Years ago I decided to finally splurge and update to electronic earmuffs for range use. The technology keeps leaping forward and the set I purchased also have Bluetooth. My earmuffs pair to my phone so I can answer phone calls and receive alerts while I am shooting. But…I can also play music. AC/DC is normally as metal as I get, but listening to Sabaton while running rifle drills is pretty fun.
Many times the creative wellspring runs a tad dry and I go for the low-hanging fruit which, often, is a gun post. And, evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, I really don’t like doing more than one or two gun posts a week because, as I’ve said before, I don’t think of this as a gun blog but rather a preparedness blog that throws in some gunstuff as it relates to preparedness.
So other than spending stupid amounts of money on boomtoys, whats going on in my brain these days in regards to preparedness?
Well, probably the most front-of-mind thing is the ‘housing crisis’ that seems to dominate the news cycle. The news shows us homeless encampments everywhere, gives us tales of bold squatters ‘seizing’ houses, and stories of people who make what most normal people would think of as ‘very nice incomes’ who somehow still can’t afford a home. Part of me wonders if this isn’t stage-setting for some sort of .gov legislation. After all, it is an election year.
My take on it comes down to this: the non-mentally ill homeless are homeless because they just don’t want to stop huffing spraypaint and get a real job. Squatters need to be dragged out of the house by baseball-bat-wielding family members of the homeowner and given percussive therapy to remind them what happens when you steal. If you make $150,000 a year and cant afford a home, you have a spending problem not an income problem…stop trading up to a new car every three years, stop eating out, stop having kids, and stop looking for homes in areas you can’t afford.
Unfortunately common-sense solutions don’t count for much in this world of abdicated responsibility and imagined oppression.
Survivalism isn’t about changing the world, its about surviving the world. I can’t change the direction things are heading…not really. I can’t repair the hull, but I can make sure I have a lifejacket and warm clothes on as I pre-stage my lifeboat. Watching the news pushes me more and more into believing that the end of the world won’t be as dramatic as something we see in the movies but rather a slow descent into a world of Soviet-style oppression and bleakness, usually in the name of ‘equality’, ‘justice’, or ‘democracy’.
When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion–when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing–when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors–when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you–when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice–you may know that your society is doomed.
I won’t tell you who wrote that because, as a learned, literate, and well-read man of the world, you should know.
I’m very much of the opinion that the classic survivalist scenarios are becoming statistically less likely when compared to some politically-driven economically-based episode of grave outcomes. Guns and ammo are certainly going to be a factor in pulling through that sort of situation, but probably not nearly as much as food and supplies, and definitely not as much as carrying no debt and having a good stash of cash and ‘cash like instruments’ (cough*metals*cough).
Guns are a very important part of survivalism, but I’m starting to think that their utility, while undeniable, may take a back seat to a pantry full of food and a buried mason jar full of krugerrands. Only time will tell, I suppose, but as I’ve said…I’ve need $50 bills far more often than I’ve needed .50 BMG. But, having both makes me feel safer.
A while back I posted that ATFE had made it so that a person could, if so inclined, do some paperwork online rather than through the mail. I hate the ATFE with a passion and I see no reason to change that. But, I hate the idea of being in jail even more. So, I filled out the forms, paid the $200 tax each, and waited. I just got the approvals on both in email today:
Yep…..I took this guy:
And did the paperwork (and engraving) to add a Choate side-folder (sent to me by the fine like-minded guys at Choate). The results? Here you go:
The one on the left is surprisingly handy…I mean it is really handy. It’s a comfortable length, carries well, has enough barrel length to give the 9mm a little added oomph, and is just a remarkably handy size, weight, and length for any situation I can envision needing it. It just feels…perfect. The one on the right? Less utility but oodles of ‘cool factor’.
A very valid question to ask would be why not just go with the now-legal-again ‘wrist brace’ and save myself $200 and some headache? Well, a couple reasons…first, I’m already on ‘the list’ so..in for a penny, in for a pound. Second, the SBR status lets me throw a VFG on the front of the thing. And finally, I just figured that in this case I may as well skip the half-measures and just go full retard on this.
How long did the paperwork take? Let me check….49 days. I get Form 3’s back in less than a week but the Form 1’s take seven weeks, it seems. Unfortunately this isnt the end of my having to deal with the goons at ATFE. I still need to give my Uzis the same treatment. But, for now, I’m gonna enjoy taking these to the range and getting the envious looks.
