Gun & Prepping News #67

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

• "HB 2763 and How Public Shooting Ranges Quietly Disappear"--The Truth About Guns.  How bureaucrats close down public shooting ranges without public input and a bill in Arizona intended to curb such behavior. You have to understand that there are conspiracies both large and small all throughout society to advance both small and large purposes contrary to the will of public. 
• "UK Launches Project Grayburn To Replace The SA80"--The Firearm Blog. The UK is looking for a new military rifle; or, rather, a rifle system with multiple variants for different missions and purposes. 

While further details of what the British military is seeking with Project Grayburn are yet to be publicly released, many of the major small arms manufacturers including Heckler & Koch, Beretta Defense Technologies, SIG Sauer, and FN Herstal are already positioning themselves to make strong industrial cases alongside submitting their weapons for testing. Weapons we can expect to see submitted to Grayburn include Beretta’s NARP and SAKO’s ARG, Heckler & Koch’s HK416 and HK433, FN’s next generation SCAR and SIG Sauer's MCX Spear as well as likely entries from manufacturers such as Colt Canada, LMT, Knights Armament, Glock and CZ.  

• "Unarmed But Still Dangerous"--Guns Magazine. The author begins by noting that it is a simple fact of life that there are times and places where we are not allowed to go armed or choose to not be armed. In that case, your number one self-defense tactic is to maintain situational awareness:

    Remaining relaxed yet alert about the people, places, and nuances of the things around you is arguably the number one key to a long and relatively quiet life. You can’t become so enthralled with your phone, the basketball game, or the school play in which your offspring is currently singing loudly off-key that you forget to do a periodic quick scan of your surroundings. Live life, enjoy yourself, but remember there is every chance evil is hiding in the faces around you. By staying a tiny bit wary, you’ll be one of the first to notice if the unthinkable happens.

    If so, you have given yourself more choices aside from “wild panic.”     

Your options after that are to run away or what he calls "Plan B": use an improvised weapon. Some ideas:

    There are many schools of thought on the subject, but to keep things simple, my own belief is that you should concentrate on two main types of weapons: impact and stabbing/cutting.

    There are a myriad of possibilities in your surroundings right now. Have you thought about using a full drink bottle or even a laptop computer to club a miscreant into submission? A stout flashlight doesn’t look like a weapon, but trust me, it is quite effective at putting people in a different frame of mind. There is always the old prison standby of putting batteries, rocks, or a handful of bolts in a sock and using it like a blackjack.

• More: "Less Lethal"--Guns Magazine. A look at batons, Tasers, stun guns, CS/CN gasses and pepper sprays.
• "Shotguns: Cleaning Tips for Your Shotgun"--Shooting Illustrated.  Some advice on cleaning plus this:

Although there are many products that are intended to clean, lubricate and protect (CLP is the trademarked name for this, and it is good if you can only choose one), cleaning—meaning degreasing and removing carbon fouling, protecting and lubricating—is best served by individual products specifically designed to perform these different tasks. For removing carbon, lead and degreasing metal parts, a solvent like Hoppe’s No. 9, Gun Scrubber and many others are recommended, but then a lubricant should be applied. For lubricating moving parts, a basic, high-temperature, machine-grade lubricating oil is best. And then, for the final wipe down (level 1 cleaning), a thin, protective, lubricating-but-not-too-sticky product like Ballistol (this German-engineered product can also be used on metal, rubber and leather), Rem Oil or Barricade is suggested. Finally, if your shotgun is used or stored in particularly dusty or freezing environments, a ceramic-based or dry lube product is recommended for all metal parts. (Ballistol’s ceramic GunCer product is great.) Conversely, if your shotgun is kept in humid or salty areas, use a thicker, heavier lubricant for the final wipe down.  

• An interesting piece of gear: "Devil Dog Concepts: Hard Charger. A Side Charging Conversion For AR’s"--The Truth About Guns. This device attaches to the  Picatinny rail on the top of an AR upper receiver and replaces the regular charging handle, giving you a left-side charging handle. Basically, you end up with a long U-shaped charger--one arm being the external charging handle and the other arm replacing the standard AR charging handle. It looks like you can still charge it from the rear should you desire. MSRP is  $97.30 – $102.20 depending on options, which is about what you would pay for good quality ambidextrous charging handle such as those from RISE Arms or a Raptor charging handle. 
• Speaking of gear: "The Importance of a Good Muzzle Device"--The Shooting Wire.  The article is specifically about muzzle devices for the "rifle caliber pistol" (RCP). 

    That name of game, particularly when it comes to semi-auto firearms is “gas control.” When we were using semi-autos with 20-inch barrels, as were standard on the original AR-15s, a simple flash hider/compensator, such as the ubiquitous “birdcage” design worked just fine. The split brake on the front of the XM16E1, despite being decried by troops in the jungle for catching on vines, actually worked very well. Gene Stoner and his team were smart guys.

