A quiet Sunday morning…you’re listening to the radio, maybe getting ready for church, and you woke up in a world where your biggest worry was the oil leak in your car. And by the end of that same day the nation is marching to war and no one’s lives are untouched. Imagine what that must have been like…you woke up to orange juice and eggs and went to bed with a global war. The lesson there is that your whole life can change in just a moment. So..we prepare.
I am not one of those guys who believe , as far as guns are concerned, that just because you can add an accessory to it, you should. Youre a sovereign individual and can do whatever you want, but for me all an AR needs is a sling, light, and good sights/scope. (Maybe a stock-mounted spare mag, but thats iffy.)
However, since I’m putting a sling on the gun I want to give myself a couple options. As of late I’ve been pleased with Magpuls two-point-to-one-point sling. Since it uses a QD attachment method, I needed a to replace the plate that goes between the castle nut and the receiver. Fortunately, Magpul makes pretty much everything I need and I put in one of their sling attachment points. Seems to work well.
I had a couple cheap castle nut wrenches for the AR laying around, but a few years back I bought a Hammerhead Rifle-Tool which is sort of an AR ‘multitool’. It was perfect for removing the castle nut and replacing it. Highly, highly recommend. Not cheap, and I’m sure someone will say “My $5.99 gun show Made In China wrench works just fine!”. May be. But I had he money, it’s made in Oregon, has lotsa useful features, and seemed pretty stout.
The point of this post, though, is that if you’re going to keep guns around, and you plan on holding onto them for a long time, it isn’t enough that you keep some spare parts around…you need the tools. And if you need tools to last you the rest of your life you don’t cheap out. I actually have a 40mm ammo can in storage full of AR parts, tools, technical manuals, cleaning gear, etc. I call it ‘support gear’. There are some ‘armorers’ packages available for the AR but too many of them are made in China or have a lot of unnecessary or useless tools in them at the expense of more useful/better tools. Much like no pre-packaged survival kit is a good one, you’re better off parting your own kit together. And, if you decide to do so (which you really should), I recommend that Hammerhead tool.
As I’d mentioned last year, it seems like tourniquets are sort of a ‘newest and coolest’ sorta thing for the ‘serious’ first aid kit. I’ve been into survivalism for a long time and any references in fiction and non-fiction to tourniquets was almost always of the ‘loop a belt around it’ sort of variety. There were no ‘dedicated’ or purpose-built tourniquets that were readily available for Joe Sixpack survivalist…or if there were, you seldom read about them or came across them.
Cut to today’s episode. I’m talking with a fella I know and ask what’s up in his world. Turns out, his adult son had to go to the emergency room last night. Why? He was home, had a deer hung up and was cutting it up when he came to a frozen part of it. He put some extra oomph into his cut to get through it and the knife went into his wrist and severed a radial artery. Being alone and not precisely sure of how much damage he’d just inflicted on himself, he wrapped a towel around it and applied pressure. And applied. And applied. And the puddle at his feet just grew larger. So, he walks over to his neighbors house where the neighbor takes one look at him and calls 911. Medics arrive and….they apply a tourniquet …since at this point he’s about a quart low. They hustle him to the hospital and stitch up the leak. How close was he to cashing in his chips? Hard to say, I wasn’t there. But I am told that the amount of blood loss was rather significant and without something stopping it he probably would have been in some big trouble.
So, apparently there is a reasonable chance of need for a tourniquet outside of the apocalypse. Its not something I ever really thought to add to the first aid gear I keep around here because…well…it never seemed terribly likely to be needed. That mindset has now, of course, been kicked to the wayside. I’ll be finding a reputable vendor (to avoid Chinese fakes) and ordering a couple up for myself and one for a friend.
In talking to a few other people, it seems that severe cutting injuries resulting from deer processing/skinning/butchering are not that uncommon. Makes sense. Some guy standing alone in his garage with a hanged deer or elk slips and cuts himself deeply…I can totally see finding him the next day or two later laying DRT on the floor. Never thought about it before, but I can see it happening.
This is how you learn.
TL;DR: I have a new favorite AR.
Alright, the first thing to address is that the ‘MPR’ is kind of a ‘package’ for Ruger’s AR556 carbine. You can do a little comparison between the AR556 and the MPR by looking at the spec sheets, but, basically, the AR556 are M4-clones whereas the MPR seem to be a bit more refined with slightly longer barrels, freefloat handguards (which some AR556 models have), the very nice 452 Elite trigger, a non-birdcage brake/flash suppressor and Magpul furniture.
I liked the idea of something longer than 16″ but shorter than 20″, wanted the freefloat handguards, no front sight tower, and Magpul furniture. The trigger was icing on the cake and I really, really like it. Not so heavy as to preclude making good shots at distance, but not so light that you’d be unsafe running around Katrinaville.
My impressions from shooting about a hundred rounds downrange is very favorable. I don’t know if its the brake, the rifle-length gas system, or both, but the felt recoil and muzzle rise was the easiest of any AR I’ve ever shot. If you’re into fast followups this seems to be the rifle for you.
Other than that, its an AR. Ergonomics, control layout, etc, are all the same as every other one of the millions of AR’s floating around the planet. The nontypical barrel length, rifle-length gas system, and snazzy trigger are Ruger’s personal touches and they really are what separates this rifle from the others.
I dropped a set of Magpul Pro BUIS on there to keep handy in case the Leupold VX-R Patrol optic (1.25×4 30mm tube) craps out. The cheaper plastic Magpul BUIS would probably have worked just fine but they are a tad bulky and I couldn’t be sure they’d fit under the eyepiece end of the scope. The Magpul Pro, while spendy, fit perfectly with a little room to spare.
