Columns

The Savage M-11 Trophy Hunter XP is a ready-to-go hunting solution that helps simplify the learning curve. It comes preconfigured with a bore-sighted Nikon 3-9x optic with a ballistic drop compensation reticle. Take it out of the box, add ammo, and shoot. It couldn’t be easier.

This is one of the few articles in this series where I haven’t yet reviewed the product, but I plan to follow it up with a review in the future because I bought one. My intention in posting this today is to give the regular readers of this column a official heads up on a heavily discounted and apparently high quality product that may be a priority for you in your prepping supplies. For many years I have been looking at wood cook stoves. If you have never seen one (and I actually haven’t in person), these are not regular woodstoves. Wood cookstoves were popular in the US between the 1880s and 1930s. They look like a regular stove, with an oven and burners, but they run on wood and have no electric or gas components.

We’re beginning a new series here at GunsAmerica that examines the best options for home defense. But there’s a twist. In order to make our list, these guns and tools have to be reliable, capable, and (most importantly) affordable. There’s a lot to talk about–from gun design to caliber considerations–but these guns will get the job done without breaking the bank.

Yep, Winchester made a 1911. But it is not the 1911 you are looking for. This is the 1911 SL. The SL stands for self loading. This 1911 is a shotgun. Unlike the other 1911, this one was not designed by John Browning but he influenced the design in an interesting way.

I find it shocking that the least popular articles in this series are always about the threat of nuclear war. Because from a purely survival standpoint, nuclear war is the only scenario that will most likely result in the actual post apocalyptic society for which we are all preparing, a society in which survival will truly be of the fittest, and of the most prepared. Nuclear war is also the most likely scenario of where our current international disaster is headed, and I’m not saying this to be alarmist. If you look around the world right now, clashes are ramping out of control in nearly ever corner of the globe. World currencies are competing for who can devalue themselves the quickest, because of un-repayable debt, and America is being shut out of world trade deals, because everyone but Americans now understand that our reign is over. If you were an American power broker, wouldn’t you say it’s about time to pop a nuke or two and get the world back in line with American values?

So this gun is not exactly old. But Ruger stopped making them in 1973 and they have become more and more collectable and valuable. The name 3 Screw is in reference to the 3 Screws on the side of the frame. The new models have 2 pins. If you are fan of the single action revolver and have never shot one of these you owe it to yourself to do so. In my opinion, they are just about the best production single action revolvers ever made. Bear with me while I attempt to back that statement up!

The title of this week’s column was named intentionally to mean more than just specifically what we will be talking about. Nowhere in this series will you find, “go do this and you will survive!” There is no such thing. But building skills that you don’t currently have, and backing up those skills with some usable resources, is at this point prudent. All I can do is sow some seeds of knowledge and hope that in your own best interest, you will follow up and build a library of survival knowledge, and a pile of survival assets. If you have followed us from the start, you will remember a year ago when I wrote the first article on seeds, and my focus then was “don’t screw it up” (because you will, and it is better to get the screws ups under your belt). Here we are now a year later, and for most of the country, this is a great time to start some seeds. Danger of a last freeze is quickly passing, and it is time for new things to grow.

As I was writing the most recent Shooting History review on the Winchester 1873 I got to thinking about how that one lever action is called “The Gun That Won The West”. If nothing else that is some very clever marketing for sure. Not to belittle the ’73, it is a very fine rifle. But saying it single handedly “won” the west is a bit of a stretch. Then there is the whole issue of if The West was won, stolen, liberated or invaded. But that is a discussion for a different time and place. Let’s talk about guns!

In I Am Forever Episode 5 ‘Coordination & Timing’ Reagan and Isaiah practice putting drills to master timing. At the range, John Wayne Walding uses a moving target to practice timing while shooting.