Range Report: Burris MTAC, Retesting Problems and Glock 19 Fun

Got out to the range today. It can get a little busy on the weekends and for the kind of stuff I have been doing (typically zeroing) doesn't work real well. However I got off work surprisingly early today and figured it would be an awesome time to go shooting. Since I had a little bit of range ammo lying around plus time to kill so why not?

On the way I stopped by the local shop for some targets and they had a single box of 9mm ball. Grabbed it and upgraded the Glock fun time. They also had some Tula .223 and I grabbed 3 boxes to replace what I planned to shoot today. That will be next time's range ammo. 

Got out there and the place was very quiet.  Not sure if it's an off day or whatever. The Rangemaster said he doesn't think anybody has ammo to go shooting. Probably has a point there. I can see that angle. Personally I went there very lightly loaded with just 60 rounds of .223 and 75 rounds of 9mm (would have been 25 except for the gun store find). My primary goal was to test fire 1 gun and confirm the zero on Project AR, just tossed some 9mm in for fun.

I'm just loving the Burris MTAC. Being able to run what amounts to a red dot (very close to probably 1.1ish)  for close stuff then zoom to 4x for longer shots is awesome. After some refinement the zero is solid. It's hitting well inside angle of mans chest at 400m. Strongly suspect the reason it's not angle of shoe box is the schmuck behind the gun.

Another gun had issues last time.  For background I swapped out a part on it some time back thinking I knew what I was doing. Turns out I didn't have a clue; the classic you don't know what you don't know scenario. Anyway I pretty easily figured out the problem at home and aside from a couple scratches on the inside of the gun it was no worse for wear. So I took it out to confirm the issue was figured out. Anyway I took it out today and everything was good. Gun runs like a champ. Learned a little lesson to make entirely sure I know what I'm doing before screwing around with a gun. All's well that ends well I guess.

That brings us to the Glock 19. Not sure why but I was in the groove today. Shot pretty well which was cool. The more I use those new sights the more I like them. Very fast onto target for quick shots yet capable of precision shots. Had this feeling that taking Tam's advice would not lead me astray.

In conclusion shooting is fun and the Burris MTAC rocks. 

Project AR Upgrade: Troy Rail and DBAL I2?

So I am getting ready to complete Project AR Upgrade. Funding is about 70% in place and pending a transaction tomorrow will be complete. Here is what I am looking at.

Rail: Troy Battle Rail Delta. I want to keep the standard gas block/ front sight for a few reasons. First cuz I've got it and the gun is zeroed, second cuz I'm cheap and third they are IMO more rugged than any folding type sight that would go onto a rail. The minimalist type rail seems like the way to go giving me all the benefits of a free floating barrel but an easier and cheaper install. Honestly I wouldn't bother except wanting a solid place (to hold a zero) to mount an IR laser.

IR Laser: Looking at a DBAL I2. Would go with the red vis laser because I don't use the vis anyway.

Pending that sale and a little bit more research I should be able to pull the trigger this weekend or early next week. If you have any experience with this stuff or comparable products please let me know your thoughts.

Ammo Shopping and Gratuitous AR/ Burris MTAC Pics

Overall I am fairing well through this gun/ gun stuff/ ammo panic. Sure there is stuff I want but that's life. The biggest mistake single mistake I made was not differentiating between operational ammo and training ammo. We stocked about enough to be comfortable if something happens. However I did not have a separate stash for zeroing optics, test firing new guns, training and such. A half case each of .223 and 9mm plus a couple bricks of .22lr, 250 rounds of .38 and 150 rounds of mixed 12 gauge ammo (mostly bird shot, some buck and a few slugs) or so that is allocated for training and such stuff would be really nice.

It isn't a great time to buy ammo but as Tam noted you have got to keep something coming in even during the bad times. So I've been doing some looking around at the local shops. The last few days have been pretty good for me.

Can't figure out how to get the picture the right way. That is three of the new fangled midget 325 round bricks of Federal .22lr, three 20 round boxes of 55gr XM193 and a 50 round box of 9mm FMJ. One box of .22lr was $22 and the others were $16. The .223 was $12.95 and the 9mm was painful at $22 something. This leaves me happy for .22 training ammo. The .223 will get burned up on my next range trip to really zero in the scope on Project AR. The 9mm is headed to my upcoming class.

