Weekend Reading #57

 Some longer and more involved reading for the weekend:

• First up this week is the latest newsletter from Defensive Pistolcraft by Jon Low.  A few things that stuck out:
• Jon links to a video called "Principles for the Armed Lifestyle" from the Citizen-Defender YouTube channel and, in particular, a section of the video about have rules where you have predetermined reactions to certain actions or circumstances. But that YouTuber broke one of his own rules in a class when a retention screw dropped out of his holster. That rule was to never carry a weapon in a compromised holster; but rather than fix the issue, he just let it slide. On the way home from class he made a stop. After leaving the vehicle, his pistol fell out of his holster and went skittering across the ground. 

 Jon comments:

[Making pre-decisions] is critically important.  If you've already made the decision that when X happens we immediately execute Y, you can move much faster than the enemy.  It's always the decision that takes time, not the action.  You've practiced the action a thousand times, so your execution is fast.  You haven't practiced  the decision, because ever situation is different and often surprising.  So, it's a hard thing to "practice".

I guess the other lesson is to not procrastinate.

• Speaking of pre-decisions, Jon includes this advice:

 Train yourself to immediately gouge the eyes of the attacker, if someone attacks you with our without a weapon.  No thought, no decision, just immediate action.  It doesn't matter that you succeed or not, this will give you time to get to your gun.  

On that topic, when you go into to claw the eyes with the fingers, come up from below rather than a straight shot, because your hand/fingers will be out of view until the last instant making it harder for the target of your attack to blink or otherwise protect their eyes. 

• Jon quotes this from an article by Karen Hunter: "Too many women believe self-defense is only for people who are athletic, aggressive, young, or physically powerful.  That mindset alone stops countless women from ever building skills that could save their lives.  In reality, you do not have to be athletic or in peak physical condition to be dangerous."  It reminds me of a sales slogan for Colt revolvers in the 1800s: "God created men, Col. Colt made them equal."
• For those of you using a weapon light on your handgun, Jon quotes the following from a trainer: "I was doing exercises with my weapon mounted light (WML) in the dark.  I was using my support side thumb to actuate the light switch on my WML.  The light would not turn on.  The lever seemed to be jammed.  It would not move.  The problem was that I was pressing on the housing of my WML, not on the switch.  Something to practice.  Need to get this straightened out immediately.  And did so." Jon adds the following comment: "Never use your trigger finger to actuate the WML.  Lots of documented cases of officers attempting this and firing their pistol.  Task Overload Confusion.  If you don't understand or don't believe, take Chuck Haggard's class.  Don't be that guy." I only have one weapon light for a pistol, which an Olight that has bilateral buttons on it that are pushed in from the side. I can use the trigger finger to activate the light if I wanted, but since I'm probably going to be shooting it two-handed with a thumbs forward grip, the thumb of the off-hand gives me more leverage  so that it the one I use.  So, at least with my light, the safer option is also the easier option.
• Jon includes a good explanation of your vision in low light settings, including how various factors can result in your seeing something (e.g. a dark blog you mistake for an intruder) when there is, in fact, nothing there.  
• A lot more, so read the whole thing. 
•  Greg Ellifritz has published another Active Response Training "Weekend Knowledge Dump". A few links that caught my attention in particular:
• An article on "Hiking with Trekking Poles" from Swift Silent Deadly. Greg attests to his appreciation for trekking poles. I had tried them years ago and returned to using them a couple years ago. The article goes over the advantages and disadvantages to using trekking poles and some of the features that the author suggest (e.g., he likes the clamping adjustments rather than the twist to tighten style; and he prefers the cork handles). The primary disadvantage he lists is that you have both hands full, but that ignores that you can use just a single trekking pole like a walking staff. It leaves one hand free and works great for narrow trails. However, you will want to use both for heavier loads. You might find this article to be useful: "How to Use Trekking Poles and Hiking Staffs" from REI. It not only goes over why you might want trekking poles, but how to select them, different ways they help when hiking (or even just walking), and tips on how to use them. 
• An article on using handheld light with a long gun. The author illustrates his concepts with an AR style rifle. I'm not sure how they would work with other types of actions. You will notice that the author just uses variants of some of the handgun light techniques. I have to say, though, that it looks far more awkward than using a separate light with a handgun. 
• A link to a good article from the Organic Prepper blog on the topic of a hospital go-bag. Probably something you will use more in your life than a "get home bag" or "bug out bag" (unless those bags pull double duty as a "quick overnight camping bag" as well).
• An article for putting together a DOPE card for a shotgun (i.e. for how it patterns at different distances or with different types of ammo). The author also links to a downloadable DOPE card (.docx format).
• An article from ITS Tactical on adjusting your vehicle's mirrors so you don't have blind spots. In many ways, this is probably the most important of the articles in the list since you probably drive every single day and are more likely to be involved in an auto accident than be the victim of a crime.
• A historical piece providing brief bios of 20th Century lawmen gunfighters: Ralph Friedman, Delf "Jelly" Bryce, Bob Stasch, Frank Pape, and Jim Cirillo. 
• And a video entitled "The 4 Tests Predators Run on Targets." As the author notes, predators generally do not start with violence but use methods to test you and close distance: (i) the "help me" script; (ii) the "moral pressure" script; (iii) confusion or distraction; and (iv) being overly friendly or all smiles to bypass your suspicions. Basically, as the author notes, nice does not equal safe. 
• Finally, an article from Guns Magazine on carrying for the mobility impaired (the author uses an electric wheel chair). The author has specific recommendations for a gun belt ("the thick 1.25″- or 1.5″-wide belts offered by CrossBreed and other leather companies") and holster (Bianchi Model 101, Foldaway Belt Slide Gun Holster). Interestingly, Amazon is selling the holster as a two pack in sizes 10 and 16 which will probably cover almost any size of semi-auto handgun you might own. 

•  The Realist, who contributes articles to this blog, directed my attention to this article: "Government Food Confiscation Laws: How Private Food Stores Were Seized in History and What Legal Mechanisms Still Exist"--Preppers Will. The author begins:

    Most people assume that the food stockpiled in their pantry, freezer, or basement belongs to them unconditionally. Under normal circumstances, they are absolutely right. But history tells a far more complicated story, and the legal frameworks governing food supply, distribution, and access during emergencies reveal a side of government power that most people rarely think about until a crisis forces them to.

    Government food confiscation laws, whether formally codified or embedded within broader emergency statutes, have existed in various forms across nearly every major civilization. And in the modern United States, the legal infrastructure for federally directed food resource management remains very much intact, even if rarely invoked.

