Thoughts on Fighting Gear: Guns

Thanks to all those who have commented so far on the 'question' post from Monday. It's good to get a gauge for where everyone is before launching into any discussion on a topic.

Based on those comments, I wanted to talk through the firearm part, since several folks seem to be figuring that out. There's no reason to worry about a holster before you've bought the handgun, a sling before you've bought the rifle or how you will carry magazines if you have neither.

And, I will preface this and future conversations by recommending having some emergency savings, food and water storage and other basics before diving into the deep end of fighter gear. I'd also recommend an assessment of risks that you see yourself facing and whether you would play an active role in the defense of your community or whether a support role might be more appropriate.

If you are skeptical of the need for a citizen to take up arms in defense of his community, religion, nation or liberty, please keep your skepticism to yourself and do a little bit of reading on both historical and current events.

Anyways, onto the gun talk!

Cast Bullets + Black Powder + Glock

It actually cycles. Very cool.  Odd-ball contingency reloading is fascinating to me for some reason.

Don't try at home...

Project 590A1: Tritium Bead Nightsight

View down the barrel after swapping in a night sight bead.

First up in our 590A1 upgrade series is some work on the sights, or perhaps more correctly, the sight, as the stock 590A1 ships with a plain jane bead front sight.

Bead sights on shotguns are fine and dandy, but when things get dark and chaotic, they can be tough to see. Sure, you might say "Bro, it's a shotgun--who needs to aim?". To which, I call BS. Yes, buckshot will spread, but only a few inches at home defense distances we'd be employing a shotgun in. Aim poorly and you can miss, and who is to say if you will get a second chance to hit.

So, aiming is important, and having every edge to help you get buckshot on target is smart. And that's why they invented night sights, which we're used to seeing on pistols but maybe not so much on shotguns. Replacing a stock bead with a tritium night sight is a simple, inexpensive project that takes only a few minutes to complete.

Project 590A1: Intro

A few weeks back, I picked up a Mossberg 590A1, with some uncertain plans for performing some upgrades to the shotgun. Taking a cue from TSLRF's Project 870 (Thanks Ryan!), I thought I would let the T-Blog Tribe follow along as I went through the upgrades--and some trial/error--to the 590A1.

The 590A1 is, of course, an already upgraded version of the popular Mossberg 500. The 590A1 is the heavy-duty, milspec version of the 500, with all metal parts, a thicker barrel and a different magazine tube--the mag tube opens at the end, facilitating cleaning. Parts between the 590A1 and other 500 series shotguns are largely interchangeable; if you've got a 500 or 590 (or Maverick--I'm pretty sure those are patterned after the 500), you'll be able to follow along, too.

Obama Election AR Lower - Image

Was going through some older stuff and realized that I never posted up a picture of the assembled AR lower that I talked about at the beginning of December, prior to the current madness. Looks like the upper half will be waiting a while, but even if a ban somehow makes it through, uppers should still be legal, as they are a part, and not the serialized firearm. This will be getting a mid length BCM upper of some variety. Parts list at the original post.

Review: Operation Z Vol. 2 - Carbines, Rifles and Shotguns

Note: Please wear a shirt during the zombie apocalypse.

Operation Z Vol. 2 picks up right where Vol. 1 left off - pretty much literally. If you haven't read that review, give it a skim to get some background on the series. Vol. 1 covered handguns, and this DVD delves into carbines, rifles and shotguns. Both were filmed over the same time period--probably a day or two on handguns, and then the next day or two on long guns.

Chris Costa seemed to spend less time on some of the fundamentals as he did the first time around, so you'll get less on things like trigger control, reset, sight picture, etc. He demonstrates proper technique and then hands off. Each shooter cycles through a couple long guns, firing off a magazine while Chris coaches. Most of the shooters are pretty bad, so there's a lot of teaching moments. Costa will occasionally interject, grab the long gun and start showing 'em how its done.

For the viewer at home, this teaching portion serves as a refresher on (or introduction to) the basics. The newbies' errors are fairly obvious and exaggerated, emphasizing why stance is important, why you don't want to flinch, etc. Seeing someone else making mistakes, Costa correcting them, and their shooting improving (a bit) is a helpful learning experience. Newer/non-shooters will of course benefit the most.

