Gun & Prepping News #73

Just some gun and prepping related links that I thought interesting or useful:

• "Battle On The Border: Pancho Villa’s Raid On America"--American Rifleman. Short take: "In March 1916, Americans living in the quiet town of Columbus, N.M., suddenly found themselves attacked by Mexican bandits, and many citizens sought to arm themselves and fight back, both during the raid and afterward." The article goes over why Pancho Villa targeted Columbus, N.M., has a bit about the battle, and discusses the aftermath, including this:

    When morning came, the raiders were gone, chased some 15 miles back into Mexico by U.S. Army Maj. Frank Tompkins, leading two troops from the 13th Cavalry. Back in Columbus, the tragic accounting began. Eight civilians lost their lives that night, along with 11 American Soldiers. Several buildings were burned down, while homes and stores were looted. A growing rage gripped both citizens and Soldiers as the locals gathered up the bodies of the men Villa left behind. The dead Mexicans, 63 in all, were dragged about a mile east of Columbus, where the corpses were piled up, soaked with kerosene and burned. Some residents said the horrible smell lingered for months afterward.

    Seven of Villa’s men were captured during the raid, and they were quickly tried. One was sentenced to life in prison. The others were hanged—two on June 9th, and the remaining four on June 30th. 

• "A Shooter’s review of the Manurhin MR 73"--Revolver Guy.  The author, Darrin S., gives his review of this iconic revolver after 2 years and 2,500+ rounds. If you are not familiar with the Manurhin, it is a French .357 Magnum revolver originally built for use by France's anti-terrorist unit, GIGN. They have a reputation of extreme durability, even with full magnum rounds, yet still within a K-frame sized package. These are not target guns but are built for combat and reliability. Nevertheless, the author writes: 

... This is one of the most accurate revolvers I’ve ever shot. This was a long-term review, and I used to have a collection of targets that I kept, but I unfortunately lost them during some move or another. Suffice to say, with loads it likes, the gun will hover right around an inch at 25 yards, shooting real five-shot groups. ...

• Speaking of revolvers: "Colt’s Blued Python Is Back and It Still Bites"--Guns America. The author gives his review of a 3-inch model he owns. Accuracy was mixed, with the lighter weight bullets having larger groups, but the heavier bullets (158 grain .38 Special +P and 158 grain .357 Magnum) giving 2 to 2.5 inch 6-round groups at 25 yards. Actually, 158 grain was standard for .38 Special and .357 Magnum loads at one time, so it makes sense the weapon would shoot best with those.
• "Ruger Security-380 Review: A Reliable .380 Built for Defense"--The Truth About Guns. I've talked before about duty sized .380 pistols like Beretta 84 and Walther PP. This appears to be in that same class--the bigger brother to the Ruger LCP Max. It uses either 10 or 15-round magazines and features a "Lite Rack" system making it easier for people with reduced hand strength to still rack the slide. I think a lot of people--particularly older people with reduced hand strength or that are recoil shy--would benefit from using a .380 over a larger 9mm, so I'm glad to see manufacturers producing .380 handguns suited for a home defense weapon. 
• "TFB 1-Year Review: Strike Industries Hyperion Armor RF3 Level IV Plate"--The Firearms Blog. These run $279.95 for a set of two. Like other rifle plates in that price range, the plates are a composite of polymer and ceramic. But unlike most others in this class that use a fabric cover, these use a spray on polymer "liner" to cover it. 
• "The Critical Issue in Home Defense"--The Tactical Wire.  Rich Grassi writes:

If you have a firearm of any type for home defense, the most critical skill you can possess falls under RULE 4: Be sure of your target; visually identify it before firing. Know what’s around it, on either side of it; what’s behind it and what could step between your muzzle and the target. 

And he notes:

    You never shoot at a sound. Visually identify the person and situation first. 

    You have the tools to do that and I don’t mean the latest sun-tan-causing super tactical gun-mounted light. 

