Just some gun and prepping related links that I thought interesting or useful:
If you have a giant range bag, then it’s going to get filled. I learned quickly that it’s not nearly as efficient to keep every piece of range gear I like in one bag. My range time goes smoother when I bring a small bag with exactly what I need. With a huge bag, I waste time looking for and reorganizing gear. Most of what I carry fits within a Storm Range Bag I sourced from Full Forge Gear. It doesn’t have more pockets than I need, and the pockets it does have are rarely used. Large bags hold a lot more, but contents get jumbled in the middle due to the soft base. The best feature of the Storm Range Bag is the hard bottom shell, preventing the bag from sagging in the middle. There may be no wrong answer when deciding on a useful range bag, but a hard base makes a difference. Full Forge Gear’s Storm Range Bag supports my needs to test firearms, including several pounds of ammo. The bottom has yet to collapse from the weight.
... The infantry standard across most modern militaries has come out to 7 mags. In my time conducting direct action or hostage rescue missions (training or real), I can say I never needed that much ammunition for direct action. In most CQB (close quarters battle), I would rarely go past 2 AR15 magazines. Part of the reason for this is training to have first-round hits, shooting only at a perceived target (this requires discipline and experience); there is no endless supply of bad guys, and speed is security at this point.
In the realm of short-duration missions, what can a civilian or LEO expect? For a police officer, you will have civil unrest with riots, active shooter(s), and warrants. The historical data with all three is limited to timeframes, and most of the individuals are not a direct threat, so kinetic engagements are highly limited. For the civilian, it's going to primarily be home defense. You may hear something in the early AM, maybe you are defending property, or patrolling your homestead and farm. Regardless, both will likely have limited engagements. In countless cases, when rounds are exchanged on the two-way range, engagements are short-duration and historical data shows the threat normally retreats.
At subsonic velocities right out of the box, .45 ACP is one of the most naturally suppressor-friendly handgun cartridges ever developed. You don’t need special ammo. You don’t need to worry about breaking the sound barrier. You just thread on a can, press the trigger, and enjoy the kind of quiet shooting most calibers can only dream about.
The article then discusses some specific suppressors.
- "Off-Body Carry for Women"--The Truth About Guns. Rather than discuss the concept generally, the author focuses on some specific products she has used: the 5.11 Tactical LVC6 Waist Pack; Gun Tote’n Mamas Crossbody Mail Pouch Concealed Carry Bag; Phoenix Ukoala Bag; Zendira The Friday Concealed Carry Crossbody; and the Vertx Everyday Fanny Pack 2.0.
- "The Role of the Pocket Pistol"--American Rifleman. Jeff Gonzales begins:
I’ve carried a pocket pistol for years, but rarely as my primary defensive tool. For me, it’s always been more of a backup—the kind of firearm that lives quietly in the margins of a daily carry system, present but never the centerpiece. It’s there for when the fight is closer than comfort, when my strong hand is tied up or when my primary handgun is no longer an option.
He then goes on to set out his own pointers and advice for selecting a pocket pistol and addresses some downsides or complications with shooting and carrying a pocket pistol.
I would add a few caveats to the article. First, although the photographs accompanying the article show someone drawing from the strong side front pocket, the author's experience mostly relates to carrying a pocket pistol in the back pocket--something that is probably pretty rare among those who pocket carry.
Second, the author states that "Even in the best-case scenario, a pocket draw will almost always be slower than a strong-side IWB holster draw." That is true if you are running a BUG match. But one of the advantages of pocket carry is that if find yourself in sketchy situation you can unobtrusively put your hand in your pocket and get ready to draw the handgun. In that case, the pocket draw can be faster than many other methods of carry.
Third, the whole point of pocket carry is to have a weapon small and light enough to carry in the pocket. The author recommends a pistol in 9mm, but because of the pressures involved and the size of the cartridge, 9mm pistols are tend to be larger and heavier than .380 pistols. Thus, even the smallest 9mm pistols tend to be on the margin of being too large for pocket carry and may be too large for your needs. For instance, I often see the Sig P365 and Glock 43X described as pocket pistols, but they are not unless you have some truly capacious pockets.
- "3 Drills With The Glock 43x"--Primer Peak. The three drills are: (i) the Vickers Test; (ii) the Low-High Reload; and (iii) the Bill Drill. The author describes the drills so you can do them yourself (as well as describing his results) and includes a link to a PDF of the B8 target that you will use in the Vickers Test.
- "We Tested Six Hunting Rifles From 100 Years Ago"--Guns & Ammo. Notwithstanding the title, this is more of a review of firearms developments in the early 20th Century and an overview of rifles and cartridges representative of what would have been popular in the mid-1920s for deer hunting. I suspect that the "testing" part was probably omitted from this online article but could be found in the print edition.
- And on the topic of old firearm designs: "Cimarron Model 3 American Top Break Reviewed"--Guns America. This is Cimarron's take on the Smith & Wesson Model 3 American top-break revolver, with the author also including some history on the particular firearm. Being top-break makes it far faster to unload than a Colt SAA and quit a bit faster to reload.
The Cimarron version is produced by Uberti to Cimarron’s specs and is a very close replica of the original, except for a few new elements. New to the Cimarron American is the ability to fire .45 Long Colt. Originals were cambered in .44 Henry Rimfire, .44-40, .32-44, .38-44, and .45 Schofield, all shorter cartridges. The modernized Cimarron version also incorporates a hammer block safety. Pull the hammer back until you hear the first click, and a steel insert moves between the hammer and the frame to prevent the gun from accidentally firing if dropped.
