Odds ‘n Sods:

The Green Mountain Gear “SurvivalBlog Group Buys.” for brand new-in-the-wrapper military specification C-Products M16/AR-15 30 round magazines at less than $10 each ends at close-of-business tomorrow. (Monday, March 26th.). See my original post on this for details, including the special Group Buy coupon codes. Don’t miss out! If the pending Federal ban is enacted, these magazines will suddenly be $30 each.

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The 2007 Idaho “Boomershoot” is now just over a month away. It is not too late to make a reservation. You just gotta love Idaho. There aren’t too many places where shooting at high explosives is considered a sport. Seriously, this annual event teaches good marksmanship, which is a worthy goal. From all accounts it is also a tremendous amount of fun.

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By way of The Daily Reckoning, economist Chuck Butler, writing in The Daily Pfennig notes: “In the statement released at the conclusion of its two-day meeting, the FOMC acknowledged recent data that shows both higher inflation and a weaker economy. This is pretty much a worst-case scenario for Bernanke and his boys (and girls).”

Notes from JWR:

Radio talk show host Steve Quayle kindly mentioned SurvivalBlog in his show recently, generating more than a thousand new visitors to SurvivalBlog. This demonstrates that there are a lot of people interested in preparedness that have never heard of SurvivalBlog. Please continue to spread the word, particularly on talk radio shows. Thanks!

A brief follow-up on our recent SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a Schecter “Warthog” Electric Guitar: The nice folks at Schecter Guitar not only threw in a free hard case, but they also sent it via Second Day Air (at no charge) to make sure that it arrived in time to be presented as a birthday gift. I just got the following note from the high bidder:

Jim,
The guitar arrived last night and it was more than I had hoped for. My son was ecstatic. It is absolutely gorgeous, and it sounds great. My son was very happy with the versatility and design of the instrument. I also wasn’t expecting the hard case that was included. I could blather on and on about it. Thank you so much for the “Warthog” and for making sure that it was delivered on his birthday. Please extend our thanks to whoever your contact is at Schecter. I suspect that this will be the first of many of their guitars at our house. God Bless, – D.C.

Letter Re: Advice On Retreat Locales in Nevada

Sir:

I am writing in regard to posting about Advice On Retreat Locales in Nevada, particularly about the Big Smoky Valley area. I am very familiar with the Big Smoky Valley and surrounding areas, I have camped, hiked, hunted, etc. there. There are numerous hot springs and ghost towns peppered throughout the valleys . The mountains are impressive and Mt. Jefferson is one of my favorite areas.

Now here’s the “but”: as for a retreat area: the area is very remote, everything will have to be brought in. The summers are very hot with range fires every year and the winters are extreme with heavy snow and temperatures plunging to -20 degrees (without the wind).

Water would be a critical issue, as there isn’t very much of it available. There are cattle and mining operations all over the area and I believe that securing any water rights would not be easy. The land is mostly under federal control and is leased out as open range for the cattle operations.

The closest town, Tonopah, is the county seat for Nye County. Tonopah is interesting, but any outsider is treated with suspicion. Law enforcement, both local and state, like to check newcomers and people passing through. Don’t even think of driving over the speed limit within 20 miles of Tonopah, you will receive roadside customer service. The last time I passed through, I was obeying all traffic laws but I was stopped by two state troopers for having mud “obscuring” the rear licenses plate on my truck.

It seems that Tonopah’s last heyday was when the MX Missile system was being developed there in the 1980’s. Since then, the missile project has been cancelled and the stealth fighters and the stealth facilities have moved to Utah and Arizona. There’s even talk of moving the county seat to Pahrump were the majority of the county’s population is located, over 165 miles away. Making any money as a start up business would be difficult, and the jobs don’t pay all that much. Unless you’re a government worker. Even the full service “gentlemen’s clubs” (brothels) have closed up shop. One would have to have enough money put away to last for some time.

Your best bet for remote areas worth looking into in Nevada would most likely be in Elko and White Pine counties, there’s water and the summers are not as hot. The town of Ely, in White Pine County, does have the state’s [only] maximum security prison. Something to keep in mind.