    You could try your voice. The Tactical Professor, Claude Werner, arrived at the tactical solution: “Who’s there?”

    If the answer is, “Daddy, it’s me,” put the fowling piece away.  

•  "SPORTS or How NOT to Clear a Jammed AR-15 Rifle"--Shooting Wire. Paul Markel notes that when he was in the military, he was taught to clear his rifle using the SPORTS method: "S, slap the magazine. P, pull back on the charging handle, O, observe the ejection port. R, release the charging handle. T, tap the forward assist. S, attempt to shoot your rifle." But, the author learned through experience, SPORTS is wrong for every occasion. 

The enemy isn’t going to call timeout and let you fix your rifle. You either need to skin out a pistol or fix your rifle as fast as possible. For the Type 1 and Type 2 stoppages, we clear them by dropping our elbows to our ribs (ejection port toward the ground), tap the magazine (once), rack the charging handle vigorously (let it go, allowing a full compression of the recoil spring to drive the bolt home) and attempt to fire if the situation warrants. 

Type 3 (the double-feed) is more involved but still simpler than the SPORTS method. I have to admit that I'd never heard of SPORTS before this article. 

• "Is It Bad to Store Magazines Fully Loaded?"--The Truth About Guns. Typically "no" but sometimes "yes." The general concern here is either magazine spring set or spring fatigue. Neither is a concern with quality springs if you are just loading the magazines and letting them sit. But the author notes: "Some all-polymer magazines can experience feed lip creep under prolonged pressure, though quality brands are designed to address this issue."
• More homemade guns in Brazil: "FGC-9 bedroom factory discovered"--Impro Guns.  Pretty nice guns for being 3-D printed and all that. 
• "Complete Review: 6.5 Creedmoor Ammunition — Performance and Top Brands"--The Mag Life. It's been almost 20 years since this cartridge was released. The author gives some background on the cartridge and some information on several hunting and target shooting loads. 
• "Boat Guns: Top 5 Long Guns For Boating Defense"--The Firearm Blog.  His list is: (1) the Mossberg 590 Mariner; (2) AR-15 rifles with no particular model or brand mentioned; (3) Henry all-weather lever action rifles; (4) the Ruger PC carbine; and (5) the Benelli Nova H2O pump-action shotgun which features a nickel plated barrel and magazine tube. The primary concern with a "boat gun" is corrosion, particularly if you have it around salt water or are going to be on the water a lot or for an extended period of time. Consequently, any firearms picked for boating defense should be selected with corrosion resistance in mind, whether it is some sort of special coating or nickel plating like those sported by some shotguns intended for marine environments, or being constructed of stainless steel. Polymer furniture is also a plus. I've thought in the past that the Ruger Mini-14 (or Mini-30) in stainless steel might be a better choice than the AR for a boat gun because almost all its metal parts are constructed of stainless steel. 
• "Ready! Set!! Prep!! – Hunting Rifles"--Surviving Prepper. This is apparently part 2 of a series of article on rifles for preppers where part 1 dealt with surplus military bolt action rifles. This article is concerned with hunting weapons and briefly discusses lever action rifles and bolt action hunting rifles suitable for hunting (obviously) but which can pressed into service as defensive rifles. Part 1 (military surplus guns) can be found here. And Part 3, modern sporting rifles, can be found here. 
• "Are You Forgetting These Prepper Gun Skills?"--The Armory Life.  Those being: basic shooting skills, maintenance skills, basic gunsmithing skills, and hand loading of ammunition. 
• "The Ultimate List Of INCH Bag Survival Items"--Modern Survival Online. The author writes:

    INCH stands for I’m Never Coming Home. It is a large survival bag that is packed full of all the essentials tools and gear you will need to survive while you find a new place to call home. A BOB – or bugout bag, holds enough gear to keep you alive UNTIL you get home, or up to 72 hours.

    While you will some of the same items in each bag, there are vast differences in both the gear packed and the rucksack used to carry them. Think of an INCH bag as a bugout bag on steroids! In this article we’ll talk about the items you need to consider when you put it together.     

