What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

Organized a bunch of our bug out food.

Ordered a DBAL IR laser. Unfortunately it is a couple/ few weeks back ordered.

Got cash to buy the rail it will go on, either they are out of stock or Troy's website is less than user friendly. Meant to call them today but it didn't happen.

Broke down and ordered a Swack Shack.

Got 100 rounds of 12 gauge #8 shot. Small game loads are something I'm not long enough in shotgun ammo so it is being addressed. Plan to get a case of #4 shot in the next few days.

Made a big grocery store trip to restock a lot of things that have been used up.

Been putting more consideration into eating well and exercising.

What did you do to prepare this week?

Firearmagedon and Garden Update

Today I had some idle time around mid day. Decided to go out to all the local gun shops kind of inventory/ price checking. Here is what I found

Gun availability- A wide variety of guns were readily available. All sorts of AR's plus other military pattern rifles. Of course lots of hunting/ 'precision' rifles, shotguns and .22's. Pistols were available though you might not be able to get a specific model. Part of that I think is just that a lot more variance is in the pistol market. [EX I wouldn't notice the lack of a 16" mid length BCM rifle when they had a half dozen various AR's on the wall. I would be far more likely to notice a Glock 19 not being there.] You could probably get something pretty comparable though. Lots of XD's and M&P's present. Glocks were sort of hit and miss.

One guy was definitely trying to get some pre panic prices (they may be consignment at which point he doesn't determine the price) on a few military pattern rifles but I've been seeing the same guns there for awhile so there do not seem to be any takers. However broadly speaking prices were OK. They are probably around 125% of normal or so.

Mags- Lots of AR mags. Prices for PMAG's, Lancers, etc were about $21ish. TAPCO AK mags from $15-20ish. Glock mags were semi available with prices around $30. That's not too bad since they were $26-27 retail in a local shop before this. Bunches of XD mags available. Didn't see ANY .Ruger 10/22 mags and only a few off brand AR .22 conversion mags. The shop that had the silly rifle mag prices had some silly prices for AK (unambiguous used steel @ $30) and M1A mags (unambiguous metal @ $50) . Hell I guess you can't fault a guy for being optimistic.

Ammo- Prices are generally coming down but availability is spotty. Saw .223 at a couple places. It seems to be running .60c a rd or so for brass cased range meat. .308 everywhere but it's running a buck to a buck and a quarter for brass cased range meat. No 9mm/ .40/ .45 ball to be found. The stuff is coming in a trickle then going out just as fast.

Full availability of shotgun ammo. Target loads, small game hunting, turkey and buck/ slug are all available. That in and of itself might be a reason to own a 12 gauge shotgun.

.22 ammo. Availability was limited at best. The shop that had the optimistic rifle and mag prices had a few inflation adjusted 325 round bricks of Federal Auto Match for $40. That price was probably optimistic guess somebody might need .22 ammo who will pay that. (In the last month and a half or so I've purchased 3 of them, 1 at $21 and 2 at $17.)

At other places I saw a few various 50-100 round boxes of .22lr. Some Winchester and some CCI. 

Well that's the firearmagedon update. In general things are getting better which is good. Unfortunately ammo is lagging behind. Hopefully that will get better in the coming weeks.

As to the garden. The strawberry plants did not die but they were definitely not going to bear fruit. They went into the trash today. The tomatoes are going well. Except a bird ate the two almost perfectly ripe tomatoes I was waiting to pluck from the vine and put into a meal. That filled me with more rage than was probably reasonable. Talked to some folks about it. Apparently you need nets to protect the maters from birds here. I'll do that tomorrow. The taters and beans seem to be doing just fine. The cherry tomatoes are good. The peppers just haven't done anything, not dead but haven't grown or anything. I'm kinda thinking they might have been in too small of pots. Stuck em in the larger ones the strawberries were in so maybe that will help. Well that's the garden update. Some good, some less good, lots of time outside and learning.

Anyway I hope you all have a good Saturday.

How is the firearm/ mag/ ammo situation in your area?

DHS Eleventy Gazillion Rounds of Ammo

I had an interesting conversation today that merited sharing here. Met a guy socially and we got to talking. Somehow the whole 'DHS is buying every bullet in the world' thing came up. (A gal mentioned it was why she couldn't find 9mm [which DHS isn't buying anyway but she is a nice lady so I didn't want to sharp shoot] ammo) He started shaking his head. I should mention this guy works for customs. Pretty common down here around the border. You are far more likely to run into one  here than if you were in Kansas or something.

