fundamentals-survival guns

FRIDAY FUNDAMENTALS-SURVIVAL GUNS
We’ve already covered your basic rifle. That is the firearm you should acquire first. Then, after you have plenty of ammunition for it, you can cast your greedy eye towards other firearms. So here we are going to cover a pistol, a .22 rimfire and a shotgun. If you never get to the stage where you can buy any of those, I wouldn’t despair too much. They are nice to have and do perform certain tasks well, but if need be you can do without them. I’m not saying one firearm can perform all tasks, but I am saying that with limited resources you might not have a choice. Your rifle allows you to have a defense with distance whereas all other firearms are for close in work. No, the rifle does not function well in close quarters. But it does function after a fashion. No other firearm type will achieve a distance buffer. Get your rifle first. Then, finances and time allowing, get your other firearms. Remember, food and a rifle, then more food, and only then more guns. And, just as importantly, maximize your ammunition with every firearm type before you get another gun.

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Survivalists are not soldiers and should never act as such. Never embrace a tactic that allows for acceptable loses. The military does teach certain lessons however ( like, the M-16/AR-15 sucks engorged reddened monkey testicles, but I won’t get into that now ). One was, a pistol on the battlefield is largely weight you would rather not be carrying around. I was never in combat, don’t get me wrong. But field exercises did highlight how overburdened we were. Way too much weight, even as a mechanized force, slowed us down, added to our fatigue and diminished our effectiveness. You can make the case that every piece of equipment carried helps you survive. My argument is that traveling very light helps you much more, a view backed up by an actual WWII British war vet who wrote on just such matters ( sorry, I can’t remember the book just now but I’ve written on this before ). In the field, our pistols were pretty much just more dead weight on our waist. Being so preoccupied with our hand held weapon ( in my unlucky case, the M-60, a weapon system so horrendous it made the M-16 look good ), I seriously doubt that in actual combat we would have remembered it was there as back-up until too late. Please, if you are a vet, I’m sure you might disagree. I understand if it saved your life. But then we get back to the “more equipment is better” argument. I’m just saying that in my experience, as a general rule, a pistol seemed to do more harm than good. I’m speaking in generalities, not special cases. ANY piece of equipment could have, in certain instances, helped save a soldiers life. But, IN GENERAL, you are better off without extra, just-in-case type weapons bogging you down. It isn’t a case of individual items doing no good, just their accumulative weight.

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Since you don’t need a pistol in combat, why do you think you need to have a thirty round clipped semi-automatic with laser sites? A pistol is a weapon to get you to your rifle. It is so you are armed at all times. When in the garden or helping to construct a building. You stay armed, and then you fight to your rifle. It is as simple as that. Now, should your rifle be damaged or stolen, what kind of pistol would you rather have, a mighty 9mm spewing out marginal rounds in a frantic spray and pray, or a revolver holding powerful ( for a sidearm, anyway ) rounds and aimed carefully? I’ve eaten venison before, harvested with a .357 revolver. Had my buddy been armed with a Euro-Trash semi I doubt I’d have had any BBQ. A revolver can not only hold a more powerful round ( as a general rule, excluding such exotic weapons as the Desert Eagle ), it is as simple as point and shoot for the novice. Who, being a novice, can benefit from the fact a 357 can be powered down to a .38. I sold my 45’s to raise cash to move back West, and although at times I’ve had plenty of cash to replace them ( and I fell in love with the 45 in the military, their last good American weapon ) I’m comfortable just with my revolvers. I cuddle my Enfield at night, not my pistols.

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Up next in importance is a rimfire. Not necessarily for small game hunting. You will be lucky to find ANY game ten minutes after the collapse. But because if all other ammunition is used up, it is much better to have a rimfire than a black powder rifle. Black powder has twice the range and far more knock down power, but it is also black powder. A visible shot. No hiding possible. Even at $30 a thousand now, verses $18 just a few years ago, it is still possible to store enough rimfire ammo that come a collapse you can stretch out your modern ammunition far into the future. Get a rifle and plenty of ammo before you entertain buying a rimfire pistol. Unless you find an old beat up one at the pawn shop for under $100. Then it is nice to have one. Those old 22 revolvers just keep on shooting regardless of abuse ( although odds are you will need to learn to adjust for off sites ). For a rifle, I would go with a single shot. Most rimfire semi’s have plastic interior parts, and clips are expensive. If you must have a semi I would seriously think about a tube mag. That will seriously cut back on your cost ( buy a replacement part however ). And a rimfire almost makes owning a glass site mandatory to get to its maximum range.

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I’m not a big fan of shotguns, but mainly because of my wide open location. A shotgun is no advantage and my pistol will cover short range. I used to have a shotgun when I lived in Oklahoma and east Texas. They actually had trees there. But it was a single shot. I know Mel is spinning in his grave that I would recommend a single shot, but he was all about volume of lead down range. I’m not. I’m all about knowing ammo is limited after the collapse. I know shotguns can do wonders for other folks. I know they stake their lives on it. And I don’t think they are wrong. Just that I can do just fine without one. I can’t hit much with one, so I’m more comfortable with a pistol. But they are advantageous in certain ways. More lead down range with one shot. Easy as pie to improvise ammo for. And variety of ammo type. For what they do they do well. They just aren’t mandatory for everyone.

END FUNDAMENTALS- SEE MORE DRIVEL BELOW.

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Thank you, Sam. I got your care package. I was thrilled with the strawberry and mint chocolate, yummy, and of course the luxury coffee will be enjoyed.

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Again with the heckling the guest writers. Remember, they are conveying an idea. They are not paid to be literary geniuses.

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I have to comment on the Libyan situation now rather than wait a week to get an article out. I’m 90% certain that the Libyan oil is off the market for good, indefinitely. Now that the refinery is damaged, I think the real fighting is started. Infrastructure will take a permanent hit. And the fighting will stay serious enough to preclude repairs. Granted, I’m being super paranoid here. I could be wrong. But I doubt it ( remember what I said about grain prices doubling? I was paranoid enough that I was eight months or so too early, but I did turn out to be correct ). And you did notice instability returned to Egypt? We won’t repeat the first Gulf War. This time nobody has the spare capacity. Stew pot time.
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Tomorrow's article will be the financial repercussions of the Japanese quake.

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