Gun & Prepping News #40

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

• "Organizing Your Shooting Practice"--Shooting Illustrated. The author, Claude Werner, begins:

Most new gunowners don’t know how to practice shooting to improve their marksmanship. The shooting practice seen on spy and police shows is ridiculous and gives a bad idea about how to practice to be a better shot. Gunowners who organize their shooting practice will build their marksmanship skills rapidly. This is the first in a series of articles about how to use the framework of State Level CCW Qualification Courses to improve marksmanship skills for new gunowners.

To assist gun owners, Werner introduces his readers to the Michigan Council Of Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) CCW Basic Safety Training Assessment Course of Fire, including the target and the course of fire. The basic course consists of only 15 shots. He explains: "The standard required by MCOLES was to have all five shots of at least two of the three strings hit the target. A hit anywhere on all three sheets of paper counted. Ideally, all 15 shots would hit the target." He also includes a couple more courses of fire for those that want more shooting.

    In a companion article at his Tactical Professor blog--"Organizing Your Shooting Practice – I"--Werner explains:

     The philosophy behind the series is to give new gunowners at least a small idea of what they can do to gain some degree of proficiency with their guns. While “Do the work” has become a mantra in the training community in the 21st Century; what trainers mean by that is simply unrealistic in the context of most people’s busy lives. The goal of the Organizing Your Practice series is ‘Do Something.’ As my late colleague Paul Gomez said, “Shoot Yor Guns.”

    Each of the monthly sessions can be accomplished by going to an indoor range for an hour, buying one box of ammunition, and getting in a short but meaningful practice session. If a shooter doesn’t even shoot the whole Session of the article; that’s okay. At least they know what it’s like when the gun goes off and what the sound of gunfire and the feel of recoil are like. The majority of adults are visual learners. For them, there’s also a YouTube Short about the session at https://youtu.be/AV4HSnAj_rw?si=pSbB0lNG5jILyrmM.
    
    The purpose of the video isn’t really to provide a guide to the session. It’s mostly to show what real shooting looks like as opposed to the foolishness that is usually seen on TV and movies. Although Jennifer Garner frequently looked great on Alias, the shooting was always utterly ridiculous.

• "A Disciplined Approach to Fire Control"--Shooting Illustrated. An excerpt:

     First and foremost of the hold-control subcomponents is grip. This starts with the strong hand, which is further stabilized by utilizing the support hand in tandem with the strong hand, resulting in stability. The job responsibility of the support hand is to steer and keep the muzzle in alignment with the target. Yet, the primary role and responsibility of the strong hand is trigger manipulation.

    Once you have established your signature grip, strong-hand supported, it is imperative to maintain a durable grip throughout the fire-control process. Grip durability means that the combined weld of your strong hand and support hand is one that remains fixed in both position and pressure. In other words, it means not changing either hand or finger position, while not fluctuating in grip pressure throughout the first and subsequent shot breaks. A change in either grip position or grip pressure can produce unwanted energy input resulting in muzzle movement enough to attenuate hold control (moving the muzzle out of target alignment.)

    Developing good grip habits means eliminating any unnecessary input, which translates to grip durability. Mindful practice, cognizant of the objective of a durable grip is what helps you develop good grip habits. The more you can discern “right” (building and sustaining a durable grip) from “wrong” (detrimental energy input) the more familiar you become with the durability process.

    The greater your grip familiarity, the greater your grip comfort, which, in turn, allows for your conscious work effort to drop into the subconscious. The deeper into the subconscious a good grip falls coupled with experiencing performance success, the greater your confidence.

    Greater confidence leads to on-demand repeatability, which is just another term for consistency. In the world of performance shooting, 85 percent is considered a desirable consistency percentage.

• “You're a mean one, Mr. Flinch!”--Shooting Wire. Rich Grassi recounts an incident where he had picked up some lighter weight ammo for his .44 Magnum revolver, thinking it would produce less recoil, but loading it up and going out on patrol without first testing it. He almost had to use the revolver, but fortunately he didn't because, as he relates, when he tried it out the recoil and blast was tremendous:

     I’m not sure why, but someone actually used our old range as a dump – at least as far as putting a few pumpkins out there. That was a likely target, so I grabbed one and balanced it on the bottom target plank next to a post.

    I stepped back about 30 feet, plugged my ears and fired a carefully aimed double action shot.

    The heavens opened, I was struck by lightning, surrounded by turbulence. Dust swirled around my feet, my shoelaces busted and I acquired a quick tan.

    The “cultivated winter squash” was quite dehydrated; there was an entry and exit hole. The most damage was done by its fall from the target board, likely caused by considerable wake turbulence. Shocked, I stumbled back to the car and got out the cartridge box. The marking indicated that the 180-grain jacketed hollow point was factory rated for “1600 fps from a 4-inch vented test barrel.”

    Hydraulic “back spatter” indeed …

    So much for “lighter projectiles equal less recoil.” You still have to consider the velocity.

