Notes From JWR:

Please continue to spread the word about SurvivalBlog. Tell your friends. Just adding a SurvivalBlog icon to your web site or mail .sig adds tremendously to our exposure. Thanks!

The bidding is now up to $180 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a fully tested and recently professionally calibrated U.S. government surplus Civil Defense CD V-717 fallout survey meter with remote sensing capability. The meter was donated by Ready Made Resources (one of our first and most loyal advertisers). This auction ends on October 15th. Please submit your bid via e-mail.

Some Thoughts on Ammunition Handloading, by Inyokern

I’m a bit surprised at how little discussion there is of ammunition reloading. While the .223 Remington (5.56×45 NATO) is an imperfect military round, its very easy to reload and the cases last pretty well if you are precise and careful about your loads. Midsized calibers like .308 loads even better, and is less fussy than small calibers are. I realize than an autoloader doesn’t take well to reloads, nor is it reasonable collecting spent brass ejected from one on a battlefield. In addition, most milsurp brass is Berdan primed which is almost impossible (very difficult) to reload. Same with steel or aluminum cases. In a bolt action rifle that’s another story. Reloading lets you do something that large quantities of money won’t. It gains you accuracy at a modest price for a modest firearm. It is reasonably easy to learn how to tune a load to a specific rifle so that it shoots its best. Sometimes that means 3 rounds in the X ring at 100 yards. Sometimes that means 5 in an even smaller hole. I know from experience that even cheap bolt action milsurp rifles can be tuned to the level of small overlapping holes with even modest barrels. If that’s all you can afford, you need it to hit what you aim at. There’s little point investing your whole budget on arms when you also need food and water and hopefully a small solar panel for a radio so you can find out what is going on. Information is worth gold in a Post Peak scenario. You have to make do with what you can afford.

Yes, stocking up on reloading supplies is another expense, but its a satisfying one if you’re already bunkered in place, and it gives your shooting training a purpose: testing loads and bullets on paper and steel at various ranges. Isn’t it expensive to get into reloading ammunition? (you ask) Not really. About $150 for a single stage press and dies for one caliber, plus brass, primers, and powder as much as you care to fiddle with (another $20-$100). There’s lots of information online, but reloadingbench.com is a useful resource, as well as a means to help you choose a caliber. Not everyone can take the recoil of the .308 Winchester (7.62×51 NATO), and most want more power downrange than the 7.62×39 can deliver. Finding the right cartridge for your area’s terrain, game, and conditions can be an enjoyable bit of research. While the .308 is often the right caliber for most grown men, .243 Winchester is dandy for many applications (with a 24″ barrel), and .270 Winchester has a nice bit of range capability. Target shooters love the .308, western hunters like the .270, and those who do both like the .260 Remington (duplicates the 6.5mm Swede but in a .308 case) and the 7mm Magnum (though it is tough on cases). When you reload, the caliber doesn’t matter very much (same amount of work to load .308 as it is to load 6.5×284, 8x57JS Mauser, or 6mm PPC) so choose the one with recoil, range, and punch that suits you best. Its also useful to note that some calibers which can be abusive in a light carry rifle (like the Mosin Nagant M44 or M39) with 170 or 200 grain bullets can turn into pussycats with real range shooting 125 grain .311 bullets and the appropriate powder (3200 fps and 10 ft-lbs recoil instead of 2700 fps and 32 ft-lbs with a 200 grain). Cuts down on muzzle flash and recoil. Tune your load to your barrel and you can turn a wincing rifle into a marksman’s rifle. I have done it, so I know.

If you’d like a link describing what it is like to load your own ammo, a gent of the shooting persuasion writes articles at Realguns.com. Here’s the link to his articles, which has three parts. Be sure to read these. He’s a great old guy and moved to Maine from California to enjoy better gun laws and lower taxes. I encourage all survivalists to learn and practice reloading with their bolt or break action rifles. It is great practice and will give you good appreciation of what an accurate rifle can do. Sincerely, – Inyokern

JWR Replies: Sorry that I’ve been remiss in covering reloading topics. Some of our readers in Europe and Canada might disagree with your assertion that it is difficult to reload Berdan-primed brass. It can be done, but it takes a special two-pronged Berdan de-capping tool. The real bugaboo here in the States is finding a source for Berdan primers. My favorite source is The Old Western Scrounger. OBTW, for our readers down in Oz, I’ve heard that Berdan primers are also available from NIOA Trading in Australia.

             

Letter Re: Invitation to a Blog “Carnival” on Preparedness and Survival

Hi Jim,
I’ve been a sometime reader of your blog since last year, and wanted to invite you to submit an article for the first issue of the Carnival of Preparedness & Survival. If you are willing, you can also extend the invitation to your readers. I can’t promise to use everything that’s submitted, but some of your readers have had interesting things to say, and I’d like to have as much variety as possible in this Carnival. Best Regards, – D.S.