Added a sling because. Only other thing to add would be a tactical light and then that’s it. Done. What sorta crap you hang off your AR is your business, but I like to keep it neat and minimal. No VFG, no offset sights, no short range red dot, no monopod, etc.
The Leupold scope was my compromise to avoid spending $1300 on an ACOG. (Although I see nothing wrong with dropping an ACOG on this thing if you have the money.) I’d spent a lot of time fondling the two different Leupold AR scopes, one a 1″ tube and the other a 30mm, and decided to spend the extra money for the illuminated dot and the 30mm tube. Worth it. Dialed down to 1.25x and with the dot lit up this thing makes fast target acquisition possible and for longer shots I can dial it out to 4x. The dot, by the way, shuts itself off after five minutes of inactivity and then turns itself back on when it detects motion. Thats just freakin’ handy.
How does it shoot? Between the rifle-length gas system and the brake/comp on the end, this is the softest shooting AR I’ve ever handled. There’s negligible muzzle rise and barely any recoil. If you see yourself in a world where fast followup shots are called for, this is the gun for you. Ruger’s trigger is really nice and it fits the bill in terms of practicality…not too light, not too heavy. It’s got some take up and then -bang-… like a very very nice two-stage trigger.
Overall, I’m very pleased. The MPR version of the AR556 usually comes in around $150-200 more than the regular version but, in my opinion, it’s worth it. Just the trigger alone would be an upgrade of almost that value.
If you get a chance, go play with one. Especially try the trigger.
MSRP on the MPR is $899, but I’ve seen them on sale in the mid $500’s, and dealer prices usually run in the $650-700 range, which, to me, is a very reasonable price for such a neat gun. Zero recommends.
Its hard to believe that December is actually here. Where the heck did the year go? Probably the most important thing to note is that there is less than a year until the election. Take nothing for granted, mi amigos… sure, the Democrats are scraping the bottom of the barrel but you can’t make your plans on what might happen. You have to be prepared for worst case scenarios. So… hie thee to your favorite internet vendor and load up on mags.
I lost count, but I think that for YTD I’m at something like … uhm…16 guns added to the stable this year. (Including…wait for it…three more P95DC pistols and another PC9 carbine.)
As Beto O’Dork forthrightly said “Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47” and although he appears to have politically shot himself in the foot, he didn’t say anything that the other Democrats weren’t fine n’ dandy with.
So, for me, it makes sense to have a bit of a stockpile built up. I’d recommend you do the same. And if you’re one of those short-sighted simpletons who say “I’ve got ten magazines for my AR-15… thats plenty”, well, you’re an idiot. Stop being an idiot and do some thinking about how ten magazines to last you for the rest of your life is amazingly short-sighted to the point of idiocy.
2020 is going to be an interesting year, if for no other reason than because of that election. In fact, virtually every single thing that happens between January 1 2020 and Election Day, no matter how politically irrelevant, will be looked at through the lens of how it will affect the election. Putin invades Ukraine? How will it affect the election. Polar ice caps melt? How will it affect the election? The animated corpse that is Ruth Ginsburg finally comes to a halt? How will that affect the election? Xenu arrives? How will it….you get the idea. Get used to it, because all of 2020 will be like one year-long Super Bowl pregame show.
Im sitting at a point where, if the axe finally falls, and They reinstate the ’94 Ban I’ll be okay. Of course, the likelihood of them having a grandfathering provision in any new ban is pretty shaky, and having a sunset clause is pretty much fantasy. But, if I woke up tomorrow and whatever I had tomorrow was all I could have for the rest of my life…I’d be okay. But I strive to be more than ‘okay’, and so should you.
Anyway, that’s my ‘the sky is falling’ post on the subject for now. I’m sure I’ll revisit it a time or two before the election…especially if some nutjob shoots up a WalMart somewhere before then.
True story: Local Cabela’s had a little Black Friday doorbuster sale on some guns and folks started lining u pearly. Doors opened at 5a and the gun counter was, of course, swamped. A few minutes into this excitement, an older gentleman passed out and hit the floor. An ambulance was called and he was taken away. Two hours later, he comes back in, heads to the gun counter, borrows a pair of scissors to cut the hospital bracelet off because his wife “would be pissed if she found out”, and bought the gun he had originally come in for.
Hardcore. (Although not as much so as if he didn’t care what his wife thought)
I suppose that if a person digs deep enough, no matter how wretched their circumstance, they can find something to be grateful for.
Tomorrow is Friday Of Color. Let the games begin!
If you’re anything like me (and Crom help you if you are), you could probably benefit from a well-intentioned and well-timed reminder:
It s a cold, clear day with the late fall sun slanting down giving everything that odd look that says “seasons are changing”. It’s the sort of day where you can feel that something approaches. A lizard-brain response to the upcoming winter, I’m guessing. Or maybe a subconscious response to the current zeitgeist. Regardless, whether its simply winter or Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo, it’s always a good idea to make sure some of the critical gear is ready to go. Standing on your porch, holding a flashlight in your teeth, when its five below zero and you’re sweaty from repeatedly and unsuccessfully whipping that recoil starter cord back and forth is no time to discover that maybe you should have run the generator three weeks ago to make sure it was up to snuff.
The generator, flashlights, radios, GPS, and the like were not cheap. Spend an hour today making sure you didn’t waste money and time.
How’d that discount-stacking strategy work out at Cabela’s the other night?
Not bad, actually. When all done it was about 26.7% off.
Ruger MPR (with the very impressive Ruger Elite 452 trigger) w/ Leupold 1.25×4 30mm AR Patrol scope in a Leupold mount/base and some backup sights.
An article that says what we’ve known all along – normalcy bias and the ‘this can’t really be happening’ mindset will work against you in a crisis.
Decisiveness, preplanning, equanamity, and a dose of luck make the difference between being embraced and being embalmed. Interesting article and worth a read.