Gun & Prepping News #64

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

• "ATF Data Shows The Number of Guns in Americans’ Hands Now Tops Half a Billion"--Shooting News Weekly. Key bit is that as of 2023, the estimated total number of firearms in civilian possession was 506.1 million. Also, "[d]ata indicates that 32,091,000 Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) are in circulation since 1990," although "Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR) production decreased 46.2 percent from 2022 to 2023." This was part of a larger trend: "Total domestic firearm production reported in the 2023 AFMER was 8,466,729 – a decrease of 15.4 percent from 2022 reported figures." 
• Scaremongering: "Months after controversial legal move, forced reset triggers are being sold for handguns"--WJLA. 

 Former ATF Chief Counsel Pamela Hicks has fired one, describing it as "scary."

    "I could not get it to fire a single round," Hicks recalled. "The rounds go off so fast that there's no real way to interrupt."   

Woman like her are the reason for misogyny.  

• "Pistol Wizard".  Not an article but a website with articles and guides on topics for new concealed carry owners on how to use and maintain a pistol, the different parts of a handgun, whether a pistol is right for you, belts and clothing for concealed carry, having and using pepper spray, and lots more. It looks like it would be a good resource for new shooters and may even have some new information for experienced shooters. 
• Related: "Glock Disassembly 101"--Wing Tactical. This article covers both a basic field strip and more advanced disassembly to remove the striker, extractor, and trigger assembly.
• "Top 3 Shooting Stances: Isosceles vs Weaver vs Chapman"--Pew Pew Tactical. These are all two-handed stances. If you are using a Kevlar vest or body armor, the Isosceles is the best stance as it squares the armor up toward a threat maximizing the armor coverage. The Weaver stance is similar to a fighting stance you might use in boxing or other martial arts, with the strong side leg dropping back to give more support. The Chapman stance (sometimes referred to as a modified Weaver) simply straightens the shooting arm out a bit more than with the Weaver and brings the head down toward that shoulder and arm to mimic shooting a rifle with the shooting arm being the "stock". Massad Ayoob wrote in one of his books, though, that it is a mistake to get too married to a particular stance because in a dynamic situation, you are going to be twisting your body, moving your feet, and so on, such that you could be moving and shooting through several different stances. 
• And for old shooters: "RECONSIDERING POWERING DOWN" by Massad Ayoob. He notes that old shooters he knows have suffered hand problems from shooting high powered and magnum handguns and suggests that we might want to do most of our shooting with tamer loads. An excerpt:

Remembering my recently deceased friend John Taffin I was reminded how over the years, he shot the hell out of super-powerful handguns like the .500 Linebaugh and hot-loaded .44 Magnum, and wound up with injured hands and wrists. In his writing, he warned the rest of us about it, and set an example by publicly admitting he was shooting lighter loads these days.   

• "Meet FALCO’s New Next-Gen Pocket Holsters"--The Truth About Guns. If you are going to carry in pants pockets, you need a pocket holster. Falco has three new models: a leather "wallet" style (designed to break up the outline of the handgun and make it look like you have a large wallet in your pocket), a lightweight Kydex holster, and a really light (and really expensive) carbon fiber holster.
• "Making DIY ammunition from blanks in Germany"--Impro Guns. Video at link.

 Combining 9mm PAK blanks with 9mm big bore airgun pellets for use in 3D Printed guns such as the FGC-9 or Urutau (featured).

• "The Art of Pocket Carry" by Travis Pike, Safariland. An excerpt discussing the advantages of pocket carry:

    Speed in a defensive encounter is always critical. As concealed carriers, we work on having a fast draw because speed is a major value. Pocket carry can be fast, but it can also be slow. Having to reach into your pocket from outside can be quite slow.

    For those inclined to a fast draw, pocket carry offers you the ability to simply put your hand in your pocket and grip your gun without anyone being the wiser. Drawing and placing an accurate shot on target can be done in under a second with a holster like the Safariland Model 25.

    Another obvious benefit to pocket carry is that the gun conceals easily. You don’t need to worry about your shirt riding up or tuckable holsters. It drops in your pocket, and if it’s the right size, it disappears. Admittedly, if you are the tight-pants type, it’s not for you.

    And finally, a pocket pistol very convenient. You can carry it easily day in and day out without the poke and prod of a standard holster. If you’re running to the store for milk, the thought of throwing on pants, a belt, and a standard holster might not be that appealing. A J-Frame in your pocket is a heckuva lot better than the Glock 19 left at home. 

 He also discusses picking a handgun for pocket carry, selecting a holster, and has some other tips as well as a practice drill he calls the Wizard Drill. 