To conclude this topic it seems like ammo is slowly becoming available again. Some is at less than ideal prices and some at ok prices. It's just selling as soon as it shows up. There is always that trade off of driving around to different places and waiting in line or paying a bit more. The options are to put in the energy/ time/ gas shopping around, pay steep prices or bitch about the situation. What's right for one person might not be for another. I don't think it is time to go big and stock up on cases of ammo (at these prices) but getting a few boxes of stuff you are seriously short on or replacing some shooting ammo is probably realistic.



It occurred to me that I have not really talked about or shown a pic of the new scope on my rifle.

Here is my rifle these days. Still need to get a DBAL and free float the rail but otherwise this is what it's going to look like, well at least till it's done and gets painted. I am pretty happy with it. Actually that is an understatement as this gun frickin rocks.

A close up of the Burris MTAC and La Rue mount. Shooting it is great. Zeroed it in about 15 rounds, well at least a 90% solution anyway. Specifically it's zeroed at 25 but I need to back out and confirm/ adjust to 50 meters. I think the 50 meter zero is probably the way to go. On the last range trip I sort of got sidetracked, which is another story I'm not ready to write yet, and ran out of time. Will go back and get it finished on the next trip. Since my training ammo budget is a bit better I'll throw some rounds downrange to confirm. One feature I particularly like about this scope is that the illum turns off between power setting. That means unlike an aimpoint where you have to cycle through all the power setting to get to the one you like it can be put to the setting you want with a slight twist.

A pic that shows the La Rue mount more clearly. I like the quick detachment option a lot and consider it a prerequisite for a fighting rifle, especially if you cannot co witness. This way if the optic goes down, which seems unlikely as it's ridiculously stout, I can pull two levers then flip up the BUIS and get back into the fight.

How are things looking in your neighborhood?

RE: Basic Guns Part 3: Shotguns

My recent post on shotguns in the basic guns series drew a comment worth replying to. It already got a pretty good response but I'll take a shot at it also. Here it is, I will reply after each piece in italics.
"Let's see...
* Heavy, bulky ammo
How much ammo do you plan on carrying? For a normal home defense or siting on the porch after a Hurricane type scenario I'd be quite comfortable with what's in/ on the gun and 40-50 rounds which is not excessively heavy. True 150-250 rounds of buckshot or slugs would weight a lot but if you're trying to do that it's likely not a problem that can be solved with a shotgun anyway.
* Short range
Short range in comparison to what? [This is a systemic issue of the comment. Nothing is defined or compared to another alternative.]  Figure buckshot is good to 30 meters or so which covers probably 90% of home defense type situations. Slugs out of a standard open cylinder barrel with a bead sight are good to about 100m (if the operator does his part) which probably covers 99.9% of civilian defensive situations.
* Ineffective against even the cheapest armor
So are all but a few oddball pistols but you don't see folks running away from 9mm, .357mag, .40 and .45. The comment to use slugs is valid. Then again rifle plates that stop everything up to 30'06 AP are common place and can be purchased for a few hundred dollars. So that thinking eliminates the advantage of .223, 7.62x39 and .308 also; you would really have to move to .338 Lapua or other anti materiel type rifle that will either blow through a plate or create so much energy it would do a person in through blunt force trauma. Honestly while Goblins wearing body armor is a valid worst case scenario for home defense the real odds of it happening are probably pretty low. If a round to the plate does not do somebody in (or you see vests) transition to 'hips and heads'. In plain English if you suspect folks might have vests shoot them in the hips and then in the face. Heck given the slim but reasonable likelihood that somebody has a vest these days starting with 'hips and heads' isn't a terrible idea.
* Crap sights
Honestly I have never really had an issue with the plain old single bead. Given the realistic ranges for employing a shotgun I find them sufficient. Rifle sights, ghost ring sights or a red dot are all better and valid options but they cost money.
* Crap accuracy
If a person cannot use a serviceable shotgun to accomplish realistic shotgun tasks the issue lie in the operator not the weapons system.
* Awkward, slow reloads
 In comparison to a modern magazine fed weapon that holds 20-30+ rounds reloads are slow and awkward. On the other hand if we are comparing it to a bolt or lever action rifle I would call it a wash.
So why would I want to buy a shotgun again?"

Further commentary:  The systemic problem with this comment is that it does not compare shotguns to another option by weak point or to propose another weapons system as an all around better option. Maybe I am being too hard on this but it has it's been pounded into my head that you bring up a problem AND A BETTER OPTION.

I am a pretty harsh critic of shotguns for home defense. This guy would take an AR/ AK/ Mini 14/ Whatever over a shotgun every day of the week and twice on Sunday. $1,500 Project AR with a $500 optic blows the old 870 out of the water in about every possible way. A Mercedes or Porche SUV blows my Asian SUV out of the water and $120 a bottle Scotch beats $18 a bottle stuff. The problem is that a comparison between them that does not consider economics is invalid. 

