Went down to the Deer Lodge gun show. It was held in the ancient prison there….25′ high sandstone walls, lotsa poured concrete, very bunkerish. Picked up a pair of German surplus military ponchos. I like these better than the US ones for a couple reasons. First, the material is a bit heavy-dutier thatn the lightweight nylon stuff on the US model. Yes, it translates into more weight to carry but I think its an acceptable tradeoff for actually staying dry when you use it as a groundsheet or overhead cover. The snaps that run along the ledges are such that both sides (‘heads’ and ‘tails’) can be mated to each other so you can come up with some interesting fabrications using multiple ponchos.Another very German touch is that there is a snap in the middle of the poncho that the top of the hood fastens to. This means that when you have the ponch set up as an overhead cover the headhole is closed up and the hood isnt flapping around. … clever. Anyway, they were $13 each and very worth it in my opinion. They’ll roll up into a roll the size of a 2-cell D flashlight so the space they take up wont be too bad. A good purchase. Without exhausting the list, in addition to keeping you out of the rain, they can also be used to create sleeping bag bivvy sacks, improvised stretchers, ford rivers by wrapping your pack in one, groundsheet on damp ground, etc, etc, etc. A very versatile piece of gear.
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Great news on the Preventing Starvation (And Bowel Activity) front. My contact in the WY NG is going to be coming up for a visit and wants to know if Im still willing to trade for late-production cases of MRE’s. Hell yes! 12 meals in an impervious cardboard box that I can throw in the back of a truck and vamoose? Sign me up!
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Local gunpimp has some new .223. Polymer case stuff. Picked up a case of 500 rounds and was taken with how light the ammo was. I absolutely do not trust it to work flawlessly but its fairly cheap ($75 retail/500) so I might use it for practice or something while saving the SS109 for that rainy decade.
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Still havent gotten around to making that Mountain House order yet. Need a time when Ive got a hundred bucks that isnt doing anything…and that aint very often.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Cleaned the AK from shooting it the other day. I really gotta hand it to the Commies, its been almost 60 years and very little has come along to challenge the AK's reliability. Ergonomics suck, accuracy is only so-so, but by god it goes bang every time you pull the trigger.
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World sitrep remains relatively unchanged…actually, no, thats not true…I want to say it seems quieter but its probably just a) the media not keeping up with ongoing threats since they arent 'fresh news' any more and b) the threats are shifting from military/terrorist to economic. Actually, theyve always been economic, its just that sometimes its more pronounced than others. Fuel prices seem to have levelled off at the 'high' end of the spectrum but summer tourist season has yet to arrive and that will certainly boost prices a bit. Not that I really have anywhere to go, Im more interested in seeing what effect, if any, it will have on the prices of day-to-day goods (i.e. groceries) that require extensive shipping.
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I was cruising around the internet and noticed that alot of people (and outfits) are getting into the cargo container modification game. One website I read said that the US brings in about 9 million of these things every year but only sends back a third of that since its cheaper to leave them at the dock and pay a fee on them than it is to ship them back across the ocean from whence they came. Result is that , at least in coastal areas, you can get containers fairly easily. (Or, as easily as anything involving hauling large objects by truck can be.) While I wouldnt want to live in one year-round on a permanent basis, they seem like an interesting way to make a decent and relatively portable temporary cabin or retreat. Then, of course, theres always my dream which is coating the thing in a few layers of roofing tar to waterproof it and burying the thing in the side of a moutnain.
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Havent done any geocaching stuff in a while and I'd really like to. The weather, at some point, is going to be getting better around here and it would be nice to spend the time outdoors in the sticks. Still need to get the topo mapping software I want. Could be verrrrrry handy.
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'Good Eats' had an episode on pouch cooking. Basically, you take some food, put it into an aluminum foil envelope, and leave it on the coals to cook. No muss, no fuss. Nice option for when you have to cook on something other than your usual range. I've got a small Volcano cookstove (which I recommend, by the way) and I've cooked pork with onions and pepper in about fifteen minutes this way and it was darn good. As a result, I try to keep a goodly amount of aluminum foil on hand which is a good idea anyway since it has lotsa uses. (Great for lining cookware when camping so you dont have to wash your pots and pans…tear up a few large sheets, fold em over nice and small, and tuck them out of the way for use later.) Come to think of it, I should experiment some more with this method.
=====
Still need to work on emergency lighting options for the bunker
Still need to work on radio communications
Still need to work on more storage options
Still need to do alot of stuff