• Related: "The Pocket Pistol"--Gun Culture 2.0. The author has some excerpts about pocket carry from English gun writer Hugh B.C. Pollard in his 1917 work, The Book of the Pistol & Revolver. 
• Related: "Concealed Carry: All About Pocket Carry"--Pew Pew Tactical. 
• "It’s Shoulder Holster Season…How Will You Be Celebrating?"--Shooting News Weekly.  The title refers to the fact that most people who use shoulder holsters use them under a jacket or coat and, therefore, mostly in cooler weather. The author has some tips and comments about shoulder holster carry if it is something that interests you. 
• Related: "How to Wear a Shoulder Holster"--Falco.  A detailed article and a couple videos.
• Related: "Best Shoulder Holsters: Comfortable, Concealable, and Ready for Carry"--The Firearms Blog. This is a 2026 article that goes over the basics of shoulder holsters and then looks at the Model D906 Kydex Holster, the Horizontal Revolver Shoulder Holster D129, and the D633 L Sherman Leather vertical roto shoulder holster, all from Falco Holsters. The Kydex holster mentioned above is a single sided model (holster but no magazine holder), but Falco also offers a Kydex holster that is double sided (holster on one side, magazine holders on the other--the D905) for about $180, which is nearly a $100 less than a leather holster. 
• "De-Sporterizing a Lee Enfield No4 MkI"--Hunting Gear Guy. In the decades following WWII, as nations modernized and ditched their old bolt action military rifles, those rifles found their way into the surplus market where they could be purchased for cheap. Many were converted, to one extent or another, to make them more usable as a hunting rifle--typically with different stocks and adding some way to mount a telescopic sight, but sometimes with more radical changes--a process called "sporterizing". Some sporterizing was done well by accomplished gun smiths and some were done poorly. But as the supply of surplus rifles in good condition dries up, I suspect that we will see more this: someone taking a sporterized weapon and trying to return it to some semblance of its original military configuration. 
• "CMP To Start Selling Surplus Shotguns?"--The Firearm Blog.  The most recent National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) "authorizes the Army, Navy, and Air Force to make a one-time transfer of shotguns determined to be surplus to the CMP for resale." However, "military surplus shotguns with barrels under 18 inches or shotguns designed for 'Masterkey' applications cannot be transferred to CMP." It also only authorizes the sale of pump-action shotguns. At the time the article was written, the NDAA had not yet passed Congress, but it has since been signed into law, but it appears this provision survived into the final version. 
• "Is the 1911 the Ideal Woods Gun?"--The Armory Life.  It seems to be enough for woods or range work in Texas, according to the author. From the ballistic gel tests I've seen, in a +P loading with hard cast bullets, it should do just as well as 10mm with hard cast bullets. Anyway, the author writes:

... The 1911 is an inherently accurate gun, particularly modern production models. The long sight radius of a 5” “government model” allows for precise aiming, particularly when equipped with modern sights. The mechanical accuracy of the gun is also supported by its crisp, single stage trigger. Operating the trigger is instinctive and easy to learn, allowing fast and easily repeatable shots compared to longer, heavier and/or mushier triggers.

Compared to pistols devoid of manual safeties, the thumb safety of the 1911 offers significant protection when going through brush. In addition. the heft of the 1911, combined with the low operating pressure of the .45 round, gives the gun its highly controllable recoil impulse. Finally, while still a slim and handy single-stack, its capacity exceeds the number of cartridges held in any of the big bore or high-power revolvers more commonly recommended as woods guns. 

• "Fudd Friday: Are Iron Sights on a Hunting Rifle Obsolete?"--The Firearm Blog. No, the author explains, because even if you have a great optic, if it gets damaged or otherwise cannot be used, the iron sights allow you to have something on which you can fall back. He notes this is particularly important on hunts where you cannot easily get back to civilization to repair or replace a scope or get a different rifle. 
• "Deer markings actually glow: The scrapes and rubs the mammals leave behind shine under UV light humans can't see"--Popular Science. Time to start carrying a UV light when hunting?
• "The Unsolved Mysteries of Trapper and Hunter Deaths Still Haunt the Yukon Wilderness Today"--Outdoor Life. From the article: 

One of the men was Ed Wilkinson, a 58-year-old trapper who disappeared in 1977. Ed was said to have been born on the trap line, as tough as they come, but kind-hearted too. He was known to have survived grizzly attacks and was once gored by a bull moose. He had lived his entire life in the Yukon wilderness. The other man was a 49-year-old large carnivore expert and a traditional bowhunter named Bart Schleyer, who failed to show up for a scheduled floatplane pick up in 2004. Later, a few of his bones were found. Schleyer was a legend in his own time, called the last wild man by some. He was a friend to wildlife biologists, hunters, and other adventurers around the world.  

