Someone asked in email ‘Hey, can I get in on this group buy of 1911 mags?’ Guys, you dont have to ask..if you can read this (or better yet, read this) then, yes, you can.

In case you missed it, the current group buy is for the ChipMcCormick Shooting Star 8-rd. blued mags w/ basepads. $11.50

This group buy runs until the end of this month. I’ve 150 of these things in the pipeline. 55 are spoken for. That leaves 95. If you want ’em theyre first come first served.
I’ll be mentioning it from time to time.
=====
Prices on ammo have gotten spectacularly out of control. While reloading is the best way to kep ammo costs down, even the costs of components like brass and bullets has gone up significantly. So…if you don’t reload, you might really wanna think about it. You can get your feet wet for less than a hundred bucks in gear. If you decide to stick with it you’ll want to upgrade to better reloading equipment but start off with a simple Lee setup to see if you like it.

And, when youre feeling really nuts, you can get yourself a Dillon Super RL1050 and crank out over 1000 rounds of ammo per hour.

The good surplus ammo is starting to get scarce and the stuff that is available is stuff that normally you’d view with a healthy bit of wariness (Pakistani ammo????).
=====
In case you dont know of it, Military Morons is a cool site for reviews of latest ‘tactical’ gear. Sure, its trendy and expensive hi-speed-low-drag stuff but, dammit, some of it is pretty cool.

Page is up for Group Buy #4: ChipMcCormick mags.

One of my vendors sent me a closeout list.

Chip McCormick Shooting Star magazines for the 1911.
Eight-round magazines, blued, with removable basepad.

Midway has them currently for, I believe, $13.99. I’ll be moving ’em for $11.50 ea. and a flat $6 to ship regardless of quantity. My vendor only has a couple hundred of these left so when theyre gone, theyre..well..you know.

Personally, these are the mags I use in my 1911-pattern guns. Never had a bit of trouble with ’em. They combine the best elements of good gear: excellent reliability and function, and theyre cheap. I’ve been extremely pleased with them and recommend them.

Stag lowers are here..and gone! Just got back from dropping them at the post office.

Last of the Stag lowers was finally charged to me today. I’m taking this as a sign theyre about to ship. This batch of ten will complete this group purchase. Will post when they arrive. Some of you still need to get me FFL’s. I’ll be emailing!

Ahhhh…surplus.

The new SPortsmans Guide HQ catalog showed up last week and I ordered a few goodies out of it. Nothing dramatic. However, remember a few months back tehre was a deal on Russian canteens and cups 20/$20? Well, theyre okay…but not really great. So Im flipping through the catalog and find these:

Swiss military canteens with cup. Holds about liter, has NBC drinktube cap and comes with a very nice nesting canteen cup. Should fit any pouch that would hold a Nalgene bottle of 1 quart size.

So, at 20/$20, i figured I’d get some for me and the LMI. They arrived today and theyre sweet. Solid construction…bounced an empty one of the concrete a few times with no ill effect. The canteen cup locks firmly and snugly to the bottle so they’ll not get split up. Very much worth a buck each. And, as a major improvement over the Russian ones, they hold more water and are a convenient shape. I can definitely say that these look like a good choice for getting a nice supply of canttens (and extra canteens) for yourself. I’ll keep half of these for myself and the LMI’s will get the rest. A good buy for $20. Great for leaving one in your bag, truck, shed, hunting camp, cache, etc, etc.
=====
Watched the latest episode of Jericho. Moral: hungry people are dangerous people. Refugees are dangerous people. Hungry refugees are very dangerous people. Its all well and good to put on the noble face and say ‘They’re scared like the rest of us. We have to help them.’ but after the plattitudes are said someone has to take food out off their kid’s plate and give it to a stranger. Good luck with that choice.

I’ve been rereading some of the classic texts from the ‘Golden Age’ of survivalism. Tappans ‘Survivial Guns’, Bensons ‘The Survival Retreat’ and a few similar texts.

With the benefit of hindsight its almost impossible to imagine that these guys were serious about thinking that a Soviet invasion or missle exchange was just a heartbeat away. But it was. I remember the shelter drills in school when I was a kid. I knew there was a difference between the shelter drill and the fire drill but it never occurred to me what that difference was until only a few years ago.

Benson’s book is interesting because he came out with a sequel to it only a few years ago. In it he mentioned that his focus has changed from being concerned with the enemy without (foreign militaries, the Soviets) to the enemy within (fedgov). Neither book, however, in my opinion really tells the reader anything they haven’t already figured out on their own.

Also interesting is some of the very dated (this was, after all, a book that came out in 1983) ideas and recomendations. Put it in context – your assault rifle was going to be an HK, FAL (a genuine FN), or an AR-15. Your handgun was a 1911 or a Smith & Wesson. The AK series was discouraged because of ammo availability. Solar power and battery technology was a hoped-for solution to energy problems. And, of course, almost everything was predicated on being safe from nuclear fallout.

Ah those heady days……..
=====
Was cleaing up my Tactical Tailor bag last night. It’s the bag I carry around most of the time when I go anywhere. When I leave in the morning it gets thrown in the truck and its usually never too far when I’m ranging from the house. I was going through the first aid kit in there last night and realized I need to replace the antiseptic wipes that were in it. After a year of bouncing around in there the foil packets, although appearing to be just fine, develop integrity problems and the towelettes inside dry out, becoming worthless. So…annual restocking and inspection of the various first aid kits around here.
Been a good year…except for the occasional small cut or scrape I haven’t needed to use the thing all year. And any year you don’t need to do extensive bandaging on yourself in the field is a good one. Of course, that’ll probably change here as soon as I start riding my bicycle again.
=====
Speaking of bicycle, I need to tune it up and get it ready for the summer. With gas heading back towards three bucks a gallon theres no point in wasting the stuff. Plus, its always nice to just go exploring on some of the trails around here. Plus it’s a nice option to have for when the roads are otherwise impassable. Although a nice KLR650 would be nice.