Editors’ Prepping Progress

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To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. Note that as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

This week was a flurry of activity, as I prepared for more out-of-state travel: Chicken slaying, firewood cutting, hay hauling, slash piling, building a new chicken tractor, erecting a sun shade for the bull pen, a post office visit, various errands, and packing for my trip. My hands are still sore–several days later–after slaughtering, skinning, and butchering 8 young roosters, and then 10 more, two days later. I should reiterate that we have never been “plucker” types. Since we only rarely eat  chicken skin, it makes more sense to skin our chickens. We then either freeze them whole, or immediately boil them and save the broth and bone out all of the meat. This was the first batch that we’ve cooked, de-boned and then immediately pressure-canned.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.

For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.

In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;

And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.

And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.

Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.

But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.

Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.” – Micah 4 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 29, 2020

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On this day in 1780, the treatment of Patriot prisoners by British Colonel Banastre Tarleton and his Loyalist troops led to the coining of a phrase that defined British brutality for the rest of the War for Independence: “Tarleton’s Quarter.”

Tarleton and his Torries proceeded to shoot any an all Patriots that had surrendered after the fall of Charleston. The Patriots lost 113 men. The slaughter of the surrendered troops became a propaganda victory for the Continentals and Carolina civilians who had been terrified of Tarleton and their loyalist neighbors now rallied to the Patriot cause.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 88 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  5. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 88 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Rock Island Armory .22 TCM and .22 TCM 9R – Part 2, by The Novice

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

Dry Fire Practice

The integrated under Picatinny rail made it easy to attach my Mantis X10 shooting performance device to the Combo. In dry fire practice, I found that the sights lined up very naturally as I raised the handgun to a firing position. The trigger is not quite as crisp as the trigger on my Walther P99, but I do like the straight pull of the 1911 a lot. The grip is also not as ergonomic as the grip on the P99, but the angle of the grip is slightly better for me. I can easily see why so many love their 1911s.

With continued dry fire practice with the Combo, my average X10 scores trended upward as the trigger broke in, and as I became more accustomed to handgun. The fit of the X10 on the rail was somewhat snug over the Cerakote, so it was challenging to slide it on and off at first. This became easier with continued use.

The Second Range Session

On my next range trip, I took the Combo with the .22 TCM 9R barrel installed.

The provided Armscor ammo was 39 grain jacketed hollow point. The basic difference between .22 TCM and .22 TCM 9R is that the bullet is seated more deeply into the casing of the .22 TCM 9R. This makes the rounds shorter, allowing them to fit into a 9 mm magazine. The more deeply seated .22 TCM 9R bullet is more abruptly tapered, so that it remains in contact with the neck of the casing in spite of its deeper seating.

Like the .22 TCM cartridges provided by Rock Island Armory, these .22 TCM 9R cartridges had very pretty nickel plated casings. The shiny plating made it easy to find the empty casings at the end of the range session.

Both magazines loaded up well with all 17 rounds. I did notice that the mags seemed to hang a little loose in the mag well, so that they rattled if the handgun was shaken.

I used both ear plugs and ear muffs for this range session, since the .22 TCM 9R, like the .22 TCM, has a reputation for being noisy. That reputation was born out in the shooting.

The sights were evidently adjusted for the 9 mm barrel, and it took several groups to get them dialed in for the TCM 9R barrel. The firearm failed to return fully to battery on the eighth shot of my second group. I had no subsequent problems with reliability, suggesting that the firearm simply needed to be broken in.Continue reading“Rock Island Armory .22 TCM and .22 TCM 9R – Part 2, by The Novice”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the imminent collapse of used car prices. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Why The Gold/Silver Ratio Is A Useful Indicator

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Lawrie Williams: The dilemma that is silver

Economy & Finance:

Taxpayers Are on the Hook for 98 Percent of the Fed’s $6.98 Trillion Balance Sheet

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Some interesting data, from the Brookings blog: What weekly unemployment claims reveal about the local impacts of the COVID-19 recession.

“Initial unemployment insurance (UI) claims may provide a more current picture of regional labor market volatility. Each week, states report the preceding week’s data on initial UI claims to the U.S. Department of Labor. For this analysis, Brookings Metro compiled sub-state weekly data on those claims (where available) to examine metropolitan-level trends.