    Understanding the history of how governments have seized, rationed, and redistributed private food stores is not just an academic exercise. Whether you are a prepper planning for long-term food independence, a policy researcher, or simply a curious citizen, knowing how these laws work and where they come from gives you a clearer picture of the relationship between individual property rights and state power during crisis scenarios.

    From Stalin’s grain brigades to the U.S. Office of Price Administration during World War II, and from the Defense Production Act of 1950 to the FDA’s modern mandatory recall authority, the legal machinery behind food control has always been more extensive than most people realize.

While we generally think of OPSEC regarding food stores as necessary to prevent a mob of hungry people from showing up at our doors, the more likely scenario might well be police or other law enforcement showing up to confiscate your food items. You might also want to check out my post, "An Example of Why OPSEC is Important" for an example of the application of anti-hoarding laws in place during WWI which resulted in the prosecution of a couple living in Washington D.C. for hoarding. As I noted, "The 'offenders' were caught because they were informed on by a friend of the local 'Food Administrator.'" 

•  Probably more important than the events in the Middle East: "Successful SpaceX Starship 12 launch ends with spectacular fireball." The launch has originally been scheduled for Thursday evening, but then scrubbed; then reset for Friday. From the article:

    SpaceX’s Starship 12 rocket had a successful launch Friday night, before its suborbital test run around the Earth concluded with a stunning fireball explosion as it splashed down in the Indian Ocean.

    The rocket’s launch — the largest and most powerful of its kind — took place at around 6:30 p.m. EST and the 66-minute test flight was deemed a success by SpaceX.

[snip]

     During it’s more than hour-long mission, the rocket didn’t go into full orbit and was a pivotal step in testing how new hardware within Starship fares under real flight conditions, SpaceX said. 

     V3 of Starship 12 contained two key features — the ‘Super Heavy’ bottom booster stage with 33 powerful engines and the Starship, which is the upper part of the spacecraft above the booster that has its own engines.

    A few minutes after launch, the ‘Super Heavy’ booster separated and conducted a ‘boostback’ burn to slow down before splashing down in the Gulf of America — unlike previous missions that attempted landing back at the launch site.

    Meanwhile, the upper Starship spacecraft continued into space and released 22 fake Starlink satellites 20 minutes into the flight.

And Musk must be practicing some OPSEC: "SpaceX confirmed that Friday’s fireball eruption was planned since they don’t plan on reutilizing the experimental spacecraft."

    Glenn Reynolds has published a piece entitled "And Away We Go!" which discusses the import of these developments. An except:

    There are still bugs to work out, and capabilities to add, but what we saw on Friday was a full-fledged interplanetary spaceship. Starship v.3 is big enough to carry cargoes to the Moon and Mars. It uses methane fuel which — as Bob Zubrin demonstrated in the 1990s in support of his “Mars Direct” exploration/settlement architecture — can be manufactured on-site from the Martian atmosphere using 19th Century chemical technology. (I’m positive that Musk has studied Zubrin’s work carefully too.)

    It will also support missions to asteroids, which are loaded with precious and valuable metals, carbon compounds, and other useful stuff. (Even rock is useful for radiation shielding, and using stuff that’s already in space is generally cheaper than launching it from Earth.)

    A moon base is practical with Starship. Artemis, for all the hype, uses NASA’s SLS rocket, which is based on technology over half a century old — Congress mandated that it use Space Shuttle technology — and costs literally billions per launch.

    Large structures in Earth orbit are practical with Starship. Elon wants to build data centers in orbit, and others are following his lead. (As I wrote decades ago, the first Earth explorers brought back spices because they had an enormous value-to-weight ratio; space-based communications is even better because photons don’t weigh anything. Computation is similar. Also, the anti-AI-data-center movement on Earth is just playing into his hands.) Space solar power plants, converting the 24-hour, unfiltered sunlight of outer space into electricity that is beamed to Earth via microwave (a technology long-since demonstrated) are practical with Starship.

    And it’s not just lift capacity. The Musk empire also stresses AI and robotics. When we were thinking about large space structures in the 1970s we assumed they’d be built by humans, like offshore oil rigs. In my Space Law seminar last fall we did some rough modeling on how much faster you could build them using robots controlled by AI. The answer was rough, but clear: Much, much faster. And more cheaply, and without labor issues.

    Elon’s other company, The Boring Company, which specializes in tunneling, is often forgotten, but it’s actually revolutionary in itself. And you know what you need for bases and colonies on the moon and Mars? Tunnels. Lots of tunnels. (Also, later, for asteroid habitats.)

    It’s like he’s been thinking about this stuff all along. It’s like that because he has.

 Read the whole thing.

Gun & Prepping News #81

Some links that may be of interest:

• The Associated Press has suggested gun control for muzzle loading muskets. They apparently were upset at learning that such items are not "firearms" for purposes of federal gun laws. As I've noted many times, the biggest fear of the modern "liberal" is that somewhere, someone is doing something fun and wholesome without government permission. 
• This past week I linked to a video where the author cautioned against painting your optics if you were likely to change optics; but just in case you want to anyway: "Scope Painting: Rattlecan Those Optics!"--Breach Bang Clear.
• "Glock Gen 6: Upgrades & Optic Problems"--Recoil Magazine.  A concerning problem which the author describes with the optic system:

    The wheels came off not on the range, but at the workbench. Doing a final series of inspections and cleaning to see how the Gen 6 is faring after 1,000 rounds of fire, the optic twisted noticeably in my hand. Witness marks on the screws appeared unmoved, and checking the torque, it was still at 18 inch-pounds. I removed the optic and remounted it just in case to check. After torquing it again, the optic feels solid.

    A quick range trip to throw a couple hundred down in practice, and the optic can now shift again. Witness marks were maintained, torque was maintained, but the optic again can shift. Both times the screws were installed using thread locker, both times they were properly torqued, both times they were witness marked. 

    Losing zero is bad enough, but losing zero with almost no external sign is much, much worse. At least with MOS, you knew when it failed because your optic went flying. 

• "Maintenance Musings for the Wheelgunner"--American Fighting Revolver.  Some tips on lubricating a revolver. An excerpt:

Some things need grease, some need oil. For instance the lock work in a S&W revolver need a thin film of oil. I don't care for grease because of its tendency to collect debris and keep it stuck to the parts, eventually this sludge becomes a hindrance to your pretty trigger job. I prefer light non petroleum base oils for internals of a revolver.  My preferred brand and flavor is from my pal Mick Schuch's company Gunfighter Gun Oil I am not a paid endorser of the company, Mick is a friend and makes a fantastic product. If you go back in the Maintenance Monday archives I do several disassembly videos and after a good cleaning I apply Gunfighter Oil to the pivoting part etc. The stuff works absolutely great and doesn't get fouled up too bad even with a heavier firing schedule. Gunfighter oil is the only thing I ran on the last few Stoner pattern rifles I carried for business as well and it made clean up easy and I honestly cannot recall a stoppage from my rifles after I started using it. 