Remember that a while back I decided I was going to tweak out one of my Glocks? Swapped out for a threaded barrel, sent it offer some cerocoating and an RMR cut? Any of that ringing a bell?
Well today I finally got the RCR optic. So…we go from this:
To this:
Still remaining, I need to put a nice not-too-light-not-too-creepy trigger in it. (Any suggestions, Tam?) And then…just shoot it until I’m happy with my proficiency. And my Safariland holster fits it, with optic and light, just perfectly….
By the by, if anyone is as big a gear queer as me and is curious, its a Viking Tactics Skirmish Belt with Cobra Belt. IFAK/TQ pouch is by Warrior Poet Supply. And the dual mag pouches are High Speed Gear Double Decker Tacos. Thats it…I didn’t want to clutter things up. This isn’t an end-of-the-world type of setup. I just wanted something for investigating the odd bump in the night or “‘who’s truck is that in the driveway?’ at 130am” sort of rig. Pistol, FAK, and 2 spare AR/Glock mags. Just need to add a flashlight pouch and I’d call it good.
I have almost no experience shooting red dots on pistol, so there’s going to be a bit of a learning curve but I’m optimistic that the benefits will be worth it. Specifically, shooting faster and with better accuracy at those speeds.
So that happened….
The 77/357 handles and feels like a .22 rifle. It is very light and just feels good. Accuracy with open sights at 50 yards was excellent. It fed everything I put into int including .38 WC and sharp-shouldered Keith bullets in .357. Since it shoots a small pistol cartridge like the .38/357 it should prove to be a pretty economical gun to shoot. And, of course, I plan on spending some time with the heavy bullets at subsonic speeds to see how well this thing will work with a suppressor.
This particular gun is a somewhat limited offering from Ruger and it was difficult to find. The .44 versions were abundant but I scoured all the usual sources and this was literally the only one I could find.
But I really enjoyed ringing the steel with it at 50 yards with the open sights and can see it’s probably going to become a favorite rifle.
Bad Person gets caught shoplifting. They pay the fine and move on. They then go back to the same store, not having learned their lesson, and engage in the same behaviour, get caught, and get punished. Now taking it personally, they go back to the store at 2am and burn it to the ground for having the audicity to challenge Bad Person’s activities.
I suspect this is going to be ATFE’s reaction to their most recent oopsie. Specifically, after the SCOTUS smackdown on bump stocks, another court has vacated the wrist brace issue.
ATFE is a group of vengeful law-enforcement pariahs who are very focused on their image. To get taken to the woodshed twice in a few weeks is going to do nothing except encourage them to re-assert their dominance. Whats that gonna look like? Beats me…a magazine ban? Increased wait times? A very legalistic and detailed look at exactly what they do have the authority to do and then them doing that dialed up to 11? FFL dealer audits with the intensity of a colonoscopy for everyone? Beats me. But I know that often times when you make a bully look bad, he gets mad-bull enraged and doesn’t care what its going to cost for him to avenge his hurt ego.
And yet, even though I know ATFE will come up with some sort of revenge plan, much like Nazis executing 100 civilians for each Nazi killed by a partisan, I still smile warmly to myself at the notion of ATFE getting their hand slapped. I just hope Im not one of those 100 civilians marched out into the woods.
Personally, I have no use for a bump stock. I imagine that if the time comes I ever need a machine gun, there will be plenty of them laying around. However, I am always a fan of ATFE getting cleat marks in their wedding tackle.
ATFE has been overstepping their bounds and creating ‘laws’ out of whole cloth when, in actuality, they can only enforce…not create…regulations.
I will say that while I have no interest in the bump stock for my own use, I think this decision will be an important one in regards to the ‘wrist brace’ issue. We shall see. I do have an interest in the ‘wrist brace’ issue since I’d rather avoid the whole NFA $200 registration nonsense if I can.
If you’re into preparedness long enough, you can observe and participate in the evolution of technology as the years go by. For example, forty years ago when I was just getting my feet wet in this particular interest, the Krypton bulb was considered the pinnacle of flashlight technology. Then came a few other specialty bulbs for your MagLite, twenty or so years ago the LED bulbs started to first appear, and now I doubt anyone buys a new flashlight with anything other than a high-output LED bulb. Another example would be optics. Back in the day, if you had a 4x Colt scope mounted to the carry handle of your CAR15 (which we now call an M4), well, you were operating. Then it moved to variables, then holographic and dot sights, then night vision, and now thermals. This was technology that wasn’t only unavailable when I was a kid…it was undreamed of. (At least at the consumer grade.)
