hoisted with your own petard

HOISTED WITH YOUR OWN PETARD


You know, it is just my luck that while I strive mightily to present fact and fun filled sermons and beseech and implore all my minions to change their evil ways by vomiting article after essay on any particular subject, in the end the only one convinced appears to be myself. Not that I’ve convinced myself I’m right. I knew that all along. But rather motivated myself to change. As of late ( I don’t know, the last year or two perhaps ) I’ve been forced to consider arsenals beyond that of war surplus bolt actions. The times they are’a changing and what used to make perfect sense is now sometimes a flawed theory. Of course you can still buy surplus and cheap ammo if you are on a strict $500 prepping budget. That part hasn’t changed in the last five years since I published the best survivalist book to ever grace the masses. It is just that now you only have one choice and that is the Russian bolt. Which I hate because of the lack of the gas safety but no one else considers an issue. If you want a better designed weapon you are now forced to pay the same as a new modern arm, so why pay for a used rifle? And the ammo saving are no longer there. I’ve been lamenting this insidious development, but didn’t give it too much concern since I already had laid back my own supplies cheaply prior to Y2K. Yet yesterday seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back. I investigated in depth one too many times another aspect of the negative aspects of war surplus.
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A minions comment on the poor shot placement at 300 yards got me mulling things over ( again ). I should have gone with 200 yards ( going up against the AK ) rather than 300. At 200, I’m not too God awful of a shot although I won’t claim a one shot one kill. But at $1 a round, even that cut in range is too much of a compromise. When I first bought the Enfields I also had a couple of SKS’s. At 100 yards they both sucked for accuracy but the rifle, if for no other reason the barrel length, was not as bad. But that was also the old WWI Enfields with those crappy leaf and post sights. When I went to the No. 4’s there was a great improvement in shot placement. But I also was living in Oklahoma and then Florida. You wanted a bit more than a pistol round but the terrain still didn’t call for much range. My 100 yard shots were usually all I needed and I felt comfy out to 200 ( and since I was buying thirty cent surplus rounds I didn’t mind the fact I couldn’t always connect the first shot ). Even when I first moved to Nevada it was at the base of the Sierra mountains and I didn’t worry about open range. Now however, I have to worry about 200 yards all day long ( 300 yards is about max because of the rolling hills ) rather than 100. I can’t easily practice enough to be proficient at those longer ranges ( even if I started reloading, with the shortened life span-so I’ve been told- of the 303 case I won’t be able to spend less than fifty cents or so a round taking into account the 65 cent case cost ). I could afford the cost but to me it seems this smacks on the case of shopping around trying to find VW Bug parts- it might be cheaper to replace the car itself. When you can buy a new factory case of a carbine round for half the cost as reloading your antique thirty caliber, it might be time to replace the arsenal.

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It wouldn’t be the first time. I’ve replaced a pistol only arsenal, an SKS arsenal, my first Enfield arsenal and a rimfire arsenal. It might be time to replace this one. I have time, because if things go to hell tomorrow, I’ll still feel comfortable with what I have. I’ll just have to pay real close attention to ranges. But it is something I should place a few more rungs higher on my Master To Do List. First of course is building a more habitable pit. And designing better solar heaters. Paying off the land, perhaps rain catchment. It’s still up in the air, but I think I’m running out of excuses. I could still keep the Enfields ( security blanket, possible investment, bartable items ) and it would only cost me about two grand. Three bolts ( or single shots, I’m not sure ) and three thousand rounds. When you are on a totally frugal budget, bolts make sense. When you are looking for ways to waste extra, not so much.

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Okay, this weekend is the last weekend of free articles. I’m going back to five days a week on the blog. Just like we did in 2010. But I’m still writing seven days a week. To read the extra, you will now have to pay. I’ll take my weekend writing and use it to put out a new e-magazine. It will be published monthly and I only am asking a buck for it. For you all wanting to read free, you still have the blog. For those of you wanting to support my writing, you can buy the magazine if you wish. You are all wonderful at supporting the blog, don’t get me wrong. But it takes thousands of dollars in Amazon sales for me to see a hundred bucks in commission. If you don’t have it, it doesn’t matter how much you love me. You can’t pay what you don’t have ( I’m down half of last January’s commissions- I’m thinking you all just don’t have the money you did a year ago ) to pull out of your butt. So instead of relying on you spending hundreds at Amazon, I only need you to pony up a dollar ( I’ll see 80% of that ). I think this makes better sense in a contracting economy. There will still be the option of Amazon, I’m just diversifying is all. The first issue should be out mid to late February. I’ll try to lard it up, but don’t expect much more than about eight articles and around ten thousand words. In the future, who knows? I might go bi-weekly or whatever. Let’s see. Of course, the best part of the magazine will be its name. The Cockroach Chronicles. Get it? Cockroaches will be the only species to survive global nuclear war.

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My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
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