More budget firearm thoughts & run down

A few follow-up notes from the post below.

Remember the guy from Doomsday Preppers who almost blew off his thumb? He's selling a $450 collection of 10 caliber adapters for single shots. Check it out here at Soldier Systems. Lots of people trying to cash in and sell stuff for the "survival" single shot. Think carefully before you drop your dough.

Quick run-down of the sub-$400 options out there (for long guns):

One at under $200 that I haven't mentioned - the Hi-Point Carbine, which is hideously ugly, but is also cheap and apparently runs without troubles. I wouldn't buy one, but have heard good things in general about them.

Outside of a $200 price, you get into more pump action shotguns, and you can definitely get into a 10/22.

At around $300, more shotguns. I think $300 is the going rate for SKSs nowadays, too. Sad - they were a great buy at $150. Entry level bolt action deer guns here, too. But, you've generally got to throw a scope on those (no iron sights), so that generally knocks them outside of $400. The Kel-Tec Sub-2000 series of pistol caliber carbines are around $300, too.

At $400, you used to be able to get an entry level AK-47, but it looks like you're at at least $500 for those now. So $400 gives us some pretty nice shotguns, some more entry level bolt actions and we start getting into lever guns. You can also get into some of the WWII submachine guns like the Suomi and the Sterling, though I've heard mixed reviews of the quality on these kit guns, and they're a bit over $400 - around $420 from a little bit of price shopping. But most of the lever guns are a hair over $400, so we'll call it a wash.

So...shotguns at a variety of price points. Shotguns can do a lot - big game, small game, birds, bad guys. The range limitations aren't as big a deal when we're talking self defense, and in anything less than a near total collapse scenario. Heavy ammo issues don't matter as much in a home defense or bug in scenario. If you've got under $400 to play, a pump action shotgun is a pretty good choice.

A lot of people like bolt guns for all-around, knock around guns. As mentioned, you need to scope 'em, but let's say you found a deal on a used one or bought one for $300 and threw a $100 scope on it. Lots will dismiss bolt guns as long range only, but properly set up and with a good shooter, they can work for closer ranges too. Here's a pretty good example from some boar hunting in Europe - he's running a hunting-model Aimpoint and mowing down boar left and right. A bolt gun should have good accuracy, range and plenty o' stopping power if you need it. If you get into reloading or subcaliber inserts, you can press it into service for small game, or rely on a sidearm for bunny duty.

A lever gun ain't a bad choice, and they come with iron sights, too! 30-30 is pretty common, taken a bazillion deer, packs some oomph. Just checked, and with Hornady Leverevolution ammo, the .30-30 is capable of longer range work than I thought it was. Out to 200 yards easily without much in the way of bullet drop. A .357 lever gun is going to be hard to find for under $400, but if you do find one, you can share ammo with a revolver.

With AKs out of the price range, that leaves us with spendy SKSs and the WWII kit rebuilt SMGs. Even at $300, the SKS is a pretty good buy. I like the Norincos, personally.

If you could get a reliable Suomi or Sterling, you'd have a pretty sweet package, and my choice of the bunch for combat purposes. 9mm, so you could share ammo with your Glock, too. Both are heavy, limited production and reportedly spotty in quality/reliability. Sad.

The Kel-Tec Sub 2000 carbines are pretty much "the answer" if concealment is a priority. Neat design folds in half and allows the rifle to stuff inside an average backpack. Not only shares ammo with your Glock, but magazines, too! Light and generally reliable from reports. Cheesy materials, though. It looks like they're hard to come by these days though, and running over $400 on the secondary market - CDNN has them listed at $350, but I'm not sure if that's in stock or not.

Just as you wouldn't expect one tool to do the job of an entire toolbox, different firearms serve difference roles. Keep your future plans in mind as you start building your collection/arsenal/toolbox of boomsticks. What other guns are you planning on getting? If you have zero interest in getting a revolver down the line, then a .357 lever gun probably doesn't make a ton of sense. If you're planning on an AR-15 later on, a shotgun or a .22 make more sense than say an SKS.