The principle difference is that the INCH bag will have equipment and supplies to help you live off the land, thus there is going to be gear for hunting or fishing that you probably would not fine in a BOB, as well as more tools and other gear that you probably would not need in a BOB. But that also makes the INCH bag larger and heavier. Frankly, I doubt most people could successfully live off the land, even if they had practiced it; and there is enough gear here that it probably would need to split between multiple packs among your family or group.  

• "How to Build a Signal Fire"--Field & Stream. This is a fire intended to be seen, so the directions discuss building a fire elevated off the ground (about waist height) on a tripod. 
• "How To Make A Butterfly Bandage"--New York Presbyterian.  Simple instructions on making a butterfly bandage from a strip of adhesive tape.
• "Homemade Casting Materials"--Hesperian Health Guides. How to make plaster bandages or a wax mold for a creating a plastic cast.  Of course, if you are going to make plaster bandages or casts in a SHTF situation, you might also need to know how to make plaster-of-Paris. 
• "Make a three plant emergency field dressing"--Survival Common Sense.  It uses yarrow, mullein, and plantain (the article explains how to identify them). The large leaves of the mullein, the article explains, are used like bandages but also contain a substance that reduces swelling. The plaintain, mushed up, will stimulate healing. And the yarrow promotes clotting. 
• "Are You Prepared to Share?"--Blue Collar Prepping. The author begins:

    "Do I share my preps with the unprepared or do I keep them for myself?" is an age-old prepper question with, unfortunately, no good answers.

    On the one hand, it makes cold-blooded sense not to share with other people in an emergency or after a disaster; after all, anything you give to them now is a resource you won't have later when you might need it. If you have a family, the stakes become higher: why should you risk their health and well-being by taking away from them to give to a stranger? And what if others hear about it and come begging -- or worse, demanding, that demand backed up by force of arms?

    On the other hand, will your conscience allow you to send away the sickly, the starving and the cold empty-handed? What if they have children with them? There's not much point in having a lifetime's worth of food if you can't live with yourself, and if you lose your essential humanity in the name of protecting your family then you risk alienating them as you become emotionally hardened.

    Fortunately, there are options between "Give" and "Don't Give". 

The options she discusses are: (i) hide yourself and your preps--if they don't know you're there they won't ask--(ii) direct them to a cache which both helps them but gets them out of your area; (iii) sell them the food in exchange for items they may have or for their labor. 

• Related: "Do Preppers Have A Duty to Supply Others?" This is a 2012 post that I wrote in response to a professional emergency manager's blog post calling preppers selfish for preparing for themselves and not others.
• Related: "Sensible Prepper, Are We Responsible for the Unprepared?"--Sensible Prepper. This article is also a reaction to the FEMA emergency manager's post calling preppers selfish. 
• Related: "Prepping for Others." A 2015 post where I linked to a an article on breaking OpSec and its discussion of what happens after people learn that you have food. 
• Related: "The First Rule Of Prepping: You Do Not Talk About Prepping"--The Urban Survival Site. This article covers several topics including why you should stop trying to explain or justify your prepping to others; and the stages of a crisis leading up to marauding gangs and looters.  
• Related: "Why you should share your prepping and recruit others"--The Prepared.  This takes the opposite position from the standard viewpoint that you should keep your preps to yourself  and argues for sharing that you prep with family, friends, and neighbors. Their reasoning:

    No matter how optimistic you may be about humans and their nature, when Shit Hits The Fan, societal norms and rule of law might not apply. No sane prepper would put a big sign on their house saying “I have emergency food,” for example.

    But many preppers don’t realize that people around them, like friends and neighbors, probably already know. People who prepare naturally give off a vibe of being thoughtful and “having their act together.” 

 [snip]

    Even if they have no idea you’ve got a basement stocked full of supplies, it’s very likely they’d come knocking on your door in an emergency anyway. It’s the disaster equivalent of “can I borrow a cup of sugar?”