasure of gold and silver, etc. However, the other night we learned something very valuable. We heard what she thought were gunshots (I think it might have been people using up old fireworks – but I digress) and she went to bring the dog inside. She brought with her an unwieldy lopper that I had left by the door. As I saw her coming back in, I asked her why she didn’t bring the pepper spray. She replied that she didn’t know where it was. Now, on your advice I bought several cans to (pardon the pun) pepper around the house, including basement and bugout bag. And I’ve told and I had shown her where they are. But she forgot. That’s another lesson: you might as well not even own any piece of equipment that you forget about when it counts.

You can’t possibly be too organized, you can’t possibly rehearse too often, and there’s no such thing as being too prepared.
We all are sending well-wishes and prayers for the Memsahib. – C.

Letter Re: Hunt Packs Available at Cabela’s

James,
I often read your blog and have read your novel , “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”, (and have given it as a gift to several folks!) I just wanted to let you and your other readers know about something I found at Cabela’s recently: 3-day and 10-day ‘Hunt’ Packs. These nifty boxes contain a mix of energy bars, gels, drinks, etc. designed for use by ‘Wilderness Athletes’. Aside from the humorous effect of the name, these are quite handy and can be ordered from Cabela’s on-line web store and may provide survival minded people an excellent option for Bug Out Bags, Car Kits, pre-positioned supplies, caches, or to give [charitably] to the unprepared after a natural disaster or terrorist type event. While the prices may be higher than some would like to pay, the manufacturer has done the work that some busy or family folks may not have the time or inclination to do.

Thanks for the information you provide! Regards, – Israel S.

Five Letters Re: Full Capacity Magazine Price Increases are Already Here

Jim,
I wanted to contribute this the following to your ongoing discussion on high capacity magazines.
Selling high capacity magazines is normally a small part of our business, but that changed last week. Between October 31 and today, we have sold more than I normally sell in a year.
I had stocked up anticipating increased demand, but was nowhere near prepared for the huge surge in sales that we experienced. A normal order was 3 to 6 magazines, now it is 12 or more and we have had several customers buy in quantities of 100+. As a result, we are completely sold out of AR-15 magazines. I have had 400 on order since before the election, hopefully to arrive some time later this month, but many are already allocated to back orders. I could use 1,000 more magazines, but I have no idea how long it will take the manufacturer to produce them, where I will be on their waiting list, or how much their price will have increased.

I sold out of Glock Model 23 magazines and am very low on Glock 19 magazines. I was able to re-order, but my supplier was out of a couple of varieties and the price has increased $2 each on the rest, so we had to raise prices. My profit margin was only $5 on Glock magazines, and one of my other suppliers is now quoting wholesale prices that are equivalent to what my retail price was.
This feeding frenzy should be an example to everyone who has delayed some of their preparations. Don’t wait until the panic starts — buy your long term storage food now. Get a water filter and grain mill while you still can. Buy your silver during the current dip. Survival supplies are tight, but things will get worse before they will get better. I have been in the survival business since before Y2K. (BTW, I have a 1997 edition of [your draft edition novel] TEOTWAWKI in its three ring binder on my bookshelf) and this is the busiest we have been since early 1999. – Dave (of Captain Dave’s)

 

Mr. Rawles
I found this online – it is at an AR15.com forum where folks are presently discussing who is raising their magazine prices and who isn’t: Stay safe. – David B.

 

JWR,
Brownell’s has still not raised any of their prices, as of this week. I have an account with them and bought a bunch of mags (AR and AK). Most of these are going to be traded off to my brother and some other contacts. Brownell’s AR mags are still $12.50. These are good quality and I have never had a problem with them. FYI, – Sarge

 

Sir,

I’ve seen similar goings on here in Memphis. General threat of mob violence on the night of the 4th and after if The One lost the election, so I went to pick up some extra buckshot and I figured a couple extra boxes of .45 while I was at it. First went to Sportsman’s Warehouse, but they were out of just about everything in the major pistol calibers except the exotic and high-dollar loads. The mountain of 9mm ball they’d laid in planning to put on sale this weekend was reduced to less than a mole hill.

They were also pretty much out of buckshot, too. Bear in mind that this is an outdoor sporting goods “big box” and not a gun store per se. I left there empty-handed and headed over to Guns & Ammo, my usual stop for same. I knew something was really up when a guy coming out as I went in had two black Glock cases and a blue SIG box in his arms and his son was carrying a double-arm-full of handgun ammo boxes. Once I got inside the store, it looked like Christmas Eve in there; people lined up three deep at the counter, which is about 50 feet long. All six employees were going like mad trying to keep up with the sales. I got the last half-dozen boxes of Hornady TAP buckshot and a few boxes of Winchester Ranger .40 and high-tailed it. Looks like everybody’s a bit worried, and with good reason. “May you live in interesting times,” indeed. – Booth

 

Jim:
A recent post said that Cabela’s in Texas was out of ammo. I live in central Indiana and my local Gander Mountain store is (by now) out of .223 and other popular Battle Rifle calibers so I thought I would buy on-line like I usually do. What a shock. Able Ammo, MidwayUSA and Cheaper Than Dirt are out of just about everything in Battle Rifle calibers. I’ve never seen anything like this ever. Most are not even accepting back orders. I stopped by a local but out of the way gun store and had trouble finding a place to park. The employee’s said you could not move around in the store on Saturday and the owner said he was thinking of going out of business after the first of the year. Interesting.

Friday, before work, my wife and I stopped by our local police department to request Concealed Carry permits. We got there Friday morning, 10 minutes before they opened. I was first in line and the lady asked me why everybody wants gun permits? Apparently it was a busy week for her. By the time I was fingerprinted and left the lobby was full of people, mostly couples, all seeking similar permits. These were all professional people. I live in a bedroom community where we have the highest per household income in the state. Something interesting is happening on in our country and intelligent hard working professional people feel the need to be able to protect themselves.

At a local outdoor shooting range, which was very busy despite 38 degree temps and wind, I talked to as many people as I could. They are mostly male in their late 30’s to 50’s. I ask them how long they have owned their weapon and the usual answer was “Since Tuesday!” There are a great many new shooters out there and they are not hunters. While they were not seeking training, at least they know if their weapon will fire if needed. I rarely see the same people again. Apparently, if the gun works, it works and that is the end of it. – Russ in Indiana

Odds ‘n Sods:

Michael W. noticed some great advice on assembling “Grab-‘n -Go” kits, by Kim du Toit.

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Seven readers sent us this: Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Identify Bank Loans. ($2 Trillion dollars in taxpayer funds, and no need to reveal the recipients?) Reader Dave S. made this comment: “I’m a little steamed. These guys are sinking the country and hiding it from the owners of this great land. They should be tarred & feathered.”

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The latest economic news and commentary from Cheryl: Circuit City Files For Bankruptcy Protection — GM Shares Plunge After Analyst Predicts They Will Hit Zero — Wall Street Falls, Unable to Shake Economic Woes — Expect Recession to Increase in Severity — Bloomberg Picks Fight with Federal Reserve — Fannie Mae Record $29 Billion Loss in 3rd Quarter — 70,000 More Banking Jobs to Go — Global Capital Stampede to Japanese Yen — Stunned Iceland Tries To Recover — Crisis Sweeps Nordic Region — AIG Gets Second US Bailout on $24.5 Billion Loss (for $40 Billion) — Three Trends Driving US to Economic, Dollar Collapse — Jobless Ranks Hit 10 Million, Highest in 25 Years — Economy’s Illness Keeps Spreading