Author Archives: Commander Zero

Spare G# parts, Stag stuff, where to next?

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Since I’ve forsaken the FAL for the PTR-91 (hereafter referred to as ‘the 91’ or ‘HKlone’) I need to go shopping for spare parts. The good news is that since the wehrmacht bundswehr dropped the G3 to go with the G36 theres plenty of G3 parts being dumped on the market (as well as a bazillion magazines…god love ’em). So, now I have to go shopping for spare parts which is a bit wierd since historically the HK guns usually dont break anything. However, Capt. Insano did have a major moment of doubt and questioning of faith when a trigger part on his USP40 broke. I think he’s still rattled by it, which might explain his devotion to his CZ-75 collection. Anyway….

So, parts to buy? Well the usual – anything that utilizes a spring, firing pin, extractor, various pins, etc. looks like a good spare parts kit can be put together for less than fifty bucks.
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Five Stag lowers arrived Friday and have been sent out to various people. Theres two more orders of ten receivers on the way. (The smaller orders ship faster.) Its going to be FIFO, for the most part, so if you ordered Friday youre probably at the back of the line.
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So…whats your average preparedness freak to do when he’s a) pretty much done on his food stockpiling and b) pretty much done on his firearms acquisitions? Well, the smart answer is: recover financially and after a pause add more to your stocks. But, in reality, theres always something that needs stocking up. I need to lay in some mags and ammo but otherwise Im pretty well set gunwise. Need to move on to energy and, specifically, ‘short-term disruption solutions’ (i.e. localized blackouts). Additionally, and Ive been dragging my heels on this for way too long, I need to get some sort of bare-bones self-sustaining system in place for running radios and LED lighting. Fortunately both of those dont draw alot of power and dont require inverting to AC.

Still need to put together the money for a nice vehicle though. Every time I see a nicely restored FJ roaming around town I think to myself “damn, I need one of those”.
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EDIT: okay, almost done. Still need the .50.
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And, as if I dont have enough things in the world to spend money on, the girlfriend and I still need a nice chunk of real estate for that lovely, heavily-fortified ‘weekend cabin’ in the woods. That lovely, idylic place where we can get away from the hustle and bustle of normal life (well, that and the rampaging hordes of radioactive zombies). That, my friends, aint gonna be cheap. However, dont need to do it all at once. Just the land itself would be good since it almsot always goes up in price as time goes by. Can drop a bunker on it later.

Group buy done

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Ok, group buy for stripped Stag lowers is done. Over. Finito. Kaput. Back the car around we’re outta here.

For those interested, orders totalled 27 lowers altogether. Order goes in this afternoon. Updates as warranted. Some folks still need FFL’s. I’ll be emailing everyone to confirm their FFLs.

PTR economics, Steyr?, gardening, Magpul vid, spring cleaning

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Addictions are not pretty. So, there are now a matching pair of PTR-91 rifles sitting in the rack. Uhm…and theres another 100 magazines on the way. This will put me at a total of..lets see…carry the two….90 magazines per gun which is pretty much where I want to be. (Ok, maybe an even 100 would be better.)

I mentioned this to the good Capt. Today and he grabbed his calculator and ran some numbers.

Brand new AR-15 with 100 magazines (Assumes $850 + $12@) = $2050
Brand new DSA FAL with 100 magazines (Assumes $1300 + $5@) = $1800
Brand new PTR with 100 magazines (Assumes $1040 + $2@) = $1240
Brand new M1A with 100 magazines (Assumes $1275 + $20@) = $3275
Brand new AR10 with 100 magazines (Assumes $1500 + $35@) = $5000

So, while the upfront cost of the gun isn’t insignificant, the cost of magazines makes it more affordable when you look at it as a package. In short, it literally is more bang for your buck. I don’t want to make a lifetime project out of getting a rifle squared away. The PTR and the mags are cheap enough I can get on the phone, order ‘em and be done with the whole thing. Done. Free to cross one thing off my list and move to the next. No picking up magazines here and there at guns shows, pawn shops and gun stores for the next two years.
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I haven’t confirmed it but Im sure it wouldn’t be too hard to nail down on the internet: rumour is that because of Steyr’s dealing with the Iranians their firearms importations to the US are ‘on hold’. True? False? I don’t know…but it wouldn’t surprise me. The HS50 I wanted may wind up having to be a .338 Lapua in a CZ instead.
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Winter here in Montana seems to be rapidly fading. These last few days have had temperatures, I am not making this up, in the 60’s. Ma Nature has a weird sense of humour out here though…we’ll get wonderful weather for two or three weeks and just as we’re turning our faces up to the sun to enjoy the warmth –BAM!- ten degrees with wind for three weeks. Every year. Every. So I continue to keep my cold weather module in my everyday bag.
Last year was a total wash gardening-wise. I wish to remedy that this year. My goal is Commander Zero’s Homegrown Bunker Busting Nuclear Salsa O’ Mass Destruction. (Or, I suppose, Ass Destruction depending on your ‘intestinal fortitude’) So I need to plant some tomatoes, chilis, onions, garlic and maybe some habaneros just for giggles. I’ve received a couple very nice books on small-space gardening over the last year and I’d very much like to try applying some of the techniques. I’ve got a small (35’x20’) yard to work in and I’m sure that’s enough space to produce some produce.
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Heres an interesting video. Its sponsored by the guys at Magpul so take it with a grain of salt, but if its even halfway true I may have to get some of their mags. I think running over the mags with a truck isn’t really a very good real-world test. Drop the mags on hard surfaces from 6’, have a vest full of them get thrown repeatedly onto jagged broken rocks, dunk ‘em, get ‘em filthy, heave ‘em in and out of some truck, toss them across a parking lot to a butterfingered buddy…you know, that sort of thing.
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Spring is the season of, naturally enough, spring cleaning. My goal: the bunker. I’ve got to seriously start re-organizing. The additional MRE’s and freezedrieds have really taken up too much space since I’m not using the space as efficiently as I could. While Im at it, I need to re-inventory. Esp. on the food. And ammo. One word for you: shelving.
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Group buy ends noon the day after tomorrow. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security – next year is an election year and its gonna be ugly.