At the time of this writing AR's run $1,200 for low end guns. AK's are running almost a grand for low end ones.  A quality shotgun costs 1/4 to 1/3rd of either. Many people are priced out of modern defensive rifles these days but any semi functional adult can pull together $250-300ish to get a good pump shotgun. Also today they are still widely available both in stores and on the private market. Think I've beat the cost thing to death.

The other big benefit of a shotgun is versatility. A rifle can do some things better than a shotgun but there are many things a shotgun can do that a rifle fails completely at. As discussed before any sort of jack of all trades is not the master of any but in this scenario a gun that does a lot of things acceptably is very useful.

Instead of comparing a shotgun to rifles that cost 3-4x as much ones in the same range might be a more equitable comparison. We will get to rifles later but the playing field between bolt action deer rifles, lever guns and old milsurp Mosin Nagants and the shotgun is a whole lot more level.  A reasonable person could choose to go rifle first then shotgun down the road but it's still important to compare apples to apples.

Considering this is the Basic Guns series and we are talking about affordable but still reliable guns that will fill a lot of roles I consider the shotgun worthwhile. 

Thoughts?

New Years Resolutions- Finalized a bit late

I dropped some draft goals awhile back and was recently reminded of them. It is high time I solidify them.

Physical:

Maintain a consistent weight lifting program.

Run a half marathon (I changed to this because it's March and I haven't tracked mileage which was a big fat fail)



Continue working on barefoot running towards the goal of running on a  variety of terrain up to 5k barefoot

Transition to running fully in minimalist shoes

Ruck at least 1x a week

Eat reasonably with decent consistency so I don't gain and lose the same weight 2-3 times over the year.

Skills/ Training:

Attend a defensive handgun course.

Work on developing a variety of other skills as they come up by doing as much myself as possible.

Guns and Gun Junk:

Pick up a couple holsters and assorted other stuff to get squared away for what we have. (Specifically a nice Bravo or Raven concealment kydex holster for the Glock with TLR-1, a good OWB holster for the J frame, and an ankle holster.)

Purchase a DBAL and free float the barrel on project AR.  (The DBAL is almost funded I just need to do a bit more research then pull the trigger.)


Finally complete Project 870. At least the tube extension and sling. The light angle I've got to do some thinking on.

Get more spare parts. Beef up on core stuff (AR's and Glocks) and get some basic stuff (firing pin, extractor, ejector, springs, pins, etc) for other guns.

Finally get my (already sporterized) 1903 30'06 tapped and mount a scope on it.

If things work out and decent deals come along I would like to get a single shot 12 gauge and another .22 rifle. 

Subcategory Ammo: I am only doing this if prices get back to normalish. Would take my best whack at it and if I get half done be happy.
5k .22lr
1k 9mm
1k 12 gauge (mixed about 400 buck, 100 slug and 500 mixed small game loads)
2k .223


Food:

Build up to a 1 year supply of food for 4 people.

Can something

Continue with my garden this year.

Pursue fishing/ hunting as it fits with our environment and life. 

 Energy/ Other:

Get a better solar setup. A bigger panel with a power supply and a few small lights is the answer. Goal 0 makes what I am looking for. It will cost about $400. Probably 500 once I get the lights. This would have gotten purchased late in 2012 but the whole ban madness shifted my priorities elsewhere.

Get licensed to drive a motorcycle. Maybe purchase a used enduro/ adventure touring motorcycle.

Continue putting together and refining our systems. Firm up the bug out bags and the heavy (vehicle) bug out setup.

Re look and improve our cache situation.

Financial:

Continue being debt free and saving. Along these lines continue not doing stupid things. 

If we reach our food storage goal get back to putting away some silver and gold.

Long Shots:


Start on the AR Pistol.

Buy some land (this mostly depends on some other things).

As always input is welcome. It would be fairly useful now before these resolutions are solidified. 

Dry Fire Practice- Little Things

This evening after putting Walker to bed I conducted some dry fire training. It was pretty good. Definitely getting used to handing the smaller J frame and it's trigger. One nice thing about a DAO revolver is that you cannot cheat and thumb cock it so you just have to get comfortable with the trigger. I am eager to get it out to the range and put some more ammo through it. This trip will coincide with zeroing the new scope for the AR after it arrives.

