BOB FIREARM
Visions of the firearm to bug out with were probably formed years ago when you viewed a now defunct slick paper mass circulation magazine. A manly man graced the cover, cleft chin jutting out, muscles rippling, tanned skin gleaming, a full head of hair perfectly groomed, clutching a full size battle rifle with ease, the end of civilization a mere adventure to him. In reality, a stooped sweaty fat guy with no hair, laboring for breath as he stumbles along wishing he had another pack of Camels drags a shotgun by the barrel with its stock trailing in the dirt, the backpack filled with all the tools necessary to sustain civilization now long abandoned for its weight, cursing the very Gods that rained this hell down on him.
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For most of us, the weapon to carry when escaping can’t be the one that works the best. And here I am speaking of the ultimate BOB bag. The one that you use to escape JBT’s that want to resettle you in a camp. The one you escape the burning cities with ( with no where else to go ). The one that you use to escape your homestead when raiders burn you out. In short, this is the bag you use to escape with no where to go and no supplies when you get there. Just escaping a natural disaster for a week or going from your city where you work to your retreat are a different matter. You are a short distance from resupply. But in the ultimate worse case scenario, the only viable choice is a rimfire revolver. It is cheap, usually under $100 for a used one. It is light weight. You can carry several hundred rounds without effort. The ammunition is cheap. They are slow to reload which might help damping your spray and pray tendencies.
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You can’t afford to have several different BOB bags stashed in strategic places holding expensive guns. You won’t be inclined to bury an expensive one. A revolver can be stashed loaded for long periods whereas a semi can’t. A pistol can be hidden on your person, just in case. A rifle can’t. You can’t carry enough ammo for long term use unless it is rimfire. It is far from perfect. You can’t kill large game ( or at least not normally ). The range is short and the take down power is marginal. But it is not for normal post-Apocalypse living. It is for worse case, living mobile and hiding, post-Apocalypse living. Thank you, loyal minion, for the idea.
END
George Ure, Urban Survival. Great big picture economics site
Israel & Iran, home foreclosures
http://www.urbansurvival.com/
Our buddy Rawles, the biggest blog of them all. Has a huge expert base he picks from
Fire evac, grain storage temps, Mountain House shortages
http://www.survivalblog.com/
Three Amigo’s publish Libertarian Survivalist rants
The courts
http://tslrf.blogspot.com/
If you like mind-numbing economic details, this is a great place
Oil slowdown from Mexico
http://www.financialsense.com/
Time Bomb 2000, the best survival forum in my opinion
Global econ alert, tainted tomatoes
http://www.timebomb2000.com/
Bear Ridge Project, a journey towards self sufficiency
Bush’s crimes, cabin cooking
http://www.bearridgeproject.com/
News, analysis, conspiracies, hard to find anywhere else
GMO animal feed, cops enter when no crime, flooding
http://cryptogon.com/
CH Smith, blog and essay’s-a lot of economics
Sadr City, USA
http://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html
Staying Alive, prepping
Letter from a friend
http://wwwstayalive.blogspot.com/
The Urban Survivalist
Motorcycles
http://theurbansurvivalist.blogspot.com/
Notes From The Bunker
Conversion kit, gas and bicycles
http://commanderzero.com/blog/
Keep It Simple Survival
Support network
http://mayberry-keepitsimplestupid.blogspot.com/
Rimfires And Thoreau
Favorite .22’s
http://22sandthoreau.blogspot.com/
Stealth Survival, staying above the water line
Cash and credit cards
http://stealthsurvival.blogspot.com/
Down In The Hills Survivalist
Living off the land, Foxfire books
http://blog.linnabary.net/
Survival, It’s About Living
Family Survival School 3
http://www.destinysurvival.com/
Be A Survivor
SKS update
http://beasurvivor.blogspot.com/
Economics as effected by Peak Oil
Vacant homes
http://americanenergycrisis.blogspot.com/
Living before and after SHTF
Link to off-grid site, potatoes
http://survival-maddog.blogspot.com/
E-books, Amazon books, prep gear
www.bisonpress.com
18 comments:
Jim,
Might I recommend that you move the links off to the side instead of at the end of each post? It makes the page cluttered and confusing. If you wish to make note of which ones have been active or not lately, you can do that as well.
It is not the length of each days posting I look forward to, it is the content.
Keep up the great work.