Also keep in mind the role that you need the firearm to fill. Are you learning to shoot with it? A .22 is probably the best choice. Want it for home defense? A shotgun or pistol caliber carbine are probably your best bets. Deer hunting? A shotgun, lever gun or bolt gun could work. You get the picture.

Edited to Add: If you're new to shooting, get a .22 rifle. They're not expensive, ammo is the cheapest you can get, they're a great platform for learning on, and it will stay useful even as your collection grows. While you can certainly learn on other guns, you're probably going to enjoy your initial shooting experiences more with something manageable like a .22, and you can get plenty of trigger time for not so much money. The 10/22 is pretty much the best of the bunch.

If you've already got a firearm or two, look at where the gaps in your capabilities are. What will Firearm X get you that you currently lack?

Anyways, there's some rambling from me for ya. Now discuss amongst yourselves!

The Single Shot 12-gauge: Bad choice for survival long gun

I'm a huge fan of Dave Canterbury - the amount and quality of the content he gives away, for free, on YouTube is pretty amazing. But, he's been promoting the single shot 12-gauge as a primary, go-to survival firearm for a while now. He's not alone - seems the single shot 12-gauge has a lot of advocates out there.

Sure, you can pick up a new in box H&R 12 gauge for right around $100 bucks, and used for well under $100. And yep, there's not a lot to 'em - pretty simple mechanically. 12 gauge is certainly quite versatile; from bird shot to slugs to random improvised loads, there's a lot you can do with it. And, of course, there are readily available chamber adapters that allow you to shoot a variety of ammo - from .22lr on up - through a 12 gauge single shot. 

But, there's some deal breakers that need to be called out, that are rarely mentioned by the single shot's proponents.

Every entry from the Signature Apocalypse Weaponry contest!

From COBB - Another excellent entry in our latest contest!

Here it is - all of the entries from our wicked awesome Signature Apocalypse Weaponry contest in one place - for archiving, linking and your enjoyment! Again, great work everyone, thanks for your support and engagement on this contest.

Aside from gratiutous gun/knife/gear enjoyment, there's also some merit in checking out what others are going to be running after the apocalypse. Sure, more than a few entries went extra heavy on firepower, but when you're hunting for zombies, that can be a good plan. We had 32 entries, which is a decent sample size. Of those, we had:

• 13 entries running some variety of 12 gauge shotgun, either as a primary or backup
• 10 entries running an AR-15 or variant
• 4 AKs and 1 SKS in 7.62x39mm
• 9 with pistols in 9mm
• 7 with pistols in .45 ACP
• 6 with pistols in .40 S&W
• 3 running a pistol as their primary
• 5 with .22lrs of some variety - 2 running a .22lr as a primary, three others with a .22 in a secondary role
• 4 entries without any kind of firearm - two from Europe, one new prepper, and 032125, who chose to go with heavy Viking steel
• Biggest bore rifle was SC's .30-06 bolt action; I was a bit surprised to see nothing in .308. Guess JWR needs to get on his battle rifle soap box more often these days.
• Biggest bore handgun was Neuro's .454 Casull Super Redhawk
• 2 entries had body armor (plate carriers with plates)

If we take this as a somewhat representative sample of preppers/survival types, 12 gauge is the most common across the board, AR-15s are the usual rifle of choice, and pistols in 9mm tend to be a bit more common than .45s or .40s, though not by a wide margin.

I've got to round up my gear and channel some of the creativity seen in this contest to show you guys and gals my personal selections for when the Nazi Zombies come knocking. Stay tuned for that, though you've seen most of the pieces at some point or another here on T-Blog.

This will take a while to load - if you've got a slow connection, you have been warned!

Signature Apocalypse Weaponry Update #10

One more updates in the queue after this one! Winners will be announced tomorrow night on Hala-ma-ween! The next (maybe last) update in the $40 a week series is going to be postponed 'till next week.

It's been a lot of fun and we're almost done!

If the dead do decide to rise tomorrow evening, I'm confident that you will all be ready to lay a hurtin' on them!

Remember to support the contest sponsors Choate Machine & Tool, Vigilant Gear, Tom Bihn and Red Dirt Stock Works! Check out their websites and give them your support for helping make this contest possible!

Signature Apocalypse Weapons Update #8

We are officially closed for entires now. I have several updates worth of entries waiting in the wings though, so expect 'em to come fast and furious over the next week. A huge thanks to all those who have entered!

