Taurus TH9 Pistol, by Thomas Christianson

The Taurus TH9 is a full-sized, hammer-fired, SA/DA, semi-automatic, polymer-framed, 9mm handgun with a 17 round magazine capacity. It is reliable, accurate, and reasonably priced, with a manufacturer-suggested retail price of $389.99

Background

I am a big fan of single action/double action handguns with decockers. I have been ever since my son first let me fire his Beretta 92FS. I like the extra measure of deliberation that the double action mode requires in a first shot, and the greater accuracy that the single action mode makes possible in followup shots. I really appreciated this feature in one of my all-time favorite handguns, the Walther P99. In fact, if Walther offered a full-size version of the P99, I would try to be first in line to buy one.

I also like hammer-fired handguns. I like being able to quickly and easily determine visually whether or not a handgun is cocked. I like being able to quickly and easily cock a handgun if it is not already prepared for single action use.

So when I heard about the Taurus TH9, I was eager to give it a try. I sent a message to my contact with Taurus, and they were kind enough to agree to provide me with a sample for testing and evaluation. Before too long, I received a message that the handgun was at my FFL, and I went to pick it up.Continue reading“Taurus TH9 Pistol, by Thomas Christianson”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

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A blog reader in Tasmania sent a snail mail letter, warning of a “regulatory change” that will soon go into effect, canceling the long-standing “Exemption 4” for antique guns. The law redefinition requires registration, making an application for a “limited individual exemption”, upgrades to existing firearms licenses, and “gun cupboard” storage of all antique (pre-1900) guns on the island. This is regardless of a gun’s ignition system — even matchlock and flintlock muzzleloaders.  The only legal alternatives will be selling or surrendering those antique guns.  The officials haven’t yet decided what the “training requirements” will be for the owners of all those pre-1900 antique guns. What insanity! The officials of course say that this change is for “public safety.”  Each day, the chains of tyranny get a little stronger, all around the world.  Readers in the Commonwealth: I beg you, don’t surrender your antique guns for destruction!

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Reader D.S.V. suggested this essay from The New Atlantis: Things Used to Work in This Country.

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Great Reset Watch: EU Parliament Approves ‘Digital Identity Wallet’.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 5, 2024

On March 5, 1963, American country and western singer Patsy Cline—who was one of the classic performers of the genre, known for such ballads as I Fall to Pieces and Crazy—died in an airplane crash near Camden, Tennessee, at age 30. Also killed in the crash were Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Randy  Hughes.

This is the birthday of Howard Pyle (1853-1911) an influential American book illustrator, painter, and author. He was the mentor of many great American artists including Thornton Oakley, Frank E. Schoonover, Allen Tupper True, and of course his most famous student: N.C. Wyeth.

March 5th is also the anniversary of the Boston Massacre. (March 5, 1770. ) It was one of the key precipitating events for our War of Independence.

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I recently added a very scarce re-sleeved and re-proofed factory-engraved Purdey Double Barrel 12 Gauge Shotgun to my Elk Creek Company online catalog.

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Today’s feature article was too short to be included in the judging for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

We are in great need of entries for Round 111 of the contest. More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 111 ends on March 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.

An Illegal Alien Military Invasion, by Mike in Alaska

The united States of America has been invaded by an illegal alien military force almost equal to what is termed a Field Army. I am going to focus on one report of illegal aliens crossing the border from Mexico, and in particular the breakdown of data of who those illegals are, and where they came from.

The data in the list below is courtesy of Newsmax.com I had two concerns; the sheer number of aliens caught and processed and released at a checkpoint in Texas, and the demographic breakdown of this group.(1)

Using their numbers, I am going to break down how this comprises a military force invasion. Take into consideration that this is only one small unit of illegal aliens; the true number of illegal aliens allowed into this country I believe is unknown at this juncture of the invasion.Continue reading“An Illegal Alien Military Invasion, by Mike in Alaska”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we focus on the Snake River dams.   (See the Region-Wide section.)

