Watch the video to find out how to make a manual water pump for about $20.
This video explains how to make a manual well pump. It's an innovative way to solve the water problem during a blackout.
The manual well pump in the video isn't like the hand-cranked ones from yesteryear. It's more of a modified pitcher. Dip it into the well and empty it into a container.
Manual well pumps are best for those in rural areas, where private wells are common. Urban and suburban dwellers should check local regulations before trying to install a manual well pump. The better choice may be to focus on water storage or filtration rather than manual well pumps.
For rural folks, there are other options if the manual well pump doesn't work for your set-up.
Hand water pumps are available commercially from a number of suppliers, such as Bison Hand Water Pumps. They're reliable, but may require a permanent install. The video above is a good technique for temporary manual well pump needs.
If your home is wired for a back-up generator, it may be possible to run the well pump using emergency power. Just make sure the generator is set up properly. Find tips and tricks for this project here.
A simple rain water catcher is another option. This can be as simple as directing gutters to empty into a container. Commercial rain catcher barrels are also available. The difference is the spouts on the barrels. They make it easier to draw and store rain water.
This video explains how to wire a generator to a house.
This video explains how to wire a generator to a house. There are many videos about generators out there, but this one was exceptionally well done.
Two important notes to remember before watching:
* Check your local regulations regarding electricity. This video doesn't take your area's ordinances and laws into consideration.
* Living Ready and Gun Digest aren't responsible if you wind up electrocuting someone.
That said, it's important to understand how to wire a generator to a house. Spending a large chunk of money on a portable generator doesn't accomplish much if the wiring isn't set – and set correctly.
As you learn how to wire a generator to a house, here are some tips to consider.
Don't Create “Backfeed”
Prior to Hurricane Sandy, Chief Anthony DeZenzo of the Parsippany, New Jersey, police department issued this warning in the Parsippany Patch:
One thing he said is crucial is to ensure that your power is off when using a generator.
“A generator connected to a home's wiring or plugged into a regular household outlet can cause ‘backfeeding' along power lines and electrocute anyone who comes in contact with them—even if the line seems dead,” he said. “It happens when a portable generator is connected directly to the home's wiring without having a functional transfer switch. Without a transfer switch, a portable generator's electricity can be sent back into the power grid from your house. This will energize the utility's power lines on the street and poses an electrocution hazard for those who may not know that the voltage is present on the shared lines.”
Shutting power off before starting the generator, even if your regular electric service is down, ensures that no one is at risk of electrocution.
Make Sure the Generator Can Produce More Power than Needed
This one seems obvious, but it isn't considered often enough. Plan ahead (i.e. not running to the hardware store the day before a big storm when selection is limited) by calculating how much wattage is required to operate critical appliances. Then buy a generator capable of producing more than that amount.
Here's How Not to Electrocute Yourself
Generac Power offers excellent safety tips about how to wire a generator to a house here. Among them are these points:
Connecting a portable electric generator directly to your household wiring can be deadly to you and others. A generator that is directly connected to your home's wiring can ‘back feed' onto the power lines connected to your home and injure neighbors or utility workers.
Do not connect your generator directly to your home's wiring or into a regular household outlet.
Always start or stop the generator only when no electrical loads are connected.
Overloading your generator can seriously damage your valuable appliances and electronics. Do not overload the generator. Do not operate more appliances and equipment than the output rating of the generator. Prioritize your needs. A portable electric generator should be used only when necessary, and only to power essential equipment.
Use the proper power cords. Plug individual appliances into the generator using heavy-duty, outdoor-rated cords with a wire gauge adequate for the appliance load. Overloaded cords can cause fires or equipment damage. Do not use extension cords with exposed wires or worn shielding.
Do not operate the generator in wet conditions such as rain or snow.
The generator must be properly grounded. If the generator is not grounded, you run the risk of electrocution. We strongly recommend that you check and adhere to all applicable federal, state and local regulations relating to grounding.
Keep Those Fumes Away
Exhaust from gasoline and diesel generators produces carbon monoxide. This poisonous gas is deadly. Don't operate generators indoors, close to windows, near doors, inside an attached garage or next to any opening in a home. Position the generator many feet away from those areas. While you're at it, install battery-powered carbon monoxide detectors in your home.
One More Time: Don't Connect a Generator Directly to a Home's Wiring
This can't be understated, because it's such a pervasive myth about generators. The “back feed” created can damage people and appliances.
Concealed carry expert Dr. Bruce Eimer, licensed clinical psychologist and NRA certified firearms instructor, discusses when you are justified in drawing your CCW firearm for personal protection.
Recently, the Student Senate at Texas A&M University passed a measure requesting campus-wide concealed carry. As reported by the student newspaper, The Eagle, “The student senate voted 38-19 to ask A&M university officials and state lawmakers to permit concealed carry license holders to bring handguns inside university buildings.”
The student senate's Texas A&M Personal Protection Bill, reads, in part:
Seeing a need for self-preservation against criminals, rapists and mentally unstable persons, we seek change in state law and Texas A&M University policy.
As The Eagle noted, “Texas is one of 21 states that ban concealed weapons on campus. It's a felony under state law. Five states have provisions that allow concealed carry on campus: Colorado, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin, and legislation is pending in two states. In Texas, concealed weapons are only banned in university buildings or arenas, and can be carried in open areas, walkways and parking lots. The Texas Penal Code allows individual universities to permit concealed weapons, but no public university in the state has done so.”