• "Singer M1911A1: The Rarest WW2 1911"--Forgotten Weapons. Only 500 were made. Singer had other military contracts of higher importance, so, according to the article, it forsook further 1911 production and the tooling was sold to Remington Rand and then went to Ithaca. 
• "Fudd Friday: Guns For Small Game Hunting In 2026"--The Firearm Blog.  By small game, the author means "ruffed grouse, jackrabbits, squirrels, snowshoe hares, raccoons and most other animals around this size". He then goes over shotguns and rifles suitable for hunting small game. One of the rifles he mentions is the Savage Mark II F, writing:

    This is one of the most accurate-for-your-money .22LR rifles ever made, embarrassing big-buck competitors at rimfire precision matches across the continent as long as the shooter can find the ammo the rifle likes. MSRP for the AccuTrigger model starts at $299, but Wal-Mart sells the non-AccuTrigger model for $179 in the U.S., and that gun will fill the pot just fine. The Savage Mark II is made in their Lakefield plant in Canada; it’s a design that goes back for many decades, and it’s also available in .17 HM2 and the new .21 Sharp.

    But the .22LR version is the one I’ve personally owned in the past and found very accurate. I once earned the eternal respect of my neighbor by head-shotting a cormorant (legal in my region) in his fish pond on a very windy day; the old guy thought I was a real Deadeye Dick after that, although it was simply a combination of dumb luck, plus a rifle that shot far better than its price tag would imply. It did the same thing every time I took it rabbit hunting, too, as long as there were rabbits around to hunt. The magazines were a bit janky, the rifle felt a bit crude in the hand, but it was excellent value for the money and I’d recommend it to anyone.

• "277 Fury vs .308"--The Shooter's Log.  Comparing ballistics of the two using 130, 150, and 155 grain projectiles. As expected because of the high BC bullet used by the .277, it has a flatter trajectory and better retained energy at distance. But it comes at a cost of greater recoil compared to the .308. This ballistic comparison comes with an important caveat:

The 308 may be loaded with substantially heavier bullets than the 277. Such bullets are characteristically more resistant to wind drift, and conserve higher percentages of their velocity and momentum downrange. In other words, the 308 may offer arguably superior ballistic performance when it is loaded with a bullet [weight] that the 277 cannot have. 

•  "Picking the Best M1 Garand Ammo"--The Shooter's Log. The first consideration is getting ammo that is safe for use in the M1 Garand. The M1 was designed for chamber pressures of 50,000 PSI, but many modern hunting loads are 60,000 PSI which, if used in the M1, could damage the operating rod and/or receiver. The author lists some commercial ammo specifically made for the M1 Garand and potentially offering great accuracy. He also relates using his M1 Garand for a hog hunt:

    Recently on a South Texas hog hunt I put my M1 Garand to the test in the field. If you have ever been around feral hog’s, you know these animals can be tough and resilient. While the 30-06 cartridge is more than adequate of course for taking hog’s, good shot placement is a must.

    I selected the Underwood 168-grain HPBT for a try out on these hog’s that are in fact, built like a tank. The Underwood delivered sub-MOA accuracy out of my rifle at 100 yards while pushing a hollow point bullet rather than the traditional FMJ for the M1 Garand. Interestingly, both the 150-grain Hornady FMJ, and the 150-grain Sellier & Bellot FMJ provided the best groups overall in my rifle.

    Sitting an elevated stand late one evening near a water hole and a food source, it didn’t take long for a hog to show up. Guessing the range was somewhere between 80 to 100 yards, I quickly aligned the front sight in the rear aperture with a sight picture on the hogs’ vitals. Pressing the trigger the hog was down before I could recover from recoil. Watching the pig, that looked to be a boar, he kicked once or twice then was still.

    The boar weighed around 125 pounds and with decent cutters. A good tryout for the ammo and helped the ranch eliminate one more of these feral critters that most landowners do not want on their property and tend to be a real nuisance. 

•  "Ayoob: How to Discreetly Carry Larger Handguns"--Armory Life. After discussion and illustrating specific types of carry or holsters, including a tip for the ladies, Ayoob offers the following general tips:

    There are going to be fashion sacrifices. Skin-tight clothing and concealed handguns simply don’t play well together. To conceal a full-size handgun, you want the concealing garment (un-tucked polo shirt, jacket, whatever) to be about one size larger than perfect fit without the gun. That gives you enough fabric drape for better concealment. The Fashion Police will probably only give you a warning instead of dragging you into Fashion Court, but no one is likely to look at you and scream “OMG, they’ve got a gun!”

    If you carry on the hip, don’t reach for high shelves in public with the hand on the holster side. That tends to pull up the concealing garment and reveal the pistol. Use the other arm. Bending over at the waist causes “printing” of holstered guns at hip or small of back, so pretend you’re a back patient and kneel or bend the knees to prevent the printing. 

• And how to discreetly carry eight (8) AR magazines. Not an article, but a product--the "Heat Rig" from Kommando Store--inspired by the setup used by Val Kilmer's character in the movie Heat. Anonymous Conservative linked to this recently and it looks interesting. 
• "Mountain Man Medical’s Chest Seal Trainer"--Swift Silent Deadly.  This product is intended for people that teach first-aid or trauma care because it has little use outside that market. Basically, it is a no-stick silicon baking pad with the bones of the torso and lungs printed on it. The idea is that you can use it to train on the proper application of chest seals without getting the gum on an expensive training mannequin, and the no-stick part makes it possible to re-use chest seals for training, cutting down on costs.  
• "Sopakco MRE’s: Survival On A Budget"--The Truth About Guns. Sopakco is one of the Department of War authorized MRE manufacturers and, according to the author, the best reputed of the "big three". The author goes over his considerable use of MREs in the military, the general contents of MREs, and reviews the "chicken chunks" MRE. He sums it all up:

    Ordering from Sopakco gets you a case of MREs for $113.40, or $9.58 per meal. So not only is this more food (and healthier) than a Big Mac meal, it’s cheaper as well. Shopping around online has found me Sopakco MRE cases for even cheaper than the MSRP. Cheap enough I’ve started buying a case a month to stock up for hunting season, emergency meals in the vehicle, and to try and replace the MRE’s my kids are constantly ravaging.

    Sopakco Sure-Pak MRE’s are the real deal, and a good deal at that.

