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A Kind Word For the Ruger Mini-14

ArdyDec 13, 2021Adventures,Camping,Current events,Hunting,Military Surplus Blog Posts,Prepper,product reviews0 Comment

In a world that has somehow fallen in love with the AR platform of rifle, for everything from varmint shooting to deer hunting, many people forget that there were other platforms prior to VietNam and the M16.

According to several knowledgeable individuals, the absolute best platform for survival and combat was the M1 Garand, a .30-06 rifle that helped America settle the mess that Hitler and Hirohito started in WWII.  This rifle was great for distance as well as for CQB, (in a pinch). A friend of mine named Dale “Piper” Hickman was in the 5th wave at Omaha Beach on D-Day, and walked across Europe in the 1940’s a privileged guest of his Uncle Sam. Once, while pinned down in a French village by a German sniper, he successfully used his Army issued M1A1 Garand to  counter snipe the unlucky bastard after he observed his muzzleflash in the top of a church steeple. Piper claimed he got three rounds off as he ducked behind the corner of the building he was using for cover, and then flanked the church from an adjoining street and cleared the church with two other members of his platoon. There he found the sniper, deceased from one round that punched a hole in his throat, one in the center of his Nazi face, and one adorning his forehead like a ruby red jewel. Piper was very impressed with the rifle’s performance stating that was the only time during his entire tour that he was able to judge his own accuracy, because no one else had shot at the guy.

However, most soldiers found the M1A1 Garand to be too heavy, it’s ammo too cumbersome, and it’s length too much to try to maneuver. Therefore, the next rifle that went into service was the .308 M-14 rifle, which never saw a lot of combat use other than in the very early years of the VietNam war. There it was discovered that the ergonomics of the rifle were off for jungle combat, and the M16A1 was introduced into service.

However, many people saw the benefit of the M-14 design for sporting and utility purposes, specifically for ranchers. That is why, as the M-14 rifle lost it’s place to the M16 platform, companies like Sturm Ruger saw and opportunity in the design. Ruger therefore took the basic design and repaired the ergonomic flaws and produced the current Mini 14 rifle. This rifle had a very distinct cult following before the attention turned toward the AR platform which evolved from the M16. It was very popular in law enforcement and quasi military organizations like Border Patrol, Correctional Facilities and Fish and Wildlife. Sturm Ruger Co. offers excellent customer service for these rifles, and even offers armorer courses around the world to teach dis-assembly, modification, and upkeep.

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350 Legend: A New Ballgame for Restricted States

ArdyDec 01, 2021Adventures,Hunting,Prepper,product reviews0 Comment

If you are a midwestern hunter in states like Ohio, Indiana, or Iowa, then you know the absolute frustration of trying to pursue big game in what is known as densely populated hunting grounds.

For years we have been restricted to hunting whitetail deer with either a shotgun or a smoky old muzzleloader. The reason for this has always been hunter, (and farmer), safety. In the flat lands where corn and wheat fields abound, there is a real concern with hi power rifles, which can shoot for sometimes up to a mile, missing their targets and hitting people or equipment.

Several years ago, the state of Ohio allowed for the use of handgun cartridges in the hunting of whitetail deer. Recently they have gone a step further and allowed for the use of handgun cartridges that fire from rifles. “Straight -Walled” cartridge rifles for deer hunting are now a common thing in Ohio. In response to this new market for deer hunters, Winchester Repeating Arms developed a fairly good product in the 350 Legend™ rifle cartridge.  This cartridge is basically a 5.56mm necked up to accommodate a .357 bullet. The result is a hard hitting, fairly low velocity round that won’t really go too far.

Many firearms companies are making these rifles to supply the market and they are using every platform to accommodate an individual shooter’s needs.

Henry™ rifle company for instance, is offering the 350 Legend in both a lever action rifle, which is their mainstay, and a single shot edition, which is high quality but also very affordable. Ruger™, Savage™, and Winchester™ all offer it in bolt action rifles, and many manufacturers are offering this cartridge on an AR platform. I personally bought one from the great Lakes Manufacturing Company out of Michigan and installed a Bushnell 3-9×44 Banner scope, and I am shooting 170gr. Hornady SP rounds after having sighted it in at 150 yards with a Winchester 145gr FMJ. According to the box, 0 at 150 yards will produce a 5.2″ drop at 200 yards and a decrease of 172 fps. I usually set up my AR to fire with my nose touching the charging handle as I was trained; however, you might want to back the scope up a bit because the recoil is more than you’ll likely be able to comfortably stand on the tip of your nose… at least that was my experience.