Region-Wide

Reader A.K. spotted this slanted opinion piece from the hard-left Idaho Capital [sic] Sun newspaper-lookalike website): Rewilding the Lower Snake : How cultural values of a free flowing river exceed those of a reservoir. (According to LeftistAgendaPedia: “States Newsroom is a U.S. tax-exempt organization that serves as an umbrella organization for state-focused news outlets with progressive editorial outlooks. Launched in 2019, it began as a sponsored project of the Hopewell Fund, a left-leaning nonprofit that does not disclose its donors. It grew out of NC Policy Watch, a progressive think tank in North Carolina founded by Chris Fitzsimon.”)

Idaho

Resolution calls for suppressors to be regulated like guns. It now heads to the Idaho House.

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Two more earthquakes hit near Smiths Ferry Friday morning. A pericope:

“This comes after a series of quakes hit the area on Monday. Friday’s first quake, a 3.5 magnitude, hit at 6:16 a.m., followed by a 2.6 magnitude at 6:51 a.m.

It’s been a busy week for the area, on Monday the area was hit by a 4.9 magnitude earthquake, a 2.7, a 2.5, and a 2.8 with trembling as far south as Mountain Home, Idaho.”

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Post Falls Library asking for volunteers to help clean-up severe damage.

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Reader C.B. sent this expected news: Donald Trump defeats Nikki Haley in Idaho’s Republican Caucus.

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Idaho Falls: MacKenzie River Pizza still in operation after settling civil suit.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“All of anarchism, libertarianism, and anti-Statism can be traced back to the rise of Protestantism. The USA – founded by Protestants (often extremist Protestants expelled from their own countries) is where the love of the individual and hatred of the collective is practically written into its Constitution, which is extremely Protestant in its character.” – Steve Madison, The Quality Agenda: The Search for Excellence

Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 4, 2024

On March 4, 1681, William Penn secured from King Charles II of England the colonial province of Pennsylvania in North America, hoping to provide a refuge in the New World for Quakers and other persecuted people and to build an ideal Christian commonwealth.

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And on March 4, 1955, the first radio facsimile (or “fax”) transmission, was sent across the continent.

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I mailed out the first four-page hardcopy issue of the SurvivalBlog Old School (SOS) Newsletter on Friday. If you’d like to get a copy of that first issue and become a subscriber, then send a donation of $55 or more to:  SurvivalBlog, P.O. Box 303, Moyie Springs, ID 83845.  Be sure to include some mention of  “SOS” or “505” inside the envelope. For your privacy, I recommend that you send payment via money order, USPS PMO, or cash. Also, please use the same address in the upper-left corner of your envelope.

To clarify: The blog is updated with fresh daily, almost without fail. It has been operated this way since 2005. We’ve never had any e-mailings. We keep NO e-mail lists! The voluntary Ten Cent Challenge is intended for donations to support the blog. For a separate fee, we recently added the SOS hardcopy U.S. Mail newsletter, but that is just a contingency mailing list, for the event that blog posting becomes unavailable, due to government or Internet service action. I’ve only promised one issue per year, and perhaps a few others, sporadically. More frequent or longer issues will be added only if SurvivalBlog itself is disrupted from WWW posting.

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Today’s feature article was penned by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.

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We are seeking entries for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 111 ends on March 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.

Zastava PAP M77PS .308, by Thomas Christianson

The Bottom Line, Up Front

Capable of surprising accuracy when using the right ammo, the Zastava PAP M77PS in .308 Win offers an AK pattern rifle chambered in .308 Winchester. It is durable, reliable, and comes with a 20 round steel magazine. If you are looking for a semi-automatic rifle chambered in a full-powered rifle cartridge with a magazine capacity of more than 10 rounds, this rifle may be a good choice.

The Back Story

I must admit to a certain fondness for AK-pattern rifles. They have durability and reliability that appeals to me. It is true that in some ways they resemble tractors more than limousines. Some might see them as ungainly or even ugly. But under field conditions, they are likely to function a higher percentage of the time than many more-refined-looking firearms.