         

Odds ‘n Sods:

MurrDoc mentioned that some very durable and water tight 25mm cannon ammo cans are back in stock at Sportsman’s Guide at what he called a “not-too-bad price.” See: Item JX – 6M106293 described in their catalog as a “25 mm cannon Shell Case” $11.97 each plus shipping.

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From The Australian: Modern Cities are More Vulnerable Than Old. (Many thanks to Felix for sending the link to this thought-provoking article.)

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Front Sight has just posted their 2007 training class calendar. I highly recommend the training there. The Memsahib and I have both trained there and we can vouch for the professionalism of the instructors and the superb quality of the training. As I’ve said before: A $20,000 battery of guns, accessories, and ammo is nearly worthless without the proper training. At least get one family member trained, and then that individual can train others.

Notes From JWR:

To generate some cash for an upcoming major purchase, I have reduced the prices on many of the guns, gun accessories, and books in my mail order catalog. Please take a look.

The bidding is now up to $155 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a fully tested and recently professionally calibrated U.S. government surplus Civil Defense CD V-717 fallout survey meter with remote sensing capability. The meter was donated by Ready Made Resources (one of our first and most loyal advertisers). This auction ends on October 15th. Please submit your bid via e-mail.

Letter Re: Advice on Storage Foods Not Requiring Cooking







Dear James,
My wife and I work long hours and hardly ever cook. We would like to store food but don’t want to rely on anything that has to be cooked. Any suggestions? Thank you, – M.P., Fort Lauderdale, Florida

JWR Replies: Although their per ounce/per calorie cost is higher, there are a couple of approaches that I can suggest for your situation: retort packaged cooked entrees (including U.S. military”Meal Ready to Eat (MRE) entrees, and freeze dried Mountain House entrees. Neither require cooking. The retort packaged entrees are “heat and eat.”, while the freeze dried entrees are “just add water, heat and eat.” For general guidance on the various methods of long term food packaging and their respective storage lives, see the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. Several of our advertisers sell retort packaged and freeze dried storage foods. To help support SurvivalBlog, please visit the web sites for the following food storage vendors, first. When you contact them, please mention the blog. Thanks!
 Survival Enterprises
Freeze Dry Guy
JRH Enterprises
Ready Made Resources
 Safe Castle
PrepareTV
Civil Defense Supplies
Best Prices Inc. Storable Foods of Texas
Nitro-Pak

Letter Re: Swords and Bows for that Dreaded Multigenerational Scenario

Dear Jim,
I agree there are crossbow-type weapons that are very powerful. However, 1,200 lbs draw weight is not a typical crossbow. That is a later period steel-proded piece, and were typically used with a pavise (portable shield), two assistants and infantry in support. A good many were dolly mounted. Payne-Gallwey’s book was written in 1886, when it was still believed that a longbow was at most 70 lbs of draw, and that the stories from the Hundred Years War were exaggerated. We have since found archaeological evidence that supports the longbow. (Not to mention all the dead crossbowmen at the Battle of Crecy.) Also keep in mind that these heavy crossbows weighed a lot more than the 2-3 lbs of a longbow, and required external mechanisms–cranequin or windlass–to be attached and detached between every shot. There were specific needs for those weapons, but it’s not something the typical survivalist should worry about. The larger arbalests shot what amounted to short, heavy javelins that certainly had better range than any tactically employed bow, but the rate of fire was greatly reduced.
The main consideration for power is that there is a limit to the velocity one can accelerate an arrow to. All things being equal, the longbow’s greater draw length allows more arrow mass that retains velocity better. A 700 lb crossbow accelerates its bolt to about the same 130 fps an 80 lb longbow does…and a recurve is much more efficient than most longbows. The heartwood/sapwood Welsh bow is the textbook “longbow” in this discussion. There are definitely crossbows that have better range than most normal longbows. But when the subject is hand-spanned bows without external cocking aids, the longbow or recurve is far superior in range. In both cases, modern materials provide superior results–fiberglass crossbows achieve better range and velocity with a lower draw weight because of reduced internal friction, lighter string mass and better acceleration of the prod under tension.
The crossbow has several advantages I mentioned but didn’t detail at length. If the first shot counts (and a crossbow is easier to aim), all is well and good. But the longbow archer will get off multiple shots in return before the crossbow is ready again. Both have their place. For defense inside the house or other close quarters, I’d certainly go with a crossbow, as it is easier to wield within the confines, and one can have a shot ready for an intruder at one’s moment of choice. Against multiple opponents at range, however, the longbow (or recurve) comes into its own. Also consider that a crossbow string gets more friction from the stock and release mechanism and will wear out faster.
The re-enactor groups also have plans for both tension and torsion driven engines, as well as for counterweight types (Trebuchets) which can hurl spear-sized projectiles several hundred yards. I haven’t built one, but they are typically constructed of standard 2 x 4s and 2 x 6s, often with pick handles as the arms. These are certainly viable point defense weapons to conserve firearm ammunition, though they are bulky.- Michael Z. Williamson