Did notice one interesting thing when shooting the wheel gun. My Blackhawk IWB holster came out with the gun a couple times. Admittedly it was probably just because I was repeatedly drawing without taking the time to really reset the holster. That consideration aside it is still no bueno. An easy fix is to undo the velcro on my rigger belt, slip the holster in and then re velcro the belt. The bottom of the plastic clip sort of looks like an upside down T that hooks on both sides of the belt keeping it solidly in place. I will probably talk more about this holster at some point. It's not perfect but for $10 picking one up when you get a gun then figuring out another option down the road when your budget allows (if you even feel the need to) is a solid option. Elitists will hate it but a $10 holster that is good enough for casual use or to get you started on a busget has some real value in the market place.

Next I shifted to rifle work. I haven't rocked iron's as primary sights for awhile and wanted to get used to using them in a CQB type setting. Also I needed to knock some dust off the old muscle memory. Rifle work was good. Weapon manipulation and target acquisition were solid. Also spent some time training with the tac light. With it located at about 1:30 the setup is pretty natural. The only minor issue is if I get lazy about grip my thumb can obscure the sights. Optics sit slightly higher so this should be less of an issue. If a bit more training will not fix this I will look at other mounting options or a pressure switch.

The point I am trying to get to is that we find flaws and weak points in our gear, systems and capabilities when we use them. Little things come up and we figure them out by setting stuff up differently or training appropriately. Occasionally something big pops up that must be dealt with. If you just buy a gun, a holster and a bunch of hollow points  then load up the gun and stick it in the holster to occasionally travel with you these flaws never appear. It is true that you may live a charmed life and never have these unknown flaws become huge problems but not everyone is so lucky.

Get out and use your stuff. Getting out and shooting is great but with the limited availability and high price of ammo these days it may be hard to do often. Dry fire is free and you can do it at home so there are no excuses.

Just Do It!

M4 Flat Top 1" Scope Mounts

Hey, I am pretty much set on a Leupold Mark AR 1.5-4 but unsure about a mount. Leupold makes one but I am not sure the clearance in back is sufficient for a (folding) BUIS. Also I would prefer to be able to take it off without a wrench if needed.

If you are running a 1" scope on an AR or similar gun I am curious about the mount you are using and how you like it.

Thanks in advance.

M-4/ AR-15 Optics and Civilian Legal IR Lasers

I am looking at the Leupold Mark AR 1.5-4x20. The Firearms Blog reviewed it awhile back and it seems like the ticket. If anybody has PERSONAL EXPERIENCES with this scope I would really appreciate their thoughts.

Also I have been looking at civilian legal IR lasers. I am familiar and comfortable with the lasers we use on the .mil side but the civilian offerings are something new to me. Have heard of the DBAL but they have multiple models and the same company makes a few other lasers. From reading the descriptions I can't tell the difference and the prices vary widely. Of course I would like to keep cost down but would rather take the hard right over the easy wrong. In any case if you have experience with multiple models or know a place that does a good comparison of readily available civilian legal lasers that would be a big help.

Thanks in advance,

Ryan

ACOG Sale Question

Commander_Zero asked a valid question..
Why would you be getting rid of such an awesome piece of gear?

My answer is: 3 reasons for selling the ACOG

1) Most of my shooting as a civilian is very close range. X4 magnification even with an ACOG is less than ideal. I am going to switch to a low power variable Leupold (1.5-4) with an illuminated reticle. Since most of my shooting is pretty close but I do not want to lose the long distance capability this seems like a good compromise. It should give me almost red dot performance for close range but still magnification for those few times when I need it.

2) Cash out some value to put towards an IR laser. The market has come up with some really nice scopes at a lower price point than the ACOG (and I have become better educated about what is available, might have made a different choice in hindsight). This means I am able to free up a few hundred bucks to help finance about half of something I really need.

3) I sort of don't like that ACOGs have a shelf life. Not a big deal to replace a hundred dollar set of night sights but paying a bunch of money to get an ACOG recharged is a bit much.

1 Long gun, 1 Pistol and 1 Knife

Saw this over at SHTF Blog and have been thinking about it ever since. We talked about our top 3 guns previously but the jump from 3 to 2 is a lot.

Pistol- Glock 19. A great compromise between conceal ability and capacity/ shootability. Also you just don't get any more common than a Glock 9mm. Though a Glock 17 would be fine also as the two aren't that different in size.

Long Gun- AR-15 with a CMMG .22 conversion kit. This is arguably gaming the question but since it is just a spare bolt and a magazine I don't think it is too ridiculous. I think arguing the technicality that the lower is the part and saying I would also have a 6.8 or 300 blackout upper would be gaming things. 