    However, as the barrels got shorter and the noisy end got closer to the shooter’s face other options were explored. Keep in mind, for a relatively small caliber, the .223/5.56mm has a sharp report. Though a simple AR-15 birdcage flash hider might have worked, even with the short 16 and 14.5 inch barreled M4s, when the length drops down to sub 1 foot barrels, we need something out front to push the gas away from the shooter’s face and to help reduce the flash.     

The author goes on to discuss the XM177E2 Flash Hider, Spike’s Tactical Barking Spider, and Primary Weapons Systems CQB.  I have a Kaw Valley Precision linear compensator on my .300 BLK pistol which I like, but they also make them for other calibers. 

• "SilencerCo Glock 43x Threaded Barrel"--The Truth About Guns.  Short take:

It’s a simple part, so I won’t belabor the point. It’s a barrel, with threads. SilencerCo doesn’t use the same polygonal rifling Glock does, so shooting cast reloads aren’t going to be a problem.  

• ".380 Auto ballistic test, updated"--Range Hot.  Test guns were a Bersa Thunder .380 with a barrel length of 3.54″ and a Diamondback 380 with a barrel length of 2.8″ in order to have results with a couple barrel lengths that would probably be common in most .380 concealed carry pistols. Test were in bare gel and gel with 3 layers of clothing. The good quality defensive ammo all seemed to have good expansion. Penetration was borderline acceptable, generally coming in at the 10 or 11 inch mark, except for Hydrashok which was in excess of 13 inches. As the author notes, the data he collected indicates that with modern defensive ammunition, it is a viable defensive pistol. 
• Related: ".380 Auto pistol vs carbine"--Range Hot. This was a follow up test to the one above, but shooting the ammo through a Hi-Point carbine with a 16.5″ barrel. Velocity was appreciably higher, resulting in a bit more expansion, which made penetration a wash versus those fired from a pistol. But the expansion was truly impressive for most of the loads; nevertheless, there were a few rounds which performed substantially worse out of the carbine. 
• "Hybrid IWB Holsters – No More?"--Tactical Wire.  An excerpt:

    I reached out to a marketing professional who works for a large holster company. He mentioned “a confluence of events that caused the precipitous drop in sales for hybrid IWBs.”

     Among these was the rise in popularity of “appendix” (front of the hip) carry. That calls for synthetics with outboard stabilization devices (“wings” or “claws”). A number of people hide large “double-stack poly pistols adorned with huge (flashlights) and (optics)” in those holsters.

    No less an authority than Caleb Giddings of Taurus recently made a social media post about that very issue. Carrying his personally-owned, slightly modified Taurus TX9 duty-size pistol in a Galco Summer Comfort IWB on the strong side, he said he’d forgotten how comfortable that carry mode was – when he compared it to front-of-the-hip carry.

    My source noted that a number of “influencers” had expressed extreme dislike of hybrid IWB holsters, some alleging they were “dangerous.” If the “shield” of leather behind the upper part of the gun folded over, there was some fear it’d get into the trigger guard. I didn’t test every type of gun against every permutation of hybrid IWB holster – I didn’t have access – but when I tested against what I carried, it wasn’t an issue. 

• And for open carry: "Safariland Retention Holster Options: When Overkill is Just Right"--Breach Bang Clear.  
• "Holosun LS321G IR/Visible Laser and Illuminator"--The Truth About Guns. Something that might interest those of you using night vision gear. 
• "Browning BAR Mk 4 DBM Hunter: Full Review"--Guns & Ammo.  The BAR has long been a solid choice for a semi-auto hunting rifle with a wide selection of caliber choices including some long-action cartridges like the .30-06 or .300 Win Mag, although the particular model tested in this review was .308 and the Browning website only lists .308 as an option. This newest version apparently offers two major changes over earlier models: a barrel that screws into the receiver (it previously had been clamped according to the article) and a 10-round detachable box magazine. 
• "Smith & Wesson 327 TRR8, A Fast Shooting Wheelgun"--The Loadout Room (2024).  This is still listed on the S&W website so I assume it is still available. This is an 8-round .357 Magnum. What makes it truly special, though, is that it comes with Picatinny rail sections that can be screwed on below the muzzle and along the top of pistol. So, if you want a rail (or both) you can attach them; and if you don't, you can take them off. It seems a neat solution and it would instantly make S&W's revolvers more useful if it expanded this option to other models. Nevertheless, if you wanted a revolver for your "nightstand" gun, this looks like it would be a good choice because you could attach a weapon light and/or an optic to it. 
• "Coyote Hunting 101"--NRA Women.  Advice on appropriate rifle calibers, other useful gear, and, most importantly, when and how to hunt the critters. That said, I don't hunt coyotes. Most of the time, at least where I live, they are very wary of people, so if I see them, it is generally at a distance. However, I surprised one years ago when I walked up to the edge of a deep gully filled with tumble weed. I heard rustling down in the weed but couldn't see anything. I raised my rifle to my shoulder and clicked off the safety when suddenly a coyote jumped up on the other side of the gully and we stared at each other for few moments, I debating whether to shoot it and it probably wondering what I was going to do. Then it turned and raced off into the sage brush. When I reported what happened to my father, he was shocked I hadn't shot it and asked why. "Because I'm not a rancher," I replied. 
• "To Oil or not to Oil"--Everyday Commentary.  A discussion of the benefits of oiling micarta knife handles, what oils to use, and how to do it. The author comments:

Micarta is definitely one of my favorite, if not my single favorite, handle materials on a knife.  The process of oiling it makes it smoother and nicer to look at without compromising its grip.  And, I think that truly appreciating your stuff, you have to make it your own.  Oiling the handles is an easy way to do that.  Plus, if you are dude like me, you probably need a bit of moisturizer.  Especially right now in the winter time.   

• For those of you that travel or work overseas, but also good advice for "bug out" bags: "How to Pack a Go Bag"--Harvard Global Support Services.  The article explains that "[a] 'go bag'” is an easy-to-carry bag that holds everything you need if you have to leave in a hurry or in an emergency. Think of it like a small backpack or duffle bag with your essentials." And, when packing such bag:

Strike a balance between being well prepared and having a go bag that’s easy to maintain and carry. Exactly what you pack depends on you and your location (e.g., weather; cash-based economy; availability of food, water, and medicine).

It then has what appears to be a fairly complete checklist of items. 

• "DO IT YOURSELF !! Building a 3500-Watt Portable Battery Bank Solar Power Unit."--Jack Lawson.  
• "Prepping spring garden beds quickly and easily for planting"--Creative Vegetable Gardener. The author's first recommendation is to set up a permanent garden design if you haven't done so and install a no-till garden:

     I don’t recommend tilling because it can create more weeds by bringing seeds to the surface. The soil structure in your garden is also a complex web of bacteria and fungi that serves your plants better if it stays intact. And, wrestling with a tiller can be a lot of work.

    I’m all for simple and easy in my garden. That’s why I always install permanent beds and paths in my gardens.

[snip]

    Establishing permanent beds often means building wooden raised beds, but there are plenty of other options. What matters most is that you’re garden beds and paths are staying in the same place for many years in a row so you’re not changing the layout over and over every season.

 Also:

One of the best ways to cut down on the time it takes to prepare your spring garden for planting is to keep it weed-free. And the best way to keep those weeds at bay to make sure your garden beds and paths are mulched all year round. 

•  "A Fresh Start: Easy Ways To Prepare Your Garden for Spring"--Lucerne Farms. An excerpt:

The simplest method to prepare gardens for spring is to get rid of old growths and unwanted materials. Start by clearing away the remnants of winter. Remove fallen leaves, debris, and any dead plant material that may have accumulated. This not only improves the aesthetic appeal of your garden but also helps prevent the harboring of pests and diseases.

•  "Growing potatoes organically: when and how to plant, hill and harvest"--A Way To Garden. Probably time to order the seed potatoes. An excerpt:

Q. When is the right time to plant—is there a cue in nature to remind us, or a soil temperature or calendar date we’re looking for?

A. At the earliest, I recommend planting two to three weeks before your average last frost date. Seed potatoes can rot if planted too early in cold water-logged soil.  If your potatoes do get a heavy frost after they emerge, they will put up new shoots, but every time they die back they will produce a smaller and later harvest.

I like to wait for the soil to warm up a little at which point they emerge quickly and grow steadily without stress.  Late March to early May is a good time to plant potatoes in the northern states.  In the warmer areas of the South they can be planted in late fall or early winter.

Where I farm the local point of reference is to plant your potatoes when the snow is almost melted off the mountain.  Whether it’s the first dandelions blooming or a particular bug emerging; if you talk to gardeners where you live they will probably have a local reference, too. 

• "Government's secret plans for apocalyptic events included total takeover or shut down of citizens' communication networks."  Although I haven't read the specifics of the laws or orders that are referenced in this article, I've read plenty of material dealing with government continuity plans. The ostensible purpose of such laws/orders will be to ensure that the government has access to sufficient communication resources following a nuclear attack or nationwide disaster necessary for waging a war or coordinating rescue or assistance. But continuity of government really is more about continuing the government and maintaining its power and authority than it is about saving civilians, and I expect such authority over communications would also be used to prevent the spread of unauthorized or disfavored news or information.