Monthly Archives: October 2025

Blast from the past

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15

Sometimes, if what you need isn’t available in your present, and unlikely in the future, then you’re only choice is to mine the past for it. Case in point – Mini-14 magazines.

I picked up a Mini-14 a few weeks ago and while I don’t mind buying Ruger factory mags, they are expensive and while I’ve had no problems with the twenty rounders, their thirty rounders havent always been reliable.

A few years ago Tapco came out with a Mini-14 mag that was, in my opinion, the best aftermarket Mini-14 mag available. (Keyword: available) Unfortunately, Tapco got caught up in the Remington bankruptcy and it is, for now, ‘not a going concern’.

I’ve mentioned them before, but years and years ago Eagle made some Mini-14 mags that I thought were just amazing. The Eagle mags were 35-round instead of 30, used a constant-force ‘windowshade’ spring that made loading mags a breeze, and I found them to be utterly reliable. They also havent been made since the ’94 weapons ban. I was scouring gunbroker for more Tapco mags and stumbled across a stash of NOS Eagle mags. Hmm. Okay, lets make a deal for all of them.

As I’ve said, the Mini-14 is barely on my radar as a ‘run out the door’ kind of gun. It’ll do in a pinch, but I can’t think of too many situations where I’d not have one of the three dozen AR’s sitting around here to use. But…who knows what the apocalypse is going to look like? Maybe there’ll come a time to tuck this thing in a case at the beta site with a dozen magazines. Who can say? Better to have and not need…

So, if you have a Mini-14 (or Mini-30) and you’re a little annoyed at current mag selections, I can recommend the Eagle mags if you can find them, and wholeheartedly recommend the Gen2 Tapco mags. (The Gen 2 have the still reinforcement tab at the mag lockup point.)

I should also point out that in a housecleaning frenzy the other day I discovered an old tactical vest from the late 90’s/earlt 00’s that still has six Eagle AR mags, fully loaded, in it. An excellent experiment to see how leaving a magazine loaded for 25 years winds up working out.

 

Silver and gold

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25

Gold hit $4000/oz, and silver hit $50/oz.

Read into that what you will.

I have a stash of gold and silver set aside specifically for land purchase and this climb in metals prices means good things for my ability to afford something.

Sad thing is, though. When it’s gone, its gone.

What I’ll probably do is start diverting a percentage of my dividends each week into metals. Get a little dollar-cost-averaging going.

But, in the meantime…wow.

Swing and a miss

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30

I had mentioned that I was going to look at a property last weekend. Unfortunately, a couple days before my anticipated expedition, the owners decided they were just gonna pull it off the market and leave it to their kids. So…that one is outta the running.

As a side note, I went and visited, for the third time, my not-quite-everything-I-want candidate on Saturday. It has potential, but, merciful Crom, its a bit of a brutal drive to get there once you leave the pavement. It’s approx. 16 miles off the paved interstate and the quality of the road is such that 20 mph is about the best you can do. And in the winter, well, you’re gonna need a seriously dedicated machine to get in there. But, thats not necessarily a bad thing…it’ll keep the crowds out. I’m fine with that. My plans involve buying a 4-wheeler and a snowmobile anyway.

I’m really torn between making an offer on it and committing, and waiting to see what else turns up. I have an irrational fear of dropping the hammer on this thing and then three weeks later something ‘more perfect’ becomes available. But, this problem exists with everything…houses, wives, cars, property, dinner specials.

At the moment, I’m wargaming ways to utilize/develop the creek that runs through the property. Im thinking the way to go is to pump water to a storage tank at the top of the hill, and then let gravity do the work to provide pressure down at the potential building site. I need to do some math and and other calculations, as well as plot logistics for size of tank and how to transport the bloody thing. But, even if I dont get this particular piece of dirt it’s still a good experiment to run in my head since, eventually, its gonna have to happen somewhere.

Pumping for information

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27

Okay, so here’s a question – what determines the size/power of pump you need to move water? Is it the weight of the water in the pipe that you are moving? Is it the volume? Is it a combination of the two?

The reason I ask is because I was contemplating moving water on a piece of property I am looking at. I would need to move it 330 linear yards….call it 1000 feet. Of that distance, about a 2/3 would be uphill. Assuming a schedule 40 pipe of inside diameter of approx 1.049″, the formula to calculate volume in a pipe is 3.141 x (radius^2) x length in., or 3.141 x (.27510025) x 12000, or 10371.06 cu. inches of water in a 1000′ length of 1″ pipe. That water weighs approx. 374#. So, am I correct in thinking that to move water through a 1″ pipe for 1000 feet would require a pump capable of moving approx. 374# of water? How are pump sizes/classifications/ratings determined? Whenever I look at pumps, it seems they are rated by their output of gallons per minute. But I’m not really concerned about flow rate, rather I’m concerned about ability to move a particular volume of water.

Or am I looking at this incorrectly? I used a 1″ pipe in my calculations because I was thinking the smaller the volume of water that needs to be moved, the smaller and less powerful a pump would be required. Or would the type of pump be determined by something else? Ideas?

ETA: There seems to be a misunderstanding here. This question is not directed at pumping a well. Im talking about pumping surface water from a collection point (pond, for example) across 1000′ of uphill ground. So, not a well pump.

Still looking

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7

How is the property hunting coming along, you ask? Nothing terribly remarkable. Im going to look at a property this weekend that is in a region known for local cops and fire retiring to. On the one hand, most of the cops I knew here in Missoula are mostly of like-mind, or at least not opposite of it. And having those kinds of people nearby could be a handy thing if you hit the point where collaboration and cooperating with neighbors becomes critical.

The piece I am going to look at has a spring on it, I am given to understand. I have also been warned that it might be a bit swampy in that area. I am wondering if perhaps developing the spring and giving that water a place to go might remediate that. Dunno. Won’t know until I actually go an walk it, which will be this weekend, I think.

Still haven’t ruled out the other property yet. But I’d like to have a few more options to choose from.  In the meantime, my bookmarks folder is slowly filling with links to well pumps, septic layouts, concrete form construction, PV systems, maps, etc, etc.

What are the biggest challenges? Finding a piece of property with some type of water, isn’t bisected (or worse) with public-accessible roads, has some flat building spots, isnt butted up against another piece of property that had someone build their house right on the edge of the property line, isn’t several hours away, is at least 20 acres, and isn’t more than about $225k. Tough find.