Although I like rifles which were originally designed east of the Iron Curtain, I like those rifles best when they are chambered for cartridges that were originally designed west of the Iron Curtain. Simply put, 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm are ballistically superior to 7.62x39mm and 7.62x54R.  They both are also more readily available on the U.S. market.Continue reading“Zastava PAP M77PS .308, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week: Spoon Bread

The following simple recipe for Spoon Bread is from Good HouseKeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries (253 pages, copyright 1925, now in public domain). That is one of the 11 bonus books included in the 2005-2023 edition of the SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick.

Ingredients
  • 1 pint milk
  • 1/2 teaspoonful baking powder
  • 1/2 cupful cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoonful salt
  • 3 eggs
Directions

Heat the milk nearly to boiling. Stir in cornmeal gradually and cook until the consistency of mush. Add the baking powder, salt, and the yolks of the eggs beaten until tight. FoId in the egg-whites beaten stiff. Pour into a greased baking dish and bake one-half hour at 350 degrees F.

SERVING

Serve at once with plenty of butter, from the dish in which it was baked.

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Do you have a well-tested recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long-term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven recipes, slow cooker recipes, and any recipes that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 3, 2024

On March 3, 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes was inaugurated in a private ceremony, following a hotly-contested election.  According to the Rutherford B. Hayes Library web page:

“The election of 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel Tilden of New York was one of the most hostile, controversial campaigns in American history. Tilden won the popular vote and led in the electoral college, but 19 votes from three Republican-controlled states (Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina) remained disputed. Oregon’s count was also challenged. Allegations of widespread voter fraud forced Congress to set up a special electoral commission to determine the winner, composed of fifteen congressmen and Supreme Court justices. The commission finally announced their decision only two days before the inauguration. The vote was 8-7 along party lines to award the disputed electoral college votes to Hayes, making him the winner.”

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Today is the birthday of bluegrass musician Doc Watson. (He was born in 1923 and passed away in 2012.) His guitar work was phenomenal.

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This is also the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell, and actor James Doohan, in 1920. He played Montgomery Scott in the Star Trek television series and films. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He passed away on July 20, 2005.

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Today’s feature article is a guest piece selected by JWR.  It was written by Montana-based economist and commentator Brandon Smith, the Editor of Alt-Market.us. Brandon Smith is also the editor of the excellent subscription newsletter The Wild Bunch Dispatch.

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We are seeking entries for Round 111 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 111 ends on March 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.

Globalists and Their Psychopathic Religion

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the western world experienced a sudden burst of open occultism among the ultra-rich elites. The rise of “Theosophy” was underway, becoming a kind of fashion trend that would ultimately set the stage for what would later be called “new age” spiritualism. The primary driver of the theosophical movement was a small group of obscure academics led in part by a woman named H.P. Blavatsky. The group was obsessed with esoteric belief, Gnosticism, and even Satanism.

Blavatsky co-founded the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875, claiming that she had a psychic connection to beings called “the Mahatmas” or “the masters.” These creatures, she asserted, helped her write the foundational books of Theosophy, including ‘The Secret Doctrine.’

I bring up Theosophy and Blavatsky because the movement she helped launch was primarily an elitist one – The spread of occultism in the early 1900s specifically targeted the upper classes and this resulted in many political leaders and financial leaders being involved in obscure organizations with secretive mandates. Such groups have existed in the past, from the Rosicrucians and Freemasons to the alchemists of the Middle Ages who hid their occult beliefs in coded texts. However, never before had they been so public in their efforts.

To their credit, the early theosophists were mostly apolitical (at least outwardly) and they argued against political intrusion into people’s lives. I suspect, however, that this was because at the time western governments revolved around Christian and conservative values. As politicians became more separate from Christianity, the theosophist interest in controlling government grew and the movement became increasingly socialist in practice.Continue reading“Globalists and Their Psychopathic Religion”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR:

Meme Text:

Houthis in Yemen Cut Telecom Cables That Linked India and Pakistan With Europe
So, Now Little Old English Ladies Will Be Safe From The Internet “Tech Support” Scammers

News Links:

Houthis hit submarine communications cables.

Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks!

Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.