Gun & Prepping News #10

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

• "5.56 NATO: The Girl Next Door" by Josh Wayner, Gun Digest. The author argues that efforts to replace the 5.56 with a different military cartridge are exercises in futility:

    I feel the criticism of the 5.56 cartridge is based solely on having too much of a good thing, to the point that we get bored with it or lose respect for it. It’s sort of like the girl next door in a way: You keep thinking you can somehow do better, but she’s always there waiting for you when you come home.

    Maybe she really had it all along and you just couldn’t see it.

    The hyperbole here goes pretty hard. I can’t find a single person who wants to be on the receiving end of 5.56 despite it being often disparaged as underpowered, poor at incapacitation, too small for deer, etc. Yet, at the same time, it’s undoubtedly the most common chambering for defensive rifles, and we see it used lethally in all sides of the many horrifying conflicts we have going today—from Ukraine to the Gaza Strip and all other war zones around the world, not to mention in terrorist attacks and police interventions. The 5.56 is fielded by the majority of the world to the point that it’s even, by misadventure, a standard cartridge for the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

* * *

    The beauty of the AR-15 and 5.56 NATO pairing is that it’s tremendously easy to use, and its inherent strength is that it’s lightweight, accurate and has a short learning curve. More power doesn’t always mean more performance, and that’s something that tends to go over lots of heads. 

• "Enfield No. 5 Mk 1 Rifle: History of the 'Jungle Carbine'"--Rifle Shooter Magazine. The article opens:

    The No. 5 Enfield in .303 British is almost the perfect bolt-action rifle. For once designers delivered a rifle with the right weight, length, balance and power for almost any task a World War II infantryman might encounter. But the No. 5 came too late because the bolt action itself was already obsolete, and two serious flaws consigned it to the scrap bin.

    For one, its zero sometimes wandered inexplicably, and while the short rifle that was perfectly capable in the jungles of Southeast Asia, it lacked the longer-range performance the Western Front of Europe demanded. Since the self-loading rifle was ascendant and fixes for the No. 5 were too slippery—not to mention plenty of No. 4 rifles still in inventory—it was scrapped in 1947 and the old, tried-and-true No. 4 stayed in service a while longer.

It is interesting to note that the Jungle Carbine almost perfectly matches the requirements that Cooper laid out for his "scout rifle" concept, other than the lack of a forward mounted telescopic sight.

• "Gun Advice from the 1930’s Pulps"--Notes from KR.  The author discusses and reproduces a couple articles from a series called “Straight Shooting” by Col. John J. Boniface published between January to April 1937 in the Thrilling Western pulp magazine. The author couldn't find a copy of the February 1937 installment, but has reproduced the January, March and April articles.
• For when you have finished your upteenth AR build and are looking for a challenge: "Build Your Own Muzzleloader With A Traditions DIY Black Powder Kit"--Shooting Times. The author relates his experience building a .50-caliber St. Louis Hawken rifle from a kit. 
• "Ultralight Loads For Revolvers"--Shooting Sports Journal.  For those of you wanting to set up a shooting range in your basement or garage. From the article:

    Ultralight loads are handloaded cartridges that reduce noise and bullet penetration, and eliminate recoil. The lack of recoil allows the shooter to better evaluate trigger control and follow-through. Ultralight loads contain no powder, utilizing only primer power to launch plastic or wax bullets that are less likely to cause neighbors any consternation, and permits the use of homemade, uncomplicated bullet traps.

    About the only bad news is that ultralight loads won’t cycle semi-automatic pistol actions, so they’re really only appropriate for revolvers. The good news for the non-handloader is the first method described here requires no reloading tools—or any tools at all.

The author recommends Speer’s .38 caliber plastic bullets and plastic cartridge cases, but notes that you can "roll your own" in any center fire caliber by using an empty case and paraffin wax for the projectile.

