Savage Model 220A in 20 Gauge, by Thomas Christianson

My maternal grandfather owned two shotguns. One was a rusty old 12 gauge with a cracked buttstock and a broken butt plate. The other was a nice little Savage Model 220A in 20 gauge.

When I was in my teens, I said to Grandpa, “I would like to try to repair that 12 gauge for you. If you like the work, you can give me the 20 gauge in payment.” That was a foolish offer on my part. Why would Grandpa want to give up a dandy 20 gauge just to get a battered old 12 gauge repaired. But for some strange reason, he agreed. Perhaps the 12 gauge held some sentimental value for him. Perhaps he just wanted an excuse to give me the 220A. In any case, I bought a book on hobby gunsmithing and went to work on the 12 gauge.

I removed the furniture and stripped off the old finish. I removed the broken piece from the buttstock, fabricated a replacement piece, and glued it into place. I shortened the buttstock by the thickness of a rubber recoil pad, shaped the edges of the pad to conform to the buttstock, and refinished the furniture with Tru-Oil. I field stripped the metal parts, removed corrosion from the barrel, re-blued the barrel, and replaced the missing bead. The was little that I could do about the pitting inside of the bore.Continue reading“Savage Model 220A in 20 Gauge, by Thomas Christianson”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is 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. In today’s column, new advances in UGVs.

US Army’s Unmanned Hunter Wolf UGV in Field Tests

Over at Modernity: US Army Trials Unmanned Hunter Wolf Robot With Gun, Radar In Combat Drills. Here is a quote:

“The U.S. Army is quietly putting armed robots through their paces alongside real soldiers – and new footage suggests these machines could soon be a regular sight on tomorrow’s battlefields.

Fresh imagery dropped on Monday by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service shows a Hunter Wolf unmanned ground vehicle rolling with the 101st Airborne Division during a full-on combat simulation at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) in Louisiana. The display amounted to a serious stress test in one of the Army’s roughest training environments – where ideas either prove they work or get ditched fast.”

Is “Opting-Out” Nearly Meaningless?

By way of Tam at the great View From The Porch blog, there is this, over at 404 Media: Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit.Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“As to the history of the revolution, my ideas may be peculiar perhaps singular. What do we mean by the revolution? The war? That was no part of the revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years, before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington.” – John Adams, from a letter to Thomas Jefferson, August 24th, 1815

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 22, 2026

On April 22, 1056 Supernova Crab (the Crab Nebula) was last seen by the naked eye. Pictured is a mosaic image assembled from Hubble Space Telescope imagery.  Now, nearly a thousand years later, the supenova remnant is still a spectacular sight for astronomers.

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At noon, on April 22, 1889, by Federal decree, white settlers were allowed into Indian Territory, sparking a land rush involving tens of thousands in what became Oklahoma Territory.

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We are running a two-week-long sale on all of our pre-1899 antique shotguns at Elk Creek Company, with deep discounts. This sale will end on Monday, April 27th, 2026. Please note that some of these guns have been re-sleeved and re-proofed for modern shotshells!

A Tale of Two Appleseeds – Part 2, by N.C.

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

Understand that applications are on you

Appleseed events are threading a needle. They need to say that they are not fomenting rebellion or any illegal use of force. They have to say this because they are pointing to our American heritage of marksmanship…without which our rebellion against the brits would have failed. You don’t need to be a lawyer to see the tension. The only way you can survive that tension is by erring on the side of liability protection. They are not teaching hunting. They are not teaching self defense. They are not organizing a paramilitary movement. They are teaching our heritage of marksmanship using a traditional and clearly sporting (rather than practical) method. And they are teaching our shared history. And no more.

Since I’m not affiliated with Appleseed, I can discuss application with you but even I, as a private citizen, have to be careful. I have to be careful largely because there are crazy people who will misinterpret what I am saying to fit their warped views. A hard fact is that some people are on the wrong side of that line between preparedness and paranoia. I find that impressive because there’s such a large acceptable area to draw that line. But some people will always go too far.Continue reading“A Tale of Two Appleseeds – Part 2, by N.C.”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

Our 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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Automatic Draft Registration Set to Begin in December. (Pictured above is peacetime draft registration in the United States, in 1940.)

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Winter storm warning issued as 5 feet of snow, freezing temperatures barrel toward western US highways.

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Blog reader C.B. sent us this: Suspects convicted for insurance fraud after staging costume bear attacks in luxury vehicles caught on camera.

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Orbán era swept away by Péter Magyar’s Hungary election landslide.

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Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“European thinkers have long criticized America for remaining trapped in a Lockeian world with its weak decentralized government and strong individual rights. They say our 18th-Century declaration has prevented us from progressing to higher forms of government. But we were fortunate not to trade our Lockeian bonds for the supposedly enlightened world of Hegel, Marx, and their followers. Fascism, which after all was national socialism, triggered wars in Europe and Asia that killed tens of millions. The socialism of the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China proceeded to kill more tens millions of their own people. This is what happens when natural rights give way to the ‘higher good’ notions of history, progress, or, as Thomas Sowell has written, ‘The visions of the anointed.’ None of this, of course, was an improvement on the principles of the Declaration [of Independence].” – Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in an April 2026 speech in Texas

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 21, 2026

On April 21, 1864 the U.S. Congress passed the Coinage Act of 1864, which led to the “In God We Trust” wording on U.S. coins. The phrase was eventually added to all of our country’s currency.