I mention this because I recall about ten years ago people were wondering if ‘drones’ had any place in the smart survivalists repertoire. At that point drones were, mostly, an observation device….like airplanes in WWI. And then, much like WWI, some wag decided to bring along a hand grenade to surprise the enemy. Drone combat was born.
That brought me around to thinking what was one of he greatest force multipliers (and greatest threats) for your average survivalist in the last decade or so and I think the answer is…drones.
At the moment, if you wanna blow up a tank in Ukraine, or scout the national forest for elk, you need to sit there with a GameBoy in your lap and a set of goggles on your face. If the hype is to be believed, in the not-so-distant-future we’ll have AI to do the grunt work of drone flying for us. You’ll whip out your KillCopter2000, flip the switch marked ‘sentry/patrol mode’, heave it into the air, and go back to your roadblock as the thing patrols a pre-set flight path and investigates anything unusual…all while your camped around your JetBoil with the rest of your buddies drinking coffee and discussing current events.
Funny thing is, while we’re using all this rapidly evolving technology in drones, scopes, radios, geolocation, and illumination, most of us will be still carrying rifles that are fundamentally unchanged from when they were introduced 60 years ago (AR) or almost 80 years ago (AK). The classics just keep marching on, I suppose. (Especially if the WWI tactics in Ukraine are anything to go by.)
That last statement reminds me…ever do one of those fantasy ‘what if’ daydreams? You know, something like “what if there had been AK’s in the Civil War?”, or “What if a nuclear aircraft carrier were at the attack on Pearl Harbor?” (spoiler…that first one was a book, that second one was a movie.) If you ever wondered what would have happened if the guys in the trenches had automatic rifles instead of bolt actions in WW1…well, youre seeing it. Still a stalemate. Technology can’t make up for staid and outdated military tactics, I suppose.
As if I hadnt already hemorrhaged enough money with the auction from last week, it appears that there’s more to be had. A coworker asked me if I’d be interested in ‘some reloading stuff’ from the estate of his recently deceased grandfather. Ok fine, I’ll look. Digital scales, Redding powder measures, carbide RCBS pistol sets, lots of powder, plenty of bullets, bullet molds, and, of course, the big-ticket item in todays market: primers.
To add insult to injury, my buddy at the coin shop asked if I had any interest in a S&W Shield EZ. Well, no…not really. Until the numbers starting getting tossed around and it became a case of “at that price it makes no sense to NOT get it.”
When it rains it pours.
I have to take the entire lot of reloading stuff, can’t cherry pick it. I very much want the primers, and the assortment of bullets and gas checks are certainly worth picking up…if I can get it cheap enough.
Hayes Otoupalik told me that when you’ve been in this business long enough, you don’t have to go looking for good deals…the good deals come looking for you. Truth.
In addition to the reloading gear, there might be some guns as well. Judging by the collection of reloading gear, there might be a 9mm, .380., a couple Smith K-frames, a 1911, and some varmint rifles.
I am seriously running out of room for this stuff.
A long and expensive week. I wound up spending three days closely following an enormous auction of gun stuff. I wound up buying, among other things, 165 stripped AR lowers.
The goal, of course, is to sell the bloody things to finance other projects…like a land purchase. It takes money (usually) to make money, kids. In addition to the AR lowers I also wound up with a mountain of Magpul AR furniture. This was a liquidation of an AR ‘manufacturer’ [really, an AR assembler] partnership, and everything had to go, go,go. In addition to AR parts galore, there was a respectable amount of ammo but the prices were quite high. I did manage to snag 5,000 rounds of Magtech 124 gr. 9mm for myself, so those will wind up going into the Deep Sleep.
Things that I missed? Well, I bid on almost 200 different lots of AR barrels and got beat out on all of them. Also got beat out on a rather healthy supply of Magpul Pmags. But, I did okay on lotsa small stuff…miscellaneous lots of odds-n-ends. Wound up with a bunch of magazines for guns I don’t even own, so I’ll probably dump the on Gunbroker.
In the end, the goal is to get back my initial outlay quickly, and once thats recovered I can take my time with the remaining items.
In the meantime, my living room looks like a warehouse. On the bright side, though, if there’s a 1994-style assault weaons ban in the next few weeks I may become quite well-to-do.
If anyone is interested, here’s the links to the closed auctions:
