Gun & Prepping News

 Just some articles that caught my attention for one reason or another:

• "Derringers and the History of Deep Concealment"--The Mag Life. The original pocket pistol. From the predecessors to Henry Deringer's first pocket pistol, to popular models in the late 1800s and modern versions. 
• "The WSJ Reveals Mexican Cartels’ Favorite Firepower"--The Truth About Guns. Nothing that you are going to find at your local gun shop. A mixture of fully automatic weapons, rocket launchers, and a couple uncommon caliber weapons: the .50 Barrett and Colt 1911s in .38 Super (because military calibers like the .45 ACP are illegal in Mexico).
  
• "Review: Walther PPK/S in .32 ACP"--Shooting Illustrated. Patrick Sweeney gives his take on the new .32 offering from Walther.
• "The .44 Special: A Versatile and Increasingly Rare Cartridge"--Handguns Magazine. At one time a very popular cartridge, it declined in favor after the .44 Magnum came out, yet still seems to be chugging along. The article is a history of the cartridge mixed with some discussion of ballistics. Generally speaking, however, the cartridge performs much like a .45 ACP. The result is a cartridge that is far less punishing than the .44 Magnum for practice or target shooting and still practical for self-defense.
• "Pierced Primers and Firing Pin Erosion: What To Look For"--Shooting Times. If you have a firing pin pierce a primer, hot gases will likely jet through the opening and can erode and damage the metal of the firing pin. This article shows you what this looks like and discusses why a damaged firing pin can be a problem.
• "Zombie Apocalypse"--SWAT Magazine. Dr. Will Dabbs discusses the zombie craze of a decade ago. I can't find a date for the article. There is a comment from 2022, but I suspect that the article is much older than that. In any event, he discusses the history of the popularity of zombies and the whole zombie zeitgeist before seguing into prepping topics. Funny enough, only a few days before I came across this article, I had been discussing the zombie craze with one of my sons and expressing my opinion about it. My belief has always been that the zombie theme was a coded way to discuss the hordes of survivors in cities after a disaster: survivors that would prey on each other and spread out from the cities and ghettos into the rural areas looking for food and supplies. 
• "How to Poop in the Woods"--Atlas Obscura. The title is self-explanatory. The target audience are campers, hikers, hunters, and other outdoorsmen and -women. The information may be useful if there is a SHTF event and water and sewage services are inoperable or you are bugging out.
• "Prepper's Pantry: Stocks and Broths"--Blue Collar Prepping. Stocks and broth are used as the foundations for other meals. The article gives instructions on making your own stock as well as a recipe for chicken soup.