• "Ruger Super Wrangler .22 LR/.22 WMR [Hands-On Review]"--Recoil. Years ago Ruger had introduced an inexpensive single action .22 LR revolver probably to compete with the Heritage line of revolvers. It proved popular. So popular that they subsequently released a larger version with adjustable sights and conversion cylinders that allow you to shoot either .22 LR or .22 Mag. In other words, a low cost version of Ruger's Single Six revolver, but for less than half the cost. The author of this review liked the Super Wrangler overall with his only complaints being that he thought that the front sight was too thick for fine work (although this could probably be dealt with by using a 6 o'clock hold) and that it had a different point of impact between 22 LR and .22 Mag (which isnt a problem with the gun, but a matter of physics). While he concludes that the .22 Mag cylinder and capability doesn't really add much to the weapon (the barrel is too short to realize the full potential in his mind) he indicates that he would still pick the Super Wrangler over the Wrangler because of the better sights, the capability of shooting .22 WMR and having something that feels "a little more adult".
• More: "One Gun, Two Rimfires: Ruger’s Super Wrangler"--Guns America.  
• "The Kimber K6xs: A Standout Snubby"--Revolver Guy. When I read reviews like this, I try and look for things that it does better than a standard light weight J-frame snubby from Smith & Wesson. The primary advantage is that this is a 6-shot revolver. The front sight is a post and dot style rather than a ramp, which might make if more visible but also more likely to snag. 
• "The Swampfox Warhorse LPVO: The Best Beginner LPVO"--The Mag Life. This is a 1-6X, first focal plane, which the author indicates retails for less than $700. It is available in MIL or MOA setups. The author states:

 The illuminated reticle features 12 different illumination settings, with an off position between each setting. It consists of a large, illuminated three-quarter circle with a dot in the center. To the sides, we have crosshairs that steer your eyes toward the illuminated portions. Underneath, we have an MOA BDC or MIL ladder for ballistic drop and windage.

• "Day One of TEOTWAWKI: A Written Plan" (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5). As the author explains in Part 1, he had decided to try out his survival preparations and it did not go smoothly. He realized he needed a written plan, which this series of articles represents. Your manual or written plan may not be the same but I'm sure there are ideas here you can use. 
• From the archive: My son was watching a rerun of Mythbusters which featured the account of a Frenchman whose car broke down in the desert wastes of Morocco and he converted it into a motorcycle. It reminded me that I actually had posted about this years ago:
• "Man Builds Motorcycle from Car, While Stranded in Desert"
• "DIY Motorcycle"
• "Soft Wheat Berries versus Hard"--Modern Survivalist Blog. Short take:

     ... In short, the primary difference between them is hard wheat has more protein, and thus more capacity for gluten development.

    Hard wheat has up to twice as much protein content (11-15%) than soft wheat (5-9%).

    Milled flour from hard wheat is more suitable for making bread (because of the gluten), whereas flour from soft wheat berries is better for delicate pastries, cakes, pie crusts, muffins, and cookies.

    Though with that said, they are both interchangeable with the caveats just mentioned. 

• "The 12 Best Summer Vacation Activities for Preppers"--Organic Prepper. The article goes into a bit more detail on each but here is the basic list:

1.     Go camping. 
2.     Cook outdoors. 
3.     Go hiking. 
4.     Take a class.  
5.     Grow your own food. 
6.     Pick survival-themed beach books.
7.     Send the kids to a summer camp. 
8.     Go fishing. 
9.     Learn to preserve food. 
10.     Go shooting.  
11.     Hit some secondhand sales. 
12.     Go foraging. 

• "6 Deadly Water Storage Mistakes"--Urban Survivalist.  Although the article discusses all 6, here is the bare bones list:

1.     Not Filtering Rainwater
2.     Using Too Much Bleach
3.     Using The Wrong Containers
4.     Storing Tainted Water
5.     Storing In The Wrong Storage Conditions
6.     Not Rotating Water Supplies 

• "Starvation During Great Depression: Lessons for Modern America"--Modern Survival Blog. An excerpt:

 While the United States today enjoys a far higher standard of living, the triggers of a similar crisis remain. Modern causes of mass food insecurity include:

•     Major economic downturns—mass unemployment and collapsed consumer demand, as seen in the Depression.
•     Supply chain failures from natural disasters or geopolitical tensions, like pandemics, wars, or international embargoes.
•     Drastic inflation or stagflation, making food unaffordable for vulnerable populations.
•     Persistent poverty, systemic inequality, and lack of adequate social safety nets.

In fact, I found statistics from 2020 indicating that more than 13.8 million U.S. households struggled with having enough food at some point in the year, while today it’s worse with 38.3million Americans who cannot always afford enough food.

Imagine how the numbers would worsen after a trigger event. We are already on an upward trajectory of increasing insecurity. Hunger is a terrible thing. Try not to let that be you… 

• "Kamchatka"--Laughing Wolf. Some discussion of the recent earthquake off the Kamchatka Peninsula including a few comments about preparation, including the following:

 Finally, in terms of preparedness, earthquakes are one of the reason to keep digging and demolition tools handy. There are a number of things that could leave one’s safe space covered in debris. Always be prepared to dig out, pry things up and over, or if possible jack or brace things so they don’t come down any further. Shovels, axes, pry bars, saws, jacks, rope, etc. are good to have around anytime, but may be even more appreciated after a quake. 

The City of Los Angeles has a couple preparedness guides for natural disasters including earthquakes and tsunamis. This is the link to the larger guide (48 pages PDF) and this is the link to a Quick Reference Guide (including a couple of check lists). Another resource is this page with earthquake preparation tips from the California Earthquake Authority.