Columns

Looking to build an AR-15? What caliber will you choose? .223 is just the start. Before you get into the build, you need to know exactly what you want your rifle to do. You can always stick with the traditional 5.56, but is that the right choice? Here’s a list of the most popular calibers and what they deliver.

The writer’s at GunsAmerica are coming to gether to share their expertise. Over the next few weeks we’ll be featuring expert opinions on the ins-and-out of building an AR from the ground up. If you’ve got that itch to do it yourself, or have ever thought you might build an AR-15, this series is for you. Here’s the intro…

Hollywood would have you believe that shooting from inside the coat is a devastatingly stealthy way to put bullets in bad guys. How easy is it, really? Will the gun jam, preventing a follow-up shot? If you use a revolver, will you burn the hell out of your hand and catch your clothes on fire? We’ve heard all the rumors, and now we have the answers…

I have avoided the subject of “bugging out” in this series until now, and it was intentional. Most bugout articles are absolute garbage. I even saw one in a large format news stand magazine that compared **children’s backpacks** because in the same issue were several advertising spreads from Columbia. Bugging out is a great topic if you want clicks and magazine purchases, but few people address what it means to actually bug out, and the different scenarios that may force you to leave a secure location. Think about it. Are the roads jammed? Am I going to be on foot at some point? I can’t hide that I am carrying resources, and at some point I may have to deal with “the authorities” who are going to make sure that I am unarmed. How do I maximize the money that I can spend right now, to perhaps survive at some point out on the road to somewhere.

Why does .40 get such a bad rap? Is it because of its association with the government? Is it nothing but a dumbed down 10mm? Barnes has some .40 S&W that just might make you change your mind.

I like to ask myself regularly, what do I take for granted? Because when I asked myself that three years ago, the answer was “everything.” These days I don’t take for granted that there will be food in the supermarket, electricity to pump water out of my well (or from city waterpumps), or that there will be any 911 to call should I need help…with anything. But one of my last pillars to fall was the fact that I really thought that I had enough knowledge, and what I didn’t know I could easily put my hand on, because of the internet. But the more I have thought about how much I rely on the internet, the more I have realized that it is time to downloading information about things I needs. The problem is, re-finding it all and downloading it is time consuming, so I decided to start buying CD and DVD compendiums on things I might need.

“It says for 600,000 hunters, don’t pick up a cup of coffee on the way, (and) don’t use the restroom on your way back unless you bring your rifle with you,” said Assemblyman Andrew Goodel (R-Chatauqua County), questioning if leaving a gun in a vehicle would result in charges being filed.

The word shotgun covers a lot of ground. You can pay six-figures for an engraved Italian masterpiece, or you can buy an old single shot break-action in decent working order for less than the cost of a date night (with dinner and a movie). We’ll be looking at the most practical and reliable shotguns–and there are unlimited options under the $300 mark.

What would you do if survival arrived on your doorstep? Would you become part of the rescue effort? Or would you just hunker down and wait to see if the next wave is coming to wipe out the people who did rush in to rescue the survivors of…whatever? I recently got a sample of a really cool product from our friends at BriteStrike, and their multi-colored APALS personal light system made me think about the subject of triage. Back in August I wrote an extremely substantive article on “Survival Medicine,” in which I copied the title of a book you absolutely have to get. My approach is meant to be a compliment to the book, because I go through where you can actually buy stuff. Good intentions and knowledge are great, but you need the tools to do the job. And like everything for this column, I try to find useful stuff on the cheap. These APALS lights are not cheap, $50 for 10 of them (retailers discount them some), but even if you can only afford the much less expensive alternatives, this is a good chance to talk about triaging the wounded. It is hard to admit to yourself that someday you may have to label someone as “Expectant,” because that means expected to die, but that is the reality we all face.