Gun & Prepping News #105

 Some links that may be of interest: 

• "CMP Sets January 2027 for M14 Rifle Sales"--Shooting Sports USA. Price hasn't been set, but the article indicates it will be less than $2,000. Additionally, purchasers will be initially limited to a maximum of two per year. 
• "Self-Defense Against Multiple Attackers"--US Concealed Carry.  The article discusses the dangers posed by a group assault and the importance of situational awareness, but here is probably the meat of the article:

 Key Strategies for Handling Group Assault Scenarios:

1.     Move Constantly: Do not let yourself get surrounded. Keep shifting your position to prevent being boxed in. Side-stepping, circling around obstacles and staying unpredictable in your movements make it harder for attackers to corner you.
2.     Attack and Escape: Target the most aggressive attacker with a decisive blow and then move toward an escape route. Disabling one assailant quickly can create a gap for you to flee before the others react.
3.     Use the Environment: Walls, cars, poles and obstacles can prevent attackers from reaching you all at once. If possible, position yourself in a doorway or narrow space where only one attacker can engage you at a time.
4.     Strike Smartly: Aim for vulnerable areas like the eyes, throat, groin and knees to disable attackers quickly. A well-placed eye gouge or knee strike can incapacitate an attacker long enough to escape.
5.     Stay on Your Feet: Falling makes you more vulnerable. If you do fall, protect your head and attempt to get back up quickly. If trapped on the ground, use your legs to kick attackers away and create space.
6.     Use Improvised Weapons: Items like keys, pens, bags or even dirt can be used as weapons to fend off attackers. A flashlight can be used to blind them momentarily, and a backpack can serve as a shield against incoming strikes.
7.     Identify the Leader and Neutralize the Threat: Many group attackers follow the actions of a dominant leader. If possible, targeting the leader can disrupt the group dynamic and lower morale.
8.     Control Your Breathing and Stay Focused: Panic can lead to exhaustion and poor decision-making. Control your breathing, stay focused and act decisively to break free from the attack.

The article also discusses de-escalation techniques, and training. 

• More:  "How to Defend Against Multiple Attackers"--Mindful Defense. 

• Interesting: "The Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier: What Guns Do The Sentinels Carry? Part 1: Pistols"--The Truth About Guns. Before getting to the topic of the title, the author gives background on the creation of the Tomb and the history of the sentinels, their training and selection, and more. But in answer to the handgun, the current ones are highly stylized and engraved version of the SIG Sauer P320 M17. 
• "The Mini-14 On Duty"--GAT Daily. A look at the military, paramilitary, and police units that adopted variants of the Mini-14 as duty rifles, including, but not limited to, the French National Police, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and the Royal Bermuda Regiment.
• "Myths & Misunderstandings About the 'Modern Fighting 1911'."--American Rifleman. The author argues:

 If we are to look at a pistol purely as a self-defense defense tool and not as a status symbol or a more elegant arm from a bygone age, the 1911 begins to struggle. Weight, magazine capacity, magazine reliability, overall reliability, manual of arms and a certain peculiarity of bullet-profile preference all serve to hamper the 1911 in a modern setting.

The problem with 1911s is that there are so many manufacturers that quality and function can vary widely for both handguns and magazines. But a well made 1911 with decent sights can still serve quite well.   

• "Cowboy Action Shooting On A Budget"--Athlon Outdoors. An excerpt:

    Yes, you need guns. Four of them, to be exact. Two handguns, one rifle, and a shotgun. These will be the largest investment. But it would behoove a new shooter to attend an event or two before buying guns.
    
    All CAS events are governed by a stringent set of rules involving firearms. In short, all must be authentic pre-1899 firearms (with some category-based exceptions) or a modern replica thereof.

    At most any event, you will see the breadth and depth of what is allowed for firearms. Some hold steadfastly to the .45 Colt cartridge as the “only cowboy loading,” while others continue to win with .38 Special.

• "Fudd Friday: The State Of The Lever-Action Union"--The Firearm Blog. A look at the ups and downs of the lever action rifle. The author begins:

America is a land of four distinct firearm archetypes: Big-bore handguns, pump-action shotguns, AR-pattern rifles and lever-action rifles. But out of all those Big Four, lever-actions might be the most American of all, due to their association with a generation of Wild West frontier life and then another three generations of sporting use. Far from the decline that we observed over the 1990s and early 2000s, lever-actions are back, in a big way. And while there are good reasons for that to happen, a true revival of this segment to its dominance does seem to be as distant as ever.

The author discusses why the lever action went into decline, the reasons for the resurgent interest,  and a risk for the American manufacturers:

    They’re only just beginning to show up, but pretty soon, you’re going to see Turkish lever-action rifles everywhere; they’re already flooding the Canadian market, which has been buying them to cope with the loss of their ARs. Some shooters might sneer at the idea of a Turkish-built lever gun, but remember that Americans have already been buying lever-action rifles made in Brazil, Japan and Italy, and it has been that way for decades. For now, the Turks appear to mostly be copying the Model 1892 design, but it won’t be long until they’ve blueprinted and reproduced everything else they think they can make a buck off.