Cleaned the AK from shooting it the other day. I really gotta hand it to the Commies, its been almost 60 years and very little has come along to challenge the AK’s reliability. Ergonomics suck, accuracy is only so-so, but by god it goes bang every time you pull the trigger.
=====
World sitrep remains relatively unchanged…actually, no, thats not true…I want to say it seems quieter but its probably just a) the media not keeping up with ongoing threats since they arent ‘fresh news’ any more and b) the threats are shifting from military/terrorist to economic. Actually, theyve always been economic, its just that sometimes its more pronounced than others. Fuel prices seem to have levelled off at the ‘high’ end of the spectrum but summer tourist season has yet to arrive and that will certainly boost prices a bit. Not that I really have anywhere to go, Im more interested in seeing what effect, if any, it will have on the prices of day-to-day goods (i.e. groceries) that require extensive shipping.
=====
I was cruising around the internet and noticed that alot of people (and outfits) are getting into the cargo container modification game. One website I read said that the US brings in about 9 million of these things every year but only sends back a third of that since its cheaper to leave them at the dock and pay a fee on them than it is to ship them back across the ocean from whence they came. Result is that , at least in coastal areas, you can get containers fairly easily. (Or, as easily as anything involving hauling large objects by truck can be.) While I wouldnt want to live in one year-round on a permanent basis, they seem like an interesting way to make a decent and relatively portable temporary cabin or retreat. Then, of course, theres always my dream which is coating the thing in a few layers of roofing tar to waterproof it and burying the thing in the side of a moutnain.
=====
Havent done any geocaching stuff in a while and I’d really like to. The weather, at some point, is going to be getting better around here and it would be nice to spend the time outdoors in the sticks. Still need to get the topo mapping software I want. Could be verrrrrry handy.
=====
‘Good Eats’ had an episode on pouch cooking. Basically, you take some food, put it into an aluminum foil envelope, and leave it on the coals to cook. No muss, no fuss. Nice option for when you have to cook on something other than your usual range. I’ve got a small Volcano cookstove (which I recommend, by the way) and I’ve cooked pork with onions and pepper in about fifteen minutes this way and it was darn good. As a result, I try to keep a goodly amount of aluminum foil on hand which is a good idea anyway since it has lotsa uses. (Great for lining cookware when camping so you dont have to wash your pots and pans…tear up a few large sheets, fold em over nice and small, and tuck them out of the way for use later.) Come to think of it, I should experiment some more with this method.
=====
Still need to work on emergency lighting options for the bunker
Still need to work on radio communications
Still need to work on more storage options
Still need to do alot of stuff

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

I hadnt planned on taking the CZ out for a spin yesterday, but one of the LMI and I went shooting and he brought along his .308 to try some loads and I figured I'd bring mine along.

Only shot 20 rounds. Heres how it broke down:

Case: Lapua .308
Bullet: Lapua D6 170 gr.
Primer: CCI BR
Rounds were too long for the magazine and were chambered singly.

Group 1 was hitting the very edge of the paper so groups couldnt be measured since some bullets had struck the backer board rather than the paper. However, if I were to guess, Id say it was about 1.5″ or so. Nothing remarkable.

It should be noted all groups, inc. the best group of .600″ , were shot by my LMI buddy and not me. I wanted to let someone else shoot it to see if it made a difference. I think the results pretty much parralel my own shooting experiences with this gun.

Im not done with the IMR powders though. I think a switch to a more premium bullet (Hornady SST or Sierre MK) along with some more tightly manufactured brass (Lapua or Horn. Match) might make a difference. And, of course, someday I'll get the bloody scope I want. (In a sidenote, the GunPimp told me someone came into his shop and pawned the exact scope I want…so if he defaults on it, the GunPimp said he'd make me a deal on it. Love the Pimp.)