• "Five reasons to use a survival knife lanyard"--Survival Common Sense. I can speak from experience that the most basic reason is so you don't lose the knife. I lost an expensive pocket knife with a pocket clip on a hunting trip. I'm not sure if it simply worked its way loose climbing a steep mountain side or if a branch or bit of brush caught on it and pulled it loose, but it was a disappointing way to end a day of hunting to discover it was gone. But in addition to securing it against loss, the author also mentions safety when processing a large animal, keep from having it wrestled away from you if you have to use it for self-defense (although I question the wisdom of this), safety while using (don't want it to go flying if you lose hold), and greater visibility if you put a bright cord on it. 
• "Flint and Punkwood: A Colonial Fire Starting Technique"--Breach Bang Clear.  

... Flint and steel were common in the kit of colonial Americans and popular trade items to native peoples in the interior. In more remote areas, chert could be substituted for flint, so long as it was the sort of rock that can strike sparks. But just as vital to the fire starting kit is the fine tinder used to take a flame. Many woodsmen carried tinderboxes filled with charred cloth. The problem with charred cloth is that it is very much a chicken before the egg sort of tinder. You have to make the charred cloth on a fire ahead of time. Anthony of the Deerskin Diary channel demonstrates and dives into the historiography of using punk wood as tinder. This way, common with Southeastern tribes during the colonial era, is an excellent fuel, provided you know where to find it.  

• "The Slishman Wrap & Wound Care For When There Is No Doctor"--Deep Roots At Home.  The author mentions that "The Slishman Pressure Wrap was created by Dr. Sam Slishman, an emergency medicine doc, to make applying a tourniquet or pressure bandage simpler for an untrained user." 

    Because of the risk involved, traditional tourniquets should 1.) only be applied by someone with proper training and 2.) initiate an immediate evacuation to definitive care. Most ordinary people don’t own or even know how to use one. (source)

    Using the Slishman pressure wrap, however, is intuitive – apply direct pressure and wrap around the wound. If too much pressure is applied, the wrap can be easily adjusted as to not make the injury worse. It is finely adjustable (tighten until hemostasis is achieved, then loosen for pain control and better perfusion to the extremity).

    It will replace the Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT), which will stop bleeding, but the pain is crazy —plus, you could lose the entire limb if not administered correctly and for too long. A CAT won’t work for kids.   

There is an embedded video showing how to use the pressure wrap.  

• "The Seven Vegetables You Should Always Grow From Seeds (and Why)"--Life Hacker. The author lists carrots, beets, radishes, corn, beans, cucumbers, and lettuce. 
• "Can You Leave Your Propane Tank Outside In Winter? Here’s What You Need To Know"--Southern Living. The author writes:

Your propane tank should be fine in the winter unless the temperature dips below -40°F. Propane becomes a liquid at -44°F, making it difficult to fire up the grill.    

The article also has tips on safely storing portable propane tanks.  

• "28 Underrated Prepping Items That Could Save Your Life in an Emergency"--The Late Prepper. A check list of some items that you might want to have on hand but which you might have not really thought about or considered, like aluminum foil, zip ties, safety pins and sewing supplies, a pencil sharpener, bungee cords, etc. 
• "Here’s How You’ll Die When the SHTF (and How to Prevent Your Untimely Demise)"--Organic Prepper.  She covers 10 reasons or causes people will die, including dying of thirst or waterborne illness, running out of necessary medications, infection, murdered, suffer an accident resulting in major trauma, and others. One she mentions is dying due to fantasy-world planning:

 So many preppers have poorly thought-out plans for survival. They think they’ll “live off the land” and hunt, forage, and farm their way through the apocalypse, but they’ve never milked a goat or planted the contents of their seed banks. They don’t understand that gardens and crops can fail for innumerable reasons. They think they’re still in the same physical condition that they were 25 years ago and overestimate their ability to perform physical labor, like chopping wood for the fire. There are hundreds of bad strategies that will get preppers killed (in fact, here are 12 of them), and mostly it boils down to one crucial fact: it’s all a fantasy. They’ve never done ANY of the things that they think they will do for survival, or if they have done them, it was decades ago, when they were younger, fitter, and more resilient. I can tell you right now, if we had to live off of the contents of this year’s drought-stricken, deer-and-gopher-raided garden, we’d last about a week, enjoying salsa by the jarful, but little else.

• "Free Survival PDFs, Manuals, & Downloads"--Trueprepper.com. The title says it all.