• "Condiments and Seasoning to Stockpile"--True Prepper.  A list of each with tips on storage; and some comments about shelf life. I would recommend against long term storage of the little disposable packets, at least for ketchup or salsa, as they do not have a long shelf life. Something I learned from experience. 
• "Prepping Your Automobile For Those Long Trips"--Gat Daily. Basically, make sure that you have a spare tire and the jack and other tools to change a flat tire; and a few tools to make simple repairs. The author also recommends jumper cables or a portable jump starter, and a roll of paper towels. Finally, he recommends making sure that someone knows where you were going and when you were expected to arrive (or return home).

I'm old enough to remember when prepping a car for a long trip meant checking the spark plugs, checking the tire pressure, checking all the fluid levels (and maybe even an oil change), as well as checking the hoses and belts--you didn't just fill up the tank and go. A couple items I found useful at one time when I was regularly making trips through areas thick with bugs was to carry a soft plastic scrub pad and water so I could wash the bugs off the windshield when they became too much for the wipers to handle.  

•  "How to Identify Chemical Attacks by Symptom"--True Prepper. Going over the symptoms and signs of nerve agents, blister agents, choking agents, riot control agents, and blood agents (which must be breathed or swallowed--per the article, "They are named blood agents because they stop cells from using oxygen, causing victims’ blood to be bright red."). 
• "CS Tear Gas In Hong Kong And Elsewhere: Assessing The Hazards"--Bellingcat.  A deep dive into CS gas, how hot the canisters burn, how it works, and other considerations. CS grenades can be used to cause fires (e.g., the Waco siege) and the gas can decompose into other gases, including Hydrogen Cyanide, when heated. 

VIDEO: Chest Holster for Mountain Biking

Yeah, its basically an advertisement for the Kenai chest holster, but it raises good points about why a chest holster is a good choice for carrying while mountain biking.   

 VIDEO: "Ride Anywhere | Why You Need A Chest Holster"
GunfightersINC (3 min.)

VIDEO: KENAI Chest Holster

A couple short videos on the Kenai chest holster from Gunfighters Inc. If you don't know, the Kenai is a Kydex chest holster intended for outdoors use: fishing, hunting, hiking, etc. The idea with a chest holster system is that because it is over the chest, your firearm's weight is distributed evenly, it is out of the way of backpack straps or a rifle sling but is still easily accessible. It is also high enough that you can use it with waders if you are fishing. 

    The full holster system comes with a harness and the holster. The holster clips into the harness and you can buy the holster shells separately, so once you have the harness you can purchase additional holsters for different firearms at a substantial savings over buying a new holster and harness together--a $70 savings at the time of this writing. They have a large number of ready to ship holsters, but if you can't find what you are looking for, they have an option for "design a custom" chest holster that has many other models of firearms. 

VIDEO: "Kenai Chest Holster - Gunfighters Inc."
Provide & Protect (5 min.)

 VIDEO: "How To | KENAI Chest Holster: From Setup to Draw"
GunfightersINC (4 min.)

Gun & Prepping News #77

Some links that may be of interest:

• The Bugscuffle Gazette has published a couple articles on "Situational Awareness". Part 1 goes explains what is situational awareness. Short take:

    This point was driven home by a on-line conversation with someone who has been following me for years, who happily informed me that they “scanned for danger all the time”.

    That’s … not what situational awareness is. “Scanning for danger” means you’re looking for things that are already a threat — and only looking for active threats puts you way behind the power curve.

    Situational awareness, for lack of a better term, is observing and determining what is “normal” for the area and time, and looking for things that aren’t normal. The professional term is “baseline”.

Part 2 describes a month-long practice or exercises to help you develop situational awareness. For instance, for the first week:

    Every time you change environments or zones, you need to stop, get out of the flow of traffic, and focus on your senses for 30 seconds. Start with your vision and we’re looking for generalities: check the density of people on the street — is it sparse, crowded or somewhere in-between? What is everyone wearing? Direction and velocity of traffic flow? In your mind, state each observation.

    Next, focus on your hearing. What does the street sound like, generally? Car horns? Laughing children? Vehicular traffic sounds? What level — soft, medium, loud? What kind of noise? Again, each note you make, tell it to yourself in your head.

    Smell, next. What does the street smell like? What does the air smell like? Make conscious notes.

    Then, touch. Which way is the wind coming from? How hard? Is it humid? Hot? Cold? Static electricity? Same. Record all by talking in the vaults of your mind.

    Lastly, and most importantly, gauge the emotional mood of the scene. What does everyone’s body language say? Speak it to yourself.

Each subsequent week builds on this foundation. The author has promised a part 3 for the next 30 days of practice.

• "Should You Carry A Reload for Your Everyday Carry?"--Guns & Ammo. The author, James Tarr, says "yes" arguing: "The odds that a private citizen will need to reload their gun in a fight are the same as someone needing a gun to defend themselves. It’s low, but never zero." He adds:

You might think the main reason to carry a reload for your pistol is the obvious one, that it simply provides more ammunition to fight with. While that’s definitely in the top two, I don’t know that it’s the best reason. The best reason to have a reload on your person — specifically a spare magazine if you’re running a semiauto pistol — is because magazines wear and fail. Magazines are consumables that suffer wear simply by existing. Whether loaded or unloaded, they’re under constant spring pressure and springs die. Feed lips also spread apart over time, causing malfunctions. On several occasions, I’ve seen magazine basepads crack while people were shooting, dumping the basepad, spring, and all the remaining rounds onto the ground. It’s annoying at a pistol match but potentially deadly during an a defensive engagement. The solution is simple: Shove a new magazine into the gun, but to do it — stick with me here — you actually need to have a spare magazine on you! 

Funny enough, though, he points out in rebuttal of the 3 shots, 3 yards, 3 second FBI findings for police shootings that "with all the cameras everywhere — mounted on buildings, on your phone, in your doorbell, not to mention police bodycams — we’re exposed to more and more footage of actual defensive shootings." Yet John Correia, who has watched thousands of videos of armed encounters, has stated that he has never seen one involving a civilian where the armed civilian reloaded his or her weapon. In any event, I've seen a lot of articles and videos on this topic lately, so it is obviously a topic that is on the minds of trainers. And as Tarr points out, "Law-­abiding citizens are learning that a lot of bad guys like to do crime with their friends, and it’s rare that the shenanigans stop after the first shot is fired."

• "Mauser 98k Review: Why This WWII Rifle Still Hits Hard"--Guns America.  From the article:

    To really understand the importance of the Karabiner 98k, you need to understand Germany during World War I. The German military had upgraded its service rifle to the Gewehr 98, which was adopted by the German Army in 1898, hence the 98 in the model name. The German Army used the Gewehr 98 effectively during WWI, and at the time wit as considered an excellent combat bolt-action rifle. The Gewehr 98 featured a 29-inch barrel, used a 5-round stripper clip, and was chambered in 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge, also known as the 8mm Mauser or 8x57mm. Total length was 49 inche,s and it weighed nearly nine pounds. As Germany rebuilt after WWI, the Mauser rifle was adopted to better suit the needs of a modern combat soldier.