• "Round Up: Modern Pocket Guns"--Shooting Illustrated. A review of some of the latest offerings in pocket sized revolvers and semi-autos. 
• "Ankle Guns" by James Williams, Tactical Anatomy. An excerpt:

    Everybody knows about ’em, everybody talks about ’em, but hardly nobody carries ’em. Those who do are mostly old guys. Old guys like Clint Smith, whose YouTube video on ankle revolvers is short and sweet and straight to the point:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=Ym7DpuFmLy4 . Or old guys like Massad Ayoob, who I noticed was carrying a J-frame revolver on his ankle at the very first class I took from him in Indiana in 1998. Or old guys like me, who have found that ankle carry is a good option for a variety of carry conditions.

    The advantages of an ankle gun are significant, as the video points out. The cop literature is full of anecdotes of coppers who have used an ankle gun when they got into a ground grapple, and in other awkward circumstances.  I’ve carried my BUG (backup gun) in a variety of locations over the years: front pocket, cargo pocket, bellyband, and other locations, but the carry location I keep coming back to is the ankle. For comfortable long-term wear and for deep concealment purposes, an ankle rig is about as good as you can get. And for some folks, ankle carry is about the only way they can carry a firearm on a regular basis due to workplace considerations. For instance, an electrician or carpenter who wears a bulky tool belt will not be able to carry his daily CCW piece on his pants belt; ankle carry can be ideal for this person.

• More: "Ayoob: Is Ankle Carry a Good (or Bad) Idea?"--Armory Life. Massad Ayoob begins: "The ankle holster is loved and hated. Many who hate it don’t understand why and how to use it."
• More: "One of the Problems with Ankle Holsters"--Greg Ellfritz. Because they are low on the leg, they can get wet or muddy if you are stomping around in inclement weather.
• More: VIDEO: "Clint Smith on Ankle Guns"--1911 Fanatics (1 min.).
  
  
• That's sort of the point: "Grandfather Of Teen Killed During Burglary Says AR-15 Made Fight ‘Unfair’"--Slate Report. Leroy Schumacher's grandson, 17-year old Jacob Redfearn, was one of three young adults that made the life-altering decision to break into a house while armed with brass knuckles and a knife and threaten the homeowner's son. Three against one seems pretty unfair, but an AR-15 in the hands of the victim evened the odds. All three suspects died at the scene, including one that was left behind when the getaway driver and another woman in the group's car raced off from the scene. 
• When the sheep rise up against the wolf: "Vigilante Mob Beats, Kills Suspected Robber in Mexican Border City"--Breitbart.  From the lede: "A group of neighbors in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, brutally beat a man that they allegedly caught breaking into a home. The mob beat the man, and they tied him to a light pole before calling first responders. The man died shortly after from the injuries sustained."
  
• "Inside the sinister world of hired guns, the targets billionaires pay them to 'neutralize' ... and the chilling details Hollywood gets wrong"--Daily Mail. Daniel Corbett, purportedly a former Navy SEAL, describes his life as a mercenary. Corbett has released a book entitled American Mercenary: The Riveting, High-Risk World of an Elite SEAL Team Operator Turned Hired Gun. An excerpt from the article:

    ‘We’re not there on business, we’re tourists. We hire a guide, visit the Pyramids, take stupid tourist pictures, and have a ton of fun. We even ride camels, and the camels saunter past the Sphinx. It’s the first time I’ve done anything remotely normal in any Middle Eastern country. It feels good.’

    This, says Corbett, is standard procedure for someone in his line of work - and is in stark contrast to the Hollywood portrayal.

    ‘You can’t pull a Jason Bourne with multiple passports and identities in this era of biometrics,’ he says. ‘You enter countries as yourself, with your legitimate passport.

    ‘Yes, someone from that country might follow you around to see what you’re up to. So for jobs like that, you do touristy, boring things for a few days. Hang out at bars and clubs, see the sights, chat up people who have nothing to do with the job. Become uninteresting, and your watchers move on. Then you can do whatever it is you’re there to do.’

