Gun & Prepping News #91

 Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Violence of Mind & Action: Combat Marksmanship"--Breach Bang Clear. 

    Combat marksmanship (CMMS) is the ability to place lethal precision fire on a threat target in all environments under the stress of combat in order to reduce a threat to a point that it is no longer viable.

    CMMS principles differ from those of marksmanship (MMS) because with the former, an enemy is either actively firing at you or has just been firing at you. In the latter, the Gunfighter has all the time to make a shot count. In CMMS, the Gunfighter has limited time to perceive a threat and then eliminate the threat. That time is literally the rest of their life.  

He goes on to discuss topics of preparedness, mental rehearsal, determination, passion, and speed in order to achieve violence of action:

Violence of action is the execution of actions with surprisingly overwhelming force. It is a culmination of all the passion, determination and speed needed to realize victory. When faced with violence of action the assailant must reevaluate the situation. Violence of action also diminishes the bravado of the assailant and increases the bravery of the Gunfighter. Violence of action is the one aspect that criminals use to surprise victims and totally dominate the situation. By dominating the situation, they control the victim. The Gunfighter must use all the aspects of the combat mindset to be the one that dominates the situation, eliminates any threats with the appropriate level of force and be prepared to go to that level of force.  Thereby controlling the situation and being victorious. 

• "Your Hunting Bullet Choice is Too Small: The Case for a .30 Caliber All-Around Rifle"--Shooting Times. The author's perspective is addressing a single rifle for hunting big game in North America, with his pick being either the .30-06 or .300 Winchester Short Magnum (WSM). He explains:

I recommend that most people wanting to be one-gun hunters focus on .30-caliber cartridges. Those can handle 180-grain to 200-grain bullets for black bears and big nondangerous game like elk and moose, where lighter, smaller-diameter bullets may be less effective.

However, he does recommend larger calibers for dangerous game (e.g., brown bear). 

• Speaking of .30 caliber hunting rifles: "Lightweight AR-10: Building a Hunt-Focused Backcountry Rifle (Part 1)"--American Hunter. The author begins:

AR-10 rifles are a lot of things, but “lightweight” typically isn’t one of them. That is, until the Ruger SFAR was released. But since that rifle is being discontinued, and the guns were somewhat scarce as it is, I thought I’d try my hand at building a lightweight AR-10 and getting it even lighter, if possible. I wanted to stay within a reasonable budget, though. That said, I observed diminishing returns in weight versus cost—it could be lighter by shaving off a few ounces (maybe as much as half a pound depending on the optic you pick), but it would be ridiculously expensive.

The first part focuses on the lower receiver, while the future part 2 will focus on the upper (including optic) and part 3 will cover tuning the rifle. The author used a Nemo Arms receiver set that is made of "billet 7075-T6 aluminum, it’s skeletonized in some places and has lightening cuts in others, minimizing weight." When I built mine, I used a Roam lower receiver made of magnesium which is listed as having a weight of 7.3 ounces. (I also used a Roam upper). 

Related:

• "Is an AR-10 a Good Hunting Rifle?"--Battlbox.  

Quick Answer: Yes, the AR-10 is an excellent hunting rifle. It is most effective for medium to large game like whitetail deer, feral hogs, and elk due to its semi-automatic action and chambering in powerful cartridges like .308 Winchester and 6.5 Creedmoor. 

• "How to Build an AR Hunting Rifle"--Peterson's Hunting.  Some discussion of building an AR-10 for hunting.
• "Building a Lightweight AR-10 on a Budget"--Shooting Illustrated.  

• On the subject of lightweight receivers (albeit for the AR15 platform): "33% Weight Reduction: New 1791 Industries LiteRaider MMC Receivers"--The Firearm Blog. Pricey, but here is the basics:

The weight race for AR platform receivers just shifted, and this is of interest for anyone who’s running & gunning a lot. 1791 Industries is introducing its LiteRaider line of ultra-lightweight uppers and lowers built from Metal Matrix Composite, a material engineered to sit 33 percent lighter than aluminum while matching the strength profile of 7075-T6. That's not a marketing-thin claim; it's built on an actual material science play, one that could reshape how builders approach the sub-eight-pound rifle conversation.

