New Product Announcement: Savage Edge Bolt-Action Rifles.

Savage Arms has been a mainstay of the American hunting scene since 1894 and they have maintained an excellent reputation for that entire time. One of the reasons for this is their high quality and reasonable prices. A Savage 110 bolt gun is considered by most to be in the same class as a Remington, but with a lower price. Even so, their prices are still just out of reach for some shooters…until now.
Savage has announced the availability of the new Edge series rifles. Priced from $329.00 to $424.00, they are available in polymer black and camo stocks and by themselves or with a 3-9 x 40mm scope mounted and bore sighted. The calibers are 22-250 Rem, 223 Rem, 243 Win, 25-06 Rem, 270 Win, 30-06 Springfield, 308 Win and 7MM-08 Rem. According to the Savage Arms website the features of the model are a silky smooth bolt operation, detachable box magazine, dual pillar bedding, a composite stock, 22" free-floating barrel with sporter taper, matte-black metal finish, and a two position safety.
Jeff Quinn at Gun Blast.com already has a review of the .243 version up on his blog and that review and the price already has me coveting one of these in .223 for varmint and small game use.

Product Announcement: TAPCO Galil/Golani Magazines now in stack.

According to an e-mail I received on Feb. 19th, and a subsequent check of the web site,  Mississippi Auto Arms now has the new TAPCO Galil/Golani 30rd magazines in stock. TAPCO Client Relations Supervisor Kevin Stender verified in an e-mail on Jan. 18th 2010 that they were going to produce this magazine and announced it at the 2010 SHOT show. He gave me a 1 to 2 month time frame for them to hit the retailers, and here it is one month and one day later and we have them available.

I am a Golani owner, so I have been watching this closely. I will be ordering one for a test against the Pro-Mag product that has worked so well for me so far, and the factory steel magazines that have not, and will post the results when the test is done. A source of reliable Magazines for this rifle will make it a much more viable option for preppers concerned with self-defense.

They can be found at Mississippi Auto Arms for $15.99 plus shipping.

Equipment Review: Springfield Armory XD-40 Service

Every prepper I know, myself included, views a good handgun as a necessity. I have spent a considerable amount of time in thought on the whys of a handgun and what niche it fills. I have come to the conclusion that handguns are like a pocket knife or a first aid kit on your belt, it’s there when you need it and it leaves your hands free for other tasks. They are also available when other firearms can not be, such as in “polite” everyday society where it would cause a scare to the general public to see gun owners walking around with an AR slung across his back. This ain’t the Third World or Israel, you know.

I thought long and hard in making my decision on a handgun for personal use. Just about everyone in my personal circle advised me to get a Glock, with a few suggesting the Taurus 24/7 series (Which may happen as an extra in 9mm) and of course the venerable and well liked 1911. I have had enough experience with the Glock product to know two things. They are well made and deserve their reputation, and that I do not shoot them well. As I wanted a polymer framed, striker fired pistol the contest came down to three guns for me, the afore mentioned 24/7, the Smith & Wesson M&P and the Springfield Armory XD-40 that is the subject of this post.

I ruled out the S&W first strictly on the basis of cost as it is the most expensive of the three and had about decided on the 24/7 because it has a very reasonable price point and some excellent safety features, but what I really wanted was the XD. And then it happened. I walked into my favorite pawn shop and there it was, new in the box and just slightly more then the 24/7 new from Academy. A two-tone XD-40 service model. To say I jumped on it would be an understatement.

  One of the great assets of this pistol are the safety features. Like the Glock, the XD trigger has a second “trigger”, which I often hear called a butterfly, running down the middle of the trigger. The trigger must be fully and properly engaged by the shooters finger in order to trigger a shot. This not only makes you think when touching the trigger, it also forces you to properly squeeze it, helping you to be a better shooter.

There have been some issues with the triggers on the Glock snagging as they are being holstered and being snagged while being worn in holsters that do not have a covered trigger area. This is by and large a training issue and not a design fault of the guns themselves. As the designers in Croatia used this same trigger and a similar striker mechanism on the XD they decided that an additional safety feature would be in order.

In order to reduce the chance of an accidental discharge they reached all the way back Browning’s design and added a grip safety. The firing system is locked up, the slide is locked and the pistol will not fire unless the grip safety is depressed by a proper hold. There is argument as to weather this is necessary and if it impedes use. In my view it is not needed for professional shooters (Police, military and competitors) as these folks should and usually are well trained, but since it does not really slow down a good shooter I see no reason not to have a bit of extra safety. Where this really starts to shine is for new shooters with little training. That little bit of extra thought that has to go into discharging the pistol could mean the difference between between a good shoot and a tragic accident.