Dude shared 2 interesting things that I thought were worth mentioning. First he shoots 4,000 rounds a year of pistol ammo (currently .40). Second and more importantly it is all hollow point's. Dude's been working that job for twenty years and has been shooting all HP the whole time. Between being very blunt on other topics and having no reason whatsoever to lie I'm pretty sure he was above board.

Anyway that's something to think about when you read stuff on the internet.

How Are Your Ammo Cans Organized?

This week I had the occasion to pick up a couple more ammo cans. Got to thinking about how I organize them, the reasoning behind that organization and overall how it's working.

Most of our ammo cans are standard 50cal cans or the comparably sized M249 SAW cans. These are a good size while still being light enough to move around. We have a few of the smaller 30cal cans these are great for commercial boxes of rifle ammo like 30-30 or 30'06. If I recall they neatly fit some bricks of .22 ammo also. We have a few big 120mm cans. Don't like them as they get stupidly heavy plus of course the stuff you need will be at the bottom.

Previously our ammo cans were just filled as stuff came in so it was a big mess. Recently I went through inventorying and reorganizing our ammo cans.  Between different sized objects, especially sealed cases and part cases of ammo, quantities of different stuff and available can sizes there is an inevitable game of Tetras. As many cases as can be homogenous are. Cans are marked on the outside with the caliber, round count and when applicable bullet type. This is how approximately 80% of our cans are set up.

Two ammo cans are set up as "Go Cans". They are set up to feed our Survival Guns and are identical except for different (backup) accessories inside. The only change I've made since writing that article is swapping the '06 out for 30-30 since there is no longer an '06 on inventory. Also nothing says 'Merica like a 30-30.

Anyway last week we picked up 2 more ammo cans.  Both had an intentional purpose.

One is for range ammo. My biggest fail of this current gun/ mag/ ammo hysteria is that I did not plan for continued practice, zeroing guns, etc all. I had what I considered (of course more is nice but we have to balance a lot of things) OK amount of ammo but there wasn't a budget for training, etc. That meant if I needed 100 rounds to test fire and zero a rifle it came out of the amount of ammo I considered sufficient for an emergency. That is obviously a problem. On the other hand if I was smart like Tam who keeps disaster/ operational ammo and range/ practice ammo separate I could practice through an ammo shortage without worrying that it's coming out of operational ammo. 

Range ammo typically doesn't stay around long enough for storage in cans to be strictly necessary but a can is a good way to keep things organized or grab it all in a hurry. This way there aren't random boxes of ammo here, there and everywhere which lets me look in one place to know what is in the range stash. On top of it is a piece of tape that says Range Meat. I made an intentional decision not to bother keeping written inventories on range ammo as it is going to fluctuate. When things get better I would like to keep 500 rounds of .223, 500 of 9mm, a couple hundred .38, 2k in .22, a hundred rounds of 12 gauge and a couple boxes of 30-30 to be able to shoot whatever, whenever, without dipping into our core ammo stash. [Once buying in bulk is practical again I'll rotate the ammo. EX buy 500 rounds of 9mm ball, pull 500 rounds out of the stash and replace it with the new stuff, shoot the old stuff, repeat. It's just not worth it to dig out a 50 round box of 9mm here and 40 rounds of .223 there.] At that point the .22 will get a small can and the rest will likely split a large can.

The other can is what I call an 'Orphan Can'. It is the transitional place where I keep various ammo that has been purchased until there is enough of something to put into it's own can. This is largely a function of our current environment with high prices plus spotty availability. Honestly I'm just buying enough to replace what I'm shooting these days or building stocks of what we are especially short on [Example, I have a .22 that only seems to feed a certain type of ammo so I buy it whenever it's available. That gun is handy but picky so I will buy that particular ammo (CCI Mini Mag or Velocitor) till I've got 2k or so stashed.] Unless you are really short it is IMO not a good time to stock up. Prices are getting back to normal so if you have a bit stashed for a rainy SHTF day I would wait a little while to probably save a lot of money. In any case the orphan can takes the random boxes of ammo I buy until there is enough of something to put in it's own can or the thing gets full at which point I'll figure it out.

So basically I have a bunch of relatively homogenous (1 type of ammo) cans, 2 go cans, a range can and an orphan can. I plan to keep this setup more or less. The only change I can see making is if/ when new caches are established. They would obviously have ammo cans associated with them which would be set up for their purpose but probably look a lot like our go cans.

How are your ammo cans organized?