The A&M students will receive some important help in their quest for concealed carry. Alice Tripp, legislative director for the Texas State Rifle Association, said permitting concealed carry on campus is the group's No. 1 goal for the upcoming session's Tripp said concealed carry holders exercising their rights on campus will make universities safer.
“College campuses are predator magnets, and we're talking about an individual [the permit holder] who has a license,” Tripp said.
Gun Digestthe Magazine is the source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. With a subscription to Gun Digestthe Magazine, readers benefit from in-depth editorial expert advice, show reviews, how-to instructions and Second Amendment issues.
This photo series explains how to make a survival bracelet. This handy, portable survival essential worn around the wrist provides cordage at an instant's notice. Cordage, as prepared individuals know, is one of the most versatile items one can carry. Be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of this article with your uses or click here to see how to make paracord netting.
* 10 feet of 550 paracord * A Lighter * A side-release buckle (check craft stores for one of these) * A pair of scissors * A ruler/tape measure * A string long enough to wrap around your wrist
How to Make a Survival Bracelet: Measuring the Wrist
1. Wrap the one end of the string around your wrist. Make sure the loop created is comfortable. 2. Mark the length of the loop and measure it on the ruler/tape measure. Add one inch. Write down this measurement.
How to Make a Survival Bracelet: Melt the Ends of the Paracord
Using the lighter, melt each end of the 550 paracord. Using a pliers or other tool, pinch the melted ends so they cool into a tapered point.
Now you're set to start following the directions in the photo gallery.
Use these tips and tricks to learn how to make a fire with survival in mind. [sxc.hu photo]
Learn how to make a fire the smart way with these tips and tricks.
How to Make a Fire: Getting Started
* Whenever you build any fire, for warmth, overnight, or for cooking, get all the materials together in their proper place, before you strike your match. Matches are one of your most valuable physical assets in the outdoors. Haste and poor preparation defeat the purpose of being able to quickly and efficiently start a fire. There is the old outdoor adage of only one match for one fire, if you practice, prepare and predetermine your actions you can accomplish this task, even in severe weather conditions.
* For a midday cooking fire, pick a sheltered location away from overhanging branches and on solid ground, and make a very small fire. For evening cooking and for an overnight fire, plan for a larger one or several small fires around you, this will help provide for greater warmth. Three (3) fires in a triangular arrangement is a recognized air to ground signal of distress.
* For overnight fires, pick your sleeping location first and build your fire in relation to it for maximum warmth. Do not set your sleeping bag too close to the fire, and make sure your fire pit it is a safe distance from overhanging trees, etc. Do not use wet or damp rocks, they can heat up and explode.
* Start any fire with the utmost of patience. Plan it carefully and one match will do. Get as much out of the wind as you can before striking your match, shield your fire area with your body or make a windshield with your jacket or other gear before lighting your match. Though one-match-one-fire is for the professionals, make sure before you leave home that you have plenty of matches stored in a weatherproof container. In times of need, what works in good times always fail in bad times, so BE PREPARED!
* Lay a foundation of fine tinder, such as shavings from dried twigs, a bird’s nest, or whittle with your knife from a dried branch. Use pre-prepared tinder you have made from dryer lint or wood shavings from home. Whatever you have or decide to use get a good supply of dried tinder into your fire area before your strike that first match.
* Crisscross above the fine tinder bed you have made a few larger dry twigs about the size of a pencil to begin. Have increasingly larger wood at hand. A good method is to lay your tinder beside a short length of stick 3 to six inches in diameter, lean the twigs over the tinder and against the large stick. Now when the tinder catches, the twigs go in a moment, add larger ones and a good blaze is there.
* Always light your fire with the breeze at your back, and on the side nearest you to provide additional ease and shelter. Always light your fire from below the tinder, not on top. Never start your fire under overhanging limbs of trees, or where the smoke will blow into your shelter. Take the time to plan, and your fire will ignite quickly and burn safely.
* Having a firestarting tool, like the Swedish Firesteel 2.0, is a good idea. You can practice with it at home, too. If you're really in pinch, you can make a bow drill, although this is difficult.
How to Make a Fire for Cooking
Look for flat dry rocks to surround the fire, so you have containment and a place for your utensils. A small pit built with rocks laid out in a “V” or a “U” with the open end toward the breeze will allow draft in that open end to help keep the fire going. If winds are strong, reverse the open end of your pit. Again, the most important consideration is to start with a small fire and progressively add larger material. Do not panic, take your time and concentrate and you can build the fire that you want.
How to Make a Fire in Wet Conditions
In rain or snow, fire making becomes more important, and also more difficult. Here is where having homemade firestarters will be a great help for your tinder base. One method is to make a tripod of sticks over your chosen fire area and drape your jacket over the tripod to shelter the firebase. Carefully light your tinder, add some twigs, and remove your jacket. If the ground is exceedingly wet lay a base of large logs and sticks and start your fire on top of them.
Choosing Firewood
When and where possible, use old dried wood from conifers (evergreens) for starting fires. Dry cones are great for starting a fire. You may not have the time or the energy to go around and select wood, so burn what you can, get warm and safe and then look for more wood. Just remember that pine, cedar, spruce will start a fire quickly but burn swiftly.