 Remember, there are great prizes from Choate Machine & Tool, Vigilant Gear, Tom Bihn and Red Dirt Stock Works and us here at T-Blog up for grabs! Check out their websites and give them your support for helping make this contest possible!

Signature Apocalypse Weapons Update #7

Today is the LAST DAY to enter the contest. Get it in by midnight tonight or you're outta luck. Winners will be announced next Friday.

I have lots of great entries in the wings, so expect them to continue to hit through next week.

Remember, there are great prizes from Choate Machine & Tool, Vigilant Gear, Tom Bihn and Red Dirt Stock Works and us here at T-Blog are up for grabs! Check out their websites and give them your support for helping make this contest possible!

These entries are some of my favorite so far! Enjoy & happy Friday!

From Recurve Boomstick:

The weapons:
 -My boomstick, a Remington 870 with Mesa Tactical high tube stock, Enidine recoil buffer, Magpul MOE+ with core containing 2 CR123 batteries, and Magpul CTR; Mesa Tactical 6 shell side caddy and rail; Eotech XPS-2 with Magpul MBUS; Magpul MOE forend with MOE vertical grip and Safariland 2 shell shot caddy; Magpul MS3 sling
 - Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm with Surefire X300 light and Trijicon Night Sights
- Two Kabar Combat Khukris

My load is inspired by 3-gun. It is ergonomical and makes reloads, weapon draws, and weapon reholstering as efficient as possible. It is set up in layers, so on a day-to-day basis I can dress appropriately for the “weather”.

Layer 1- HSGI padded war belt:
 -3 Uncle Mike's Tactical 3-Gun Competition Shell Caddies (12 shells total)
-2 Safariland shell caddies (4 shells total)
 -4 pistol mag pouches (4 mags total)
-Safariland ALS pistol holster
 -custom kydex sheath for khukri (sheath set up for left handed standard grip or right handed reverse grip draw)

 Layer 2- Eagle Plate Carrier:
-5 OSOE shotgun pull out pouches (a whopping 60 shells)
 -custom kydex sheath for khukri
 That’s a total of 91 shells (a mix of 00 for close combat  and slugs for anything over 25 yards), 5 pistol magazines, and 2 knives.

Still not enough?

Layer 3- Blackhawk Bandolier, an additional 55 shells.

Compression long sleeve shirt, shemagh, Oakley Flak Jackets for eye protection, Mechanix gloves, cap (gooooo blue team!), cargo pants (with multitool and flashlight), and comfortable shoes round out my ensemble.

From EVZombie:

I can still remember spotting my first zombie, it was in the vacant lot across from my house. I watched it for a very long 40 minutes before it wander into my yard and close enough for me to dispatch it quietly, I could see a few more gathering off in the distance. That was 51 days ago. Fortune had smiled upon me and I found a well secluded food distribution warehouse that had not been raided, that was probably due to the high number of undead in the parking lot and yard and the wrecked semi-truck blocking the road a few miles back. The fences and gates are intact and just need to be secured, after that I can clear the place out and make it my own. I have decided to try and secure it at first light tomorrow giving me as much daylight as possible to get the job done, I will be taking the usual gear.

Weapons:
Kel Tec SU-16E with nine 30-round P-mags, carried with single point sling and fitted with a Tapco short vertical grip and Maglite XL50. Maverick 88 six-shot loaded with "00" 9-pellet riding in a scabbard on my back, with additional 44 rounds carried on vest and belt. Ruger P89D in a cross-draw holster with five 17- round MecGar magazines. 7"straight-edge Kabar fighting knife in kydex sheath mounted next to pistol holster. Gerber Bear Grylls parang machete worn on belt. And last a Leatherman sidekick in my pocket.

Protective Gear:
Steel pot helmet with a mounted red/white led headlamp. C3 Gas mask with extra filters and 60mm to 40mm adapter. Cross-draw tactical vest. Custom personal med kit mounted on the back of the belt. Leather bracers and gloves to protect my hands and forearms which is where about 80% of zombie bites occur. And finally Alta knee pads and steel-toe tactical boots.

I hope it’s enough...