The Big Smoky Valley and surrounding areas are a great place to visit, but life there would be challenging at best. Best Regards, – Desert T

Letter Re: Lee Handloading Tools

Jim,
I’ve been following the links to all the surplus ammo dealers..most of that ammo is corrosive, old junk. Totally unreliable. This is a great time for people to start reloading, on the cheap! Here is a great link to Lee brand cartridge reloading tools. I bought the Challenger press kit and now reload .308 and 8mm Mauser. Lee Precision has the best prices I’ve seen and the product is top notch..The hand press is also cool. Its easy and after the initial investment things really go down in price: bullets, powder and primers are still cheap and brass, at this stage if you don’t load too hot will last many times (5-to-12 times). Great for practice at the range. [By handloading, you can make your own ammunition and] avoid all that messy corrosive junk that can foul or even ruin your firearms. – Jason

Odds ‘n Sods:

The Nanny State run amok: The California state legislature is currently considering AB 1634 — the “California Healthy Pets Act” — which would make it illegal to possess an unfixed dog or cat unless you obtain an “intact permit” from the state. Failure to comply with the law within 75 days would be punished by a fine of $500 per pet per 75-day period, with the only exceptions permitted being guide/service dogs and police dogs. I find it humorous that this is in California, where the populace was emasculated intellectually and politically decades ago by the PC crowd’s vocal whining and control of the mass media, and later emasculated tactically by California’s many gun laws. They will soon have their dogs and tomcats emasculated literally. The justification? No doubt they will say that it is for “the greater good.” California’s surrender to the left vaguely reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut’s short stories “Harrison Bergeron” and “Welcome to the Monkey House.” I am so glad to be a former Californian. My pioneer great grandfathers (who came out to California by covered wagon in 1852 and 1857) are surely rolling in their graves.

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Reader RMM mentioned that SIG Arms (USA) is teaching survival classes at it’s New Hampshire school.

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For those of your that live in wet climates, I noticed that CMMG now offers AR-15 upper receiver assemblies with stainless steel barrels. Basically the same effect as the Springfield Armory “Loaded” Series M1As with stainless steel barrels–where all of the other parts are parkerized. In both cases the shiny stainless barrel can be toned down with a blast of spray paint in short order, for tactical use.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“We used to say that if you saved just ten percent of what you earned, you’d never go to the poor house. That’s one of the first lessons I learned, and I’ve tried to do something along that line since. And I’ve never gone to the poor house.” – Ernest Everett Rawles (1897-1985)

Note from JWR:

We see Bald Eagles nearly every day here at the Rawles Ranch. (Mainly, they glide up and down the length of The Unnamed River.) Yesterday, on the way home from a church meeting, an eagle flew across the road, right in front of our car, just three feet above the ground –so close that I had to hit the brakes to avoid hitting it. What a great view, but it was a startling near miss!