I’ll let you know how it goes in later installments.

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Survival News: Reviewing the Tom Brown Jr. Tracker™ Knife

ArdySep 28, 2020Adventures,Camping,Hunting,Prepper,product reviews0 Comment

I have been a survivalist for about thirty-five years now. I have also been a student of Tom Brown Jr.; having attended his standard class twice in the late 80’s. Back when I started learning this type of bushcraft, it was standard to head out into the wilderness with at least a bowie knife and a tomahawk. Those days; however, are over it seems. This is because my beloved teacher and mentor, Tom Brown Jr. himself, has created his own brand of knife that he has named the Tracker™. This knife, (made popular by a movie of the same namesake), truly seems to be the “be all-end all” in relation to survival tools, and here’s why:

  1. It has a chopping blade. The front end of the blade is not only useful for the fine skill usage such as skinning or separating bone, it’s also heavy enough to fulfill other needs such as cutting down saplings, breaking apart bone, or even throwing if the need were to arrive.
  2. It has a wood splitter. Another function of the tomahawk was that of splitting or shaping pieces of wood to make axe handles, bow drills, etc… The Tracker knife has a back portion of the blade that is perfect for splitting with an offset portion of the blade set aside for precision striking.
  3. It serves as a notch cutter. Often you find the need to carve notches for survival, making a survival bow or building a bow-drill fire set for instance. The top of the blade is serrated to make cutting notches very easy to do.
  4. There are many other functions too. Tiny notches on the wedge section of the blade work to trim cordage or cut fuzz sticks. The front and rear lanyard holes,  (on the handle and the kydex sheath respectively), serves in a pinch as a makeshift bow for a bow-drill, the offset curve of the wedge serves as a perfect surface for fleshing a hide.
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USMC: 7 new boots that are on the list

ArdyDec 03, 2018Adventures,Current events,Military Clothing,Military Surplus Blog Posts,Prepper,product reviews0 Comment

Do you remember the good old days when you were issued one pair of uniform boots of the same exact style as everyone else in your branch of the service? Well, those days are over, at least as far as it goes for the United States Marine Corps. In a recent article written for Military.com, the Marine Corps has, in an effort to continually improve the equipment and clothing of the branch, approved 7 new brands of combat service boots. “”

According to the article, “Marines can now choose from 16 different combat, rugged all-terrain or optional boots. The list of approved styles was released in a service-wide administrative message last week, which was signed by Lt. Gen. David Berger, the head of Marine Corps Combat Development Command.”.

The article, written by journalist Gina Hawkins goes on to give a brief description of the merits of the new approved footwear, as well as a detailed listing of them and their manufacturer.
“These are the boots that were added to the list of officially approved footwear:

Combat:

  • Bates style No. E30502 (hot weather)

RAT:

  • Bates style No. 29502 (hot weather)
  • Wellco style No. E114 (temperate weather)

Optional:

  • Danner Reckoning boot style No. 53221
  • Bates lightweight style No. E50501 for men and E57501 for women
  • Danner’s Marine Expeditionary Boot style No. 53111 (temperate weather)
  • Danner’s MEB style No. 53110 (hot weather)

The Marine Corps first authorized Danner’s Reckoning hot-weather boot last year. Even though it wasn’t formally publicized, word spread quickly when the service started selling the boots in the exchanges, Hamby said.