While there is a safety lever on some .45 models, the last safety feature of consequence on the XD is the loaded chamber indicator at the top of the slide, just aft the chamber port. It is a small triangle of steel that protrudes about a quarter of an inch providing a visual as well and tactile indication. What ever handgun you buy, you have a responsibility to learn it’s manual of arms and how to index it not only properly but safely as well. With the XD it is an easy reach with one of the hands to check the chamber indicator as you manipulate the handgun, even in the dark.

Also included in my purchase was a lockable case, two magazines, Kydex holster and double magazine carrier and a magazine loading tool. They are well made. Why Springfield only includes one extra magazine and a double magazine holder is beyond me, but the extras are about $24 from most online sources. I have purchased a Pro-Mag 10 rounder from Academy to carry with it that has proven, in contrast to their reputation, just as reliable as the two factory. I wish Academy was carrying the full capacity (12 round) magazines instead of the California magazines for this model.

Part of my dry practice involves pulling the handgun out while in bed, in the dark. As I pull it I wipe the top of the slide and feel for the indicator, rack the slide as needed and then address the target.

Range time so far has consisted of two trips and 150 rounds. The handling characteristics of this model are outstanding. It fits my average sized hands quite well and indexes to target smoothly. The holster that comes with the pistol has been comfortable and the pistol slides in and out of the holster smoothly. On my frame, this holster hides the XD under a large shirt or my photographers vest with out imprinting on the garment. It has also proven secure on the range. As I have not obtained a CHL at this time, this is all I can speak to right now as I do not carry outside the bounds of the law.

I recently picked up a Condor Tactical Response Bag to use as an everyday carry get home bag. I chose it, in part, because it has a concealed, Velcro lined holster pocket that I intend to use upon obtaining a CHL. This bag conceals the XD quite well and will perform the task quite well.

Shooting the XD-40 is a pleasure. There is recoil and it is active, but it is very manageable. I am able to run Hammers (two fast shots) and Double-Taps (one shot, realign the sights and fire again as quick as safely possible) with ease. Indexing a double-tap and the one follow up shot can be done with no more practice then another gun.

As with most polymer guns the frame flexes a bit on recoil, reducing the felt recoil and improving manageability. I know of no situations in which this flexibility has caused ware on the gun and a failure. In my experience a polymer frame gun will be easier to shoot then a stiff, metal framed gun because of the slight flex in the frame eats up some of the recoil that would be transferred to the shooter with a steel or aluminum gun.

Accuracy has been very good at handgun ranges, shooting nice, approximately 2” groups with the bulk Federal and Winchester ammunition that I have been using. I have run one hundred 165 and fifty 180 grain FMJ through the gun on two different occasions. The 180 gr FMJs group better and are point of aim, point of impact but the 165 gr tended to shoot low despite the fact that they grouped well. As the 180 types are my choice, I can live with it but I am considering a set of adjustable sites and/or night sights in the near future.

In closing, this pistol is proving to be an excellent sidearm that should provide years of service and maybe save me or someone I care about some day.

How useful are tech gadgets for the prepper?

Besides being a prepper I am a pretty big tech nerd. I am a regular user of computers, handhelds and other gadgets in my everyday life and my Go Bag has a small selection that I always carry. Two of the most notable are an iPod Touch and an Archos 605 Wi-Fi personal media player. They are always in the bag and I never leave the house without them. Question is, are they useful in a survival situation?

It’s a simple question, but the answer can be a little complicated. I have already discussed ballistic calculators for the iPod Touch, but that is one use that can be accomplished with a good log book and come up charts. I think, like so many other things, your mileage may vary, but for me the answer is yes, in that these devices help to improve my chances in various ways.

To the shock of most people I know, the iPod Touch is not what I use for media consumption and if it were not for the app store would be redundant and useless. What it did was replace my Palm LifeDrive as a PDA and information management device and various apps have equaled and exceeded the now discontinued LifeDrive. Provided I am covered by Wi-Fi, I can send and receive e-mail, do a minimal amount of web surfing, post to this and other blogs, keep up with twitter and track website stats for myself and my clients. This is in addition to the ballistics calculators, emergency information programs, package tracking programs and other apps I use on a daily basis. I do not now, nor have I ever thought that highly of the iPod as a media player, but the touch is possibly the best PDA I have used to date. The forth coming iPad looks to up the ante for this kind of device by providing a more readable screen, faster processor and a more in depth Software Development Kit (SDK), the set of programming tools that developers use to program new apps.

Another use for the Touch are e-books. There are apps available to allow the Touch to access the Kindle format from Amazon, read PDF files and other formats, depending on your needs as a user. This is one of the assets that really stands out for preppers. Imagine if you will the ability to carry a small reference library from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or downloaded PDF files with you anywhere and all you need to keep it available is a small solar panel to recharge it. A potential treasure trove of info.