Letter Re: The Developing Oil and Gold Price Divergence

Jim,
This is just my opinion, based on years of observation (rather than facts and figures) but I think I know where most of this is coming from. Politics. The oil companies are thriving under Bush/GOP rule and so they’re playing their part like they so often do, rolling back the source of so much anger and irritation (gas prices) and giving the false sense that things are “getting better”. I fully expect them to rise again, quickly, right after the election. Bush and company will restart their massive theatrical performance of real and implied violence against oil producing nations (always a moneymaker) and his friends in the oil business will go back to shoveling lucre into their accounts. I would remind you of the overwhelming preponderance of oil company people who took up residence in the Bush administration and that some of them (like Dick Cheney) continue to collect a sizable paycheck from the companies that they either order non-bid contracts for or who have tremendous influence on pending business that comes up for consideration by the administration. As soon as the election is over (and whatever the outcome) oil prices will rise again. Bet on it. Regards, – Jim K.

Odds ‘n Sods

In response to the recent posts about off-road capable campers, Doc at www.bigsecrets.cc mentioned some very well made utility trailers, ATV trailers, and camper trailers–all in the same unit. He highly recommends them.

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Economist Dr. Gary North comments on the debt burden for the next generation. Sobering stuff.

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Once again, BATFE agents have re-interpreted both their agency’s standing rules and Federal law, as it suits their fancy. This time a field agent decided that a rifle parts kit, less a receiver, constitutes a “firearm.”

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"It is in the nature of government to grow like fungus. The framers of the Constitution set out bottles of bleach and sponges, and left general indications of where the general populace could get more if they wanted. These days, most people are arguing whether they want black mildew or pretty shrooms." – Xander Opal

Notes From JWR:

The bidding is now up to $125 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a fully tested and recently professionally calibrated U.S. government surplus Civil Defense CD V-717 fallout survey meter with remote sensing capability. The meter was donated by Ready Made Resources (one of our first and most loyal advertisers). This auction ends on October 15th. Please submit your bid via e-mail.

Tonight will be the first airing of the new CBS television series “Jericho.” I hope that this show is long on practical skills and short on sentimentality, but I suspect that the reverse will be true. Regardless, I ‘m hopeful that the show will at least help wake up some of the Generally Dumb Public (GDP) and inspire them to get their beans, bullets, and band-aids squared away.

Letter Re: New Jericho TV Series

Dear Jim:
CBS will air its new drama Jericho tonight, where a small Kansas town is suddenly faced with a nuclear explosion in the distance. As Larry from Kansas in Yahoo groups points out, there is in fact nowhere in Kansas where one can stand on a roof top and see mountains in the distance. While it will no doubt be entertaining to see what other liberties Hollywood takes, I do hold out great hope of this new take on nuclear war as a continuing drama, and that for the first time, many folks will suddenly realize: “Hey, I might not die, so then what do I do?”. The show holds promise, but cynicism as to how the major media treats survivalists is of course warranted if not wise, and historically supported. I have started a group on Yahoo (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JerichoCBS/) for discussing this show specifically, and plan to welcome non-survivalists into our discussions. All are welcome to join as long as they abide by certain rules of etiquette and go easy on the newbies, the intent is to be inclusive – Rourke

Letter Re: Winter Fuel Blends and Fuel Storage Life

Jim,
If [liquid fuel] prices continue to plummet then a good thing to do is stock up on winter fuels when prices bottom out. Didn’t you say winter/cold weather fuels have an advantage over warm weather production? – Jason in North Idaho

JWR Replies: Yes, gasoline formulations do vary seasonally here in the United States. Here is a good reference on the subject, although I think that it overstates the risk of vapor lock running winter blend gas in the summer. The most notable difference is that winter blends are oxygenated in some regions of the country (typically with a light admixture of ethanol) and extra butane is added nationwide, to make starting engines easier in cold weather. The ethanol does not significantly affect the storage life of the gasoline. However, because the butane gradually evaporates from stored fuel, it is best to store “winter” blended fuel. (This generally available at gas stations between October 15th and April 15th of each year. The extra butane will typically make the fuel viable for an extra year. Regardless of the blend that you buy, you should store it in sealed, full containers that will not allow moisture to be absorbed from the atmosphere. Also, be sure stabilize it with PRI-G, STA-BIL, or a similar product. Also, be sure to buy a couple spray cans of ether-based engine starting fluid. That way you can probably still start an engine even when using very old gasoline that no longer has any significant quantity of butane. (Inevitably though, even if you compensate for the loss of butane and avoid water contamination, even well-stored stabilized gasoline will build up tars, gums, and esters as the gasoline decomposes. To assure that you have at least one vehicle that is still operable three+ years into a long term scenario, be sure to buy a diesel or perhaps a liquid propane (LP) conversion vehicle. Both of those fuels store much longer than stabilized gasoline!