A narrow second place would be a Remington 870 with both long and short barrels. The Remington 870 is very versatile but the AR's ability to shoot .22lr gives a pretty good option to put meat into the pot. While you cannot LEGALLY hunt medium-large game with .223 I believe with decent shot placement and the right ammo it is a viable option.

Knife- I am sticking with knives as a discrete tool category and thus not slipping into machete's or hatchets or whatever. The knife would definitely be a fixed blade with a 4-5inch blade. The good old Ka Bar came into my mind but it is a bit too big for most tasks. Of knives I currently own the Pathfinder Trade Knife would be the best candidate. Of knives that are out there the new Benchmade Bushcrafter seems like a darn good candidate. I definitely want one and will eventually make the purchase.

Anyway those are my pistol, rifle and knife choices. What are yours?

What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

 

Earlier this week I went shooting testing a variety of things and working on the zero on my rifle. At Good Will I picked up a pair of line new USGI desert boots with the rippled vibram sole. They are a half size too big but you can never have too many boots and the price of $15 was right. An AR-15 stripped lower receiver came to live with us. Picked up a hundred rounds of American Eagle 9mm FMJ and 100 rounds of excellent CCI Velocitor .22lr that has been totally unavailable for a couple of weeks. Also grabbed a few little things, some OTC meds and packets of instant coffee for my BOB.

All in all a darn good week here. Pretty 2A oriented but that is to be expected these days.

What did you do to prepare this week?

I Can Haz AR Pistol?

After selling the revolver I decided as a lark to put an ad up looking for a stripped lower. The price I gave was not as good as it was a month ago but wasn't totally insane either. Anyway somebody must have been looking out for me because it worked. Now I  do not have to wait for things to get back to normal to pick up a stripped lower. Would not have purchased it if future availability was not uncertain.


My long term goal is to build an pistol a lot like Arctic Patriot Northern Plains Pilgrim's sweet AR Pistol. No timeline on this. I was barely whole from Project AR when this whole current mess happened. The preps I have made in case of a ban have left the gun fund as solid as the medicare trust fund. There are a few things more pressing on the gun/ defensive stuff list (not to mention all the other lists;) so it might not even happen this year. Anyway there isn't a huge hurry as an AR pistol is definitely a nice to have not a need.

So it was a pretty good day today. Hope your trades and purchases are going just as well.

Range Report- Project AR, New Night Sights and Other Fun

Went to the range today. The way things came together today was the day to go and pleasantly the weather cooperated. It has been quite cold for the last several days with daytime highs in the low 30's or so. Sure I would have gone shooting in colder temps but today was nice enough that I ended up in just a t shirt. As this is Arizona of course it was clear and sunny.

Had a bit of anxiety about taking out the new lower since a complete buffoon I put it together. Project AR has been shot before but on a different lower.  Pleased to report that the new lower receiver works just fine. So Project AR is now a complete rifle which is good. Still want to free float the barrel and put an IR laser on it but those things will wait indefinitely on funds.

The first order of business was getting the zero on Project AR up to standard. It was almost perfect at 25 meters but when I went back to 50 to confirm things needed work for sure. Was shooting way high (which is why a zero that is level at 50 and 200 is far better than 25/250) and a bit to the left but pretty much got it figured out. Eventually I ran out of ammo and motivation/ energy at about the same time. Probably went from a 70% solution to a 90% solution which is meaningful progress.

Pistol shooting pretty much sucked. My grouping was like an 8 inch shotgun blast at 10 meters which leaves something to desire. Sort of expected as my consistency in pistol shooting over the last 4 years has seriously left something to be desired. Over the course of a hundred rounds or so things improved noticeably to a tight shotgun blast which is something. In any case it was a reminder that I need to make consistent bi weekly or at least monthly range trips and be better about dry fire practice.

Not sure exactly how I feel about the new night sights on my EDC Glock 19. Will stick with them for a few range sessions and try them at night if I can do so conveniently. In awhile I may switch back to the 3 dot ones that I am used to.

The 'if I have time' piece of this trip was my Christmas present which was a CMMG .22 conversion kit for the AR. I had some time waiting for the range to go cold to check my targets and figured why not. Loaded up the mag, replaced the standard BCG with the CMMG bolt and gave it a shot. It fed the bulk pack (Remington IIRC) ammo without a hitch. Once I figured out the hold over it was quite accurate. Definitely not sufficient for competitive marksmanship but it seems just fine for training, plinking or putting a rabbit into the pot. I will fiddle with it some more and get back to you with a review down the road aways.