I will admit that the other device that I carry regularly, the Archos 605, is primarily for my entertainment. I can carry my not tiny music collection in one place and listen to what ever I want when every I want. In addition to music, though, the 605 plays video. Very well. The larger, brighter screen of the device is very watchable which makes watching movies and other video, like training videos, available where they will do me the most good.

I can take it on camping trips, watch a video on building an emergency shelter and then put what I watch in to immediate practice. The device will also read PDF files and can be charged by a solar panel, so this is another source of vital info when I need it most. Lets not discount the stress relieving power of a little music, a video or a quick game of what-ever-turns-you-on as the world falls apart. It should never be your focus if things are going south, but morale is vital to survival and would make your life feel like more then an existence.

If you look around the internet you will find a plethora of electronic devices that are meant for everyday use and convenience, but that if put to the right use could provide important services in an emergency. The now common USB thumb drive that many use to move files from home to another computer can become a complete office set up in an emergency with the addition of the Portable Apps Suite. I carry three, two in my go bag and one on my key chain. The one on my key chin has scans of all of our important documents and the above mentioned portable apps, including a PDF reader for the document files. The second is a mirror of the first for the Mac in case I do not have my computer and can only access a Mac. The third is for day to day stuff like taking files to the printer or moving files from my laptop to one of the computers at the university.

The great part about using Portable Apps products is security. When you run the Portable Apps on a host computer it runs from the thumb drive and saves all your files to the thumb drive. What this means is that you leave no trace of you presence on the host computer, you e-mail lives on the drive, your web site bookmarks are not listed on the host and you leave no files behind that can be traced to you.

These are just a few things that you can accomplish with modern tech. You will have to come up with a way to power most of them, but solar panels are getting cheap and easily available and there are plans floating around that will help you set up a small wind generator specifically for small electronics. There is little reason not to explore what you can accomplish with what’s available. 

Book Review: “How To Survive The End Of The World As We Know It” by James Wesley Rawles

I have been involved with preparedness for a very long time, since we could be proud of the name “Survivalists”, and I have read a lot of books on the subject. In fact, it was Howard Ruff’s book “How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years” (Website) back in 1980 that first opened my eyes to the need to be prepared if the world as we know it came apart. I was 11 at the time and over the last 30 years I have been involved to some extent.

The late 70’s and 80’s was a fertile time for authors writing on the subject and most of the most important books came from this period. Jeff Cooper, Mel Tappan, Dr. Bruce Clayton and others published articles, newsletters and books encouraging people to be ready. The number of “Survivalists” dropped off bit through the late 80’s and 90’s, but as the millennium approached more people started to feel the need to be able to take care of themselves a number of reasons. Y2K, the September 11th terrorist attacks, Katrina and other events made it clear that we had to take care of ourselves. The economic crisis of the last two years has brought prepping into the mainstream and our ranks are growing by leaps an bounds. Because of this, these old books have become desirable again and are being reprinted. The problem is that they are 20 to 30 year old now and a lot of the info is out of date. Enter James Wesley Rawles.

Rawles’ first book was “Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse” and he is the editor of Survival Blog (Website). I have read the book and read the blog on a regular basis. His new book is “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times” and it is update that the earlier material needed. I did not enjoy “Patriots”, nor did I find it overly useful, but this new book is a must have for preppers. This is by no means a one book solution to the prep problem, but it does distill down just about every topic that is important to us. Communications, shelter, food & water and self-defense are just some of the topics covered and you will get a primer on each subject and then get pointed in the right direction to get set up for the issue under discussion.

His writing style in this book is accessible and readable, easily digested by the reader and the book is organized in an intelligent way. The book suggests a “List of lists” approach to planning and then goes on to guide the reader through the process, which is a good way to use it. It will not give you the definitive answer to any issue, but instead get you started thinking about a subject and point your thoughts in the direction the author thinks is wise. If you use this as a stepping off point and use you own mind to get to the end, then you will be well on your way to being ready.

I will warn the reader that if you are a non-Christian you will find some of Rawles’ attitudes a wee bit offensive. He makes a clear point of his belief that racism is counter-productive and wrong but seems to have a quiet bigotry towards non-Christians. Also, his sense of superiority shines through in some places, such as his use of the work “Memsahib”, a term used by Indian people to describe English Nobel women and officers wives in Colonial India, to describe his late wife. He has my best wishes for his loss this past September, may she Walk In Beauty, but his terminology is telling. In the end, though, a little elitism and a bit of a bias against us non-Christians is a very small price to pay for an excellent guide book. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.