Range Report: Glock Test Fire, Burris MTAC, Tula .223 and Commie Guns

The Glock 19 with steel guide rod and 3.5lb trigger connector was great. The lighter trigger connector really makes for a great shooting package. I do not think it's unsafe or anything, just a cleaner more crisp trigger. Wouldn't want to get some 1 pound gamer trigger or whatever but this setup is just fine IMO. I would guesstimate the increase in accuracy based on this modification is 30%. The PMC 115gr FMJ's I was shooting were great. The only sad point in this area is I only had 1x 50 round box to shoot. Along these lines I noticed Lucky Gunner has Glock 19 mags for $31 which is a good deal these days.

Brought the .22 Browning Buckmark along for the ride. I have no legitimate reason it has not been coming along more frequently. Anyway I brought it along today. The gun has been sitting well lubricated for probably 4 years, I just took it out, loaded a mag, started shooting. It was great, the odd dud but that is .22lr for ya. Being able to shoot a pistol until I get bored without consideration of the cost was big fun. I know .22 ammo is hard to come by these days though it is out there. I've stashed about 1,500 rounds of .22 during this whole mess without paying silly prices so it is out there.

The pistol shooting went better today than last time, pretty good for my current skill set/ level of practice. I credit the 3.5# connector and a half dozen mags of .22 to warm up.

I was updating some inventories yesterday. Glancing through them I found out we have a bit more than 2x the .22 ammo I thought put back. For whatever reason the number in my head was really wrong. Glad it was wrong short not long. Now I feel better about having the 3 inflation adjusted 333rd bricks of .22 ammo I got recently be range meat.

Speaking of range meat I shot that Tula 223. It functioned fine, no misfires or jams. At the risk of speaking without even semi scientific evidence I will give some impressions. It seemed to be slightly less accurate than Lake City or PMC. Sufficient for putting lead into targets but not what I would want to have loaded for the stereotypical movie shoot the guy behind the hostage scenario. If the price difference between Tula or Wolf steel cased .223 vs brass cased stuff was sufficient I would not hesitate to purchase it again.

As usual the MTAC was great. Have found it works better during the day with the illum turned off. The large heavy circle that surrounds the reticle lets you get onto target really fast, sort of like an Eotech. The only downside is I shot half the .223 I brought along at 200-400m without realizing I had the scope set at 1 power. Obviously I do better at distance with 4x magnification.

Since I was with some people the opportunity to shoot their guns came up. Played with an SKS a bit. We briefly touched on them in the Basic Guns series. The SKS is a classic import case of studs and duds. Some are awesome and others completely suck. The sucky ones could probably be fixed by a competent gunsmith familiar with the platform but it destroys the economic benefit of the SKS. Sort of like putting $ 5k into a car that once it is running will be worth $5,500 it probably isn't a great plan. The one I shot was great and had a pretty nice finish to boot. At the right price they are a decent rifle to have as an all around gun or a backup/ giveaway gun. This makes even more sense if you already have an AK and a bunch of ammo put back. Sort of like I said before my evaluation of the SKS as a rifle for $200ish is very different than for $500+.

Also got to shoot a Mosin Nagant carbine, think the guy said it was a Chinese Type 53. That gun was a hoot! Solid potential for accuracy despite very mediocre sights and reasonable scoping options are available if one wants to go that way. Best of all it's in a centerfire .30cal rifle cartridge that normal folks can afford to go shoot a hundred rounds on a semi regular basis. Aside from being a useful backup/ trade type gun it's a range toy at a reasonable range toy price. I really want one; maybe for my birthday.

Well that is what happened this morning at the range.

What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

I did pretty good. Picked up 2 pair of boots (1x Blackhawk gently used and 1x USGI Winter new) for $40 total which was nice. Also got an Oakley backpack gently used for $20. It's going to keep my daily stuff and the GHB stuff will be beefed up and live in my TT bag. Also swapped some '06 ammo I didn't need for 30-30 ammo I can use.

Anyway that's what I have been up to. What did you do to prepare this week?

Gun Show Report 4/27/13

Turns out our little town had a gunshow today! So needless to say I had to check it out. As I'm in the market for a Glock 26 it made sense to go look. It was interesting for sure. Aside from the baby Glock I wasn't really looking for anything but was open to a great deal or something small to fill a need.

Guns: Tons of AR's, AK's, SKS's and Mini 14's. A good variety of semi auto .308's; M1A's and PTR-91's, a FAL n a solitary genuine HK G3 (semi). Older guns like Garands and M1 carbines were present as well as lots of hunting type rifles. Plenty of semi auto pistols like XD's, M&P's, Sigs, Glocks, etc though due to the sheer variety in that market the specific gun you want (in my case a Glock 26) might not have been be present. As to Glocks there were at least 1 each 17 and 19, a few various .45's and a couple G27's.Shotguns and .22's were also present in large numbers.