I was training with another
instructor years back and he wanted to show me his favorite disarming
technique (the one where you slap the gun and his wrist to make the gun
fly across the room). I held the gun out for him several times while he
demonstrated and then he asked me to try to shoot him before he moved
and sure enough he was so fast he disarmed me every time. I then asked
him if we could go a turn where I acted like a real criminal; after he
said he was ready I stepped in between his legs, grabbed him by the
throat with my left hand, pressed the gun into his left temple, drove
him backwards and screamed “GIVE ME YOUR…(you can probably guess)!”
Needless to say not only was he not able to do the technique
but he nearly defecated himself. Static training where you just stand
there is all fine and dandy but a criminal just doesn’t appear out of
thin air ready to shoot you if you breathe wrong; something always leads
up to it and happens after it. It also doesn’t teach you to deal with
what I call the “Oh Shit Factor” where your brain suddenly falls out
your butt when surprised with sudden violence.
Sure, the criminal may be standing there just holding out
the gun and not moving, it happens all the time; but he also might be
pushing, punching, choking, or grabbing you with his free hand while he
screams and the gun could be held back, shoved right in your eyes, or
who knows what else. The point is after you have the technique down you
should simulate a real robbery while you have to do your disarming
technique in that fast and dynamic situation.
- "Best Backpacking Gun?"--Active Response Training. Ellifritz states that he uses an 8-shot Smith and Wesson model 317 .22
revolver. His choice is based on the fact that the area he backpacks
lacks large predators, is remote enough not to worry about human
predators, the revolver is lightweight and reliable, and he can use it
to signal for help or take out snakes or small game ... and, if
necessary, it is accurate enough for him to put all 8 rounds into an
attacker's head.
The gun holds eight shots, is essentially immune to cold or wet weather, and weighs 12 ounces when loaded. Carrying three spare Quick Strips loaded with 10 rounds each of CCI’s excellent Velocitor ammunition gives me 38 rounds of ammunition in a package that weighs about a pound. It’s ideal for my backpacking needs.
He has two methods of carrying: the Wilderness Products Safepacker holster which he describes as "a quick access padded belt holster that looks like an unassuming pouch." But he also a clip draw (a metal clip that attaches to the frame) for when he is not wearing his pack.
I also have a 317 that I load up with Federal Punch in .22LR. But after trying belt holster which I didn't like very well, I switched to pocket carry. The issue is finding a holster that work as my pocket holster for a snubby .38 was not quite deep enough the 317 which has a 3-inch barrel. I wound up purchasing a Barsony Woodland Green Pocket Holster ($19 on Amazon) which comes in a variety of sizes, including for 3" S&W J-frame revolvers. The holster is not as good as a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster--it is a little thin and the hammer catches a bit--but it works and with practice I was able to get around the issue with the hammer catching. I went with it because I could not find a DeSantis holster of the correct size.
- "Land Navigation Skills and Techniques" (Part 1) (Part 2)--Badlands Fieldcraft. Part 1 goes over both major and some minor terrain features, and for each showing a photograph of how it appears to the eye and showing a corresponding look at how it is presented on a topographic map. Part 2 discusses some techniques on how to plot routes and know where you once you are in the field, plus a method for determining the location of a structure or feature not show on a map so you can relay the coordinates to someone.
- "Pimp your Bic for survival use"--Survival Common Sense. Some simple modifications to make your Bic (or similar disposable butane lighter) more useful for survival or camping.
- "How To Grow A Survival Garden FAST"--Urban Survival Site.
There are many methods in which to grow a garden, such as traditional use of the available land, hydroponics, aquaponics, raised beds, and container gardening. All of these options are fine but for the purpose of this article, we are going to be focusing on raised beds and container gardening. This is because they provide the best overall benefit for beginners wanting to start a garden quickly.
- "Death and Burial" (Part 1) (Part 2)--Blue Collar Prepping. In a serious SHTF even, it is possible that no everyone is going to make it and you might have to dispose of a body (or bodies) yourself for reasons of health and hygiene. Part 1 discusses the physical disposal of the body. As the author writes:
If it appears that “normal” life will resume within a week, your main concern will be how to store the deceased until you can get them to a morgue, mortuary, or coroner's office. If the weather is cold, below freezing, a body can be stored in an unheated building or vehicle until the temperature gets above freezing. If the weather is above freezing you have a limited amount of time before the body starts to decompose, temporary burial may be an option. The amount of time varies roughly with the temperature, along with the condition of the corpse and how they died. If it is warm or hot outside and the person died of a bacterial infection, the body can start to putrefy in as little as twelve hours. More on this in Part 2.
If your situation is likely to last more than several days, you're going to need to consider how to dispose of the body. Embalming is probably not going to be an option- it requires some pretty nasty chemicals and dedicated facilities - so we're going to want to look into the funeral practices of more primitive times and places. Without freezing or embalming, corpses need to be dealt with rapidly to prevent the spread of diseases and to keep predators and vermin away from where you live. The options boil down to cremation, burial, or entombment.
Part 2 discusses how to tell if someone is dead, how long they have been dead, and how to handle a dead body. As an aside, I would note that Cody Lundin's book When All Hell Breaks Loose also discusses the topic of storage and disposal of dead bodies, including some of the steps you may need to take to protect yourself legally when law and order return.