• If you are just looking for a lightweight hunting rifle, it is hard to beat a lightweight bolt action: "Howa Superlite: The Most Affordable Ultralight Hunting Rifle on the Market"--The Truth About Guns. The rifle, sans scope, is only 4.7 lbs. And as to price:

... Most of those ultralight rifles carry price tags north of $2,000, often $3,000 or more, before a scope ever touches the rail. The Howa Superlite in 6.5 Creedmoor breaks that pattern. At a street price that is typically under $1,000, you can easily build a complete rifle-and-optic package that comes in well under the price of other ultralight rifles. After putting rounds downrange from 100 yards out to 750 yards, it’s clear this mountain rifle backs up the affordable price tag with real performance.

• "I Want a Good Defensive Bullpup Shotgun…Is That Too Much to Ask?"--Shooting News Weekly. A quick look at the various bullpup shotguns on the market, including problems or downsides he sees to the different designs. He seems to lean toward the KSG-7 because he believes the extra tubes (and ammunition) just complicate the designs. And although the bullpup shotguns are slower to reload than standard layouts, the author does not believe this is a problem:

But I don’t think most people using a shotgun defensively will ever need to reload. I’ve looked, and I can’t find a single example of a civilian defensive shotgun encounter that required a reload. Even John Correia of ASP hasn’t seen a civilian defensive encounter that required a reload across the entire spectrum of civilian defensive firearms use. 

But, he also adds, "[a]t the end of the day, if having higher capacity and faster reloads is one of your must-haves, a shotgun probably isn’t going to be the weapon you’re going to pick anyway." 

• "KelTec KP50 Review: 100 Rounds of 5.7x28mm in a Compact, Folding Platform"--Guns America.  Another weapon you probably would not need to reload in a defensive context:

 KelTec completely reworked its original P50 concept, replacing the awkward top-loading design with a drop-free magazine, machined receiver and far more practical controls. We put the new KP50 through a high-volume range session, with and without a suppressor, to find out whether the unusual 5.7x28mm pistol is more than a novelty.

The review is very detailed--much more than most firearms reviews. However, the conclusion is:

    The KP50 is not for everyone, and KelTec clearly did not design it to be.

    It is heavier and larger than a conventional handgun. It lacks a last-round bolt hold-open, and its unusual internal arrangement requires the shooter to learn a different manual of arms.

    Ammunition cost will also discourage casual shooters from treating it like a rimfire plinker, no matter how mild the recoil feels. A 50-round box costs us $29, so it’s not ridiculously expensive but also not cheap like 22 LR.

    Within those limitations, however, the KP50 is a remarkably successful redesign.

    The new bottom-loading magazine corrects the original P50’s most awkward feature. The machined construction feels substantial. The folding brace, flat magazine orientation and uninterrupted top rail produce a compact package that is easy to configure and transport. Recoil is almost nonexistent, practical accuracy is excellent and the 9.6-inch barrel produces a meaningful increase in velocity compared with shorter 5.7mm pistols. 

     Most importantly, the KP50 is enjoyable to shoot.

    That may sound like faint praise, but it is not. Firearms do not always need to imitate existing service weapons or satisfy a narrowly defined tactical requirement. There is still room in the market for a well-built, mechanically interesting gun that is accurate, reliable under reasonable conditions, and genuinely fun on the range.

    The KP50 is strange, but it is not strange merely for the sake of attracting attention. Its unusual shape follows an unusual mechanical solution: fitting 50 or 100 rounds of 5.7x28mm into a compact firearm without hanging a large magazine underneath it.

    KelTec took an intriguing but awkward concept and turned it into a much more mature platform. The KP50 remains unmistakably KelTec, but this time the unconventional engineering is paired with unexpectedly good execution.

• "How the Kentucky Rifle Turned Frontier Hunters into America’s First Snipers"--Outdoor Life. A reprint of a 1948 article. An excerpt:

     It was in response to the demands of obstinate frontiersmen that the famous Kentucky model evolved. It hit its stride by about 1730 but underwent steady change for many years. Most rifles were built to the buyer’s specifications or according to the maker’s latest experiments, and the resulting new ideas were eagerly seized upon by competing smiths. For this reason, surviving examples show wide variations in detail. 