Prices varied widely. Some politically incorrect guns (mostly AR's n AK's) were priced OK considering the state of things. A couple AR's were at or around a grand. They were DMPS, the basic M&P's or comparable brands. Saw 2 nice new (dealer) rifles (BCM and Stag) for $1,150ish. Other rifles varied from optimistically priced to just silly. Several AR's from brands I have never heard of were listed at $1,600-1,700. AK's ran from $1,200 Norico Mac-90's to a $850 WASR. SKS's were running $500ish. M1A's were $2,200-2,500 and PTR's were 1,200-1,400.

Hunting rifles, shotguns and .22's were a little high but if you consider that bargaining is a given part of it's probably their padding. Ruger 10/22's were consistently priced at $325.

Pistol prices were consistently 50-100 higher than they should be. Glocks were 550-600. A guy was trying to get $850 for XDm's and another wanted $800 for a Jerico (IMI the same gun as the Baby Eagle I think) in 9mm. Revolvers were priced pretty optomistically also.

Mags: Lots of mags available. Big stacks of various AR mags and a decent speckling of PMAGs. Sig and Glock mags were present as well as some Glock 33rd 'happy sticks'. A lot of AK mags also. A speckling of less common rifle mags like Mini-14, M1 carbine, SKS detachable mags (d model?), HK G3, FN-FAL. Probably 2 dozen Ruger BX-25's and a dozen various off brand 10/22 25rd type mags. Several old guys with stacks of used mags for just about every gun made in the last 50 years.

Mag prices: USGI used AR mags $20, new aftermarket type (Brownells, Lancer, etc) AR mags $25, PMAGs $35 which is odd because a shop in town has a bunch @$21-22. Those big 60 rd surefire mags from $160-200. AK steel presumably surplus $25 except a solitary mag @$45. BXP's $60-80. Glock mags $35-40, HK G3 mags $20-25 and they were pretty rough. Those are all the prices I remember but they generally fit the same relative price point as the ones I paid attention to.

I saw 2 CMMG .22 conversion mags for the first time in awhile. Wanted to buy them but didn't see the .22 conversion kit sitting nearby and justifiably the guy would not sell them without the kit. He of course tried to sell me an AR to go with the kit I didn't want to buy (wanted the mags) then we ended up talking. He wanted my opinion of the kit. I said without changing my rifles sights it offered sufficient practical accuracy out to at least 25 meters to train or I suppose shoot small game. Told him that was sufficient for my needs and I am happy with the kit.

Ammo: This was just silly. The big local shop had a table selling .223 (PMC X-tac 55gr) around $11/20 with a 2 box limit. They had a bit of pistol ammo but I think it was for folks buying guns. Everybody else pretty much lost their damn minds. 9mm 25+/50 for brass FMJ's. .40 and .45 were more like $30/50 brass FMJ. .223 at 17/20 at one booth with the rest at a buck a round (for various low end range type ammo). 7.62x39 from $9/20-$11/20. .308 was at least a buck a round. A solitary spam can of 7.62x54R for $140, surplus 30'06 was a buck a round. Surprisingly shotgun ammo was pretty expensive also. The dudes selling .22 ammo must have been smoking a special type of crack that breeds optimism. Bricks (500-550) of bulk type .22 lr were on tables varying from $80-120. Saw the little 50 round boxes of CCI Mini Mag for $30.

One dealer in particular seemed to have utterly lost their minds. They were trying to get $40 for standard (Federal or Remington, I don't remember) 20 round boxes of 150gr soft points and $179 for a brick of federal .22lr. They had ammo cans (albeit the plastic with rubber seals) at a decent price but out of principle I did not buy any.

Discussion: Loaded guns were not allowed inside. Some guy cleared my Glock 19 for me into a makeshift (think it was a 5 gallon bucket of sand but it faced a cement wall) barrel then it was zip tied, marked with a white sticker and returned to me. Not sure how I feel about that but considering folks have been shooting each other fiddling with guns inside or busting caps all over the place trying to clear their guns on the way in it makes sense.

Now that we have talked about what folks were TRYING TO SELL it makes sense to talk about what was actually being sold. Semi automatic pistols were moving. I was driving around trying to find the place and saw a dude walking down the street with a pistol in his hand (think it had a tag on it) and asked him if it was the gun show to which he relied that it was. People were looking at handguns then some of them were buying. Hunting rifles and shotguns priced right were moving. Various collector type stuff as well as little odds n ends (holsters, etc) were getting picked over, examined, bargained over and occasionally purchased.