    The biggest question is, what happens after they do that? Will they be able to undercut American manufacturers to the point that we see a second massive die-off in lever-action production Stateside? I doubt it; I imagine you’d see tariffs before that happened. But who knows the future for sure? 

• "Start ’Em with Squirrels—The Perfect Hunt for Junior Woodsmen"--American Hunter. Short take:

Let’s be dead honest. Unless you’ve got a junior shooter who is reared on outdoor tales and champing at the bit to get into the woods, it can be a challenge getting kids started with deer hunting. Long sits, low temps and enforced quiet can make even the least energetic child wonder what all the fuss is about, and why he can’t move his foot like that. Not so with squirrel hunting. On a squirrel hunt, the action never stops as you scour the canopy looking for squirrels, and stalking is near mandatory. 

• Related: "Hunting Small Game: An Overview"--American Hunter. Moving beyond the .22 squirrel gun to .17 HMR rifles and shotguns.
• "Winchester Drops New Big Game Ammo 101 Video Series"--The Truth About Guns.  

Winchester Ammunition has launched a seven-part video series called Big Game Ammo 101, aimed at hunters trying to match the right load to the right animal. The first episode, “The Complete Lineup Tested,” is live now on the Winchester Ammunition YouTube channel, with six more installments to follow. 

• "Ballistic Eye Protection for Helmet Setups: Glasses vs Goggles"--Chase Tactical.  An excerpt:

Goggles should sit flat against the face with the strap running around the back of the helmet, not under it. Some helmets have goggle clips or bungees on the rear to hold the strap in place. If the helmet sits too low on the brow, the goggle frame gets pushed down onto the nose, so adjust the helmet harness first. Our guide to NIJ helmet ratings covers how the shell itself is rated. 

• "Best MREs for Overlanding and Outdoor Adventures"--Skill Set Magazine. Unfortunately, the author doesn't seem to understand the concept of an MRE which is that it is ready to eat without having to boil water to reconstitute it. Thus, there is a mix of genuine MRE style meals and freeze dried products. That aside, the author does look at various options from different companies and is worth checking out for that reason. 
• "Survival Tips Every Outdoorsman Should Know"--Athlon Untamed. The tips cover the following categories or topics: 

1. Know your terrain;
2. Staying warm;
3. Food and water;
4. Basic first aid;
5. Signalling and communication; and
6. A list of items to make sure you have in your day pack.  

•  "Winter Gear Picks for Canadian Law Enforcement"--Joint Force Tactical. This article is intended to push the site's products, but it does give an idea of the type of products and clothing you would want for operating in cold weather. 
• On a related note, I tried to find an article on good shooting gloves for cold weather, but surprisingly could not find anything but this article: "10 Top Winter Shooting Gloves for Women"--NRA Women. I'm sure that the brands and products are also available for men as well. Of the 10 recommendations, it was interesting to me that three of them were different styles of the PIG FDT (Patrol Incident Gear, Full Dexterity Tactical) glove line. Orvis and Hatch brands also took two positions each. 
• Related: "11 Best Hunting Gloves for Cold Weather, Bowhunting, Waterfowl & More"--North American Outdoorsman.
• "Here’s How to Pull Out a Rotten Tooth at Home"--Modern Survival Online. The author discusses the medical dangers posed by a rotten tooth. He continues:

 Forget about what you have seen in various forms of media; if you are even considering attempting emergency extraction of a rotten tooth on your own, having the correct tools is a must. Gather the following, or on go on and add them to your stash now:

He then lists the tools, which I won't reproduce here, before going through the various steps and instructions, including sterilization of the tools, disinfecting and rinsing the mouth, gloving/masking up, applying pain killers, detaching ligaments from the tooth, the actual extraction, and inspecting the tooth, finishing up, and after care.  

• "The Lovebugs Say it’s Time to Do These 7 Fall Gardening Tasks"--The Survival Gardner. This article is from September--and the author lives in Florida--so it is probably too late for certain of the tasks. But there is probably still time to mulch the garden beds and use fallen leaves for compost.
• "Be Ready-ish" by James Lileks, National Review.  The author begins by discussing the sudden advice from around the world--from the UK to Japan--warning their citizens to have 72-hours of food and water; and the U.S. military suddenly realizing that its bases need to be self-sufficient for up to 90 days (with Lileks suggesting this is based on a sudden realization that Biden let in lots of hostile peoples that will target infrastructure). But the author then injects some moderation into all of this:

    To all this ambient nervousness [over Russian or Chinese military threats], add to this two strains of modern discourse: The left believes Trump and Musk are going to steal the election by using ICE and Starlink, and the right is poring over plans by vaguely named NGOs to do a Color Revolution Thing and have governors suspend the Constitution. More or less.

    My personal belief is that none of this is going to happen. All of these tremulous motifs in the zeitgeist will trail off into nothingness, replaced by ones that are similar but different. It’s possible the government told everyone to have three days’ food on hand because 37 percent of the younger generation has nothing but ketchup and a brick of ramen on hand, and if there’s a momentary hiccup in the way things work, people will be staring at their phones, stabbing the DoorDash app and wondering why nothing’s loading, and because they have Anxiety, it is ableist to expect them to boil water.