I realized while trying to stuff guns into a cheap plastic case that came with a rifle that I can really use a nice double rifle case. Also some sort of a legit range bag (vs the random duffel I have) with little useful compartments and mag pouches would be very helpful.

So aside from my mediocre pistol marksmanship everything was good. As always shooting is fun.

Revolver or Pistol? Kel Tech PF 9?

Over the past couple years I have been generally selling guns. Part of it is getting rid of .40SW and .45acp to simplify my logistics. The other part is to get to the right place. Not necessarily MORE guns but THE RIGHT guns.  I built a nice AR named Project AR Upgrade not very long ago.

 I sold a full sized .357 magnum today. A fine gun but  I have shot it like 5 times in almost 10 years. Those were the times I took EVERYTHING out to shoot. Anyway it is down the river and the gun fund is up $400.

After doing some looking the Ruger GP 100 4" that will eventually replace the old guy as my big wheel gun costs more that the gun budget currently has. Also more to the point I don't see that gun getting much use in the near future. Maybe down the road when the kids are older and I am out in the woods more but that is awhile off.

That leaves me with 2 niches that could be filled. A snubby revolver or a compact single stack 9mm. A stainless snubby .357 seems like a decent option. I would either get a Ruger or a Smith. Might have to add some more cash to the deal but not a ton. The option of a single stack 9mm appeals to me a lot as it would fill a solid role as a carry gun slightly smaller than a Glock 19.

The Kel Tech PF 9 comes up as a very affordable option that is the right size for what I want. Nutnfancy seems to really like them. I have however heard some issues but am unsure how much of that are armchair forum commando's. I don't care about accuracy or trigger pull much, it is a little carry gun. Also I am not too concerned about being able to put a gazillion rounds through it as that's not the niche for this gun. However reliability/ feeding does concern me.

So questions:

1) Should I get a small stainless .357mag or a small single stack 9mm?

There is the consideration that I will probably need to spend more like $450 to get a .357 like I'm looking for while for the cash I have could buy a Kel Tech PF 9, some spare mags, a holster and a couple hundred rounds of ammo.

2) What have been your personal experiences with the Kel Tech PF 9, good, bad or even ugly?


Input is appreciated

Happiness is a Brownells Box at Your Door

I ordered 10 more PMAGs and some various spare parts from Brownells on the 17th of December and it showed up at my door this evening. In the time it took for them to ship the price I could get for them has multiplies 3-4 times. However those are just paper gains because I am not selling them.

We did not need them but I wanted more PMAGs. Wish I would have ordered 4 more so we would have a nice even number. I'll tack them onto my next order and if they show up that is nice and if not oh well. Honestly we are above ratio (20 per gun) so they aren't needed but I like PMAGs and want the option to continue using them. Spare parts were to replace some taken from inventory to finish (after me losing/ breaking a couple things in my AR-15 lower receiver build) and fill some holes we had.

5 Lessons from the Panic in 2012 at Teotwawki Blog was worth reading and thinking about. All in all if things get ugly we are not in a bad spot. Mostly this is because we were not in a bad spot before this whole current mess. The vast majority of this preparation was done over a few years at normal prices and deals when I could find them. We have picked up a few things including this order but they were really just rounding things out. This mag order was icing on the cake so to speak.

Also I knew what our shortages were and acted upon them. Not perfectly.  The day those mags were ordered I SHOULD have purchased an AR-15 stripped lower for a pistol build when prices were sane. Don't have a great reason why, this just didn't happen. If something sticks I will really regret that mistake. Beyond that anything I would want (a complete AR pistol to go with that lower or a PTR-91) would have been cost prohibitive for us.

The only thing that really came to mind except the stuff covered in Alexanders post is the benefit of having some money lying around. We have been able to surge on some things because at little to no notice there was money to do so. If we had no money that would not have happened. 

Anyway those are my thoughts on that. Hope you are doing well filling whatever shortages you may have.

 

Draft New Years Resolutions

So a few days ago Alexander Wolfe of TEOTWAWKI Blog reminded me that I usually do New Years Resolutions. Last years deployment threw off the cycle. Anyway I got moving on this a lot later than usual; so these are not as thought through as they could be. I am posting some ideas. In a week or a month these will be solidified into the New Years Resolutions I am going to run with.

Physical:

Maintain a consistent weight lifting program.

Run over 1,000 miles

Ruck at least 1x a week

Eat reasonably with decent consistency so I don't gain and lose the same weight 2-3 times over the year.

Skills/ Training:

Attend a defensive handgun course.