A point of contestment, I have is that you can take large game with the smallest of 22 short pistols even, the key to it is ESP exact shot placement. you do not get knockdown power from one, but you can get decent penetration into the vital organs if you choose the path of the bullet by learning to stalk like a bow hunter and use the firearm with precision..... a high lung shot will allow the animal to just walk off and lay down and drown, it takes time, and it takes patients so as not to run up to fast and get the animal to run off before it dies. Not pretty, not necessarily humane, but in a survival situation where it counts, one shot one kill can still happen even if the only firearm you have is an old Berretta minx 22 short [which btw i would not recommend having to all but the most seasoned firearm users for it tricky safety]
Even if I do resemble a closer match tothe second survivalist you paint a picture of, i still see myself in the looking glass as the first one.
good idea to have a 22 revolver though if for nothing else a back up to your back up.
William
Idaho
Where can you find a good .22 revolver for under $100? I only wish I could find deals like that. Some guys have all the luck.
Thanks fo the link!
Appreciate the link. Thanks.
BTW, picked up a .22 magnum revolver a while back at an estate sale for twenty bucks...shoots decent enough. Came with a holster too!
I saw a 16" barrel SKS in folding stock.
folded OAL 28"
extended OAL 38"
Might be carried under poncho or raincoat
Mine is a Savage 24 in 20 ga over .22 Mag - I have inserts from MCA Sports for .22 S, L and R in the Mag chamber and a .30-30 insert for the 20 ga - that plus a Ruger Single-Six.
The point is to sneak to the cache, but not unarmed.
great post jim. I like your suggestion of a .22 revolver as a Bugout gun. however I would like a short handy long arm like a .30-30 or a shotgun for two legged varmits while reserving the .22 for four legged varmits.
I think Jim understands that a larger shoulder fired weapon is better. But in a newly chaotic world after an event, carrying such a weapon would get you shot or a trip to the FEMA reeducation camp quickly.
Think or read about the French resistance in WW2. They didn't have Stens or Thompsons. They packed small caliber pistols or Liberators. Those were used to take a better weapon from the JBTs when the time came.
The largest I would want to carry around would be a blanket gun of sorts, maybe a double barrel with sawed off barrels and a pistol grip stock.
The Taurus PT22 or Beretta Bobcat or IJ made a nice PPK clone in the early 80s. Also, a NEF standard revovler is a nice 22lr.
In the wild west days, they use to unscrew the barrel off the SAA or just leave off the front end/barrel of a bp revolver. THe same could be done with the Ruger Single Six. Now you have a pocket pistol and a hunting arm.
Jerry
My crazy idea for BOB weapon - the .410 shotgun. Very small to begin with, can be loaded with slug traveling at anemic .38 Special velocity. Or 3 - 000 buckshot load. Or a small payload of smaller shot - hey doubt very much wingshooting will be done, you'll be shooting at game on the ground or perched in trees. Not sporting - but survival rarely is.
A small folding single shot shotgun type or take-down weighs about six pounds, and is very simple in design - not much to break or go wrong. I bought a well used FIE SB for $50 this weekend, for example.
'A revolver can be stashed loaded for long periods whereas a semi can’t.'
I don't understand this statement
.22 long rifle's comment about having an unbarrelled Ruger Single-Six got me to thinking how handy that would be. Only instead of having no barrel whatsoever, maybe having a very short (say 3" ala Colt SAA Sheriff model) barrel instead.
I imagine a 'gunsmith special' barrel which has standard length damaged barrel with damaged muzzle could be cut to 3" length, and be reinstalled onto frame. Have factory ramp sight relocated to new location. Leave off ejector rod assembly (again, ala Colt Sheriff model) and you got a VERY HANDY SMALL REVOLVER that is reliable as an anvil. And you have a front sight to work with, for distance work.
Hmmm.
Steve:
A loader revolver is essentially inert - no stored energy - keeping a stored auto with a full mag? The mag spring will compress and degrade over time.
Remember when you used to cross your eyes and as kid and your Mom would tell you - "Don't do that opr one day your eyes will stick that way!" - Well, it IS true of mag springs.
The first time you get a stovepipe from a mag spring that lost its "oomph" do to full ammo storage and you'll wish for a DA revolver back up.
Jay - you are incorrect sir. Springs don't 'compress' over time, and loaded mags that have been left loaded for long periods do not end up with weak springs. Totally incorrect. Springs wear from use...period. Loading and unloading is what eventually wears them out, and even this takes a long long time.
Sorry Steve, but Jay is correct, take it from this mechanical engineer. It is called spring set, or compressive fatigue, a permanent, plastic deformation of the spring via prolonged loading.
The same thing occurs with automotive springs (if loaded and left that way). In fact, older cars can often be seen sagging on the driver's side due to this very effect (as they're most often driven with single occupant, and over the years the left hand springs see far more durational load than the right ones).
Yet another example are the springs in a bed mattress. The more you lay on it, the quicker it loses its shape and support.
Coil springs in railroad car suspensions are actually pre-stressed by being left compressed until they take a slight set.
Picture proof.
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