    He adds that he always travels with cash not credit cards - but never more than $10,000. ‘If you need more, you get a trusted source to make a run. Only euros or American dollars, every other currency is trash.’

• "How to make an emergency A-frame tarp shelter"--Survival Common Sense.  As the author observes, "TV survival shows to the contrary,  it is virtually impossible to make a waterproof shelter out of natural materials, even if you have the time, tools and practice! Even with a tarp, you must have some idea or plan on how to fashion a refuge from the elements." The article gives basic instructions but also has a video showing how to build the shelter. 
• More: "Tarp Shelter – A Comprehensive Guide to Building Your Own Survival Shelter"--Alpha Survivalist. This article does not detail how to construct tarp shelters, but instead briefly describes four types of tarp shelters, discusses factors to consider in selecting a tarp, additional gear you will need, anchoring techniques, tips for optimizing your shelter for comfort, and tips for backpackers. The article is nicely illustrated, including an infographic showing a drawing and schematics of the different types of shelters.
• "How to Keep Up Your Hygiene During a SHTF Situation" by Selco, SHTF School. Selco provides the following summary of his article:

 Key Takeaways:

•     Good hygiene is crucial for survival in a post-SHTF scenario.
•     Prepare and adjust your hygiene practices to fit the emergency situation.
•     Hand hygiene is essential for preventing the spread of diseases.
•     Regular bathing, even if less frequent, helps maintain cleanliness.
•     Finding alternative methods for washing clothes is necessary.

• "As a Prepper, Amazon’s 'Subscribe & Save' Has Been a Godsend for Stockpiling…"--More Than Just Surviving. An excerpt:

    For those who don’t know, Amazon Pantry / Subscribe & Save is essentially an automatic delivery subscription service where you can choose Amazon items that you regularly order to be delivered to you at the frequency you want (once a month, every other months, every 3, 4, 5, or 6 months), and you will automatically get these delivered to you on roughly the same day every month.

    My items come roughly on the 14th of every month, but they don’t often come together/on the same day.

    I’m burying the lead here because one of the most important features (it was initially to me at least) is that you’ll also get discounts on these goods if you have subscriptions to enough products.

    Right now I personally have been getting 10% off or 15% off on my subscriptions on things like supplements, cat food, litter, tissues, and a bunch of miscellaneous things, so long as I have at least 3 items being delivered to me through this feature in that particular month.

•  "Best Ways to Secure Doors and Windows and Thwart Looters Effectively"--Alpha Survivalist. Some recommendations are upgrading your locks and deadbolts, installing security cameras, using window locks, using window security film or bars, using motion sensors and deterrent lighting, protective landscaping, and more. 
• "This Week In Security: National Backdoors, Web3 Backdoors, And Nearest Neighbor WiFi"--Hackaday. They were warned, but there is no hubris like government hubris:

    Maybe those backdoors weren’t such a great idea. Several US Telecom networks have been compromised by a foreign actor, likely China’s Salt Typhoon, and it looks like one of the vectors of compromise is the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) systems that allow for automatic wiretapping at government request.

    [Jeff Greene], a government official with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), has advised that end-user encryption is the way to maintain safe communications. This moment should forever be the touchstone we call upon when discussing ideas like mandated encryption backdoors and even the entire idea of automated wiretapping systems like CALEA. He went on to make a rather startling statement:

    I think it would be impossible for us to predict a time frame on when we’ll have full eviction

    There are obviously lots of unanswered questions, but with statements like this from CISA, this seems to be an extremely serious compromise. CALEA has been extended to Internet data, and earlier reports suggest that attackers have access to Internet traffic as a result. This leaves the US telecom infrastructure in a precarious position where any given telephone call, text message, or data packet may be intercepted by an overseas attacker. And the FCC isn’t exactly inspiring us with confidence as to its “decisive steps” to fix things.