The last time the list of authorized boots had been formally updated was in March 2016″.
What this means for the civilian military surplus community is that these same boots will at some point in time be made available as surplus. Because, even though the individual soldier will often purchase the footwear of his or her choice directly from the manufacturer, the military will still buy mass quanities of same for research, testing, deployment, etc…

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MILITARY SURPLUS FORECAST: BLAST PROTECTIVE PANTS

adminJan 12, 2018Military Clothing,Military Surplus Blog Posts,Prepper,product reviews0 Comment

Photo by: Army Times

According to the Army Times, the military is rolling out a new set of combat fatigues that we can expect to see appearing on the surplus market very soon. These “Blast Protective Trousers” come equipped to keep the boys safe from shrapnel as a result of IED’s and other detritus driven injury devices. In a recent article it was reported:

The Army is rolling out a new pelvic protector to shield soldiers from painful and potentially life-threatening injuries caused by the debris, dirt and dust kicked up in an improvised explosive device blast. The blast pelvic protector, a lightweight ballistic harness that protects soldiers from underneath, was designed by a team at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development & Engineering Center . It is meant to avoid the multiple surgeries it takes to remove the debris that commonly gets lodged in a soldier’s groin area in the event of a blast. Those wounds are not only painful but can lead to deadly infections. The piece is meant to improve on the groin-protecting flap that comes with a body armor kit, which can only protect against a fragmentation explosion from the front, said Kristine Isherwood, a mechanical engineer at NSRDEC and the project’s lead, in a Tuesday phone interview with Army Times. “It’s meant to mitigate not so much a life-threatening situation as a quality of life,” she said. The harness does, however, cover a good portion of the inner thigh, protecting the femoral artery and making it look like a very short set of chaps or a pair of shorts rather than the diaper-like design of some other blast protectors on the market. That design was the key to the whole project, said lead designer Cara Tuttle, because they knew if it looked too ridiculous, soldiers wouldn’t wear it. “The shape of the design came about due to considering soldier acceptability. If something isn’t designed with this sort of ‘cool’ factor, then soldiers are less likely to wear it,” she said. “The factor that it looks like a harness and not a diaper, for instance, helps make it more acceptable to soldiers to wear.” The team decided early on that it should be worn outside the uniform, rather than as an undergarment or built into uniform pants, for several reasons. “One clear thing is hygiene issues,” Isherwood said. “It’s easier to have a separate piece where the guys can launder their trousers separate from this protective equipment. And you can visually confirm that yes, they’re wearing it, they didn’t forget it over at the laundry.”

The good news is that it is detachable and therefore doesn’t necessitate the purchase of one per pair of trousers as some security devices may. We look forward to seeing these on the shelves very soon.

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USMC JUNGLE BOOTS HEAD FOR LAST BIG TEST: 3 THINGS THIS MEANS FOR YOU

adminJan 12, 2018Current events,Military Surplus Blog Posts,Prepper,product reviews0 Comment

Photo By: RDDUSA

After a five month evaluation period that wrapped up just before Christmas, the USMC is assessing feedback from the 400 odd Hawaii based “boots on the ground” Marines who put the newly designed footwear to the test. Reports say that at this point no company has been specifically eliminated from the original evaluation period, and it is possible that at least two more boot makers will be allowed to take part in the testing. While there were supposed to be four combat boot prototypes made available form different bootmakers, sources say that only two: Rocky Boots™ and Belleville Boots™ were prepared with enough boots for the deployment test period. [1] So what you might ask, does this mean for you the consumer of the finest quality of military surplus tents and equipment? Well, specifically it comes down to things. Considering the fact that military contracts are designed to provide for so many units to be produced for so many dollars, it is inherent that there will be extras left over. These extras will then be provided to you, the citizen consumer, as an auction item for surplus, and this is what you can expect to obtain from this process.

  1. Quality. These boots are being put through the most rigorous of tests by the toughest men and women on the planet. The United States Marine Corps is quite arguably the roughest knuckled fighting force that has ever been assembled and as such the equipment that they use has to be tough too. If you buy their surplus, you are getting military surplus equipment that can take nearly anything tat you can dish out to it.
  2. Consistency. How many times have you bought the same item only to have it fit differently and not be as expected? The good news about military surplus is that it is built to very specific guidelines and as such the manufacturing is going to be the same every single time. It would be rejected by quality control otherwise.
  3. Affordability. Let’s face it folks, the U.S. Military isn’t in the profit business. They are in this to wage war and win those wars. The selling offof military surplus equipment items is done strictly to try to get some of the loss back. The advantage goes to you the citizen consumer.
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