“Ammo cans”

So, as I’m reorganizing things, I am discovering that there are a lot of small items that need to be corralled into one place in a somewhat protective manner. For example, my stash of Aladdin wicks, mantles, and burners. Or my stockpile MALICE clips. Things that are numerous enough to need to have their own dedicated container, but not so large or heavy that they need a steel ammo can dedicated to them.

So, for giggles, I hit Facebook marketplace and figured I’d look for some discount ammo cans. No joy. But…I did find some plastic ammo cans in two different sizes that would suit my needs. In for a penny, in for a pound….how many to buy? Well, stuff is always cheaper in bulk. I’ll take 300.

And thats how I wound up with an IBC tote cage full of plastic ‘ammo cans’. They had ‘half height’ ones in addition to the .30-cal-size cans. So, I figured I’d split it 50-50 and wound up with 150 of each. Are they as durable as a steel ammo can? Of course not..theyre plastic. But, theyre waterproof and perfect for organizing the things on shelves in my basement…batteries, first aid supplies, waterproof notepads and pens, water filters, etc.

Got into them cheap enough that I’ll give a bunch away to the local LMI for their own storage needs. Even then, I’m probably going to have way more of these than I actually need but it’ll be nice to be able to get some things nice and neatly packed away for that upcoming Rainy Day.

Link

Glock 17 Gen3 cop trade-ins $300

AimSurplus has a bunch of LE-tradein Glock 17’s on the block. $299 ea. for Gen3 17’s with night sights and in original case. One mag.

Since I have plenty of Magpul G9 mags here, I wasn’t concerned about the guns coming with only one mag apiece. A $300 G17 will always grab my attention. But cop guns are notorious for being beaten up aesthetically while being mechanically good. Ordered three and they showed up yesterday:

Absolutely excellent condition. Night sights still have plenty of glow. Barrels need a cleaning at the chamber end as there’s a lot of fouling on the feed ramps, but thats five minutes with Hoppes and a q-tip. I ordered three, which came out to $17.51 to ship for each gun. That puts my basis as $317.51 for each very clean G17. Strong recommend.

They still have them in stock as of today, so if you’ve got a buddy with an FFL, or you’ve a LGS who does reasonable transfer fees, I’d say  jump on this deal.

Someone will ask why Gen3 when there are trade-in Gen4 and Gen5 out there. The Gen 4 made some changes to the ejector/extractor, I believe, that caused some problems. Gen5 is alright I suppose but interchangeable backstraps aren’t a thing in my world. The Gen3, IMO, is the best version of the Glock. In fact, Glock still makes the Gen3 for various agency commitments.

I see this as an opportunity to grab yourself an ideal pistol at a bargain price. Passing the info along to you guys, do with it what you will.

AK mags

I’m not really an AK guy. Yet, somehow I have managed to acquire three of them.. a milled Arsenal, a milled Norinco, and a WASR-10 of some flavor. I still have gobs of 7.62×39 laying around, so I decided to keep the AK’s since having a military-style semi-auto with plenty of ammo is never really a bad thing. And, of course, logistics rears its ugly head. If you’re gonna have a buncha AK’s, youre gonna need a buncha AK mags.

Ok…will 200 be enough?

I went for an even split of 40- and 30-rd mags. These are the AC Unity mags that you’re seeing all over the place. Made in ex-Yugoslavia they’re pretty good mags. The nice feature is metal locking tabs front-and-back. Ordered in bulk from Robert RTG (bookmark that place, guys) they came out to, with shipping, $4.87 per mag. (10% on 100+ mags.)  For that kinda money, I don’t mind having a bunch of extras to someday sell to the unenlightened masses when the next mag ban comes rolling in.

This is, by the by, on top of the AK mags I already have. I went deep on AK mags a few years back when those metal Korean AK mags were coming into the country. And prior to that I had a buncha ChiCom mags. For a guy with only three AK’s, I’d say I’ve got the magazine end of things covered.

One is none, and two hundred is….one hundred?

Why it pays to keep track of prices and stock up

If you guys recall, throughout last year CostCo was selling the Lifestraw 4-pack. As time went by, the prices kept dropping:

Until, finally, they hit the “stick-them-in-a-corner-and-blow-them-out-we-need-the-space’ price of $4.25 ea. I bought a bunch and some of you got them as Paratus gifts.

So’, Im in CostCo yesterday and beheld this absurdity:

We’ve gone from a low of $4.25 each, to a WTF price of $12.50 ea. In Januray, of all times. Dunno the reason behind this but I can tell you that I was absolutely tickled to think I got as many of these as I did at the $4.25@ price.

Moral of the story: when the price is right…buy and  buy hard.

 

Glock Redux

Kings Firearms Online was having a sale on some LE trade-in Gen 4 G17’s. Well, heck, for $300 apiece, why not? I prefer Gen3 Glocks for various reasons but these should be quite easy to flip for $350-375 to someone wanting a Christmas gift to themselves or a friend.While I have a big ‘ol stack of Ruger P95DCs sitting around, I have an almost as large pile of Glock 9mms. I’m kinda wishing I’d picked up more than just these three. Theyre in typical copgun condition: bluing wear, grips nicked and scratched from years of being a ghetto referee, but mechanically fine. Face it, copguns just don’t get shot that much. They get banged around a heck of a lot, but mechanically theyre almost always like new.

Its been a long time since I’ve seen police trade-in Glocks in 9mm for sale but when it happens, I try to go deep.

Thanksgiving leftovers

Now is the time to hit the supermarkets for remaindered turkey and associated foods. I hit my local Albertsons and bought way too many of these lovely bacon-wrapped turkey breasts for 1/2 price:

I’ll head to the other two local stores tomorrow and Monday to catch the rest of them as they get marked down. Fortunately I have just barely enough freezer space to get these guys tucked away for later consumption. I’ve eaten turkey out of the deep freeze that was over five years old, so I have absolutely no doubt these guys will get used up at some point.

Is it a bit of work to trot around town hitting all the supermarkets looking for leftovers? Well, a bit….but to me it’s worth it. As a survivalist I try to have everything I need for whatever calamitous event I anticipate. But over the course of a year I wind up using my stove a heck of a lot more than I use my Glock. What I’m saying is, I eat every day…I don’t shoot looters every day. Thus, some emphasis on food is warranted.

What with Bidenflation, it’s a pretty good bet that next years groceries are gonna be more expensive than this years groceries. So…why not stock up? Buy that extra freezer too, ’cause it sure won’t be cheaper next year either.

Survivalism is more than just guns and camo, guys… you know that. The most likely TEOTWAWKIs will be the intimate personal ones….job loss, illness, blizzards, hurricanes, that sorta thing…and when those happen (and they most assuredly will) the odds are pretty good you’ll use a lot more food than you will ammo. Have both, of course, but be realistic: you eat far more often than you shoot.

So, go stock up while there’s bargains to be had.