Woods such as oak, ash and maple will burn longer but are more difficult to ignite. Aspen, birch and poplar are quite common and they make good fires as they burn hot but fairly fast. You don’t want wet or new wood; look around for downed trees or limbs. Whatever supply of wood you intend to have at hand to burn, gather at least 3 times more than you think you will need, experience shows that you will use it. Wood burns faster than you think.
Tinder for Making a Fire
You can make your own firestarter kit from lint, sawdust, etc. slightly saturated with charcoal lighter, kerosene, and carry it in used 35mm film canisters that have been sealed tightly with duct tape. Always have an “extra” supply of matches stored away for emergencies.
One easy home-made fire starting kit is to take two small zip-lock bags, insert 6 to 8 strike anywhere matches in one along with a small piece of emery paper or sandpaper to strike against in wet conditions. Add in a combination of dried wood shavings, purposely made or picked up on the trail. Seal this bag upside down inside the other bag, for maximum waterproof protection and keep it in your jacket pocket, not as a primary, but as a back up, just in case you ever need it.
There are a variety of fire starting kits available in your local camping/hunting store, pick one of these on your next visit as your emergency back up. Practice whatever methods of fire starting you choose at home in your backyard, so you know how it works.
As a safety suggestion, DO NOT rely on the disposable butane lighters to always function for you in the outdoors, as you can not always rely on them in wind and wet conditions. Also, if they slip out of your pocket and into the fire, you could have a potential explosive projectile. The problem with most lighters is that you cannot determine the fuel supply in them, and some disposable types will not light at higher elevations.
From rolling blackouts to hurricanes, floods to tornadoes, power can go out at a moment's notice. If the grid fails, the PowerPot will keep you charging! The PowerPot thermoelectric generator converts any heat source directly into power that charges your USB handheld devices. Get Yours Now
The AR-15 platform has become the most popular rifle in the world, and even though most are chambered for the .223 Remington/5.56 NATO cartridge, many other cartridges are now available for this versatile rifle.
AR-15 Ammo Continually Evolving
More often than not, in the world of new cartridges, someone who has a fanciful idea to reach a new ballistic plateau comes up with a cartridge, and then gunmakers respond in kind with firearms adapted or designed around the new round. Quite often, the evolution is parallel.
With its inherent modularity, combined with a wide array of cartridges, the AR-15 is the most versatile rifle on the planet. Suitable for law enforcement, military, sport shooting, and hunting, it excels at all of them.
The .500 Smith & Wesson and the X-frame revolver are good examples; the pair was conceived and born together. But the AR-15, more than any other rifle in history, has broken that mold and reversed the development path of norm. In the last decade especially, a plethora of new cartridges have appeared that were designed just for the AR-15.
Quite a lot of the rounds came from military ballisticians and ammunition companies trying to improve on the 5.56X45mm NATO’s battlefield lethality—or lack thereof. Long-range shooters and competitors also sought to improve on the much-maligned 5.56, those marksmen seeking a projectile fired from that particular rifle that had enough gas to stay supersonic longer and slip the wind better.
Hunters, too, are using the AR-15 to tackle any and all of North America’s small and big game, and still another set of developmental talent wanted to give shooters the option to tackle big game or stop a vehicle or boat in its tracks via big-bore hunting and interdiction rounds. It seems the only limit for engineers, ballisticians, wildcatters, hunters, and shooters has ben making a new round fit in the rifle’s magazine—and it is amazing what will fit in an AR magazine.
One of the reasons the AR-15 has proven so popular with shooters and spawned this new crop of purpose-built cartridges is the gun’s inherent ability to easily adapt to just about any military or police, hunting, shooting, or competition mission. With a steady trickle of improvements since the rifle’s adoption by the U.S. military in the early 1960s, the AR-15 has evolved into a rifle that is extremely reliable, accurate and, most importantly, adaptable. The rifle’s relatively simple design also made it a natural platform for experimentation.
The .5.56 X 45mm/.223 Remington. This is the cartridge that started it all, when it comes to the AR 15. It is still the most popular, but its stablemates are ever increasing.
5.56X45mm NATO
It might seem odd to include the 5.56 NATO here, since it is the most popular AR-15 cartridge and the current military chambering, but the round has undergone considerable changes since its adoption. There are essentially two classes of this cartridge. The first and original class features light bullets like the 55-grain found in the M193 round. The second, epitomized by the Mk 262, Mod 0, and Mod 1 rounds developed by Black Hills, uses heavier bullets for long-range, precision shooting.
Built for the U.S. Navy’s Mk 12 SPR and now coveted by snipers and designated marksmen using similar rifles, the Mk 262’s 77-grain Sierra MatchKing projectile has a listed effective range of 600 yards, though it has certainly been put to use at longer ranges. It achieves velocities around 2,750 feet per second (fps) from 18-inch barrels and benefits from advanced propellants. Hornady loads a 75-grain hollowpoint boat-tail bullet in its .223 TAP line with similar specs.
Slower 1:7 twist rates are required to stabilize the heavier/longer bullets. Once they strike soft tissue, the bullets yaw and usually fragment to some degree, greatly increasing lethality over that of the more widely issued rounds like the M855 62-grain Penetrator or Green Tip. Serendipitously, the bigger bullets also perform quite well at close-quarters distances, when fired from short-barreled rifles like the Mk 18 (10.3-inch barrel) fielded by entry teams.
Shooters of all types have benefited from the military’s extensive efforts to improve on the 5.56mm NATO round, and now we have ammo options that extend the range and increase accuracy and lethality.