As to mags they weren't going anywhere. Didn't see a single AR/ AK/ G-3 mag sold nor any common pistol mags like Glock/ Sig/ XD/ etc. Saw one guy getting Mini-14 mags plus a few people looking for a spare mag for their hunting rifle, .22 plinker or an oddball (50's era .380, etc) pistol mag.

Plenty of people seemed to be looking at ammo but few were buying.  At the prices I saw it is hard to blame them. One dude really wanted .22 but not at the prices being asked. A couple folks picked up 1-2 boxes of .223, a couple got a box or two of pistol or shotgun ammo and a few folks wanted a box for various hunting type rifles. Nobody was picking up arm fulls of the stuff.

Some individuals were selling doing the walk around with a sign on their chest thing. Most had the usual odd mixture of a 40 year old .22, a 1911 and whatever. One dude had an FN-AR .308 which was pretty cool, didn't even ask the price. A dealer I asked about G26's tried to buy my Glock 19.

Personally I bought a book and 3 of those little plastic AR muzzle caps. Stickers said 12 to which I offered 10 which was accepted.  Looked at lots of guns, handled a few, laughed at some ammo prices, chatted with some nice people and generally had a fine time. Would have liked to leave with a Glock 26 but it wasn't a bad way to waste a couple hours.

How does this compare with your neighborhood?

Odds N' Ends

The lettuce, spinach and green beans went into pots today. That was big fun. This whole growing my own vegetables thing is pretty cool. Also I'm excited to say it looks like I'll be involved with an intro to canning thing in the near future.

Had dinner and a couple beers at a local bar. Since neither driving slightly inebriated or taking a cab appealed to me I decided to hang out drinking water and reading till the booze wore off. I am currently reading Ghost Wars:The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. I got halfway into this book way back in IBOLC but it lost my interest. These days I am a lot better informed on Afghanistan and the players involved, through research and personal experience, and am probably more patient so it's a bit easier to get through.

On the plus side guns are becoming more available. The local shop has a variety of evil black rifles and semi automatic pistols. They are also doing pretty well on mags. A variety of AR mags including PMAGs at $22ish were present. They had limited pistol mags, I think mostly various Ruger and XD mags plus a few Glock 19 mags at $32ish.

Ammo is trickling into the shops and flying out. A lot of guys are showing up at Wally World early in the morning. Some to meet their own needs and some to resell at stupid prices. The local shop sold 7k in .223 in 2 days with a 3 box per customer limit. Personally I'm semi actively looking and buying when prices are right.

As summer hits here we are seeing consistent temps in the 80's. My little .38 J frame is definitely earning its keep. The G19 is really only viable for open carry these days. However given that it I'm in Arizona that option is legally on the table and socially acceptable to boot. Sort of depends on my mood and the risk of a given venture. Since I'm much more of a grocery store at 4pm than an ATM at 3AM kind of guy the risk is usually pretty low.

In writing this rambling, I'm too lazy to do something serious post I realized that a month ago I wrote basically the same thing. Big fun.

Cyprus Preps

Ferfal did a great post on the topic. Seeing as he has actually lived through an economic collapse it's worth listening to him. It goes something like this:
-Basic Preps: Food, medical, guns, ammo, etc
-Cash in hand
-Silver and Gold
-A safe or two
-Offshore banking. I'm not so sure on this one but if you have no debt, plenty of preps and PM's as well as a decent paid off home/ retreat and still have enough extra money to merit the hassle look into it. Here is the video if you have 20 minutes to spare.
I would add that you should take care of medical/ dental stuff that you've been putting off as well as vehicle repairs, new tires, etc all. Get stuff you know is going to have to happen done now while the cost is still sane.

As Thomas Sowell noted this is arguably happening now in the US via inflation. It took me a long time to really understand inflation. Reading The Alpha Strategy and "Economics in One Lesson" let me understand inflation for the sinister regressive tax that it truly is.

We could debate how bad things are going to get in the US or the probability of certain results. The bottom line is that something less than optimal will certainly happen and something bad is probably going to happen. Start doing something about it while you still can. 

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?

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. 

Basic Guns Part 1.75

I forgot to add yet another thing in Basic Guns Part 1.5. You need to consider not just the cost of the gun itself but ammunition, magazines (if applicable), slings/ holsters/ cleaning gear and the like. Depending on where you are in terms of shooting training might also be a good option.

Chris said he uses 4x the cost of the gun as a guideline. The real cost depends significantly on what you consider as "equipped". Obviously 6 spare mags and 500 rounds costs less than 10 spares and 1k ammo which costs less than 20 mags and 5k rounds.

