From the I-Cant-Stop-Picking-At-It Department:
The Chief of the New Orleans Police Department (Motto: To serve and defect) resigned the other day. The next day (or maybe it was the same day) articles started appearing saying how federal investigators are finding that there may have been up to 500 ‘ghost’ officers…cops on the payroll who didnt really exist. This just gets better and better!!! Compass needs to be hauled in and investigated so hard he cant sit properly. When thats done, get Nagin on the hot seat and sweat him too. After that, Blanco has some ‘splainin’ to do. These guys are the freaking poster child for why the nannystate doesnt work.
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Every little geegaw and gimmick that we use to give ourselves an edge requires a ceratin amount of support. That is to say, if you have a nice knife you need to have more than just a sheath for it, right? You need sharpening tools, oil, a rag, needle & thread for sheath maintenance, etc, etc. Same way if you have a generator you need fuel, oil, plugs, cables, etc, etc,…and it goes back even more generations than that – you cant just have the fuel you then have to have the fuel container, fuel stabilizer, fuel transfer tools, fire extinguishers, etc. So, theres really a bit more to getting a pice of gear than just getting it and figuring ‘okay, Im set’. Todays example: this is everything I need to maintain my S&W Model 10 .38 revolver. Excuse the formatting..its exported from a spreadsheet I maintain.
Accessory speedloaders
Accessory speedloader pouches
Accessory holster
Accessory plastic bag
Accessory Gun rug
Accessory Speed Strips
Ammo ammo
Cleaning Solvent
Cleaning patches
Cleaning rod
Cleaning jag
Cleaning mop
Cleaning toothbrush
Cleaning Q-tips
Cleaning toothpicks
Cleaning dental picks
Cleaning bore brush
Cleaning oil
Cleaning rag
Cleaning squib rod
Cleaning bore snake
Information exploded diagram
Parts spare grips
Parts screws
Parts springs
Parts other (bolt, hand, ratchet, etc)
Reloading mould
Reloading bullet lube
Reloading sizer
Reloading dies
Reloading reloading tool
Tool screwdriver
Tool hammer
All of this fits in a watertight, airtight ammo can which means it can pretty much go anywhere although obviously you dont carry all this with you unless youre moving onto a new Area of Operations. But, if you came back to your flooded out house in Alabama or your submerged garage in Mississippi you could dig this thing out of the muck, crack it open, and some of the tension leave your body as you saw all that nice, dry, safe, usable ammo and support gear for your pistol. (And, actually, I keep one of the ‘extra’/’spare’ Model 10s in the can too.)
This same line of thinking has to go to , for example, my Coleman lanterns…something like this:
Lighting Lantern Coleman fuel Carrycase
Lighting Lantern Coleman fuel Globe #690A048
Lighting Lantern Mantles #21A122 or #21A104
Lighting Lantern Propane Carrycase
Lighting Lantern Propane Globe #214A0461
along with propane, Coleman fuel, funnels, etc, etc, etc.
The point, which I am slowly and quite inefficiently hammering to death, is that important gear does not stand alone..it needs to have all the support you can give it in the form of spare parts, accessories, etc. Either have the spare parts for repair/maintenace or have an entire duplicate of the item. Better to have both. (“One is none, two is one”) So think about the important stuff you have – the cookstove, the lantern, the Jeep, the AR-15, the Danner boots – and think what spares and maintenance parts you need and get them.
Finally, before I stop flogging this deceased equine, I will say that having spares and parts has already served me well. When the BunkerBabe lost a spring out of her AR, a quick trip to the 40mm can full of AR support gear kept us from losing a functional AR from our battery. Having spare flectar parkas kept her warm at a shooting class when she discovered one in the box of the truck. You get the idea?
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I want to quickly mention that at no point am I calling myself an expert or authority here. Im only telling what I’ve done or am doing and your mileage may vary…significantly. Lotsa folks do things differently and those ways may be worse, same or better. Im just speaking for myself and making suggestions off of my own experiences. I’ve been somewhat following the ‘survivalist movement’ since it started in the 1980’s and had a mild interest up through the ’90s when I got involved in it much more seriously…so, I’ve got some background but definitely not an expert.