The .264 LBC-AR and the 6.5 Grendel cartridges are interchangeable. It’s very likely the Grendel will; however, make the .264 LBC-AR extinct, due to the Grendel’s recent standardization by SAAMI.
Intermediate Cartridges
The most obvious way to improve lethality or increase a rifle’s maximum effective range is to use a larger cartridge, but that usually calls for a bigger rifle. It’s easy enough to lengthen a commercial rifle’s receiver a fraction of an inch, but, with several million M-16 and M-4 rifles on hand, those hoping to get into the military supply chain needed to do so with a round that fit in a standard Mil-Spec magazine. That set a lot of talented designers and ballisticians to work and produced a whole gaggle of really clever, useful cartridges.
Probably the most successful and popular round is the 6.8mm Special Purpose Cartridge. After the 5.56’s lackluster performance in Afghanistan, in 2001, U.S. Special Operations Command shooters worked to come up with something better that still worked in an M4. They did some experimentation with PPC cartridges, but designers finally settled on the obsolete .30 Remington case, because of its smaller rim diameter. There was enough case capacity to push 110- and 115-grain bullets to velocities substantially beyond what the 7.62X39mm could produce with 123-grain FMJ bullets. Swapping calibers was an armorer-level job that required only a barrel, bolt, and magazine change.
The 6.8mm SPC worked like a charm for close- and long-range engagements, producing far better results than that experienced with the 5.56 mm. Why the round was not adopted by units outside of SOCOM is anyone’s guess. Several U.S. manufacturers started producing commercial ammunition with open-tipped match, polymer-tipped, and hunting bullets, and nearly every AR manufacturer soon had a 6.8 in their catalog. Hunters have found the round perfect for whitetails and other medium-sized game, when the shots fall inside 300 yards. And, while the 6.8 mm SPC is not the U.S. Military’s next service round, it is now firmly entrenched in the AR-15 shooting community.
The round is now the second-most popular AR-15 chambering.One of the more versatile intermediate rounds is the 6.5 mm Grendel developed by Bill Alexander, of Alexander Arms. He took a 6mm PPC case, shortened the neck, moved the shoulder forward, and increased the diameter to take advantage of all those 6.5mm bullets with their superb ballistic coefficients. The end result is a cartridge that can better the 5.56 NATO—or 7.62 NATO for that matter—in just about every category. The Grendel is also a capable competition round, one with the reach to compete at the 1,000-yard line, something the 6.8 mm SPC cannot do. With properly constructed bullets, it is a great varmint or medium-game hunting round.
These four popular AR-15 cartridges show the versatility the platform offers. From left to right – .223 Remington, 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 Remington SPC and .450 Bushmaster.
Factory ammunition runs from 90 to 130 grains and is loaded by Hornady, Alexander Arms, Wolf, and Black Hills, though the latter is headstamped .264 LBC-AR. Alexander Arms recently relinquished the trademark claim, which recently lead to the Grendel’s SAMMI standardization, which should open the doors for more companies to produce ammunition.
Americans have an affinity for anything .30-caliber, so it was a foregone conclusion a .30-caliber cartridge for ARs would eventually make an appearance. Actually, several .30-caliber AR cartridges have burst onto the scene recently, including the .300 Blackout, 7.62X40mm Wilson Tactical, and .30 Remington AR.
The .300 Blackout and 7.62X40mm WT both are based on 5.56 NATO brass and are loaded with a variety of bullets suited to a variety of tasks. The concept is an old one and was standardized to a degree by J.D. Jones, of SSK Industries, who used .221 Fireball brass and trademarked the .300 Whisper.
The Blackout and Whisper are interchangeable to a degree, with Blackout rounds firing safely in Whisper chambers. In short-barreled PDWs (personal defense weapons) the .30-caliber bullet is much more effective than either 5.56 or 9 mm bullets. When fired through 16-inch barrels, the cartridges make fine hunting rounds, with minimal recoil and reasonable trajectories out to 200 yards.
A cartridge originally built for SOCOM/JSOC units, the Blackout is also loaded with 208- and 220-grain bullets that never break the sound barrier. The two vastly different bullet weights allow operators to initiate ambushes or handle sentry duty quietly, before swapping magazines to go head-to-head with AK-47s at ranges beyond 300 yards—with a rifle that has a nine-inch barrel.
In the world of AR cartridges, the .30 Remington AR is one of the few not conceived with martial aspirations. It was designed from the start by Remington engineers as a hunting cartridge, a way to fit .308 Winchester performance into an AR-15 and avoid the less svelte AR-10. This round essentially picks up where the 6.8mm SPC left off, able to achieve around 2,750 fps with 123- and 125-grain bullets from 22-inch barrels. The cartridge is a handloader’s dream and a favorite of this edition’s editor. In fact, Richard Mann puts the .30 RAR in a class by itself, deeming it one of the best AR hunting cartridges extant.
Some doubt that an AR-15 can be used for game as large as this 200-plus pound black bear. However, Remington’s .30 AR cartridge has taken the AR-15 to the next level, with ballistics that match that of the legendary .300 Savage cartridge.
Big-Bore ARs
At varying points in the last decade, several enterprising souls looked into an AR magazine and thought to fill it up completely with one massive cartridge instead of a couple little ones. The resulting cartridges—the .450 Bushmaster, .458 SOCOM, and .50 Beowulf, among others—are big league heavy hitters.