    A long rifle is a liability for the modern combat soldier at the time, who was transported in trucks and who fought not only in open fields like in WWI but in urban warfare. The 98k addressed the evolving needs of the modern combat soldier.

    The 98k was adopted by the German Army in 1935 and was similar to the Gewehr 98, but featured a shorter 23-inch barrel and improved sights. It was nearly 47 inches long and weighed about 8.5 pounds. In hand, the 98k is a hefty weapon. It features a wood stock and handguard, is equipped with iron sights, though some K98k rifles were adapted for sniper use with mounted optics. The 98k was chambered in 8mm Mauser, which is similar in length and power to the .30-’06 Springfield, which we used in the M1 Garand during WWII, as well as the .303 British and 7.62x54rmm Russian calibers.

While the Mauser 98k might have been significant because of its shorter barrel, the overall importance of the Mauser 98 was not that it served as Germany's primary combat rifle but that almost all successful bolt action rifles either copied the Mauser controlled feed design or were heavily influenced by it. 

• Jumping forward in time: "The Hellion - Springfield Armory's Bullpup Has Bite!"--Guns Magazine. The author describes the rifle:

    [T]he Hellion is essentially the justly famous VHS-2 bullpup service rifle designed in Croatia and used by their armed forces. Proven in battle, this platform has been modified slightly in a few key areas to make it appropriate for the U.S. market. The key parts of the Hellion are manufactured at HS Produkt, Karlovac, Croatia (that has also made the XD series for Springfield over the years). The rifles are then imported to the U.S. where Springfield does final assembly with the American-made parts added.

    The Hellion is, of course, semi-auto while the VHS-2 is full auto. The Hellion feeds from AR-pattern magazines as opposed to the proprietary mag for the VHS-2. The Hellion also uses replaceable AR-style pistol grips, has M-Lok slots and six QD mounting points for slings — all features Americans generally look for.

    There are some other qualities adding to the user-friendliness of this design, which might not be obvious at first glance. The Picatinny rail on the top is about 13″ long — longer than I’ve ever seen on a rifle like this. It allows a red dot, an optic, night vision/IR, laser, light, etc., especially if you use an off-set mount or two. The rail also has built-in flip-up sights of excellent design, with aperture choices allowing for almost instant ranging options from 100 to 500 meters. There are scads of possibilities there.

    A 5-position adjustable buttstock manipulates easily and surely. The carrying handle is handy — once you learn to make use of it. Hey, it’s there, use it! The ability to customize the grip and use one of your favorite shooting styles fitting the AR can help make the rifle even more comfortable. It comes stock with the BCMGunfighter Mod 3 grip but swapping it out is easy.  

The rest of the article delves into some other features and the author's experience shooting it. With a 2-10x scope mounted on it, the author was getting about 1.5" groups at 100 yards shooting Black Hills .223 55-grain FMJ and 1.15" groups with 77 grain  Federal Gold Medal Match King. MSRP is at about $2,000, but considering that you get a battle proven design, built in backup sights, adjustable gas block, and it is a bullpup design, that actually seems a good deal. 

• "How Redacted Arms Is Raising the Standard for AR‑15 Components"--Guns Magazine. The article indicates that "Redacted Arms focuses squarely on AR‑15 components that matter: fire‑control parts, active reset systems, and supporting hardware designed to run hard and run clean." And, the article adds: "At the heart of their AR‑15 lineup is the Super Safety system — an active trigger reset component engineered to deliver a clean, consistent reset shot after shot without altering basic semi‑automatic operation."
• "CMC Triggers Drops a Drop-In Upgrade for Your Remington 700"--The Truth About Guns.  It seems that the primary advantage over a Timney trigger is that it is adjustable from outside the action.
• "Chiappa 92 Core: .44 Mag Lever Gun with M-LOK and Threaded Barrel"--The Firearm Blog. This is a modern lever action set up but with wood furniture to give it a classic look. 
• "O'Connor, Keith and The Killing Power Controversy"--The Firearm Blog.  An excerpt:

In the early 20th century, there were two basic schools of thought on hunting cartridges. Some shooters thought that heavy bullets pushed at lower speeds would penetrate better; others thought that lighter bullets at high velocity were preferable.

[Jack] O’Connor espoused the second idea and had a reputation for pushing the .270 Winchester as a great hunting cartridge. He pushed the idea of careful shot placement and said for years that a fast, well-placed bullet was what killed wild game—not raw power itself. He liked flat-shooting cartridges because they reduced the margin of error when hunting sheep, elk and other big game in wide-open country.

[Elmer] Keith did not disagree that more speed meant better killing power, but he put more emphasis on tough bullets with strong construction and high sectional density. No 130-grain .270 loads for Keith. He thought that killing power started at .33-caliber bullets weighing 250 grains or more (think .33 Winchester, or .35 Whelen; he thought the .30-06 would get the job done as long as you used heavy-for-caliber bullets). Later, when more modern cartridges like the .338 Winchester Magnum came along, he was a big fan of using heavy bullets at high speeds in guns like these, and no wonder; that particular round was based on ideas he had explored in his own wildcat cartridge designs.

• "Catalyst Arms Hardpoint & Bomb Rack Accessory Mounts for Ruger Mini-14"--The Firearm Blog. There are companies that manufacture replacements to the upper handguard that incorporate an optics rail. But if that is not for you, the article states: 

 If you want to add Picatinny or M-LOK accessories to your Ruger Mini-14 without making any permanent changes to the gun, you may want to take a look at the new Hardpoint and Bomb Rack Mini-14/Mini-30 accessory mounts by Catalyst Arms. Both the Hardpoint, a 1913 rail section, and the Bomb Rack, an M-LOK extension, are attached to the gas block of the rifle, providing accessory mounting points in front of the handguard. 

• "Thinking About Holster Selection"--The Tactical Wire.  The author discusses a couple non-orthodox holster selections that work well for certain situations. The second example he mentions is the shoulder holster:

    An instructor of executive protection recommended shoulder holsters in general for bodyguards.  With the arms folded over the chest, the gun hand disappears inside the jacket for a low profile "ready" position with the hand on the stocks of the pistol.  If it's good for bodyguards, it's okay for narcs who often operate in crowded environs. Aside from the ready position, the piece can be easily secured from casual "frisk" bumps and seizure attempts merely by drawing up the arms. 