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And on April 21, 1961: USAF Major Robert M. White took the X-15-2 to the edge of space with a record-breaking flight to an altitude of 107,700 feet and a speed of 3,603 miles per hour.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value).
  2. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  3. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.
  4. Heaven’s Harvest is providing one of their Original Heirloom Seed Kits (a $139 value.)
  5. Harvest Guard is providing a 200-Piece Bulk Mix Pack of their Regular and Wide-Mouth Reusable Canning Jar Lids & Gaskets. This is a $161 + shipping value.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
  3. Preparedness author Jennifer Rader is providing a $200 purchase credit for any of her eight published food storage and medical preparedness books, including the Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café series, the Armageddon Pharmacy series, and the Medicine Surrounds Us series.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN 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 gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $984,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 124 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. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

A Tale of Two Appleseeds – Part 1, by N.C.

I recently went to two Project Appleseed shooting events. I went to one with friends one by myself. One was in the south in the summer the other in the north in the winter. There was a lot the same at these two events and a decent amount was different. There was a more negative experience for the first one and a more positive in the second, though neither was entirely positive or negative.

How were these events different and why? Those are the questions I’m asking and answering here. I want to answer those questions both for the clinics themselves and for the subjective experiences. The quick answer for why there was minimal benefit for the first is down to experience and expectation. Although there were also issues with their liability insurance, growing pains in the organization, and some confusion about equipment requirements. I want to unpack that a bit and separate personal issues from organizational ones.Continue reading“A Tale of Two Appleseeds – Part 1, by N.C.”

SurvivalBlog’s American Redoubt Media of the Week

This weekly column features media 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. Today’s feature photo is a public domain image of Trout Lake at Yellowstone National Park, taken by “Always Shooting”. It was taken in 2014. The thumbnail image below is click-expandable:

 

 

 

Send Your Media Links

Please send your links to media from the American Redoubt region to JWR. Any photos that are posted or re-posted must be uncopyrighted. You can do so either via e-mail or via our Contact form.

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“There are 1011 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it’s only a hundred billion. It’s less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.” – Dr. Richard Feynman

Preparedness Notes for Monday — April 20, 2026

On April 20th, 1653 Oliver Cromwell and 40 musketeers forcibly dissolved the English Rump Parliament, after it failed to establish a caretaker government. In Cromwell’s words “You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately … In the name of God, go!”

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April 20, 2010: An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, leased by BP, killed 11 workers and began spewing an estimated 200 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly three months, creating the worst known offshore oil spill.

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April 20th is also the day that we remember the victims of the Columbine High School tragedy. Sadly, since then only a few school districts have authorized teachers and administrators to keep guns close at hand, to prevent similar incidents. – JWR

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We are running a two-week-long sale on all of our pre-1899 antique shotguns at Elk Creek Company, with deep discounts. This sale will end on Monday, April 27th, 2026. Please note that some of these guns have been re-sleeved and re-proofed for modern shotshells!

Also note: I recently raised my silver divisor to 56.  If paying in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver coinage, you may divide the total for your order by 56.  For example, for a $440 order, you’d pay just $7.85 face value in any combination of silver dimes, quarters, or half-dollars.

Husqvarna 26 Inch Clearing Axe, by Thomas Christianson

Dateline: The Swamp. I am writing this in the depths of winter, but I cannot rest from my labors. I must press forward with the ongoing campaign. The objective is to push back the tangled undergrowth threatening to swallow up our property. Only ceaseless effort can prevent the undergrowth from reclaiming our land for The Swamp.

Without the protecting cover of leaves, my enemy is more vulnerable to my counter-attacks. I can better see to cut the various tendrils, stems, and saplings. The newest weapon in my arsenal is the Husqvarna 26 Inch Clearing Axe.

The clearing axe consists of a 5.75-inch blade held firmly by a heavy spring-steel bow. The bow, in turn, is fixed securely to the end of a 19.7-inch hickory shaft. The blade is about 0.13 inches thick and about 1.5 inches wide. When applied with appropriate force to the proper place, the blade smoothly severs tendrils, stems, and saplings up to 0.5 inches in diameter.Continue reading“Husqvarna 26 Inch Clearing Axe, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Super Simple Traditional Skillet Asparagus is from SurvivalBlog reader Ellen H. This requires a large cast-iron skillet with lid.

Ingredients
  • Asparagus (1 to 6 servings’ worth)
  • Butter
  • Salt (to taste)
  • Pepper (to taste)
Directions
  1. Warm a large cast Iron skillet over medium heat.
  2. Add enough butter to coat the bottom of the pan.
  3. When the butter foam subsides, add the asparagus and shake the skillet to coat the asparagus spears.
  4. Cover and cook, shaking occasionally, until the spears are bright green but still crisp, about 3 minutes.
  5. Uncover and continue cooking until the asparagus is tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 5–10 minutes more (the thicker the spears, the longer the cooking time).
  6. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

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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!

SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic: Normalized product of inverse of Cost of Living and Human Development Index (HDI) based on 2026 Cost of Living data.

JWR’s Comments:  Note that the Human Development Index has been criticized for a Scandi-centric view of health, wealth, and happiness. The HDI’s 0-to-1 ratings essentially assume that present-day Scandinavia is the penultimate in civilizational aspirations. I, for one, can imagine something a lot better than multi-generational welfare dependence. Also note that the current prosperity of Norway, the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany has partly been artificially propelled by the cash generated by drilling North Sea oil.

The graphic courtesy of Reddit.

The thumbnail below is click-expandable.

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Please send your graphics or graphics links to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.