They all use a rebated rim to fit inside a standard AR bolt head and generally run at pressures well below that of the 5.56mm. The only real concern with fitting cartridges of this size in an AR resides in the bolt thrust and making sure the gas port is both the right size and sits in the right place for reliable function. All three rounds obviously produce substantially more recoil than 5.56mm rifles, but the rifle seems up to the task. (Scope mounts are another matter.)
Rifle manufacturers seem to have divvied up the calibers between themselves, with Rock River Arms building .458 SOCOM rifles, Bushmaster producing the .450 Bushmaster, and Alexander Arms building rifles chambered for the cartridge it invented. Ammunition is a little hard to find and, in some cases, expensive, but available. Reloaders usually prefer the SOCOM over the Bushmaster and Beowulf, because the wider selection of available bullets.
The .458 and .50 were envisioned as interdiction and barrier-beating rounds for stopping cars at roadblocks and ventilating two-legged predators hiding behind cinderblock walls and the like. It seems most shooters use these big-boress to turn mobile pork into stationary pork. The rounds are also ideal for close-range bear hunting or hitting anything with bullets weighing in excess of 250 grains and moving over 2,000 fps. Most Beowulf loads produce over 2,900 foot-pounds (ft-lbs) of muzzle energy.
Imagine the possibilities of combining one of these big-bore cartridges loaded with good, solid bullets and a lightweight AR carbine fed from a high-capacity detachable magazine. Pair the rifle with a weapons light and a 1X-optic like an Aimpoint, Trijicon, or EOTech, and you might have the perfect guide’s gun for backing up hunters or tracking wounded bears in Alaska. It weighs less, provides more firepower, and permits faster follow-up shots than most other rifle actions.
As of now, the .30 Remington AR cartridge offers the best balance of power and external ballistics of any AR-15 cartridge. With bullets between 110 and 150 grains, it is suitable for big game to around 300 yards.
The Future
This chapter honestly just scratches the surface of AR cartridges and has covered some of the more common factory chamberings specifically designed around the AR-15. Nearly anything that could squeeze its way through the magazine well has been tried, including the Winchester Super Short Magnums. The 13th Edition of Cartridges of the World has several new AR-15 cartridges like the .358 Gremlin, which are designed specifically to meet the state of Indiana’s centerfire rifle deer hunting restrictions.
And you can bet the 14th Edition will have even more. Heck, bolt-action uppers chambered for .50 BMG are available for the truly adventurous AR-15 owner. Who knows what else is to come?
As propellant and bullet technologies advance, expect to see has-been cartridges revisited and revamped. Somewhere, someoner will need a round tailored to a very specific purpose, and it is very likely an AR-15, M-16, or M-4 will be able to chamber that round and get the job done better than any other rifle around. All that is needed is for some enterprising wildcatter to step up and design the next best thing.
This article appeared in the Gun Digest the Magazine 2013 Shooter's Guide.
For many parts of the country, gun deer season is here. If you've waited until the last minute to buy that new deer rifle, here are 8 hot choices selected by our sister publication, Deer & Deer Hunting.
This article appeared in the November 2012 issue of Deer & Deer Hunting magazine.
Is handgun hunting for whitetails a viable option? You bet! In fact — from revolvers to autoloaders — many handgun hunting options exist for deer hunters.
Years ago, I was one of the loudest proponents for big-game handgun hunting in Washington State, and when we finally got the Game Commission to approve it, I quickly focused on a single-action Ruger Blackhawk chambered for the .41 Mag. cartridge, with a 6 ½-inch barrel.
I still carry a .41 Mag. Blackhawk (this one with a 4⅝-inch barrel) during deer season, and occasionally when I’m hunting grouse where there might be an encounter with a black bear. The 6½-incher is in my gun safe. I couldn’t sell it. I’ve killed two deer with it. Still, perhaps the most popular handgun round for deer is the .44 Mag. And with a heavier bullet, the .357 Mag. has plenty of punch for deer-sized game. I prefer the 125-grain JHP in the .357 Mag. because it is accurate and because it will penetrate deep into the vitals of a deer.
Of course, there are lots of other handgun cartridges around. Rifle-class cartridges fired from single-shot handguns such as the Thompson-Center Contender and big-bores (including the .460 and .500 Smith & Wesson, .454 Casull and .480 Ruger) are extremely deadly, but the .44 Mag. is about all the horsepower many people can handle.
I prefer the .41 Mag. for several reasons; not the least of which was a tale by the late Elmer Keith about a trek he took to Alaska with a pair of the first Smith & Wessons chambered for the .41 Mag. He shot caribou with the guns.
About 20 years ago, the hot talk shifted at least momentarily to the 10mm Auto, a round that was reputed to be the semi-auto equal to the .41 Mag. As it turned out, the 10mm Auto is more in the realm of the .357 Mag. Admittedly, the cartridge intrigued me because it was a true .40-caliber with a lot of muscle, and it appeared on the scene with the ill-fated Bren Ten.
Even being carried by the Sonny Crockett character on “Miami Vice” couldn’t save the pistol, but the cartridge has remained.
Glock 10mm for Deer Hunting
Colt chambered its Delta Elite for the round — and there have been other pistols — but the one that seems to be at the top of the heap currently is the Glock Model 20. As it happens, my hunting pal Brian Lull — who took delivery of a stainless Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44 Mag. earlier this year — owns a 10mm Glock, and it’s a real shooter.