These costs can vary wildly from gun to gun. (Pre panic) Glock factory spare magazines were somewhere around $25 while HK and SIG mags were more like $45. If you are a person who wants 10 pistol mags that is a lot of money. It's the same thing with rifles. AR mags are typically fairly common and cheap while Valumet or Galil mags can be quite rare and expensive. Rare ammo like 6 mm Rem will typically (especially once the bubble bursts anyway) cost more than .223 which is much more common.

The point is to look at these costs when you are weighing say a Smith and Wesson .38 vs a Glock 9mm vs a Sig in .357 Sig. The wheel gun is going to be a lot more affordable than the Glock to equip and the Sig will cost an arm and a leg to get going.

Firearmagedon Tailing Off?

TEOTWAWKI Blog called it a few days ago and over the past 24 hours it has picked up the pace a bit in AZ (specifically Southern AZ).

AR prices are trending solidly down. I think the folks who came too late to the 'double the new price for your used AR' party are starting to realize there are not people left who can/ will pay $1,600+ for a basic PSA/ Oly/ DPMS/ Bushmaster let alone a generic Franken AR. I am now seeing these guns more in the 1k-1,200 range but nobody seems to be buying, at least in a hurry. Low end AK's like WASR's and Yugo's are down to the 1k range for the most part though I did see a Polish 74 at a $650 asking price.

Some mags seem to be slipping down in price as well. Saw some PMAGs for 30 (gently used I think) to 35. USGI in the $30 range. A few Tapco AK mags at $25 a piece. Factory full capacity pistol mags, especially of the Glock flavor, Ruger BXP-25's and some other less common stuff is basically not available. Though one guy had Ruger BXP mags listed for $70.) This is weird because this stuff was being listed, albeit at stupid prices, a week or two ago. The only thing I can figure is buyers are waiting it out and potential sellers are not desperate.

The one sad face, at least in my AO is ammunition. Evil semi auto ammo is next to unavailable at sane prices. On the private market 7.62x39 is running 45-50 cents a round (steel) in quantity and higher for smaller lots. .223/5.56 is going for 75 cents a round (brass, a bit less for steel) or higher. .308 is occasionally available a box or two at a time in more expensive hunting loads at a buck and a quarter a round. Anything on the private market is about a buck and a quarter a shot.

Other rifle ammo is generally available and prices are relatively unchanged.

Pistol ammo is sporadically available at close to pre panic prices if you do not care about manufacturer/ load. It is solidly available at higher prices in stores that marked it up and on the private market. Mark ups vary for 40% to 100+% with 9mm ($20/50 is the best deal I have seen in awhile) packing the highest premiums. Interestingly premium type defense ammo is still widely available. As Tam would say "Bubba and Cletis aren't buying more than a mag of them there holler points". I suppose the folks who are able and willing to stock the good stuff deep did it awhile back, probably at better prices.

Shotgun ammo is fairly available locally if you are not picky.  Of course the low cost Walmart type buckshot is gone but it is available at slightly higher prices.

.22lr is available in small quantities. Everybody has shifted to just making the little 50 and 100 round packs. Most stores I have been to recently has at least a few boxes, usually with a 2-3 box limit. A person can get the stuff but not necessarily in their favorite flavor.

Without the benefit of a crystal ball I would say that unless you are really desperate, which we could arbitrarily describe as less than a fighting load of mags (7x30's or 11x20's for a rifle, 4 mags for a pistol) and enough ammo to reload them all 3x, holding off might be a good idea. Your money will probably buy a lot more gun stuff in 2-4 months.

[Of course the decision would need to be based on multiple factors. The first of which is your finances, the price difference means a lot more to some folks than others. The next would be the totality of your other preps as well as your overall 2A preps. Example a guy with 6 Glocks and a trunk full of mags for them but only 3x mags for the sole M&P is in a fine spot overall. Don't stress only having 500 rounds for the .308 if you have 10 cases of ammo for the AK, etc. The last factor would be what you think is going to happen.

Anyway that is what is going on here in Southern Arizona. What is going on in your neck of the woods?

Questioning Common Caliber Wisdom

Modern Survival Online did a post recently questioning the conventional wisdom. Though I consider .38 special/.357 mag a common caliber (probably behind 9mm but narrowly ahead of .45 acp and .40 in the real non gunnie world) his point is valid. I have been stewing over it for awhile until today Tam talked about the availability of 5.45 commie which made me want to chime in.