Once I find a load I like I'll have to chronograph it and start doing the ballistics to make a range card and cheat sheet for holdovers and such at various ranges. Goal = 1 MOA out to 600 yards.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Saw a lovely Steyr SSG for sale today. Mmmmm…nothing says lovin' like something made in Austria.
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Still running the Mountain House menu through my head. My food storage plan has the FD stuff as a long-term storage option and as a supplement to regular food. However, the big advantage to the FD stuff is that I can take a footlocker full of it, stick under the bunk in a cabin in the middle of nowhere and it'll still be edible and reasonably healthy in ten years. Personally, for a short-term crisis I'd rather have 'everyday food' rather than MRE's and FD's…but for something you can put away and forget about, prepare with a minimum of fuss and fuel, and still feel like eating it theyre hard to beat. One weak link in any food storage program is meat..it simply doesnt keep well. And the stuff that does have even a mildly long shelf life (Spam, tuna, Vienna sausage) is to me fairly unappetizing and doesnt lend itself to cooking adventures. The FD meat, on the other hand, is going to be perfect for turning out stew, soups, meat sauces, salads and other dishes that will be prepared exclusively using stored food.
And I get it at a discount. Mmmmm…economy.
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Its getting time to put the winter clothing away. Basically, I'll just remove the module from my bag that contains my gloves, hat, neck gaiter, liners, etc. A very convenient way to keep things handy and still have them secure, out of the way and available for use. I will keep a set of gloves in the bag though just because you never know what the hell the weather is going to do around here and it really doesnt have to get too cold to make bike riding a hand-numbing experience.
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Know what I look forward to this summer? Driving out into the sticks and daydreaming about real estate. I know that somewhere in this great and glorious state there is a parcel of land with some water on it, far from the interstate, surrounded by wilderness, and far enough out of the way to be cheap enough that it becomes A Possibility. Just gotta go look.

Which reminds me, if any of you guys see anything on the internet (property listing, ads, auctions, etc) that look like it might be something I'd be interested in, lemme know.

Saw a lovely Steyr SSG for sale today. Mmmmm…nothing says lovin’ like something made in Austria.
=====
Still running the Mountain House menu through my head. My food storage plan has the FD stuff as a long-term storage option and as a supplement to regular food. However, the big advantage to the FD stuff is that I can take a footlocker full of it, stick under the bunk in a cabin in the middle of nowhere and it’ll still be edible and reasonably healthy in ten years. Personally, for a short-term crisis I’d rather have ‘everyday food’ rather than MRE’s and FD’s…but for something you can put away and forget about, prepare with a minimum of fuss and fuel, and still feel like eating it theyre hard to beat. One weak link in any food storage program is meat..it simply doesnt keep well. And the stuff that does have even a mildly long shelf life (Spam, tuna, Vienna sausage) is to me fairly unappetizing and doesnt lend itself to cooking adventures. The FD meat, on the other hand, is going to be perfect for turning out stew, soups, meat sauces, salads and other dishes that will be prepared exclusively using stored food.
And I get it at a discount. Mmmmm…economy.
=====
Its getting time to put the winter clothing away. Basically, I’ll just remove the module from my bag that contains my gloves, hat, neck gaiter, liners, etc. A very convenient way to keep things handy and still have them secure, out of the way and available for use. I will keep a set of gloves in the bag though just because you never know what the hell the weather is going to do around here and it really doesnt have to get too cold to make bike riding a hand-numbing experience.
=====
Know what I look forward to this summer? Driving out into the sticks and daydreaming about real estate. I know that somewhere in this great and glorious state there is a parcel of land with some water on it, far from the interstate, surrounded by wilderness, and far enough out of the way to be cheap enough that it becomes A Possibility. Just gotta go look.