From J.S.:

I'm an artistic soul, and realized recently that all my guns are simply stock. I wanted to create a rifle based on a literary character I enjoy. Those who have read Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series might recall a skeletal rat who is essentially a sidekick of the grim reaper. Well, meet my custom Ruger 10/22, named "The Death of Rats". Rifles of this caliber offer some distinct advantages in a zombie apocalypse. They are relatively quiet, and the small size of the cartridge allows an individual to carry several hundred rounds without being over-incumbered. The round has the power to punch through the front of a zombie skull, but not out the back; the result: brain smoothies! Combine these features with the legendary reliability of the 10/22 platform and high capacity magazines, and I'll wager it against anything else you've got.

The gun itself is from 1991, with a wooden stock and new standard barrel. I painted it black, with a hand-painted rat skull on the butt. I sanded down the front, allowing for the installation of a UTG picatinny quad-rail, optic and folding bipod. As pure embellishments, I added a pewter rodent skull to the grip (originally intended as a drawer pull) and a black buffalo leather custom sling with biker-spikes. I have a tri-mag rig (not pictured) and (2) 25-round extended mags...for a total of 80 shots before reloading. Ideally, I would place myself in a relatively secure location and pick off zombies massing around my apartment. When supplies run low, my little Ratter could be useful in providing cover fire for ground-based team members, or for shifts on watch in a captured prison guard tower. Assuming I'll be looting for supplies at some point, I've included my multi-cam fatigues, folding esbit stove, naglene bottle with steel cup, and a shoulder bag to hold ammo and supplies. The little pouch on the top contains a basic medical kit, trauma pack and some powdered coffee and energy bars. As a defense against the living, I have a Glock 23, with three mags and hollow-point ammo. My AK-47 bayonet converts to wire-cutters, and can take down a chain-link fence. I'm missing a melee weapon, but would prefer to pick something up off the ground...this way, I'm not emotionally attached to something clunky and cumbersome. There you have it, my signature weapon and a light kit built around the concepts of fast movement and concealment...and bad-assery.  

Photo Contest: Your Signature Apocalypse Weaponry

For the month of October, we want to celebrate monster season and the return of the Walking Dead by looking at your go-to weapons for the apocalypse/zombies rising or Commie-Nazi invading. When things hit the fan, what will be the weapons you grab to fight off the hordes of cannibal bikers? Mow down legions of undead? Fend off invading aliens?

Need an example?

Daryl Dixon on the Walking Dead is rarely without his trademark crossbow, a Horton Scout. He keeps a Busse Combat Team Gemini on his belt for up-close-and-personal zombie work, too.

Rick has his Colt Python and a Gerber folder. Shane had his Mossberg 590 and a Glock 17.

You get the idea, ya?

So, we want to see your personal selections for the end of the world as we know it - one picture and a short description of the weaponry. Methods of carry (sheaths, holsters, slings, etc.), rigs and armor would make good inclusions, too.

This is a photo contest, not about who has the most expensive stuff or who made the "best" tactical choices. We're looking at creativity, uniqueness, style, photo quality and cool factor.

One stipulation: it's got to be a reasonable amount of stuff that one person could carry, not the entire contents of your gun safe and knife drawer. No wheelbarrows full of assault rifles - sorry.

Why?
We wanted to do a fun reader contest for October, celebrating the return of the Walking Dead, zombie season, and our favorite firearms/knives/other implements of monster slaying. Reader appreciation and all that good stuff.

What's up for grabs?
We're going to have a first and second place winner. Here's the current prize line up - may be able to add some more fun stuff into the mix:

First Place: A set of (really cool!) custom zombie-camo AR-15 furniture from Choate Machine & Tool, a first aid kit from Red Dirt Gun Shop & Stock Works, a Synapse backpack from Tom Bihn and a pocket survival kit, custom designed by me!

Second Place: A pocket survival kit, custom designed by me!

Stay tuned for pictures and potential additions to the contest.

How do I enter?

• Get your artistic side going. Maybe some meditation and incense, maybe some Metallica to get things going. 
• Break out the good camera and figure out some good lighting/backdrop
• Make sure your toes aren't in the picture! Snap away and pick your favorite one.
• Write up a quick description of the what and a bit of the why. Aim for a paragraph.
•  Send the picture and description on over to: teotwawki.blog@gmail.com.