Since common calibers are something I promote it made me really think. First I got to thinking about what makes a caliber common. A few characteristics come to mind:

1-Wide commercial availability. If a small place like a hardware store sells ammo  what they will (normally) have is a pretty common guide. This varies slightly regionally but 12 gauge, 9mm and 30.06 are common while 16 gauge, .357sig and .204 Ruger are not.

2-In the closets/ ammo cans of a large number of average people with whom you could potentially cross level or trade. The stuff your paranoid neighbor, gunnie uncle or whatever are likely to have. Odds he will have a 12 gauge or .308 are higher than that he will have a .300 blackout or 6.8.

3-Modern ammo made in the USA (or wherever you live) is available. If importation was restricted this stuff would become unobtanium even though it's all over the place today. This affects the economy of a lot of old WWII surplus rounds putting them on par with conventional hunting rounds in terms of economics. It is a bigger problem for 5.45 commie and some other rounds that aren't (to my knowledge widely) available in the US made variety at all.  If you choose to go this route stock ammo DEEP. I'm talking closer to pallets than cases because there is a viable possibility you may never be able to find it again.

4-Total rounds available. The sheer amount of a given caliber of ammo in a specific region. This is interestingly different from the first two because it may include military calibers that aren't really used by civilians. Example .50 BMG is not in many gun stores and few people have a gun in it. However there are millions if not billions of rounds stored away at various military installations and a few larger police departments. While admittedly rounds not widely on the market are uncommon by definition in the race to the bottom this gives it an advantage over a round like .408 CheyTac.

I think these criteria are more or less listed in terms of importance. While it isn't exactly quantifiable we could arguably rate these from 1-10 (or whatever) then add them up and divide to get a number. Stuff like .22lr and 12 gauge would probably be 10 but .475 Linebaugh would be more like a 2.

As it relates to the current firearmagedon:

-Since everybody is scared about evil black rifles being messed with this means the ammo associated with them (.223, 7.62x39 and .308) are naturally in high demand. You CAN GET THEM but just at sucky prices. It seems like around here in Southern Arizona bulk pack type .223 (55gr PMC, etc all) is going for 80 cents to a buck a round with more desirable (M855, JHP's etc) ammo going for 85 cents to a buck and change a round. .308 is running at least a buck a round. However you can get it. Since the supply is larger somebody will eventually be induced to sell at the right price.

Conversely there is simply no 6.8 or 10mm auto to be had locally at least without swapping a nubile 18 year old daughter or something else of comparable value. If there are 7 boxes of an uncommon caliber in town it's a lot less likely you can get your hands on 4 of them.

-Any time you try to buy something that is in high demand it's going to cost you no matter how common the item is. Hot pizza is worth more when the pizza joints have closed down. A bottle of Jim Beam is worth more after the liquor stores and bars close. If there are a bunch of hungry folks who want to drink more both are going to cost you dearly. It's simple economics.

-To me the answer to this is to stock enough to ride out the occasional bad 3-6 months. Have some doomsday ammo but put aside a few boxes for range duty to get you through a dry spell.

-Sure like Tam said getting an AR upper or AK in 5.45 commie could give you an option  but you would have to be putting a lot of rounds downrange to break even on the initial investment. Personally since it's a nitche item I wouldn't buy it at the expense of an AK in the common 7.62x39 or another .223 AR.

Anyway those are my .02 cents on that. Thoughts?

Ammo Available at Lucky Gunner

I was curious about what sort of ammo is available online these days and went to Lucky Gunner to check. They are a pretty awesome company that has gotten plenty of business from me over the years:

They currently have

Pistol
.380
.357 magnum
.40 S&W
.45 acp
and the Venerable .45 long colt

Shotgun ammo is available in .410, and 12 gauge with available loads for every common need. They also have some 20 gauge slugs.

Rifle ammo is a bi polar market right now. At the time I write this Lucky Gunner has a few boxes of .223 but no 7.72x39 or .308. However .22-250, .243, .270, 30-30, 30'06 and 300 win mag are all solidly available as are a variety of other rounds like the old WWII era cartridges and random mags/ short mags. Generally speaking this mirrors the trend that the modern defensive rounds are unobtanium but common sporting rounds are widely available.

The point is that you can stock up on ammo for most weapons easily. No need to pay insane prices for the one box of ammo they choose to have on the shelf at the local gun shop (keeping the rest in the back to promote hysteria). Pistol and shotgun ammo is (except 9mm) not a problem. If you are caught seriously short for a defensive rifle it might not be a bad idea to go a bit deeper on ammo for the old deer gun. No they are not semi automatic goodness but they are solid rifle cartridges.