Many states publish these data—typically by county—on the websites of their departments of labor or workforce development each week. However, not all states publish such data; some provide no sub-state data, while others provide those data only on a monthly or cumulative basis.

and,

“As an early Brookings Metro analysis suggested, some cities felt the initial brunt of the COVID-19 recession earlier than others. Comparing total claims across the four weeks to initial employment totals by metro area shows that in just one month, as many as one-quarter of all workers in tourism destinations such as Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Myrtle Beach, S.C. lost their jobs, as work in hotels, casinos, and entertainment hubs quickly dried up.”

o  o  o

Biggest U.S. Mall Is Two Months Delinquent on $1.4 Billion Loan

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: The Unemployment Rate for Each State, from 7.9% in Connecticut to 28.2% in Nevada

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“It is unfortunately none too well understood that, just as the State has no money of its own, so it has no power of its own. All the power it has is what society gives it, plus what it confiscates from time to time on one pretext or another, there is no other source from which State power can be drawn. Therefore every assumption of State power, whether by gift or seizure leaves society with so much less power; there is never, nor can be, any strengthening of State power without a corresponding and roughly equivalent depletion of social power.” – Albert Jay Nock

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 28, 2020

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George Washington, a young lieutenant colonel in the British Army and future president of the United States, led an attack on French forces at Jumonville Glen on this day in 1754. This battle was later credited with being the opening salvo in the French and Indian War (1754 to 1763). In the biography His Excellency: George Washington, historian Joseph Ellis recounts Washington’s first combat experience. Washington and 40 colonial troops had been encamped near the French garrison at Fort Duquesne when he received an urgent message to rescue Indian allies in the area who were threatened by French forces. In his official report of the encounter, Washington described how his troops, aided by warriors under the Indian leader Tanacharison, surrounded a detachment of 32 French soldiers near the fort on May 28 and, within 15 minutes, killed 10 of them, including the garrison’s commander, wounded one and took another 21 prisoner.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 88 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  5. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 88 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Rock Island Armory .22 TCM and .22 TCM 9R – Part 1, by The Novice

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The following is my Range Report: on the Rock Island Armory .22 TCM and .22 TCM 9R models

Recoil influences my practical handgun accuracy. This made me wonder if I should experiment with a caliber that produces less recoil than 9 mm, which is my current go-to self defense handgun round.

First I checked out what was available in .380 ACP. I wanted something that was recoil operated with a double stack magazine and a four to five inch barrel. I could not find anything in .380 ACP that fit that profile.

Then Ruger introduced the Ruger 57, and my attention was drawn to the FN 5.7×28 mm cartridge. As I was studying that cartridge, I ran across some references to the .22 TCM. It sounded like a very interesting cartridge, producing muzzle energy similar to the 9 mm, while creating significantly less recoil.

I contacted Rock Island Armory to ask if I could borrow one of their full-sized M1911 A2s chambered in .22 TCM for testing and evaluation. They agreed to provide me with a sample (henceforth called the “22TCMFS”) along with 250 rounds of ammunition. Several days later I picked up the 22TCMFS from my FFL, and arrived home to find the box of ammo on my doorstep.

Opening the Box

The 22TCMFS arrived in what I consider to be an ideal sized case (11.5″ X 8.5″ X 3″). A smaller case would not be large enough to comfortably hold the firearm and magazines. A larger case would take up too much space inside of my gun safe. Another feature that I liked about the case was that it uses sliding latches rather than the less durable flexible plastic hinge type latches that are found on many cases.

Along with the 22TCMFS and two magazines, the case contained a plastic bag with an inspection certificate, two test fired casings, an Allen wrench, a small screwdriver tool, and the owner’s manual.

I read the manual to familiarize myself with the 22TCMFS, and to see how well the manual was written. The largest section of the manual consists of parts lists and exploded diagrams of the various models of Rock Island Armory 1911s chambered in .22 TCM. I noted that the manual claims that these handguns have an effective range of 100 yards, that this model weighs 2.448 pounds, and that it has a trigger pull of between 3 and 4 pounds. I was also interested to note that the manual recommends lubricating the 22TCMFS with 5 weight light machine oil or motor oil.

I took the 22TCMFS from the case and field stripped it to familiarize myself with its major parts. The 22TCMFS has a nice workmanlike black Cerakote finish. Its initial appearance was marred by splotches of excess oil. These were easy to remove in the initial cleaning.

The trigger was very smooth and broke crisply. The rear sight adjusts for both windage and elevation. The fiber optic front sight is quite easy to acquire. The slot on the rear sight is a bit narrower than I would prefer.Continue reading“Rock Island Armory .22 TCM and .22 TCM 9R – Part 1, by The Novice”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at Earth’s weakening magnetic field.

Suicide Deaths Exceed Coronavirus Fatalities?

Over at Lew Rockwell’s site: California Doctors Say Suicide Deaths Exceed Coronavirus Fatalities

Aussie Collegian Expelled for Criticizing China

A video linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Expelled for Criticizing China. A quote:

“Drew Pavlou is an Australian student at the University of Queensland. But he might not be for long. After staging several high profile demonstrations in support of Hong Kong protesters and criticizing China’s human rights abuses, his university wanted to expel him from school. Turns out the university has very close ties to the Chinese Communist Party. And it’s sparked media outrage in Australia.