    Another advantage of this type of holster, is that when you slip on a gun, the spare ammo goes with it. It is carried on the “wrong side” for real speed reloads, and that's better than carrying no spares at all.  Sadly, too many folks carry guns and no extra ammunition.  It's unlikely you'd forget it with one of these rigs.

    The bad news?  Well, you can't replace the gun in the holster with only one hand.  It may not seem like a big deal to you, but try to hold down a suspect for handcuffing while replacing the gun in the holster.  It doesn't work.  ...

    Consider the tasks you’re likely to have to perform, then consider carry methods in line with that activity. And practice.

• "Concealed Carry Corner: Holster Rundown Guide - Part 1"--The Firearm Blog.  Assuming that you can get this to load, what with all the pop-ups and animated ads, the author discusses the two best materials for a holster--leather and Kydex--and a very brief discussion of the different styles of holsters, spending some additional space on his favorite setup--an inside the waistband (IWB) holster with a single large clip--or a shoulder holster.
• "Is the S&W 396 Night Guard the Ultimate .44 Special Carry Revolver?"--The Truth About Guns. The Night Guard revolvers are based on S&W L-frame and come in two varieties: a 7-round .357 Magnum and a 5-shot .44 Special which is reviewed here. MSRP is just $1,269 though, so it is not a cheap action. So why would you want a .44 Special over .357 Magnum? After all, the .44 Special is comparable to the lighter .45 ACP or .45 Colt loads. (See, "The .44 Special Ain't So Special?" for a discussion of why it didn't offer anything over other .44 cartridges extant at the time it was introduced). On the other hand, I don't know if it is still the case, but there used to be jurisdictions that prohibited civilians from using hollow point bullets which favored using a big bore pistol over a smaller .38 caliber bullet. And some people just like big bore pistols. What the .44 Special needs is a +P loading: something less than the .44 Magnum, but more than the anemic .44 Special loads that we generally find. 
• Yes. "Do You Still Need Hearing Protection with a Suppressor?"--The Truth About Guns. 

Unsuppressed gunfire is like standing next to a jet engine at takeoff. A suppressor brings it closer to a chainsaw, pneumatic impact wrench, or ambulance siren, which, as most of you will intuitively know, are noises you don’t want to be exposed to for very long without some sort of hearing protection (even though all those sounds are awesome to listen to). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health flags anything at or above 140 dB as risky for immediate damage with impulse noise. Many suppressed setups sit right around or just under that line, depending on caliber, barrel length, ammo, and environment. 

• "Economic Squeeze? Best Budget .22 Suppressors for Beginner Shooters"--The Truth About Guns.
• "Griffin Armament 1-8×24 FFP LPVO: Just Right For A Scout-Type Rifle"--The Truth About Guns. At about $490, the author's test of the scope satisfied him:

 I have to admit that this scope punches well above its price point. I’ve reviewed some pretty fancy glass, and this scope did everything it was supposed to and did it well. Even though it was designed to grace the top of an AR’s receiver, I had no issues mounting it on my Ruger American Scout .308… I did have to remove the rifle’s rear open sight, but that’s no big deal.

• "Nitecore NPL35 Review: Blazing Bright, Not Perfect"--Guns America.  This is a weapons mounted light intended for use on pistols. The author described the mounting system as "outstanding." The "not perfect" part is that it uses a proprietary rechargeable battery. 
• Speaking of batteries: "What Batteries Don’t Leak? Best AA & AAA Batteries for Stored Gear"--Modern Survival Blog.  The three top batteries (in order):

1. Energizer Ultimate Lithium    
2. Eneloop rechargeable    
3. Energizer MAX alkaline

• "How to Feed Your Family When You’re Flat Broke"--Organic Prepper.  The author has a whole book on the subject but she offers some tips on where to shop to save on food prices as well as general tips for frugal eating and tips specific to proteins, fruits and vegetables, and dairy. 
• "Bridgeford Shelf Stable Sandwich Review"--Guns Magazine.  The idea here is something that stores like an MRE, but smaller and without the prep of other meals for camping or hiking. As the author notes: "These sandwiches are individually sealed in a brown foil retort package and are designed to fill a very specific role: quick calories, no prep." The author also mentions his food storage strategy:

What I do is maintain a layered capability, starting with a fully stocked pantry with long-term staples. On the same side of things is a freezer in the garage, usually filled with wild game and home-grown vegetables. Next come some bulk dry goods, such as potatoes and rice, which we store in various places. Then comes the actual “emergency food,” such as MREs and similar items like these Bridgeford entrees. Finally, there’s my cache of freeze-dried food. 

    Lately, I’ve primarily leaned into freeze-dried options simply because of the shelf life — 25 years buys you a lot of flexibility. However, long-term storage is only one piece of the puzzle. The other piece is mobility.

    If something happens and we need to leave, I want food that we can take with us. Something that requires no or minimal prep, no additional ingredients and overall, no friction. Plus, beyond emergencies, there’s the simple reality of day-to-day life, such as last-minute fishing or camping trips and range days. This is where the Bridgeford goodies start to make a lot of sense.

    I don’t think they’re replacing “real” food — they’re filling the gap when real food becomes inconvenient or unavailable.

The author tested two flavors: “Pepperoni Pizza With Cheese and Sauce” (which wasn't a sandwich but more like a piece of pizza) and "French Toast". The pizza one was, per the author, comparable to the school pizza particularly if you had some means to heat it; and the french toast was apparently very good.

• "Emergency Rations Test #2: ER Bars"--Blue Collar Prepping.  ER bars come in vacuum sealed pouches that are intended for emergency rations for something like a lifeboat. 

The ER Bars come vacuum-sealed inside a resealable pouch, and it is a single block that is scored so you can break it into six pieces. (If you look at the package on the left, you can see the scoring because of the vacuum seal.) Each piece or portion will provide around 400 Calories* and the maker suggests eating two portions ($1.03 each) per day to make the bar stretch for 3 days. Personally, I'd rather carry an extra bar or two and eat three times a day for 1200 Calories; that's closer to a "normal" diet and would provide the extra energy that I will need. 

He adds:

I would be content to carry this brand of emergency rations in a get-home or bug-out bag. They meet my minimum requirements of tasting good, alleviating hunger, not costing much, and being fit to store anywhere. I will probably add one of the left-over packs to my truck bag and another will be cached in my wife's car.    

Back when I did a lot of travel between Idaho and Utah, I kept a small emergency kit in my car that had something similar to this product in case I got stuck in my car in a blizzard that shut down the roads. Fortunately I never had to use it. 