Attend a trauma based first aid class (I am due for retraining).

Work on developing a variety of other skills as they come up by doing as much myself as possible.

Guns and Gun Junk:

Pick up a couple holsters, pouches and assorted other stuff to get squared away for what we have. 

Buy 2 cases of .223 ammo.

Free float the barrel on project AR. 

Get more spare parts. Beef up on core stuff (AR's and Glocks) and get some basic stuff for other guns.

Finally get my (already sporterized) 1903 30'06 tapped and mount a scope on it. 

If this gun ban madness calms down start building an AR pistol.

Food:

Build up to a 1 year supply of food for 4 people.

Can something

Pursue gardening/ fishing/ hunting as it fits with our environment and life. 

 Energy/ Other:

Get a better solar setup. A bigger panel with a power supply and a few small lights is the answer. Goal 0 makes what I am looking for. It will cost about $400. Probably 500 once I get the lights. This would have gotten purchased late in 2012 but the whole ban madness shifted my priorities elsewhere.

Get licensed to drive a motorcycle. Purchase a used enduro/ adventure touring motorcycle.

Continue putting together and refining our systems. Firm up the bug out bags and the heavy (vehicle) bug out setup.

Re look and improve our cache situation.

Financial:

Continue being debt free and saving. Along these lines continue not doing stupid things. 

Once we are done with the food storage goal get back to putting away some silver and gold.

Long Shots:

Get a DBAL for my AR.

Buy some land (this mostly depends on some other things).

As always input is welcome. It would be fairly useful now before these resolutions are solidified. 

Merry Christmas To All!

Our Christmas got off to a great start with Walker sleeping in until 8 o'clock in the morning. Kiddo was mad that Santa was in our house (he does not like the man after a bad mall experience) and after finding a couple matchbox cars in his stocking decided he was done opening gifts. We helped him with the rest and then had some breakfast.

Kiddo got a cowboy outfit for Christmas and somehow it ended up on the dog. Dog is not amused by this. Anyway the picture came out well and we had to share it. Don't worry Dog is being well rewarded with all manner of (dog safe) people food so his Christmas is still going well.

Wifey got a nice designer wallet, a wool coat and some end tables. I got a CMMG Conversion kit for the AR and an IPOD Nano.

After breakfast we have just been hanging out. Kiddo played with toys and generally was himself and is down for a nap. Dog is sleeping. We are relaxing before dinner and doing some light snacking.

I pulled out my rifle (calling it Project AR Upgrade is getting old) and fiddled with the conversion kit a bit. It is a nicely manufactured little piece of kit. "Installation" is stupidly easy. Just take out the bolt and put in the kit bolt then insert a .22 magazine. I'm looking forward to testing it out at the range later this week. Will check the darn schedule this time though.

To me there are two real roles for this kit. As a survival toon and for affordable short range training with the AR. For me being able to carry a little bolt with a mag or two and shoot .22 ammo through my rifle would be really nice. A great option if I have to travel light for whatever reason. Secondly I can't afford to shoot anywhere near as much .223 as would be ideal but a trip to the range with this sucker won't break the bank.

For me two criteria will determine if this bolt is a useful tool or a little gimmick decent accuracy and OK reliability. What I want to be able to do is shoot .22lr accurately at 25, or ideally 50 meters, sufficiently to do SRM, plink and if need put some meat into the pot. Don't need or expect it to win small bore competitions, just to be accurate enough to fill a legitimate role. As to reliability I am a bit less concerned. So long as it doesn't jam every third round or in complicated unpleasant ways that make the whole thing a hassle I am prepared for a few eccentricities. Absolute best case some duds are inevitable with rim fire ammo anyway. I'll share some more thoughts after it gets some range time.

Well kiddo is up and it is almost time to start moving towards dinner so it is time to wrap this up.

Hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas

RE: Random thoughts on current events to close out the week

Alexander Wolfe/ Teotwawki Blog did a great post today Random thoughts on current events to close out the week. As to a potential AWB who knows. Finally calmed down about the whole thing so am not going to let myself get stressed again unless something tangible actually happens.

Things I wish I would have bought (on the off chance an AWB/magazine ban goes into effect)

Guns
-Glock 17
-AR Pistol
-PTR-91 or some sort of semi auto .308

Ancillary stuff
A few more Ruger 25 rd mags for the 10/22 (For if/ when I get another 10/22 down the road)
A couple drums for the AK

2 cases of .223

None of this stuff is really critical.  That is good because resources are finite. Project AR upgrade which thankfully was completed prior to this mess wasn't cheap. Seriously my gun find is about as solvent as social security. Had planned to let a few bucks build back up over 3-4 months but then this happened.

