RESOURCE DEPLETION
Well, it was nice while it lasted. I didn't say much about guns for awhile so the trolls were staying away, lurking over at the blog Large Plastic Carbines For Small Inadequately Endowed Mouth Breathers. I think they have software that alerts them as soon as I say anything firearm related. I guess it was really my fault. I failed to encapsulate my idea into a bumper sticker length slogan. Allow me to correct that mistake. IT'S NOT ABOUT THE TACTICS, IT'S ABOUT THE LOGISTICS.
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Logistics are not about running down to Big Bob's Sporting World and buying a case of ammunition and then getting ready to battle evil hoards of biker gangs or jack booted thugs. That is stockpiling. Logistics is how that ammunition got to Big Bob's. It's about the whole chain of supply, from raw ore to the energy used in its extraction to the capital used by the mine to finance itself and every other step along the way. You need to take into account a lot of different causes and effects. And as I've been trying to tell everyone, especially those not wanting to listen, we are running out of resources. You can't plan the future the same way things were done in the past. The past was the abundant Oil Age and the future is a mass die off as cheap and abundant oil runs out. We have already reached that point and are in the down phase. Ammunition can run out because the military needs it to steal the last of the cheap oil ( remember, it's not about running out of oil, it's about running out of cheap and abundant oil which fueled our economy- an economy that now has no other "fuel" ) from the middle east. It can run out because of politics. It can run out because of economics, lack of credit or bankruptcy or mines being closed. It can run out for many different reasons.
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But underlying most of those reasons is the fact that the Oil Age is ending and we no longer live in a material abundant world. The population has overreached the environment. The only reason we have so many people is that we had plenty of oil. Oil made the extra food. The oil is running out. Oh, we'll have oil miles under the sea or locked up in shale. But that won't feed seven billion people. Saudi Arabia and Mexico and Russia and the North Sea with big puddles of oil close to the surface, that fed those billions of people. If we had that cheap easy flowing oil we wouldn't have an end game economic depression. Yes, derivatives caused it, but cheap oil would have allowed us to squeak by. If we still had that oil, the global drought could have been worked around. If we still had abundant oil we wouldn't need a depression like this to cut back on our resource use.
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Investing now in resource sipping strategies is what I advocate. Relying on a bike instead of a car. Using less heat in the winter. Stocking up on cheap grain while it is still available. And, yes, using firearms that use a lot less ammunition. A few, a very few, can conserve ammunition in a firefight. Anyone that claims they can do it without practice seem to me to be suffering from machoism and delusion. Under stress, you revert to training. If you can afford that training. Otherwise, like the vast majority of us, you need the tool to conserve that ammunition. Knowing you only have one shot instead of five in the same time frame will force you to make those shots count. And that is exactly what you need to do when you have a limited amount of ammunition and there will be no replacement. This is not the Industrial Age where ammunition was churned out of factory after factory by the millions every day. Resources are becoming dear. You need to start living as such.
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You can't waste resources the rest of your life like you've been doing. That was only possible through cheap energy. Cheap energy is over. I don't care that it is far smarter tactically to arm yourself with high rate of fire weapons. What I care about is that soon those kinds of weapons won't have enough to shoot. In the meantime, use tactics to negate most of the disadvantages of slower firing weapons. And don't forget to apply resource scarcity to the other areas of your life. Soon, you will be forced to.
END
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
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26 comments:
Words of wisdom, Jim.
Thanks
My survival gun is a Ruger Vaquero. I like it. It is safe, well balanced, and shoots nicely.
If I end up in a "fire fight" then I have severly screwed up. I just want something that won't break, and dosen't devour ammo.
"Real" survivalist types laugh when I tell the this.
Oh well
Nice post, the trolls will never get it though. They are just too busy jacking off to Muscle mags in thier mommys basement to actually think about anything but thier dick
The thing about an SKS, Garand, or M-14 is that it can be used as a single-shot just as effectively as any single-shot, yet still provide fast firepower in an emergency. Any of these give up absolutely nothing to any No. 4 Mk 2 Enfield or SMLE. Why the hostility toward battle-proven rugged semi-autos if they can keep your ass alive? My semi-autos don't use up ammo any faster than my bolt-actions or lever-actions. I try to make my shots count regardless of what I'm shooting with. I don't get the anti-auto philosophy. It makes no sense.
J.B.
You will have to assume that opponents in a fire fight will be armed with hi-cap weapons. Assuming both parties are lousy shots. When you go to reload your revolver and he still has close to a dozen rounds left, I will give him the edge.
If you are going to depend on a bolt rifle or revolver for your weapon you better damn well be good at shooting as well as reloading.
I would rather learn to conserve ammo with a semi then learn to compete against one with a bolt gun.
If you think you might find yourself in a fight with multiple semi-auto armed opponents to shoot at than you better practice kissing your ass good bye too.
I have a Ruger 10/22. I bought a Butler Creek 25 round mag for it. I took it to the range. The 25 round mag wouldn't make it more than 5 shots without jamming up at the top of the mag. The stock 10 round rotary mags were perfect every shot. If the sporting goods store will take that mag back, it's theirs. I hope I can find some more of those stock rotary mags for a reasonable price. I love this Ruger, but I see the value in the single shots. I'm always looking for one of those Mosins. But I don't find them on sale like they used to be. I do see a really nice 8mm Mauser. I think it's a Czech surplus rifle. The 8mm is pretty cheap to stock up on. I'm gonna get one as soon as I can afford it, unless a bunch of you 'yay-hoos' tell me good reasons not to.