If you have a screen name/callsign you'd like me to use, let me know, otherwise I will use initials.

By Entering...
By entering, you agree to have your submitted photo and description posted on the blog and linked to on our Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest pages.

You also agree to let me resize the image, if necessary.

Contest will run through...
Entries are open through Friday, October 26th. Winners will be announced on October 31st--Halloween!

We're going to do a weekly or bi-weekly update with entries this time around - depending on the volume of entries - in order to keep the rest of the blog content rolling forward.

Questions
If you've got any questions prior to entering, let me know - glad to help!

Have fun!
The point here is to have fun, talk guns, knives and exotic weaponry -- enjoy!

My Current TEOTWAWKI Rifle

For those that asked, here it is - my current go-to gun for zombies and the end of days. I'm going to walk through the various components and why I settled on them.

I'm a fan of the AR family for survival purposes. They have a ton of good stuff going on for 'em - huge after market support, lots of high quality, professional grade stuff. Mountains of excellent quality ammunition available. Military and law enforcement use 'em. Not much recoil. Magazine capacity. With propper ammuntion selection, 5.56mm is a plenty good manstopper within its range envelope. Ammo is affordable enough to practice regularly and stock up on. Ability to take a .22lr drop in. Ease of maintenance and repair. And despite what many would have you believe, they are reliable as heck when you don't cheap out in critical areas.

I've first pieced this rifle together back in the summer of 2008 - yep, that long ago - and it's been a work in progress since then, buying components when I had the spare money. I'm pretty happy with where it is currently at. There's a couple things left that I want to do or change out, and I've learned some lessons about how I would do it differently now.

It's been an excellent rifle. I've had exactly one failure to fire in the couple thousand rounds of ammunition I've had through it, and that was with a bizzaro no-name garbage magazine that I expected to jam.

Tip of the Week: Striplula

I'm a fan of stripper clips as a fast, low cost way of keeping 5.56mm almost ready to go. The standard loading spoon works, but the Butler Creek Striplula works much better, and it works without stripper clips, too.

Really smooth, really fast way to load up a magazine, especially when using stripper clips. Pop the loader on a  magazine and you can slap in three stripper clips worth of ammo into a magazine a heck of a lot faster than hand loading one at a time--no raw thumbs either! Has a tab for quickly unloading a magazine, though I've yet to master the technique.

It's a bit over priced for what it is, but it's a decent little gadget. Polymer construction, it weighs only 1.2 ounces according to my scale--that's about what three rounds of 55-grain 5.56 weigh. It's compact enough to carry in pocket or admin pouch if you were so inclined. Works on USGI mags and PMAGs.

If you're only going through a magazine or two on a range trip, probably not worth your dough, but if you're loading in volume--carbine course, zombie apocalypse--then it would be a handy thing to have around. Convenient either way. Mine rides atop my 50-cal can o' 5.56mm.

$30.50 on shipped on Amazon--potentially cheaper if you shop around.

Video after the jump.

Review: Aimpoint PRO

I've been in the market for a red dot sight (RDS) for my homeland defense rifle for a while now. I tried some of the low price offerings to much disappointment, mostly around the mount loosening up after a half a magazine. It's hard to suck up paying hundreds of dollars for a little glowing dot, but if you want to put a RDS on your carbine, it's the price you've got to pay.

Why add an RDS at all? Try one out and you'll know why. Both eyes open target acquisition becomes much faster and instinctive, from short range out to long range. It makes a big difference in all around shootability, which is why red dots have become standard issue on the carbines of armed professionals everywhere. If you're serious about setting up your TEOTWAWKI rifle for the best performance in combat conditions, a professional-grade red dot optic is a very worthy investment.

Oil Filter-based Suppressor

The Econo-Can adapter - just a simple thread adapter that allows oil filters to be used as a sound suppressor. The adapter is the ATF registered "device" in this case. Pretty crazy - one to file away. Enjoy!