    No frontiersman wanted to carry a heavy weapon on his long treks in the wilderness. The weight was steadily reduced until the average Kentucky hunting rifle weighed between 9 and 10 pounds. (Those made for match shooting averaged about 19 pounds.) Similarly, using a large-caliber rifle meant that the lone pioneer had to carry a heavy load of bullets. So the caliber was reduced from the .65 and .70 common in Europe to about .45. The pound of lead that once yielded sixteen .70 bullets now gave forty-eight .45 balls — three times as many shots. 
    
    Simultaneously the front sight was enlarged and the trigger guard strengthened while it was stripped of its old bulk. But probably the most distinctive change came in the barrel, which on previous rifles had been uniformly short and heavy.

    Now it was lengthened, ranging in the early Kentucky models from 51 to 77 inches, or up to more than triple the length of the average big-game rifle of today. This meant that less powder was needed than before, because it burned cleaner. In the opinion of several authorities, this long barrel which gave great accuracy at the same time that it deadened the noise of the firing was the main factor in the success of the Kentucky rifle. 

    Coupled with this was the novel “patch” method of loading invented by some unsung genius. Thanks largely to this discovery, rifles could be reloaded in one fourth the time it took before, and eventually backwoodsmen were getting off their second shot in less than half a minute after the first.  

• "Butterfield Effect Hits ‘The Trace’ Hard as They Try to Reconcile Lower Crime, Higher Gun Ownership"--Shooting News Weekly. It's hard for gun haters and cowards to understand how gun crime can be declining at the same time as gun ownership continues to climb. 
• "Separate outbreak of diarrhea parasite with dozens of cases not related to recalled lettuce identified"--Daily Mail. 

    Health officials are tracking another outbreak of the 'explosive diarrhea' parasite as the disease runs rampant across the US.

    The FDA said 72 people had been infected with cyclosporiasis, a disease transmitted by food or water contaminated with human feces, in a separate cluster than the one with thousands of suspected cases potentially linked to lettuce and Taco Bell. 

• "How to survive the apocalypse, according to the world's best doomsday preppers"--BBC Science Focus. This article is mostly about the booming underground shelter business in the UK and the different survival needs a shelter must address. But there are some tips on storing food and water.
• "Why 20 Million Americans Now Identify as Preppers—and What They’re Buying"--Inc.  The article itself is not significant as it is just another piece on how the underground shelter business is booming--this time focused on the U.S.--but I was somewhat surprised at the statistic of 20 million Americans identifying as preppers, a number that has doubled since 2017 according to the article. 
• Perhaps more realistic for many Americans: "How to prepare for a huge disaster when you live in a tiny apartment"--Vox. An excerpt of an interview with Anna Maria Bounds, a sociology professor at Queens College in New York, and the author of Bracing for the Apocalypse: An Ethnographic Study of New York’s ‘Prepper’ Subculture. (There is a link to the podcast with the full interview). It has some useful advice on storing food and water when living in a small space. For instance, Bounds related:

    ... Another myth about prepping is that people think that that means that you have to have a whole room dedicated to stacks of toilet paper and rice and spaghetti sauce. Absolutely not. You just need to think carefully about how you live in order to learn how to manage your space.

    In the living room in the corner, I had a white freezer, which looked absolutely ridiculous. So I applied wallpaper to it, and I think it looks really cute. The things that I keep in there are varied. I keep several different types of meat. I have some uncooked, and then I have some that are cooked and sliced and that I’ve cooked and ready to go, and I’ve packaged them. We have vegetables, we have pasta, and we have soup. We have pot pies and extra bottles of water because in the event of a blackout, our food will stay colder longer because we have the frozen bottles of water in there. If we get an injury and I need to place something cold on our leg or on our back, we could use that. 

• "CPAP Battery Solutions" (Part 1) (Part 2) -- Blue Collar Prepping. The author discusses her solution for powering her CPAP is the power should go out. Her solution involved the Rockpals Freeman 600 power bank (which can be charged by solar) and some cords so she would power the CPAP using a 12 V output rather than AC. 
•  "How Long Do Firestarters Typically Last?"--Modern Survival Online. This is discussing ferrocerium rods. There are a lot of variables, not the least being the composition and hardness (or softness) of the rod. However, the author states they generally last between 5,000 and 15,000 strikes. However:

    The rule of thumb is that harder alloy compositions last much longer but they don’t produce as many sparks from a typical strike. That’s because less material is physically being consumed.

    Conversely, your softer alloy blends produce a much larger and more intense shower of sparks but they wear out much quicker due to greater consumption.