• "Are 'Energy Lockdowns' Coming to America?"--Organic Prepper. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the explosion at Valero’s Port Arthur refinery got the author thinking about how the U.S. might deal with a severe shortage of fuel. She notes that other countries had already at the time of the article (which was March 25) already started restricting how much gasoline people could buy or mandated shorter work weeks or work from home policies to conserve fuel. In other words, something similar to the the lockdowns during Covid. 

Gun & Prepping News #75

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

• "Why Good Guys With Guns Don’t Aways Come to the Rescue"--The Truth About Guns. In response to the question of why "good guys with guns" don't intervene more to stop crimes, the author of this November 2023 article gives this example:

    A few days ago in New York City, a homeless man mugged a woman at a subway station. Hearing his threats and her screaming, a bystander came to her rescue. He pulled a handgun out, fired several warning shots (note: TTAG’s writers generally do NOT recommend firing warning shots), and frightened the homeless attacker away from his victim.

    What happened next was entirely predictable. The homeless man was charged with a crime, but so was the hero of the story. The charges agains [sic] the Good Samaritan? Criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a firearm, and menacing. 

And it wasn't just the prosecutor who was opposed to the general public carrying firearms. The woman that was rescued stated: "Yes, I do think he is a hero, but I don’t know, I would likely think him a bigger hero if he tried to help me without the gun. In my eyes, the gun is a little extreme." The author continues:

    Even in a pro-gun state, a person who’s carrying lawfully and uses force against a reasonable threat of death or serious bodily harm can still have their lives destroyed. All it take is one short-sighted (or politically ambitious) blue city prosecutor to put a good person through an arrest and criminal trial. That can mean losing their job, their home, and even if prison is avoided, facing years of ruinous civil lawsuits.

    With all of that in mind, you wonder why any good guys with guns decide to defend strangers. The stranger, even if they’re an ungrateful, anti-gun Karen, suffers no consequences in the aftermath, but the gun owner risks their freedom, their livelihood, and everything they own. That’s a pretty big ask. 

• Related post:  "The Dangers of White Knighting." Something to read if you think it would have been better for the rescuer, in the story above, to try to resolve the situation without a firearm. 

• I don't know where the Iran war will take us, but this article is probably worth revisiting: "Preparation for Future 'Days of Jihad'"--Active Response Training.  The article was in response to Hamas calling for a day of Jihad a few years ago, but the advice is still good should Iranian backed terrorists in the U.S. decide to take some action. Greg's belief at that time was that if anything happened, it would probably be more in the nature of lone-wolf attacks, probably with knives or firearms or vehicles. He recommended:

1. Commit to being more aware in public locations and carrying your firearm wherever you are legally able to do so. 
2. Understand what terrorist knife attacks look like and how to best counter them. 
3. Understand how to identify and respond to terrorist vehicle run-down attacks.  
4. Have a plan to defeat restraint and abduction attempts.
5. Decide in advance how you will act if you are targeted by such a terrorist attack or you happen to observe an attack on others. 

He has links to multiple articles for each of the above points to educate you on the attacks and options for responding, so read the whole thing.  

• "Marlin Model 60 - Classic Classy Rimfire"--The Firearm Blog. The Model 60 began production in 1960 and ended in 2020 with approximately 11 million sold. The author writes about it:

The Marlin generally had a better reputation for accuracy than the Ruger 10/22, historically speaking, and if you just wanted a gun to hunt with and not a gun to tinker with, the Marlin was the ticket. Read Sam’s write-ups on the rifle here and here to get an idea of what made them popular, and how they were used, and how to keep them operating well today, years after they were made. Luke also had some thoughts on the Marlin Model 60, calling it one of the three most underrated rimfires you could buy.

And, discussing why it worked so well:

 For starters, the Model 60 was a good-looking rifle, with well-balanced visual lines and handling that matched. While detachable mags rule the market today, the Model 60’s tube magazine couldn’t be lost or forgotten, and it still held a lot of rounds. The sights were pretty good. The gun didn’t have a reputation for jamming, and you could get it cheap. ...    

I doubt that Ruger--which now owns the Marlin name--will bring back the Model 60, though, because it would undercut the sale of the 10/22.  

• "Is There Such a Thing as Stopping Power?" by Craig Boddington, Rifle Shooter Magazine. The author discusses kinetic energy, momentum, and John Taylor's "Knockout Values", and the quest to find some numeric way of expressing the effectiveness of a particular cartridge. He discusses bullet shape, weight, shot placement, and all the other factors brought into play by hunters. But as to the question raised in the title:

 “100 grains in the right place are as good as ten million,” wrote WDM “Karamoja” Bell, in Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter (1923). Bell was an outspoken smallbore guy. He is credited with 1,011 elephants, almost all bulls. He didn’t kill them all with his .275 Rigby—also known as the 7x57—although that was his favorite. Prior to World War I he also used the 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer, .303 British and .318 Westley Richards.

He remained a smallbore advocate, but in 1913 he ordered a pair of .416 Rigby rifles. He took one of them when he returned to Africa after World War I, along with a .400 Jeffery double. His bullet weights ranged from 160 grains in the 6.5x54 to 410 grains in the .416, and respective energies ranged from about 1,740 ft.-lbs. to 5,100.

In the same paragraph from his book I just referenced, he also wrote, “It seems to me that you cannot hope to kill an elephant weighing six tons by ‘shock’ unless you hit him with a field gun”—as in artillery.

But after his discussion of what drops an animal and various rules of thumb on energy and so forth, Boddington adds the following anecdote:

 One time, professional hunter Mike Payne, hunter Chad Allen and I crossed a dry sand river in the Zambezi Valley—with them and the tracker in front. Across the river there were three tall palm trees. As we approached, a lone buffalo bull rose from the shade, shook his head once, and launched into a full-out charge from 25 yards.

Our unarmed tracker dove out of the way, opening up a shot. Coolly and calmly, Payne said, “Chad, take him. Take him now,” as the buffalo closed on the pair. They were carrying .470 double rifles. Chad shot, Mike shot, then they both shot again, pairs of shots almost simultaneous. The first two turned the bull; the next two stopped him and dropped him.

Weighing maybe 1,500 pounds, that buffalo received 20,000 ft.-lbs. of energy in two seconds. All shots were chest/shoulder. Forward progress was arrested, and the buffalo was down eight yards in front of us. That’s “stopping power,” but it was the equivalent of Walter Bell’s field gun. That much energy cannot be harnessed in a single shot from a shoulder-fired rifle.

• "Skills Check: Rifle Standard Gold"--American Rifleman. 

The Rifle Standard Gold or Mini-Navy Qual is a short, but demanding test of rifle control, reload discipline and marksmanship fundamentals under time constraints. It’s a modification to the highly popular Modified Navy Qual shot at 50 yards. This version pushes shooters to balance accuracy with pace, rewarding smooth mechanics over rushed reactions at closer ranges. Every action—from mounting the rifle to breaking the final shot—matters. 