The Glock platform does not do well in my hand and one of the first things a devoted handgunner has to realize is that he/she will not be able to master all handguns. I call it poor fit because Lull is an excellent shot with that autoloader while I consistently shoot low with it. If you can shoot it, the Glock is a great gun. At close range, the 10mm full-house load with a 200-grain bullet is a whitetail killer with an average velocity of 1,069 fps. The 180-grain option will leave no deer laughing in the woods, either.
The Glock pistol, with its rugged slide and polymer frame is virtually impervious to a wet climate, and if you’re brush hunting for Northeast Washington whitetails, the 10mm Auto will put them down. Lull was packing his Glock in a nifty shoulder rig last fall when we hunted grouse and scouted elk in the Central Cascades, and I would not care to be an animal on the receiving end.
How far can they shoot?
On a couple of occasions many years ago, when big game handgunning was just hitting its stride, I was interviewed on a local outdoors radio show and the host suggested that at ranges greater than 50- to 75 yards, a handgunner was shooting “at the animal” and not trying for precise bullet placement. That just isn’t true. If you are good with factory metallic sights, being able to hit a deer out to 125 or even 150 yards is not out of the question.
After all, I’ve competed a couple of times in the annual Elmer Keith Memorial Long-Range handgun shoot over by Spokane and have hit 6- and even 4-inch plates at better than 150 yards with my Smith & Wesson Model 57 in .41 Mag. I can certainly hit something bigger. The deer I shot were both center-of-mass in the vitals. I missed the heart by very little but destroyed the lungs both times. Plus, there are good handgun scopes available.
If you go that route, you can stretch your range farther. Just make sure the round and bullet are up to doing their job downrange with enough power and accuracy to make a clean kill.
Don’t be shy about trying a handgun for deer this fall or the next. It’s challenging and rewarding, and by necessity it makes one a more careful marksman, and perhaps a better stalker.
— This article appeared in the October 2012 Gun Shop column of Deer & Deer Hunting.
Numerous news outlets report increased gun sales as firearms fly off shelves like “hotcakes” following Obama's re-election. Of course, Obama himself has said he intends to push for a reinstatement and expansion of the Clinton-era semi-auto ban during public debates. Those comments exasperated gun owner concerns.
“But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don’t belong on our streets. And so what I’m trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. But part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence. Because frankly, in my home town of Chicago, there’s an awful lot of violence and they’re not using AK-47s. They’re using cheap hand guns,” the President said.
Mel Bernstein, owner of Dragonman Arms in Colorado Springs, Colorado, told KOAA-TV: “We're going from normally six to eight guns a day, to 25. I stocked up, I got a stockpile of these AK-47s, we're selling these like hot cakes. Luckily I had an idea of what was going on because it happened with Clinton.”
John Kielbasa, owner of Fernwood Firearms in Hankins, New York, told CNN: “Sales are up. I had a guy waiting here first thing in the morning. He came in, bought two AK-47s. It's going to be good for me for business.”
Stock prices for gun makers Smith & Wesson and Sturm also went up after President Obama's re-election.
Mel Bernstein, owner of Dragonman Arms in Colorado Springs, told KOAA-TV that sales of semi-automatic weapons had boomed in recent days.
He said: “We're going from normally six to eight guns a day, to 25. I stocked up, I got a stockpile of these AK-47s, we're selling these like hot cakes. Luckily I had an idea of what was going on because it happened with Clinton.”
Mr Bernstein said he normally orders up to 7,000 rounds a week from distributors but could now only get hold of 3,000 because of demand.
John Kielbasa, owner of Fernwood Firearms in Hankins, New York, told CNN: “Sales are up. I had a guy waiting here first thing in the morning (the day after the election.) He came in, bought two AK-47s. It's going to be good for me for business.”
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Louisiana gun rights activists had much to celebrate following our most recent election, as voters approved Amendment Number 2, which required the “strict scrutiny” standard be applied regarding gun laws and the state constitution.
“The constitutional change — pushed by the National Rifle Association — would require ‘strict scrutiny' of any restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms,” The Advocate explained. “The legal standard would require courts, when asked, to determine whether the state's gun laws demonstrate ‘compelling governmental interest' and are ‘narrowly defined.' If not, they are to be thrown out as unconstitutional. Louisiana becomes the first state with the ‘strict scrutiny' standard.”
“This is a truly historic day for Louisiana,” said state Senator Neil Riser (R-Columbia), who championed the amendment in the Legislature. “We are sending a message to the rest of the nation of our strong support of the right to keep and bear arms.”
Amendment Number 2 was approved by 75 percent of Louisiana voters.
The Accuracy 1st Anti-Cant Scope level is easy to install and mil-spec tough. Its curved vial and ceramic ball bearing allow for smooth adjustment and discrimination down to less than 1 degree of cant.
One variable you need to keep under control when long-range shooting is rifle and scope level. To compliment the Whiz Wheel, Accuracy 1st has developed the very slick Anti-Cant Scope Level.
To complement the Whiz Wheel Ballistic Solver, Accuracy 1st Development Group has produced a very slick Anti-Cant Scope Level.
The longer range you shoot, the more critical level crosshairs become.
Accuracy 1st Anti-Cant Scope Level is available with reducer rings for 25.4mm, 30mm and 34 mm scopes.