I am looking to buy a G 17 over the next couple weeks if the opportunity presents itself. More.223 ammo will get purchased after that if it is available at semi sane prices. An AR pistol and PTR-91 or some sort of AR-10 aren't in the cards financially. Of course I can still use a couple more holsters as well as a nice range bag and some other ancillary stuff but that is all on the shelf indefinitely.

While doing some looking at various gun accessories for this post I saw a pretty cool Pelican Rifle Case. Man one of these would be very nice to have and they aren't really that expensive. Set up for an AR, a shotgun and a pistol this would be great. Perfect for a situation where we need to leave in a hurry but aren't going to be OIF I style rifles hanging out the vehicle. Anyway a fellow can dream.

Hopefully this will all blow over and I can get back to normal operations in a couple months. Anyway I'm bored of writing so am going to wrap this up.

Merry Christmas

Range Fail and Gun Shop Trip

So funny story. Before packing up all of your stuff, getting bullets and driving for a half hour to get to the range you should check their schedule as they may be closed on Thursday. Anyway the gun shop was interesting. The two semi automatic rifles in stock were an M1 Carbine and an AK pistol, I think in 5.45. The only military pattern semi auto mags they had were some (#)*Q(* #*$) polymer AK mags only an idiot would buy. As to ammo they were out of .308 and had less than 200 rounds of .223 in the place. One can of 175 rounds of federal 12 gauge was the only 12 gauge ammo in the place. They were doing OK on pistol ammo but awful short on mags. Out of Glock 17, down to 2-3 Glock 19 mags.

This is a big shop shop that normally has about 4 AK's, 10 AR's, 2 complete lowers, 4 stripped lowers and 5-6 various other military pattern weapons.

I was there pretty early and the guy behind the counter was BSing with 2 guys. They were both hoping for things to come in via the daily FedEX drop. Picked up my targets and ammo then wished them luck in finding what they were looking for.

Today we were at China Mart picking up some things and for kicks went to the gun section. All the evil black guns were gone but a variety of other guns were selling like pitchers of beer at last call. The ammo shelves were looking bare but not totally empty.

It was interesting that people seemed to be in two groups. The first group seem to pretty much have their ducks in order and are trying to grab the last item or two. The others were totally behind the power curve. Some of these folks wanted to catch up and grab an AR as well as some mags (good luck!) or more curiously get 2-3 boxes of ammo for their house gun. Maybe some of the 2-3 box people were going for the usual weekend plinking but there were too many to explain that phenomena. I guess more ammo is better but "OMG everything might be banned I need 100 rounds of FMJ ammo for my pistol" seems odd to me. Was thinking about picking up a couple of boxes of this or that. Not that I needed them exactly but a couple boxes more never hurts. After seeing these folks I decided not to. Somebody with a mag of ammo needs those boxes more than I do.

After kiddo went to bed I looked at the inventory sheets. All in all we are doing OK. Spending a few grand a year for several years can do that. Sure I would really like an AR pistol and a Glock 17 but things could be worse. Right now I am really counting my blessings that Project AR Upgrade finished up when it did. Would like some more .223 ammo and will work on that as availability and finances allow.

Anyway I hope you are all pretty squared away. Hopefully this is a false alarm but who can tell.

What are the gun (as well as mag and ammo) buying conditions in your area?

Merry Christmas, Mayan Doomsday and Life

Well it is almost Christmas. Sure I will say something closer but I hope you are all having good times. This is that time when nothing is really happening anywhere and we're all just getting ready for Christmas. Between Christmas and Kiddo #2 coming we are pretty busy.

If you watched the news today the whole Assault Weapons Ban thing was a hot topic. I've been preparing for such a thing for awhile now. Still going to sprint towards a potential finish is the way to end up with the best situation possible. I'm trying not to get stewed up over something that isn't under my control or influence.

Those Mayans were sure nice to schedule the end of the world for a Friday though maybe Sunday would have been better. More concerning than a dead civilizations arguable end of the world prophesy are the people who believe the world is going to end. We will be staying home on Friday to avoid the potentially dangerous yahoos.

With lots of heady stuff going on I am trying to enjoy time with family during the holidays and limit my worries to what is within my sphere of influence. Also we picked up some egg nog today which is cool. Tomorrow we will probably make sugar cookies and if everything works out I will be testing out the new AR lower receiver while dialing in the zero on the ole ACOG. Trigger time is good for the nerves and I like being around gun people.

Merry Christmas