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The BunkerBabe has set policy that we must acquire 1,000 rounds of ammo per month. I can agree with this. If money is tight, 1k of .22 LR is $20..and when things are going well 1k of 9mm is about $120. But, boy, there very little more satisfying then seeing a shelf loaded down with plenty of ammo…except the shelves in a pantry loaded down with yummy long term food.
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Speaking of food, it is my understanding that if you are in New Orleans the MRE’s are free for the taking. You cannot begin to imagine how jealous I am of that. Seriously.
I’m of the opinion that the best spare part is a spare gun. That’s why I tend to get duplicates of guns I really like. Two CZ-75’s, two Makarovs, two Swede Mausers, two M-1 Carbines, mulitple S&W K frame revolvers, etc. This way if one breaks in normal use, I can buy the spares as needed while I use the backup. I should stock certain parts that are known for high failure rates though. M-1 Carbine extractors come to mind. Those are known for failing. Other than that though, it’s so hard to predict what parts you need so that a whole spare gun is just easier.
Btw, if your interested, Florida Bullet has 50 round boxes of the Speer 135 gr +P .38 Special ammo for the same price everyone else is selling for a 20 round box. This is the ammo that was designed specifically for snub revolvers, but will work well out a 4″ barrel as well. If your interested, I can dig out there phone number again. The ammo was about $15 per box of 50.
I’m of the opinion that the best spare part is a spare gun.
I used to think that too, but then I read a dissent somewhere that made me re-evaluate that opinion. The arguement was that by doing this you have two functional guns. Now, if one needs, say, a new firing pin, you take it from the extra gun and you now have one functional gun. If the firing pin is a part that is prone to breaking, or you break another one in a year, you now have no functional gun. The logic being that some parts are more prone to breakage than others and that it might make more sense to store multiples of parts rather than a complete gun. The answer is, of course, multiple guns and multiple high-likelihood spare parts.
I reload 90% of all my own ammo so its a nice deal, but I can take a pass. I have a couple thousand of the old Remington 95 gr. JHP that were designed for snubbies and they got some wild velocity in the longer barrelled guns.
Do you have any links to articles about the afore mentioned “ghost officers?” I’d like to spread the word, and have the documentation to go along with it.
Grrr…Im having a heck of a time finding articles to link to. The impression Im getting is that the ‘500’ or so officers who deserted didnt actually exist. Having some trouble finding the articles now but I saw them about two days ago..something about the FBI investigating.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1493191/posts
What I do is switch to the spare gun if the primary gun goes down. I won’t canibalize from one gun to the next. Then, when I order a replacement part, I’ll order two since I now know that it’s a part that can be reasonably expected to break. I just can’t afford to stock random spare parts for every gun I own.
I do agree that spare guns plus spare parts is the best, if finances allow.
I want to quickly mention that at no point am I calling myself an expert or authority here.
You’re much further ahead in the game than I am, so I appreciate your posts as Cmdr Zero.
You have been holding out on us Rob… the only website I have found for Florida bullet is here, but they do not list any prices for their ammunition. Do you have a price listing for all the SB (short barrel) Speer ammo and shipping charges to our area? In particular I am looking for the 135 gr +P .38 Special and the 124 gr. +P 9mm. Any price breaks for quantities? TIA…
Sorry, I just found out about them from a thread on The High Road myself. The Speer 38 135 gr +P was about $15 for a box of fifty. I bought 4 boxes and shipping was about $8 total. I didn’t have access to a price list, but someone over on THR tipped me off to this deal. I called and FB was really easy to deal with over the phone. They confirmed the price, checked to see how much shipping would be and even went into the warehouse to see if they had a specific different ammo I was interested in (Federal 9BP 9mm, and no, they didn’t have any).
Give ’em a call. I believe their phone number is on that website.
I tried out the Speer 135 gr +P .38’s the other day. The recoil was snappier then the 158 +P LSWCHP loads I’d been using. I’m going to have to check on the velocity of those Speer loads.