Yes prices are a bit higher than a month ago throughout the supply chain which inevitably affects the final customer which is you guys. If you are seriously short I would suck it up and buy what you need while you KNOW you can. On the other hand if you are beyond a few hundred rounds or a case per caliber/ gun one could decide to let things calm down for a few months. That is however a risk and thus a pretty personal decision.

Anyway those are my .02 cents on that.

Gun Store Watch

Yesterday I saw the following mags:

Ruger Mini 30 (7.62x39) factory Magazines. About a half dozen of them. These will probably stick around unless the 1 dude who owns that rifle is Southern Arizona comes and gets them all.

S&W MP magazines. A bunch of them. Like the higher capacity ones in 9, 40 and 45. They were running $37 a pop but they were there.

CZ 75 mags. These guys are something like $50 a piece.

XD mags seem to be continually present.

All the new Beretta Storm/ PX4/ whatever mags were available.

In terms of guns pistols are selling like crazy but widely available. Could be that most decent gun shops have a lot of them (the Glock line, Sig line, S&W, etc) in comparison to black rifles. Black rifles are trickling in and flying out. Shotguns (pump) and bolt guns are totally available.

.223 is like the way too hot for the party but down to earth cool girl in that it is totally absent. I've seen a box or two 7.62x39 and .308 intermittently. You might not be able to get your favorite load but some sort of ammo is available. The venerable .22 long rifle is pretty thin. You are seeing the 50 and 100 round boxes of the more expensive stuff, there isn't an en cheapo brick of .22 to be had.

How are things in your neighborhood?

If Things Go Back To Normal I Will Buy....

After identifying some relative shortages this is about what I will buy over the course of the next year if things go back to normal.

-6 Glock 17 mags

-5 Ruger BXP 25 rd mags
 
-4 more 33rd factory Glock 9mm mags

-3 cases of ammo (2x223, 1x 9mm)

-2 75rd Eastern European surplus AK drums and

-1 AR-15 stripped lower receiver

What would you buy? Try to be realistic. I would LIKE to get an AR pistol, a PTR-91, an Arsenal AK, 100 various mags and 10 cases of ammo but that would not be realistic for me in the 1 year time frame given. Also you do not have to stick with the count down format I did that just make it a bit more fun.


PS: Sorry for the short post it has been a crazy day and I am done. Going to have a couple beers, watch Vegas and go to bed. Will have something good tomorrow, I promise.

Brass vs Steel Ammo in the AR Torture Test and Buttstock Reliability

Our awesome advertisers at Lucky Gunner did a torture test of brass vs steel cased .223 ammo using 4 rifles and 40k rounds. Pretty darn interesting.

Military Times did a M4 butt stock stress test. I have not seen a trend in M4 butt stock issues but it is worth reading none the less.

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. 

What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

I filled up the gas and water cans. Have been fiddling with my everyday carry a bit. Speaking of which everybody who likes free holsters and water purification sport bottles should get their stuff together and enter our awesome contest. Also I made an appointment to get my eyes checked and pick up some more glasses.

A few 2A prep things happened this week.

Finally got around to joining the NRA. In the past I haven't been very concerned with them. However right now they need money and new members to bolster their street cred to protect our constitutional rights. Seriously if you are a gun owner but not an NRA member and can afford $30 a year I strongly suggest joining the NRA. Along those lines one quiet morning I took the time to write my senators and congressman.  We could debate the usefulness of this but it certainly does not hurt. The socialists statists democrats definitely have folks writing to press their case and FreeFor need to do the same thing.

Not saying I am somehow special for spending $30 to joint the NRA and doing a bit of writing to folks who probably will not listen but damn it I did something to help the situation. Doing anything positive is a lot more effective than just bitching about a situation you do not like. Maybe you can donate some money to good pro gun causes, or write elected officials and the  'letter to the editor' in the local paper. Maybe you can get other gun owners to do these things. For goodness sake do something.

Of course my efforts in this arena do not mean we haven't picked up a few last things. In general I abhor panic buying but if you have 5 minutes till the store closes you grab as much of the important stuff as possible. Thankfully we've been at this for awhile so it is more of a 'sprint through the finish' than a frantic dash to grab anything. Picked up another holster and a couple hundred rounds of good CCI .22 ammo. There isn't much out there I NEED at sane prices right now. Can use some more .223 but I am going to wait for things to normalize. 1) I think thing will calm down (well ammo at least) as supply catches up to demand and 2) my 'crazy' budget is beyond busted.

Anyway that is what I did to prepare this week. What have you been up to?