Letter Re: Hidden Rooms and Compartments–Conning the Burglars

James:
Many people are worried about the security of their food, supplies, arms, etc., at retreats where they do not live. Burglars are usually working against a clock. This helps keep some items safe. But when a burglar has watched your retreat location and sees no one coming and going…time is on his side. With enough time, any door, lock, container can be opened—and all your stuff now belongs to him.
One thing we need to do is use your imagination–really use it.
If your retreat has a basement, the door to the basement will be found by a burglar with enough time. Answer? No door. It will take some work, but is easily accomplished during a weekend at the retreat. Remove the door, and trim, cut plywood or drywall to fit hole, tape, plaster, paint. Then age the wall with scuff marks. You know where the door was, but a burglar just sees four walls. Of course, if you have basement windows, these will need to be covered, and [gravel] fill used to make it appear as if nothing is there.
If there is a basement, the joists give you a ton of storage space. Screw [thick] plywood to basement side of the rafters, and now you have a space the depth and length of those joists. Do some calculations to determine what weight can be held. But there is a remarkable amount of room in there for dry goods, clothing, arms, food, ammo, etc. Paint the basement ceiling, and now anyone who goes down there and looks up just sees a ceiling. If you fear the weight is marginal for a ceiling to hold, then before putting up plywood ceiling take chicken-wire or similar wire screens and make a 3 sided “box”, open on top. Slip this into the joist area and attach with screws to side of joists. Then pack [the space] and attach plywood. Whatever you do, use a calculator before you do this work.
On a home that is not built over a basement, this will require some more in-depth carpentry work, but you can do it.
Every viable retreat will have various types of lumber stored, or it should. Find the right room [with a high ceiling] and turn board lumber on its edge. Picture 2x10s or 2x12s laying in a room, on edge, spaced 3 feet apart (or whatever you need). These will be the support for your new “floor”, built on the floor of this room. Secure the boards to existing floor. Stack canned goods, arms, ammo, clothing (whatever you have to hide) between the rows of boards. Plywood over the top, screwed down—but just enough to hold. Lay cheap carpet over the top [of the plywood]. You have just secured food, etc. But now, you will be faced with a “step up” to this room. No problem. Build ramps at entries to the room that appear as if a handicapped person uses the place. In fact, in the spirit of having a little “movie set”, make it realistic. You must “sell the con”, and this is a con game. You versus a burglar. Find an old wheelchair and leave it on-site next to the doorway. Build a rough ramp to front door, etc. Put down old carpet in this room, put some old furniture in it. You have now hidden a ton of goods, and only those who will wreck your house will find them.
Burglars usually want to steal something quick, and without a lot of work. If they loved labor, then they would have jobs. These ramps don’t have to pass an inspection. They see a ramp, wheelchair, think “handicapped”. The ramps in the house are only to disguise the false floor, nothing else. Pay attention at doorways to make certain the trim is not obvious.

Use your imagination. But remember: Don’t go making the place look like a mansion inside. This is a survival retreat, not a hopeful candidate for home of the year. Old ratty furniture and peeling wallpaper just helps sell the con [that there is nothing there worth stealing.] Dust and dirt and things that smell nasty can be cleaned up the first hour you are on site after SHTF. If you can make a burglar come in, look around and think “gross”, then you won. Good luck, – Straightblast

JWR Adds: Even if you have a monitored burglar alarm system, and even you have a vault, there is a huge advantage in making “dead space” disappear in your house, to conceal the majority of your preparedness logistics. Not everyone can afford to construct a walk-in vault. Just the vault door can cost $2,000+. But constructing a floor cache, a wall cache, or a hidden room is largely a matter of time and “sweat equity.” Think in terms “defense in depth”: What is better than owning a securely bolted-down gun vault? A gun vault that is concealed behind a false wall or panel. And what is better than that? A gun vault behind a false wall that is inside a house with a motion detection web cam or a IR motion detector camera system and a monitored alarm system. Motion detection web cams are available from X10.com. Battery-powered IR motion detector camera systems are available from Ready Made Resources. Monitored alarm systems are available from uControl Home Security . BTW, the latter two companies are SurvivalBlog advertisers, and would appreciate your patronage.

Letter Re: The Firearms Battery and Ballistic Wampum–Shallow and Wide, or Narrow and Deep?

Hi Jim,
You may have answered this question before, but I haven’t seen it addressed specifically. Over a significant period of time reading about (including the Profiles of people on your blog) and talking with people about preparing for the future, I’ve noticed two schools of thought regarding establishing a firearms battery for use in the event of societal breakdown. (Although the concept could be applied to most areas of preparation.) The two are:
1. Maintaining a broad range of firearm types and calibers, but in a shallow depth of supply. The idea here seems to be that of maintaining the flexibility of moving to another system/caliber if something should break or a logistics stream should dry up. It also allows different styles of tools to be available to meet the needs of differing sizes and physiques among the team members.
2. Maintaining a narrow range of firearm types and calibers, but in greater depth of supply. The idea here seems to be that of maintaining familiarity with the given system and simplifying the logistical stream.
How does one determine the correct approach and, if the second, narrow down the list of possibilities from all of the choices available (even excluding the obvious rare or unusual choices)?
I have an idea of how you will answer, but thought it might be a good discussion to which others can contribute their rationale. – Jim H.

JWR Replies: I am definitely in the “narrow but deep” logistics camp. Commonality of calibers, magazines, spare parts, and weapons familiarity all have their advantages. In general, I recommend buying duplicate modern firearms chambered in common calibers such as .308, .30-06, .223, .7.62×39, .50 BMG, 12 Gauge, .22 Long Rifle (rimfire) .45 ACP, .40 S&W, and 9mm Parabellum.

My “generic” guidance for North America is as follows, but your mileage may vary, depending on your locale and your preferences:

Main Battle Rifles: M1A, AR-10 or FAL variants (Including the L1A1.)

Secondary (Intermediate Cartridge) Carbines: AR-15, M4gery, or AK-47

Shotguns: Remington 870 or Mossberg 500 series, 12 Gauge

Long Range Counter-Sniper/Hunting Rifles: Remington Model 700 or Savage Model 10-series .308 Winchester (or possibly .30-06 in Canada–see note below on M1 Garands.)

Ultra-Long Range Counter-Sniper/Hunting Rifles: Wind Runner .50 BMG, or a Spider Firearms Ferret .50 if you are on a tight budget.

Primary Defensive Handguns: Colt, SIG, Kimber or Glock .45 ACPs or possibly .40 S&Ws (See below.)

Secondary/Concealment Defensive Handguns: Smaller Capacity Colt, SIG, Kimber or Glock, with cartridge and magazine commonality with your primary handguns. Good choices include the Colt Officer’s Model, the Kimber Ultra Carry II, and Glock Model 30.

For all of the above, buy ammunition, spare magazines, spare parts, spare optics, and cleaning equipment/supplies in depth. That means a bare minimum of six spare magazines per handgun, and 8 magazines per rifle. Also, be sure to acquire a full set of load-carrying “web gear” for each long gun. And if you have the option to buy stainless steel for any particular model, then I advise that you buy the stainless! (Someday your great-grandchildren may thank you for doing so.)

Boston T. Party’s excellent book “Boston’s Gun Bible” is an outstanding guide the subject or firearms selection. Coming from the same generation, Boston’s views are quite similar to my own. (Although he is a Glockophile, while I’m more of a M1911 Dinosaur.)

The only exception to the preceding general guidance would be for specialized firearms, that are added to a battery because of A.) regional peculiarities, B.) legal loopholes, or C.) exceptional logistical circumstances.

Regional peculiarities could include:

1.) Proximity to a national border. If you live close to Canada, for example, then it might be wise to own L1A1 rifles (which have parts and magazine commonality with the obsolete but still warehoused Canadian C1 service rifles). Other possibilities include Lee-Metford or SMLE rifles chambered in .303 British.

2.) Plentiful big game such as Elk, Moose, and Caribou, which would necessitate adding a belted magnum caliber. If this is true of your region, then make inquiries to determine which caliber is the most popular in your particular region.

3.) The presence of dangerous predators, particularly brown bears and grizzly bears. This might mean adding a handgun in a potent caliber such as .44 Magnum, .454 Casull, .45 Winchester Magnum, or .500 S&W.

4.) Caliber commonality with the local gendarmes. If the local police or sheriff’s department issues an unusual caliber such as 10mm or .357 SIG, then it might behoove you to add a couple of pistols and plenty of spare magazines and ammo to match. Or, if you are dyed-in-he-wool .45 shooter, but your local PD issues .40 S&Ws, then it might be wise to add a couple of the same model to your battery, funds permitting. If nothing else, having the extra ammo and magazines on hand might earn you a few Brownie points when the balloon goes up.

5.) Especially draconian gun laws or strong local social stigma on open carry that might push you toward purchasing very compact/more concealable handguns. If this is the case, then who knows? Perhaps an AMT Backup .45 ACP or even a Kel-Tec .380 ACP might be a better handgun for you to buy.

Legal loopholes could include:

1.) Owning an oddball caliber in a state where a particular caliber is banned. For example, California banned .50 BMG rifles, but wildcat .49 caliber cartridges based on the same cartridge case are legal. (At least for now. Just give those Nanny-staters time. They’ll eventually ban everything except butter knives.)

2.) Some countries such as France and Mexico restrict ownership firearms in “military” chamberings such as .223/5.56mm NATO, or .308/7.62mm NATO. So in those locales it would be illegal to own a Mini-14 chambered in .223 Remington, but it might be legal to own one in .222 Remington. And likewise you can’t own an M1A chambered in 7.62mm NATO, but it might be legal to have one chambered in .243 Winchester. In Mexico, you can’t own a .45 ACP, but you can own a .38 Super or a 10mm. (The details on these laws go beyond the scope of this post. Consult you local laws and a local attorney.)

3.) Pre-1899 guns in the U.S. (and pre-1898 guns in Canada) provide a special opportunity to acquire some guns without a “paper trail.” Laws on antique guns vary widely between countries. See the new Wikipedia page on Antique Guns and my FAQ on pre-1899 guns for details. Antique guns are available from a number of vendors including The Pre-1899 Specialist (one of our advertisers), Empire Arms, and Wholesale Guns.

4.) In Canada, nearly all centerfire semi-auto rifles have magazine restrictions, limiting them to five round magazines. But there is a specific exception made for M1 Garands, which use an 8 round en bloc clip. So Canadian preppers might consider making M1 Garands their main battle rifles, and buying bolt action counter-sniper rifles chambered in the same cartridge, for the sake of commonality.

5.) In Australia, nearly all semi-automatic rifles are restricted, but bolt actions can still be purchased. (Albeit with registration.) This makes SMLE bolt actions–including the Ishapore 7.62mm NATO variants particularly attractive.

Exceptional logistical circumstances might include:

1.) The importation of large quantities of military surplus ammunition in an unusual caliber. For example, in the past decade, milsurp 8×57 Mauser has been cheap and plentiful. And more recently, large quantities of 7.62 x 54 R (the Mosin -Nagant and Dragunov high power ammo) have been imported into the U.S., at prices far below the prevailing prices for most modern centerfire caliber ammunition. This makes it advantageous to buy a rifle in one of these calibers–particularly a pre-1899 specimen–to take advantage of cheap, plentiful ammo, for target practice. Similar opportunities might arise in the future. For example, if a boatload of 7.5 Swiss ever comes to our shores, I can assure you that I will buy a lot of it, and couple of Schmidt-Rubin straight-pull rifles to use that cheap fodder.[The Memsahib Adds: Dream on, Jim! It’s not like we don’t already own enough ammo.]

2.) Acute shortages of particular calibers might necessitate buying alternate arms, or in exceptional circumstances even re-barreling some of the guns in your battery. The current wars in the Middle East have created some spot shortages. Only time will tell whether or not these will turn into chronic shortages. One historical side note: During World War II, virtually all of America’s gun makers transitioned to almost exclusively filing military contract orders. During the war, civilian hunters were eager to buy almost any gun in almost any caliber that they could lay their hands on. There were plenty of buyers, but precious few willing sellers, and new guns were very scarce.

Odds ‘n Sods:

“The Army Aviator” mentioned: Scott at American MilSpec has a really good phosphorescent paint for $12.50 per bottle. He says that it works best if you lay down a thin coat of white, then the Phosphorescent paint then a coat of clear. “It’s so cheap, I got two bottles, painted everything and have hardly tapped the first bottle. Stuff goes a long ways. Also handy on light switches, flashlight mounts, locks, or any other place you might need a quick reference in the dark. I figured it’d be Bravo Sierra but the dang stuff works!+

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Hawaiian K sent us this piece on honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)

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The Green Mountain Gear “SurvivalBlog Group Buys.” for brand new-in-the-wrapper military contract C-Products M16/AR-15 30 round magazines at less than $10 each ends at close-of-business on Monday (March 26th.) See my original post (on Thursday) about this, for details.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“As long as liberals refuse to concede a point, it remains ‘unsettled’.” – Anne Coulter, Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism, p. 48

Note from JWR:

Green Mountain Gear has just announced the first of a series of Green Mountain Gear “SurvivalBlog Group Buys.” This one is for brand new-in-the-wrapper military contract C-Products M16/AR-15 30 round magazines at near wholesale pricing. (Most dealers charge from $14 to $17 for these , but in the Group Buy they will be less than $10.) These full military specification 30 round alloy magazines have durable gray Mil-Spec moly coating, and the latest orange anti-tilt followers. Pricing is as follows:

10 magazines: $9.99 each ($99.90) Shipping is $5

50 magazines: $9.65 each ($482.50) Shipping is $7

100 magazines: $9.30 each ($930.00) Shipping is free

For the group buy, the ordering increments are strictly 10, 50, and full cases of 100. Here is the product ordering link.
To get the special SurvivalBlog Group Buy pricing:
Add 10 magazines to your cart and enter special coupon code “sb10“
Add 50 magazines to your cart and enter special coupon code “sb50“
Add 100 magazines to your cart and enter special coupon code “sb100“
Those Survival Blog coupon codes will automatically adjust the pricing. And GMG will adjust the shipping charges manually when they process your order. Note that these coupon codes will only work for the quantities listed. (You must order in increments of 10, 50 or 100.) My advice: Order in quantity, folks! If congress re-institutes a magazine ban (H.R. 1022 is currently pending), then prices will skyrocket! The last time that there was a Federal Ban (from 1994 to 2004) the price of M16 magazines tripled, almost overnight! This Group Buy is such a good deal that I’m planning to buy a case of 100 as an investment (and for eventual barter), even though I don’t even own an AR-15.

Letter Re: Intestinal Flora and Health

Hi Jim,
I have gotten a lot of information from SurvivalBlog and thought maybe I could contribute something in return. I recently also became a Ten Cent Challenge subscriber and urge all of your readers to do so.

I am not a big believer in doctors or drugs, except only when absolutely necessary. After all, doctors are the #3 cause of deaths in the U.S.!

There has been a lot of talk in SurvivalBlog about maintaining good health and nutrition and making sure to stock lots of vitamins and other supplements, and I heartily agree with this.

One thing that I have not seen mentioned a lot on your blog is how to maintain good intestinal flora. I am no expert in this, but have found a number of low-cost ways to do this. I am in my late 50s and over the last few years started experiencing a lot of heartburn and acid reflux and started looking for natural ways to handle this. What some people do not realize is that using antacids to handle heart-burn actually has the opposite effect in that the antacids neutralize the acids in the stomach, but also cause the stomach to produce even more acids to counteract their effect.

One thing that I have found that is very good for heart burn is garlic. There is a product called Kyolic that works very well and as garlic has many other benefits, it should be taken in some form, on a daily basis.

However, I found for the long term, the best thing to do is to take small amounts of raw fermented foods every day. I’m sure that one of your readers can tell us the physiology behind this, but I only concerned that it is workable. The following are a few suggestions:

The least expensive and easiest thing to do [to promote good intestinal flora] is to make naturally cured sauerkraut. I found a very simple recipe at this site.
This makes naturally fermented sauerkraut in about 3 days and it is excellent. My wife is German and she says it is as good as what she used to eat at home. In order to benefit from all of the beneficial enzymes and bacteria, I eat it raw.

There is another variation on sauerkraut called cabbage rejuvelac, which was developed by Dr. Gray many years ago. The recipe can be found at this site. Instead of eating the fermented cabbage, you drink the liquid that it was made in.

There are also a number of sites that have recipes for Ann Wigmore’s wheat rejuvelac and I have not tried any of these yet, but I suspect they give similar benefits.

I also regularly make kefir [cheese], as this is easily made from cow or goat milk and does not require any special equipment. Kefir grains can be purchased from Marilyn the Kefir Lady. Kefir grains last pretty much forever, in fact they keep growing and I have to periodically give some away. Marilyn also has recipes on her site for making kefir cheese.

I also make fresh yogurt and buy the starter from Cheesemaking.com. My favorite product of theirs is the kefir culture. This sets up like yogurt, but I much prefer the flavor to the
other yogurt cultures that they sell. It also doesn’t require any special equipment and can be cultured at room temperature. This differs from the kefir made with kefir grains in that the kefir
made with kefir grains is much more liquid than that made with kefir culture.

I also recently found an interesting site: http://bodyecology.com/ where there are recipes for raw cultured vegetables. While I have not tried any of the recipes yet, I plan to quite soon.
BTW, I do not have any affiliation with any of the above web site. I’m just a satisfied customer. I hope this is of interest. Best Regards, – Kurt

Two Letters Re: .223 For Long Range Sniping?

Dear Jim,
I’d like to kick in my two cents worth on the Blackwater snipers in Najaf, seeing as how I was in country when it happened and know a number of the people involved.

There appears to be a great deal of Monday morning quarterbacking going on regards this incident, so I will lend some background on it.

The entire thing started when US troops tried to shut down Moqtada Al Sadr’s newspaper and arrested a number of his henchmen (I won’t call them lieutenants, because they’re not worthy of it). The response from Sadr’s followers was rather unexpected and widespread. It blew up all the way from previously quiet Shiite areas in the south to the environs around Baghdad (to include the back wall of BIAP [Baghdad International Airport] where we personally took down a number of fence jumpers on the second night of the “uprising.”)

In a short period of time, the governors residence in Najaf was surrounded and cut off from the outside world with only a small PSD [Personal Security Detail] inside, a handful of Marines and a number of principles from both local government and CPA [Coalition Provisional Authority]. This was a lightly equipped bodyguard detail whose usual duties were running protection on the roads, shuttling their principles between meetings. Again, this was a very quiet area. Next thing they knew, they were surrounded by a jabbering horde of Mahdi militia. They got on the phone to Green Zone HQ in Baghdad and filed a SITREP that read something like, “Surrounded by swarms of jabbering, screaming brown ones firing wildly. Send Help, over.”

Blackwater responded to this situation by sending their infamous “Little Birds” down there with the sniper team and as much ammo as they could carry. This team was drawn from the perimeter over watch detail that works the environs around the Green Zone. They use accurized .223s because they are dealing with urban ranges and fleeting targets; mostly 100-400 yards, with the speed of a follow-up shot becoming a critical factor. Very hard to hit running, crouching people who don’t want to get shot, even for seasoned snipers (which [if] you work for Blackwater in that job, you’re a Tier 1 operator). You invariably tap out a few rounds at them as they scamper between their rat holes. Far easier to do this with a heavy barreled .223 than a mule kick .308 or Winchester Magnum.

The .223, firing Black Hills Match, does very good work in that environment, I assure you. It also did decent enough work down in Najaf where the range was a bit stretched.

Would an M1A have been a better “Choice” for the Najaf engagement? Technically speaking, sure. So would a couple of MG-42s and some 81 mike-mike mortar. But when you start factoring in ammo load, the capacity of that particular helicopter and the limited blade time they were able to devote to just Najaf, you are drifting into “perhaps.” There were other locations under the same sort of threat, but only two little birds, so air lift was definitely limited.

When the call came down, these guys had about 15 minutes to saddle up and roll, so they went with what they had and they did some serious killing with what they brought, holding off a large number of attackers for several days. (Who were about the same caliber as the looter bands encountered in “Patriots”, I’d venture. Determined, ruthless amateurs.)

So, the lesson to be learned from all of that? Grab the good ground, hold onto it and be able to hit whomever with whatever you have at hand. Rarely in these situations do you get to set things up the way you want to, so you roll with what you have to and you make it count. That’s where training and experience come in. Pit the expert with a .223 against a gifted amateur with a .308 and the expert will invariably win.

And for those who doubt it, the .223 has killed a lot of people over the years. I know, I’ve seen the bodies. And for those who know how fast ammo gets burned up in a firefight…well…we can carry lots and lots of .223. When you’ve got 500 meters of open, flat ground between you and their “spear points gleaming” well, I’ll give you a head start for the sake of fairness, but you’re unlikely to get to the wall. That is how it played out at Najaf in the end. – Mosby

 

Dear Mr. Rawles,
You were quite correct to state “here we go again!” when one of your readers cited the Najaf video as proof that the 5.56 made a good precision rifle round. I happen to have come in contact with the Sniper shown in that video, through AR15.com. From memory (as I can’t find the discussion in the archives) he mentioned that he was having to shoot the bad guys several times (7 or 8 is the number in my mind) to take them out of the fight. He also said that wished he’d had a [.308] AR-10 or SR-25 for that engagement or at least a 6.8mm SPR, if memory serves.- Griff