This is especially true from 500-1000 yards and beyond, where a slight cant in your scope can equal a full MIL or more of error. That little thing can cause a huge miss way, way out there.
The Accuracy 1st Scope Level is better than others I’ve seen on the market and has a curved vial with a grade 10 precision ball bearing. That gives it less friction, and the added benefit is that it can detect well below 1 degree of cant.
The level features rounded edges so nothing can get snagged, and it doesn’t stick out beyond the turrets of the scope. At the range, I was able to quickly check level when peering through the scope by simply opening both eyes.
The vial material is a metered glycol solution that won’t freeze, and the Pyrex glass is shockproof to handle recoil from cartridges as big as the .50 BMG.
At 550 yards the level made all the difference in my ability to accurately place rounds on target. At even greater distances the device would be absolutely essential.
This little device retails for about $95 — comparable to the cost of a good bi-pod — and is every bit as useful.
Above: How the U.S. Navy told its service members to prepare for Hurricane Sandy. Contains good advice everyone can use.
Hurricane Sandy left an indelible impression on the northeastern United States. The survival lessons it forced people to learn could be applied to nearly all natural disasters. Here are three key takeaways from the tragedy worth considering.
Survival Lesson #1: Don't Stay Behind
When an evacuation order is issued, get out.
Natural disasters need to be taken seriously. Choosing to “ride it out” is another term for “needlessly endangering lives.” Those lives include first responders, families of first responders, neighbors influenced by the “ride it out” decision, family members, community leaders shepherding others out of harm's way and scores of other social networks of actual people.
The winds roared and the waves lifted off the bay in giant balled fists and smashed onto the golden shores of Breezy Point, Queens, where Jack Nacmias braced with his wife, adult kids and 96-year-old grandmother-in-law.
“Oh my God, I wish I had evacuated,” he called to say around 8 p.m. Monday. “It’s just insane here.”
And then his transmission ended with the words “Holy s—!”
He called me again at dawn to say, “Actually, I wish I would have evacuated my family and stayed alone. There was a point there where it was so scary that I looked at my family and said, ‘What have I done?’ ”
That thought came when he was in the cellar and all his “Anderson double-pane basement windows” shattered and breached “like the portholes in the Titanic, and water just gushed in so fast and so furious that my cellar began to fill up all around me. The fuse box sizzled. The power died. The water rose from every which way in the pitch dark. I backed up the stairs where Granny, and the family were and the water started following me up the stairs like a roaring monster.”
That's a hard survival lesson to learn in-person. Don't.
Survival Lesson #2: You Need a Bug-Out Bag AND a Long-Term Survival Plan
When the evacuation order came down, prepared residents grabbed bug-out bags and hit the road. However, by definition these were only good for a few days.
That might have been enough to last until returning home. But what if that home isn't there? Or utilities won't come back for days or weeks? Not only that, what if another storm is on its way?
That's the reality many Sandy survivors continue to face. A nor'easter dumped snow over areas already impacted by Sandy.
The survival lesson here is that preparedness isn't an either/or proposition. It's not a matter of making either a quick bug-out bag or a full survival kit. It's being prepared for short- and long-term survival.
What that long-term survival plan looks like depends on your situation. Here are some tips for making a home disaster plan.
Looting is an unfortunate side effect of any disaster, and it isn't always sinister. Many instances of looting involve people getting supplies for family – without paying for it, of course.
The darker side of looting involves thieves sifting through damaged homes. Reports indicate these criminals are using social media to coordinate their activities. This article from the Daily Mail details some of the organization:
Several brazen thugs have robbed their neighbors and their local shops of everything from basic food stuffs to expensive electronics and they are taking to Twitter to broadcast their spoils.
‘Check out this laptop I scored,' SevenleafB tweeted earlier today. ‘It's easy just reach out an grab it.'
It appears the looters are organizing through the hashtag #SANDYLOOTCREW.
It's a double-edged sword. These tweets make it easier for law enforcement to track looting, as well as for citizens to become prepared. This photo from the Huffington Post says it all:
From rolling blackouts to hurricanes, floods to tornadoes, power can go out at a moment's notice. If the grid fails, the PowerPot will keep you charging! The PowerPot thermoelectric generator converts any heat source directly into power that charges your USB handheld devices. Get Yours Now
The Accuracy 1st Whiz Wheel is fast because most of the variables are built into the device, which is custom made for your weapon and load. All you do is input Density Altitude (DA) and range to get a MOA- or MIL-based firing solution out to 1100 yards.
For years the long-range shooting community has used ballistic gadgets of all kinds to compute long-range firing solutions — from computer-based programs to little laminated “ballistics” cards. But these are usually based on computer-modeled theories, rather than what your bullet is actually doing.
However, one new product recently approved by the State Department for sale to civilian shooters (yes, it’s that effective and that secret) is the Whiz Wheel by Accuracy 1st Development Group. It is custom made for your rifle and ammo and can be trued based on your actual bullet impact out to transonic range.
Born of Practical Experience
The Accuracy 1st Whiz Wheel is a reflection of the men behind it, starting with Todd Hodnett, an unassuming Texas man with no military background whatsoever who grew up on a ranch with wide open spaces. It was the ultimate training grounds for him to develop a few opinions. He went on to win national sniper competitions, a feat that garnered the attention of the military.