• "Hybrid IWB Holsters Explained: Where Comfort Meets Retention"--The Firearm Blog.  The author relates how initially when starting to conceal, one of his favorite holsters was a hybrid holster. But:

Like most concealed carriers, I moved away from strong-side carry and embraced appendix carry as that came into vogue. But after several years of carrying appendix, I found myself spending my days almost entirely at a desk. The life of an office-dweller is short on hazards, but discomfort from a gun worn on the front of the waistband while sitting down is one of them. This took me back to strong-side carry.

And that has brought him full circle back to an IWB hybrid holster. He reviews a particular model offered by Falco, but has some pointers on what to look for in a quality hybrid holster. I haven't actually ever used a hybrid--I guess I saw too many articles discussing out the backing can fail--but I have ordered one and hope to put it to the test soon.

• Speaking of holsters: "Is the Obscura Sling Bag the Best CCW Pack of 2026?"--The Truth About Guns.  The author, Kenzie Fitzpatrick, seems to think so. I found the three security modes to be interesting: apparently there is a clip that can be attached in such a way to allow easy access to a firearm but which is disabled when the clip is detached; and a third option making it even more onerous to access the firearm. It also is supposed to be fully ambidextrous. There is no MSRP mentioned in the article, but it appears that Scheels has it for about $90. 
• And in a similar vein: "A Few of our Favorite Soft Rifle Cases for the Range and Field"--Guns & Ammo. 
• "The 'Dreaded Dry-Fire' Training Talk"--American Rifleman. 

    The uncomfortable truth is impossible to ignore. Talk to the best shooters in the world—Grand Masters, national champions, professional instructors—and you will hear the same story: the majority of their skill development did not happen on the range with ammunition. It happened in living rooms, garages, basements and hotel rooms. 

 [snip]

    The reason elite shooters rely so heavily on dry fire has nothing to do with how good it feels. It has everything to do with developing efficiency and control. Dry fire builds skill. Live fire tests that skill.

• "Spur Of The Moment" by Dave Workman, Guns Magazine. Workman discusses the hammer spur on revolvers, including some reasons you want them: for learning to shoot revolvers; and better accuracy for longer range targets. In fact, he notes, Elmer Keith recommended cocking the hammer and shooting single-action even in law enforcement situations when engaging more distant targets. 
• "Best 5.56 Suppressor: What to Buy and Why"--The Firearm Blog. Some recommendations on suppressors for 5.56 rifles for different features and barrel lengths.  I will note that except for the budget option, the ones listed probably cost as much or more than your rifle. 
• "Things That Don’t Suck: Otis Pro+ AR-15 Lock Block Upper Receiver Vise Block"--The Truth About Guns. It fits into the barrel extension instead of over the aluminum upper receiver--supposed to be more secure and prevent marring of the receiver's finish. 
• "5 Ways to Level a Riflescope"--Rifle Shooter Magazine.  Tips and a brief review/explanation of some tools to use. 
• "Casting Hollow-Point Slugs with MP Molds"--Guns Magazine. Someday I'm going to try casting my own bullets. 
• "Troubled Times" (Part 1) (Part 2) by Sheriff Jim Wilson, Shooting Illustrated. These articles are from a few years back, but have some good advice for dealing with trouble. Part 1 has some random tips for organizing and staying out of trouble. For instance, this bit of advice from Part 1:

Finally, I would not go out with a thought to helping law enforcement unless law enforcement specifically asked me to. It is simply too easy to become part of the problem instead of the solution. Often times, the best help that we can give law enforcement is to just be a good witness or simply stay out of their way. It is far easier to tell the good guys from the bad guys when the good guys just aren’t there.     

Part II has some thoughts for preps beyond just guns and ammo.  

• "Run Your Generator Several Times a Year – How Long – Tips"--Modern Survival Blog.  The author explains:

Generator maintenance at a minimum, involves simply running your generator from time to time. Why?

•     To keep its internal parts lubricated with oil
•     Charge the battery (if it has a battery)
•     To be sure the carburetor isn’t gummed up
•     Put it under load to verify output
•     To make sure that the generator actually works (before you ever need it for an emergency)

He recommends running your generator for about 20 minutes every three months, but at a minimum at least twice per year. He has other tips so be sure to reach the whole thing.

• "How Much Pool Shock to Make Household Bleach Strength?"--Modern Survival Blog. The author points out that "[h]ousehold bleach is usually 5% to 9% sodium hypochlorite, while pool shock is calcium hypochlorite. But as a practical preparedness method, this gives you a bleach-strength chlorine solution that can serve as a practical bleach-strength substitute for preparedness use when needed." The mixture to use with ~ 68% to 70% calcium hypochlorite is:

•  Small batch: 3 level teaspoons in 1-1/2 cups of water
• 1 gallon batch: 11 tablespoons per gallon of water

The author has a lot more about pool shock, including storage, how he calculated the recipes, the particular type of pool shock to use, and so on, so be sure to check out the full article if this is something that interests you.

• "Emergency Rations Test #1: The Survival Tabs"--Blue Collar Prepping. The author notes that The Survival Tabs (TST) were originally developed for NASA; contain 100% of the recommended daily allowance of 15 vitamins and minerals, with an emphasis on the B vitamins; and have a shelf-life of 25 years. Amazon sells them in various quantities. Looking at the quantities and the number of days they are supposed to provide, it appears that you would need to eat 12 tabs per day. The article mentions that "[t]he instructions were to 'eat' one tab every hour for 12 hours to get what you need for a day." It looks like they are available in a few different flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, but the article also mentions a butterscotch flavor. Here is the important part:

As you can see, a day's worth of TST (12 tabs) only provides 240 calories. That's great if you're trying to lose weight, but nowhere near enough to sustain an active adult. They claim a person could live for a month or more on nothing but their tabs... which isn't saying a whole lot, since you can survive about three weeks without any food at all. This was the first indication that these were a poor choice. 

The author also notes that these are "milk solids" that generally overwhelm the flavor (he said the strawberry was the only flavor he could taste) and stick to dental work and leave a residue in the mouth that must be at least followed by water to wash down. The author concludes that "for the everyday prepper they're almost worthless," and recommends a good quality multivitamin if you are worried about vitamins. I would see them as something to throw in a "get home" bag or a bug-out bag where you would be relying them for a few days. They would probably be useful for a fall out shelter for the two-weeks you have to stay inside as you wouldn't need to be moving around much and would want to minimize dealing with solid wastes--exactly the same reasons NASA sought them for use with the space program. 

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.