Group Buy – Stag Lowers

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Week to two weeks lag time on the Stag lowers is what I was just told. Fortunately, the Zero plans ahead – the five I ordered last week already shipped. They should be here tomorrow.Played it safe and ordered another 10. That will cover all current orders on the group buy and leave a few extras for anyone who wants in and hasnt yet ponied up. The folks at Stag also said that they are stepping up production, theyre selling a buttload of lowers at the moment and that things have been hectic.

This has been another episode of ‘Read the writing on the wall’.

group buy stuff, bunker linkage, FAL stuff

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Been hectic the last week. Mostly because we had a bunch of LJ people in town visiting. Always nice to meet folks whom I’ve dialogued with over the years. Tough making the time when youre holding down two jobs though….but its worth it. Its nice to be able to talk with people who don’t look at you like you have two heads as you discuss the merits of propane vs. diesel generators and the ability to scrounge/store fuel for them.
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HR1022 is, naturally, affecting the market for everything that’s gun related. Which means…*sigh*…another 100 HK91 mags are getting ordered Monday.

Time to get what you need while you can, guys. Credit cards exist for a reason and this is it.
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Also putting in another pre-emptive order with Stag for more lowers. The group buy on them ends this coming Friday and, honestly, Im not really motivated to have another one. Its one thing to pimp Mountain House or the like but once you start having to get everyone on the same page regarding FFL’s and that sort of thing it becomes a bit more work than I really wanted for the rewards I get out it. On the other hand, perhaps I need to simply set it up a bit ‘neater’ next time.

Next group buy? Well, I’ll be 110% honest with you – the group buys revolve around things I’m buying for myself. By getting everyone to come in on a large purchase it knocks the prices down and that way I can gear up at a lower price than if I did it on my own. And, obviously, you guys also do better. Win-win. The drawback, thus far, is that this means the group buys are based on what Im needing to buy and not what other folks are looking for. I am, though, open to ideas. There are a few things I’ve been needing that I’m contemplating as future group buys including knives, first aid/medical stuff, magazines of various flavors, Blackhawk gear, LED lights and some other stuff. Throw out any ideas you have, maybe we can put something together and everyone can get a decent deal.
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Some of these photos have been posted here before but there are a few more. The camouflaging on some of these is brilliantly done. The Swiss have their crap together….

Or, they did until the last paragraph of this article. Ooops.

Speaking of bunkers…lets throw in some links:
http://www.leofabrizio.com/bunker/bunker_main.html – In French but easy enough to figure out
If anyone wants to buy me this book, feel free…….
A few bunker appreciation societies..brush up on your Berlitz for these….
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Had the opportunity last week to fire a few other FAL’s. I bought a pile of DSA’s $5 used metric mags and sometimes I had problems with them. The question is: was it the gun or the mag? You can see the confidence-sapping possibilities, yes? Well, I tried one of the mags that was giving me problems in my FAL in someone elses FAL. Exact same problem. So…the problem is indeed that particular magazine. Accordingly, I need to head-to-head my mags in more than one FAL to vet them. And I need to spend the extra $ and get the better condition $12 used mags. Grrrr.
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I got a call from someone I know who was attending a gun show in Mass. They came across a new in box Becker TacTool and wanted to know if I wanted them to pick it up for me. :::facepalm::: Oh where does the money go……
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In case you haven’t noticed, the price of ammo and components has, in the last several months, skyrocketed. I’m sorta in the business and stuff that is on ‘special’ or ‘sale’ right now is more expensive than the same item’s non-price sale in January. The ‘why’ isn’t terribly important. What is important is that your ammo:dollar ratio is now shifting to less ammo for your buck. So, if youre lacking in some particular caliber or component, I’d say get ‘em while you can because its only gonna cost more later. I’ve still got cases of $85/1000 Wolf 7.62×39 sitting in the bunker that I’m patting myself on the back over.
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Dunno if anyone noticed but theres a permanent link for ordering the MH ProPack if anyone wants more. Theyre on-hand for immediate shipping.

AR mags

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Went to the Hamilton gun show. Here’s a lesson in shopping:

I go to the table that has all the military surplus. Theres 8 AR mags sitting in the bin.
Me: How much for the mags?
Him: Ten bucks each.
Me: Make me a better deal for all of them?
Him: Sorry.

On the other side of the room is a fella with a table full of misc gun stuff. Theres a stack of six AR mags.
Me: How much for the mags?
Him: I dunno…lemme think.
Me: Make me a deal for all of them.
Him: How about twenty bucks.
Me: I can do that.

So eight mags for $80 vs. six mags for $20. Given the current political clime what would you do? Precisely: drop $100, buy all 14 and average out your cost.