-Humongous
Ultimately it shouldn't matter so much what you arm yourself with, but that you learn to be highly proficient with whatever you've chosen. The edge will of course always go to the most accurate, powerful, fast, and reliable weapons you can afford. I understand that some hate semi-autos, some hate revolvers, some hate single-shots, etc. Just find one that suits you and take it out and practice. Make sure you feel comfortable with whatever it is, that you can take game with it, and defend yourself with it.
J.B.
Humongous,
The ruger will be fine if the oompa loompas or the munchkins come to take your stash. Otherwise get an sks at least you will have ten shots before you have to screw around reloading. Anyone with in a 100 yards should be easy game. The ammo is still relatively cheap. I saw one locally at a Big 5 store for about $375 with a nice bayonet. You can do better on price.
If we ever do enter a shtf scenario it is going to be bloody with all the firepower and ammo floating around out there.
That reminds me I need to head down to JoeBobs ammo supply and pick up another 1000 rounds of armor piercing rounds:)
PS we are not going to run out of ammo it will just get more expensive and much harder to find
Hi there, reading from over the pond in the UK, and its quite amazing to see what some people would describe as a crank, (and an American Crank at that) suggesting that the best tactical idea of doing things is not to fill the air with as much lead as possible.
Anyway, keep up the good blog, its a very interesting read.
Thing to keep in mind is that one type of firearm does not waste ammo any more than any other type of firearm. Only the guy with finder on trigger controls how much ammo wasting will take place. You can never really have too much firepower when bullets start to fly. Likewise, a semi-auto can be used every bit as well as a bolt gun for hunting any sort of game.
J.B.
Exactly JB,
I wish the other ass kissers would understand this concept. I would rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it.
JIm,
Just want to congradulate you on putting in another work day today.
wally
Jim, I have an AR-15 .223 and a single shot thompson center .223. Both scoped and very accurate. I hunt with the single shot. One in the head always stops white-tail in thier tracks. In a fire fight I would use the AR-15. One in the head times 30. I also have an old Mosin. G.C.
James Nice post today and Yesterday.
I went to the hardware store for parts for my home built wind turbine today, and there was a guy buyibg a single 25 round box of 6 shot 410 shells. It is Turkey season here. He brought last years box along. The new shells cost $22.00, last years box was $11.00. So a 100% price increase and the owner of the store told him to use them sparingly because he has no idea when he will get more...410 shells for petes sake.....
The PTB are using ammo control to implement unconstitutional gun Control..
Old Fart
Just a note of support to you Jim, if you learn to shoot a full power bolt action rifle well and are observant you will not get into a fire fight.
Once you get past the spray and pray philosophy and learn to engage your targets at the horizon, I mean learn to accurately identify and hit small targets out to 500 yds, you will no longer have to worry about the hordes.
I believe that the best practice for this is to hunt small game such a jackrabbits and squirrels at >200 yds, not attending a practical shooting class.
Thanks for risking the spears.
It saddens me that you still promote the tools of death. You must realize that this embracing of violence will only result in your own misery and madness.
Creator has given us sight for beauty.
Hearing for the song of the whipperwil.
And heart to circulate the love.
I say to you: lay down the arms of death, cast off the fear of tomorrow, call forth the ONE
SPIRIT and let the trumpets fill the sky as we witness those of hatred hearts cry of apocalyptic desire.
It is not too late my brothers and sisters. See the darkness for what it is and reject the offering of the cloak of sorrows. My beacon of light shines eternal. Let your soul shine in loving starlight and find strength in the calm of a beautiful evening.
Earthmaster
Earthmaster- That's really a cool set of lyrics. Do you mind if I forward them to Slayer? I think it would sound badass with some open 'E' bump-bump-bumps. I will use that song as I defend my .98 acre with my little bitty 10/22, from the whores, or hordes, or whatever comes my way. Here's hoping for the whores!
-Humongous
how do you classify Earthmaster? Stupid, nieve, troll, idiot, zealot. or all of those
I think the purpose of the semi-auto battle rifle is to survive the initial chaos. You still have adequate ammo and so do your enemies.
As all the ammo gets used up as we progress into TEOWAWKI, then you should start conserving by using a bolt action.
A true gun person will buy both a bolty and a semi.
If they can't afford both, then they should start a survival blog and sell their crap :)
Would Earthmaster's respect for living things great and small prevent him from taking medications that would heal him by killing the infection?
"I say to you: lay down the arms of death, cast off the fear of tomorrow, call forth the ONE
SPIRIT and let the trumpets fill the sky as we witness those of hatred hearts cry of apocalyptic desire."
i don't get it. if were going to have a mass die off, where are the zombie bikers going to come from ?
but, YES: violence begets violence. but, still i keep a nice .45 close by in case one of the 'friendly neighbors' goes bezerk and decides to play 'homeland security' one night.
my fist day in 'NAM, i was walking around the compound and i see this guy wiring a claymore to the side of a 'beehive', needless to say i took his advice: MYOB; that is the raw face of violence and it's sensless. no point in glorifing it, either.
it's just plain ugly.
I don't know that you can cure what ails Earthmaster.
-Humongous
I read this morning over at George Ure's that Ammo is going to the police state and not retailers.
Old Fart
Wether it be Zombie bikers or Jack booted thugz or even bubba joe rednecks,
they have always been part of my logistics chain...They will courteously be allowed to donate to me and mine all their unused equipment after they expire from unnatural causes...
Well that does bring up another point - your adversary can be used as your commissary
Jim
You sure seem to be a magnet for all the dumb shit wannabe rambo types. They completely missed the point.
Good post!
Thanks!
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