Well, its officially that time of year. Time to move the winter durvival gear to the vehicle, drag the hunting clothes out, top off the kerosene heaters, switch to the winter camo, and just generally get ready for fimbelwinter.

It also means the election is just around the corner. I genuinely don’t know what to think at this point but you really cannot go wrong with precious metals, food, fuel, guns, and ammo. I mean, all of those are things that are going to go up in price anyway, right? So regardless of who wins the election, or what new policies do or do not occur, you’re still ahead of the game.

Fall in Montana means hunting season is just around the corner. I havent decided what to hunt with but I’m really tempted to take out my 29″ barrel, open-sighted .275 Rigby. It has a classic look to it, and I’m a big fan of the cartridge.

And, speaking of thundertoys, did you guys see Ruger has dropped a new version of their .22 pistol on the market? It’s the Ruger Mk IV….and it has at least one awesomely cool feature that puts it way ahead of the previous models. A feature greatly appreciated by those of us who have had to disassemble one of those things. Read about it at Tam’s blog.

There are hundreds of millions of guns in the United States—enough, according to several estimates, for every American civilian adult to own more than one.

But actual gun ownership is far more lopsided than that.

A sweeping new survey by researchers at Harvard University and Northeastern University finds that roughly half of the nearly 300 million firearms in the United States are concentrated in the hands of a tiny sliver of the U.S. population: Just 3 percent of American adults own some 130 million guns, according to The Trace and Guardian US, two news organizations that first reported on the survey. (The full survey has not yet been released; Guardian US and The Trace reported plans to publish a series of stories about the findings throughout the week.)

This portrait of gun ownership represents the equivalent of about 17 guns per person among a group of “super-owners,” the 7.7 million Americans who own between eight and 140 guns each.

If there is anyone reading this who is not a ‘super-owner’ I would be a tad surprised. How many guns do I have? More than Sarah Brady and less than Ted Nugent. I leave it at that.

Gary Marbut, Montana’s gun zealot extraordinaire, famously asserted that the average Montanan owned something around 26 guns. I think that estimation is a bit high, but I have met some folks who were very much picking up slack for those Montanans who were a little light in the hardware department.

Regardless, it doesn’t matter how many guns you own…what matters is that you be free to own as many (or as few) as you want.

Everyday carry (or E.D.C.) denotes what you carry wherever you go. It is a niche preparedness culture that is lately becoming mainstream; amid the groundswell, it has been called a ‘‘movement,’’ a ‘‘mindset’’ and even a ‘‘philosophy,’’ for it also connotes a heightened consciousness about what you carry and why. The objects in an individual’s E.D.C. may be as unremarkable as keys, a cell phone and a wallet, but might be as various as a brass marine shackle or a tourniquet, a seatbelt cutter or a small multipurpose tool that looks like a seahorse, a reclining monkey or a gaping tyrannosaur. E.D.C. sites are awash in lovingly curated still lifes of all this — a murse dump with occasional Glocks.

A little something from the NY Times (“Pravda On The Hudson”) about the ‘trend’ towards EDC gear. Nothing really substantive or new in the article, but the fact that it is even there is whats newsworthy.

Interesting link to a very slick and professional looking examination of the various military rations in the US military.

I’m especially interested in the Unitized Group Ration – Express. I’m rather fascinated by the concept of a cardboard box of rations where you open it up, pull the rip cord, and a half hour later you and your squaddies have a hot meal.

Anyway, interesting link and worth a read.

$149 for a Magpul’d complete lower? Yes please.

And then there’s this:

Like swallows returning to Capistrano, this is a sure sign it’s an election year.

ZURICH (Reuters) – Friction between Switzerland and the European Union over the bloc’s plans to tighten gun control following a rise in militant attacks could turn into another serious snag in ties already tested by Swiss efforts to curb immigration.

The proposed directive, which applies to non-EU member Switzerland only because it is part of Europe’s Schengen open border system, has raised hackles among the Swiss, who resent intervention from Brussels.

Christoph Blocher, a leading voice of the Swiss right and a eurosceptic, says Switzerland should consider abandoning Europe’s Schengen system of passport-free travel if the Swiss people rejected the proposed measures in a referendum.

Drafted after militants killed scores in attacks in Paris last year, the EU plans on gun control aimed to curb online weapons sales and impose more restrictions on assault weapons.

But the initial proposal provoked an outcry in Switzerland because it meant a ban on the long Swiss tradition of ex-soldiers keeping their assault rifles.

I absolutely love some of the things the Swiss do in the name of national sovereignty and preparedness. Sure, they do some things I don’t like, but any country that encourages folks to keep their military guns, doles out ammo for a national shooting festival, and has survival bunkers dotting the landscape….plus, women in dirndl dresses…gets my seal of approval.

One of my bucket list items is to go to the big Swiss shooting festival they have each year.

The Brits have already walked from the EU and the world didn’t come to an end. The Swiss, as best I can tell, don’t really get anything out of membership so perhaps they’ll be next.

MGE Wholesale just sent me their usual sale spam…

SUb-$500 AR and if you buy two they throw in a party-pak of ammo. The industry is definitely thinking theyre going to move a bunch of ARs before the election.