Today, Hodnett trains the country’s elite military Special Forces snipers and has developed a system of practical long-range shooting around his maxim, “the bullet doesn’t lie.” A private pilot, Hodnett was intimately familiar with concepts such as density altitude.
Actually, all pilots, at least since World War II, have used a device called the E6B Flight Computer, known simply as a “whiz wheel” to calculate air conditions, wind correction, time en route and other variables to plot a flight course. Prior to that, whiz wheels were developed by the military in World War I as a crude rotational device to figure mortar fire; even submarines use them in sub-surface warfare.
The Whiz Wheel is custom printed for your rifle and load – how your gun actually performs. You can order MOA- or MIL-based wheels.
So it didn’t take Hodnett long to see that a whiz wheel for shooters could also be a powerful tool with which to correct for many more variables than existing trajectory or “dope” charts. That’s when he enlisted the help of mechanical engineer Robert Berwington and Bryan Litz — a world-renowned ballistician and shooter.
Why the Whiz Wheel was a State Department Secret
“We can tell you within one click where your bullet is within space and time from the moment it leaves the barrel until the time it hits transonic,” Berwington told Gun Digest. “If you gave us good information, I'll guarantee you'll hit every target from where you're sitting out to a thousand meters with one round.”
Whiz Wheels are custom made to order. You start by providing Accuracy 1st with the ammunition you’ll use (in my case it was .308 Win. 175 gr. BTHP); your rifle’s barrel twist rate; your scope’s height above the centerline of the bore, and mean velocity as measured from a chronograph as well as distance of the muzzle to the chronograph. You also choose how your scope operates — in MOA or MILS, and how you think about the world: That is, in yards or meters.
The Whiz Wheel is easier and faster than computer systems because the fixed information is built in. You only have two things to worry about: range and density altitude (DA).
DA is a single calculation that describes environmental conditions such as elevation above sea level, temperature, pressure and humidity. It’s a single value and a standardized pressure ratio used in aerospace and standardized in the military.
“The Whiz Wheel gives you the resolution equal to the PDA, a fraction of the weight, durable, no batteries, never fails you,” said Berwington. “And it’s based on a ballistics engine written by a real ballistician rather than a computer programmer with no education working from his basement.”
Todd Hodnett developed the Accuracy 1st Whiz Wheel, which allows the precision rifleman to make scope adjustments fast, without the use of electronics that can fail under field conditions. Photo Courtesy Accuracy 1st Development Group.
How the Whiz Wheel Works
In the lower right corner of the device is a little wheel that you rotate to your elevation above sea level and outside air temperature, which gives you your density altitude. Once you know that value, you dial in your range to that DA and the solver gives you the firing solution in MOA or MILs, depending upon what wheel you are using.
There are three windows—200-350 yards, 350-700 yards, 650-1100 (low DA range) yards and 650-1100 (high DA range) yards. When you rotate the wheel, the line tells you the required clicks for your turret (or Mil-dot reticle holdovers). On the backside are wind corrections for your shot range and Inclination Angle Correction.
Also unique to the Whiz Wheel is the ability to true your shots. Each window presents a “Nom MV” or Nominal Muzzle Velocity solution, but also a -50fps and +50fps adjusted solution on either side.
The Whiz Wheel at the Range
Getting back to Hodnett’s practical experience-based way of thinking about shooting, there are several ways you can “true” the Whiz Wheel solver to your actual hits.
Let’s say everything you input into the wheel is accurate but your shots are still landing low. It might be that your lot of ammo is just slower than previous lots. You can find the proper MOA or MIL value, and note the corresponding difference in Density Altitude. You then simply apply that correction to all figures going forward.
If you know your range and environmental conditions, the Whiz Wheel will give you spot-on scope inputs for first-shot hits. This group, which hit mid-ship on an IDPA target, was fired at 425 yards.
I learned the Whiz Wheel could be used to determine correct range based on actual bullet impact. After ranging the target at what I thought was 500 yards and determining a firing solution on the Whiz Wheel, my shots landed low. I adjusted the Wheel to the correct turret clicks needed to impact dead center and noted the range — 550 yards (which I double-checked and confirmed was indeed the actual range).
So by working backwards the Whiz Wheel was able to double check and correct my range estimation. “The bullet doesn’t lie,” says Hodnett, and that is the truth.
I also tried setting the target at some unknown distance in between 550 and 300 yards, ranged the target (it turned out to be 425 yards), adjusted the DA (the temperature had risen more than ten degrees as the afternoon sun baked down) and found the new firing solution.
Five shots landed dead nuts. I will note that I am shooting a Leupold Mark 4 M3 scope with 1 MOA elevation turret. So actually the Whiz Wheel has the ability to discriminate to much finer resolution than my 1 MOA elevation turret is capable of dialing.
To correct for this, I have worked out the MIL-MOA conversion for fractions of 1 MOA to use the scope’s Mil-based TMR reticle for fine holdover adjustments in MILs.
Summary
For less than the cost of a couple boxes of match grade ammo, the Whiz Wheel opens up long-range firing solutions out to 1100 yards no matter what the outside conditions. It is small enough to fit into a pocket, and doesn’t require batteries. It is about the same size as the ever-popular Mil-Dot Master, and the perfect companion to it. Now standard issue for Special Forces snipers, it is based on Hodnett’s rallying cry that the “The bullet doesn’t lie.” The best marksmen in the world use this device. And now you can too.
Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 excellent concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.