Which reminds me, if any of you guys see anything on the internet (property listing, ads, auctions, etc) that look like it might be something I’d be interested in, lemme know.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Non variable background:
Rifle: CZ 550
Caliber: .308
Barrel: 26″ heavy
Optics: Leupold Varix-II 3×9
Stock:H-S Precision Kevlar, barrel floated
Rings: Steel CZ

Todays variables:
Temp: 58 degrees
Weather: overcast, some wind
Distance: 100 yards, shooting seated from bench using ammo box as rest

Load data:
Cases: Rem. once fired, fireformed and neck sized, trimmed to 2.010″
Bullet 1) 30 rounds using Speer 165 gr. BT SP
Bullet 2) 10 rounds using Nosler Ballistic Tip 165 gr.
Powder: 41.5 gr. IMR 4895 run through a Redding BR3 measure
Primer: CCI LR
OAL: 2.807″ with Speer, 2.812″ with Nosler

I measure from the two most distant holes in the paper, inside edge of one to outside edge of the other (which averages to a center-to-center measurement) in fractions. For figuring mathematical averages Im converting them to decimal.

And, just for fun:
Average 4-shot group using Speer: 1.37″
Average 3-shot group using Speer: 0.884″

Average 4-shot group using Nosler: 1.75″
Average 3-shot group using Nosler: 1.0625″

Yes, hardly scientific since the sample groups were different in size, I know….

Some of the horizontal stringing, esp. group #3, came when I shifted my grip and rest.
If youre doing the math, that leaves four rounds unaccounted for. I took two Noslers and two Speers and shot them at the steel tanks at 300 yards. Missed the first two until I recalled that I needed to holdover about a foot..at that point they rang quite nicely.

Im annoyed at the flyers. I thought they were from being the first rounds off the magazine but that wasnt it. Im betting the problem is me. Im going to order upo someLapua brass, some Fed BR primers and some Sierra MK's and see where it goes from there. I also want to try some Varget and and some BLC-2. I think this rifle has good potential, it just needs to be played with. At this point it has about 140 rounds through it. Also need to go through it an make sure all the screws are tight….that horizontal stringing pisses me off.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Ah, it is good to be back in Great Northwest. Empty freeways, guns everywhere, no sales tax and damn near zero crime. (Not to be confused with Zero crime, which is when I do something wrong.)

My trip to Philadelphia did impress upon me one thing….theres a tool that is sorely lacking from my plans and if you live in an urban center I highly recommend it:Wonder Bar …. 'cause sure as god made little green hand grenades, youre gonna need to jimmy a door or two. Of course your average 30″ wrecking bar (”crowbar”) would work even better but its nowhere near as portable.
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Feels good to no longer be more than arms reach away from impressive firepower. We of the preparedness bent get tagged as camo-wearing gun nuts alot but sometimes the simple truth is that you need overwhelming firepower if youre going to be happy and safe. Although my hosts in Phildaelphia very kindly offered me the use of the G17 I didnt feel comfortable with that….and it was also the first time Id been in a household that did not have more than one gun for every person in it. Still, in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king and in the  land of the gunless the Ruger 10/22 owner is king. Point: any gun is better than no gun.
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Still playing around with the Mountain House info packet. The freeze-drieds are nice for convenience and long-term storage (as well as portability), but they are only a small part of the plan. In additon to the FD stuff, we've got hundreds of MRE's. barrels of rice and wheat, a very lovely supply of canned goods, and then theres the stuff thats in the regular kitchen cabinets. All told, I'd say its at least several months worth…or, it was until the girlfriend moved in…that pretty much cut everythingi n half (well, really closer to 2/3 since she's small and doesnt eat much.) So, I do need to upgrade and add to the food lockers.I've been finding some good stuff lately in the supermarkets…stuff thats packaged well, has long shelf life and isnt too bad. The Idahoan potatoes spring to mind…also some of the Uncle Bens flavored rice dishes as well. And, although I wasnt that thrilled with it, the vaccuum sealed ground beef still needs to be experimented with more. (I am not going through the apocalypse as a vegetarian.)
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Took the .308 out for a spin yesterday. There will be a post on that later and will, in fact, be a topic under 'memories' dedicated to my experiences with it. In short, I loaded up some ammo and shot four-shot groups. Seemed like everything was within an inch and then *whammo* a flyer. Then again, some groups strung horizontally but I suspect thats because i radically shifted my shooting position for that string. Anyway, Im not as pleased with the .308 CZ as Id like to be..I dont believe the problem is the gun, I know its me and probably also I need to spend alot of time at the loading bench. Sure wouldnt mind getting that IOR scope while Im at it too.