The Upcoming Big Pig Cull

H.L. sent this: DOJ clears pork industry’s plan to collaborate on euthanizing hogs

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“In a civilized and cultivated country wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen. The excellent people who protest against all hunting, and consider sportsmen as enemies of wild life, are ignorant of the fact that in reality the genuine sportsman is by all odds the most important factor in keeping the larger and more valuable wild creatures from total extermination.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 27, 2020

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On May 27, 1861, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney of Maryland issued Ex parte Merryman, challenging the authority of President Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. military to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland.

On May 27, 1813, former President Thomas Jefferson wrote former President John Adams about the loss of their mutual friend, Dr. Benjamin Rush. Reflecting upon the loss, Jefferson wrote, “We too must go; and that ere long. I believe we are under half a dozen at present; I mean the signers of the Declaration.” Dr. Rush was instrumental in the reconciliation of Jefferson and Adams by initiating correspondence between the three of them. Both Jefferson and Adams continued to correspond until their deaths on July 4th, 1826– the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which all three had signed in 1776.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 88 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  5. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 88 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

The Semi-Prepper – Part 2, by Francis

34

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

In addition I stress myself at the range by exercising when I get there (running, pushups, jumping jacks.)  The idea is to degrade my performance by tiring and winding myself, which will show me how I will shoot under stress. Since I’m now in my 70’s, I feel the best home defense weapon is a rifle. Semiautomatic pistols are great but a rifle with its’ longer sight radius leads me to be more accurate. Also as I get older I am concerned about the complexity of the “manual of arms” for the AR-15, especially under stress and pressure and am now relying on the lever gun, Henry Repeating Arms, a great American company, they are simple, with no detachable magazine load or drop, no bolt release, no charging handle, and no safety to switch. There is a safety but no switch. They are not complex–just work the lever and trigger to use–and quite accurate. I understand they are limited in number of rounds but that is a tradeoff that I’m willing to take. Mine are tube fed. I’ve made (out of plastic pipe) a quick feeding device similar to the other tube feeding devices, but not as slick as commercial ones.

I have an M1 Garand, caliber .30-06. Note that the Garand should not be fired with today’s civilian .30-06 cartridges as modern day soft nose civilian hunting cartridges generate too much pressure. But there are cartridges made today that are suitable for the Garand. I generally shoot Greek Army surplus ammunition. My shoulder does not like the recoil so I used a Limbsaver recoil pad. It really does help. I also put one on my AR-15 and the results are great.

Some time ago, the surprise came to me when a friend stopped on the way to Florida. He wanted to shoot the M1 so we went to the range. I had won a steel target and target stand made for larger calibers on a stand so we shot at 110 yards. I did not expect him to shoot as well as myself and he did kick up some dust near the target. When we went to retrieve the target, the steel target was missing some paint but the stand had holes in it. The steel for the stand was ¼ inch thick. The AR-15 we shot barely scratched the stand. So with that we went to more than one rifle that will shoot the .30-06 cartridge. The target is a Shootsteel, Inc. Magnum Autopopper. They are very well made, and fun to use.

I reload and only buy in bulk for defensive ammunition.

Continue reading“The Semi-Prepper – Part 2, by Francis”

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books and movies–often with a tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food and storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This week the focus is on R&R brand Kydex holsters. (See the Gear & Grub section.)

Books:

A fascinating personal history, of life on the frontier: Fifty Years On The Trail: The True Story of John Y. Nelson, Frontiersman, Scout, and Guide

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For anyone who collects or invests in guns, here is a book that pays for itself, probably with your first gun show trip: 41st Edition Blue Book of Gun Values

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Quotes for Conservatives: Wit, Wisdom, and Insight from Conservatives Throughout History, by Garry Apgar

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Reader Mama Bear suggested this book: The Survival Doctor’s Complete Handbook: What to Do When Help is NOT on the Way.

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Lou Gehrig: The Lost Memoir

Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.” – Ernest Hemingway, in A Farewell to Arms

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — May 26, 2020

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May 26, 2020 is the 30th wedding anniversary of Don and Patrice Lewis. Patrice is Editrix of the excellent Rural Revolution blog. Pictured is their house in North Idaho, which is presently for sale. (They are now “empty nesters”, so they plan to move to a smaller house.) The house is situated on 20 acres of farm ground on a defendable plateau, near Heyburn State Park.

—

May 26th is also the birthday of Randall Hank Williams (Hank Williams, Jr.) He was born 1949. When not touring, he lives Somewhere in Montana, so he qualifies as a Redoubter. He reportedly has a large gun collection which is heavy on Sharps rifles and rifles that have factory letters showing that they were originally shipped to Montana. His song A Country Boy Can Survive is of course practically a survivalist anthem. His father was just 29 when he died, and despite a couple of close calls, Hank Jr. is now well into his golden years, so he may yet live to a ripe old age.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 88 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  5. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 88 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.