Drawing from the HPG Kit Bag

Last week I reviewed the Hill People Gear Kit Bag - you can read the full write up here. In the review, I mentioned the high potential for sweeping your arm/elbow during the draw--unless good technique is followed. While we all train and know our handguns, accidental discharges happen to all kinds of shooters, including experts and professionals. Avoiding sweeping a body part during the draw is a general best practice.

Here are two different ways to draw from the HPG kit bag and avoid sweeping your body parts.

First up is the method that I've found myself preferring--it's most like the standard drawstroke and requires only small modification to technique.

I run the zipper to the Kit Bag's handgun compartment open slightly, around an inch and a half open. This allows me to insert my strong hand, pictured here, to begin the draw. You can have the bag fully zipped--there's just an added step of unzipping.

Note the position of my support hand--resting on the abdomen--which matches my standard drawstroke. This keeps the hand clear and out of the way, but ready to meet the strong hand and complete the draw during extension. My support side elbow is kept tucked in close to the body to avoid crossing in the line of the barrel during draw.

Another thing to note is the location of the zipper pulls for the main compartment--they are on the support side, to avoid any confusion during the draw. The handgun compartment zipper pulls (and gap) are on the strong side.

The Venerable Bandolier

A four pocket 5.56mm bandolier and safety pinned charger

Ammunition bandoliers have been around for a long time--from the bolt action rifles of WWI, to the legendary Garand of WWII and the M16 platform in more recent conflicts. For decades, a fabric bandolier of spare ammo was how soldiers carried their ammunition in to battle. While bandoliers been largely displaced by armored vests and magazine pouches, they still hold a lot of value to the  modern survivor.

A bandolier packages what would otherwise be loose ammunition into a mobile package, allowing a fighter to replenish emptied magazines quickly. Unlike loaded magazines, bandoliers work well for deep storage--there are no springs to worry about. They're also fairly inexpensive, though the price has gone up in recent years; current "repack kit" prices run around $6 to $10, depending on the source.

Reader Question: Diversify Handgun Calibers?

The question:
So I have been debating with a friend of mine survival handguns. Me and My wife both would carry a handgun in the event of some kind of Teotwawki situation. The question arose whether it would be better to carry firearms with a compatible caliber (same Ammo) or whether to diversify and carry different calibers. I can see Pros and Cons of both. So I figured I'd pose the question to my favorite survival blog site. What do you think? - Flip057

Thanks for the question!

When it comes to full/"service" sized handguns, performance is fairly similar across the board when using modern hollow point ammunition. You get very similar penetration and expansion, whether it is 9mm, .40 S&W or .45 ACP. All handgun rounds are a compromise and not particularly effective when compared to a long gun, which is why you hear people say things like "your handgun is for fighting your way to your rifle." There isn't a huge relative advantage to carrying one or the other--the performance characteristics aren't so different that there is a pressing need.

If you are scavenging/bartering for ammo in a post apocalyptic world, there is a small advantage provided by being able to shoot two different rounds. If you've got a 9mm and a .45 ACP and all you can scrounge up is .45--that kind of thing. 

However, that small advantage is outweighed in my mind by the disadvantages of to having to stock two different rounds--more to stockpile and no ammo compatibility between the two firearms. You also rule out the possibility of having two weapons with interchangeable magazines. If you get into reloading, you need to buy components and dies for two different calibers. If you're caching/stashing ammo some place, you now have two calibers to stash. Basically, the two different handgun rounds are an added level of complication for little added value.

I would generally recommend standardizing on a single round--generally the one you can buy cheapest and shoot the best. For most people that's 9mm, but your mileage may vary. If you can, I would also recommend choosing pistols with compatible magazines, too.

Individual circumstances could certainly dictate otherwise. If you operate in Grizzly territory, it could make sense for one of you to carry a .44 mag revolver. If you're bugging out on foot, where you have a limited ability to carry multiple guns, I could certainly see an argument for one person carrying a .22lr handgun and several hundred rounds.

Finally, the primary factor behind your choice of handgun should be how well you shoot the thing. If you shoot a 1911 like a champ and your wife is only comfortable with a target .22lr pistol, then screw something like ammo compatibility. Shot placement is what ends fights--especially with handguns--and if the two of you need different handgun calibers to get bullets accurately and quickly on target, then don't choose otherwise. However, in the vast majority of cases, you should be able to find a round that you can both shoot well.