Comments for Survivor USA

Comment on AK 47, AR 15, and Mosin Nagant by Artoo

Artoo — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:16:57 +0000

its july now and i must say that since the ammo supply in america has mysteriously vanished i am glad i have my A++++ condition m44 mosin nagant… i bought it for about 100 dollars JUST FOR THE REASON that out of all surplus ammo 7.62×54r is the most plentiful and cheap as dirt ammo i have ever used. and to be perfectly honest russian silver tip (steel core AP) is suprisingly accurate, can punch a hole through railroad spike plates and i get 440 rounds for about 110 dollars after shipping. the downfall to the mosin nagant is the rate of fire, the muzzle flash at night (seriously its massive) and the sticky bolt that occurs when the first person to use it after a cosmoline dip dosnt clean it good enough. (causes cosmoline to melt and embed in the chamber walls turning it into what seems almost like glue when you try to cycle the bolt… its an easy fix though)

as far as an ak is concerned, the only plus it has over the mosin is rate of fire… i know there are die hard AK fans out there but when push comes to shove in an “american survival” situation how long can you survive when you got the least accurate out of the three arms listed in this thread? if you get out of the city and you like to eat meat you will most likely scare away your game if you cant get close enough to actually hit it without spoiling the meat. (not trying to offend you joeman i am proud you bagged a deer but you know its not good in a survival situation to rupture endtrails, i know you will get that sweet sweet heart shot soon)

now my opinion of the AR… fun to shoot and the big perk is that you can fit the caliber of round you shoot to your liking being you have the spare parts to do so… cleaning is a bitch… jamming occurs more than i would like. also, i have heard that the smaller rounds (under 30 cal.) shot out of an AR or M16 tends to tumble after entering the target. in vietnam they called the rounds tomahawks because the way they cut through unarmored flesh. but dont take my word for it, i dont have a slow-motion camera or a vietcong to shoot. it might not drop your game on the spot but your game will drop eventualy. and at least you know you can get a good shot in at 150-250 yards. after that its all up to the caliber your shooting.

all in all, me personally, i prefer the reach of the mosin nagants despite the slow rate of fire. the cost of the ammo plus the fact its easy to get.
yeah the ammo is corrosive but if you are trying to survive why arnt you cleaning your lifeline? plus when you go to the range for some practice everyone wants to know who is making the biggest bang.

Comment on AK 47, AR 15, and Mosin Nagant by Joeman169

Joeman169 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:13:19 +0000

BTW I used soft point ammo on that deer…..

Blew a 8″ diameter exit wound in the side of the deer. The entire liver and some entrails came out the other side.

Comment on AK 47, AR 15, and Mosin Nagant by Joeman169

Joeman169 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:11:18 +0000

Howard you are right, I have a Mosin carbine, I LOVE IT. I had a .270 before and this gun outperforms it in about every way. With open sights i can hit red from 100 yards anyday. And I do somewhat agree with the condition you find them, but its luck of the draw. I got a really nice one with no rust and very few wood flaws. This gun is a keeper for sure, while ammo is expensive, its very powerful and plus you could beat someone to death with it when you run out. When i was hunting I got 3 shots off at a running deer about 75 yards away before the guy i was with could get him into his scope, and I GOT HIM. I love the gun but you have to be choosy, my cousin just got one too and his is in much worse shape than mine plus no bayonette.
Thats my opinion.

Comment on AK 47, AR 15, and Mosin Nagant by usasurvivor

usasurvivor — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:49:00 +0000

Howard; I’m also in the west, and the Mosin’s that I have seen were generally in poor, to very poor condition. In the stores at least. Now, could they be cleaned up? Most likely so. They all appear to be milsurp rifles that were stuffed away in a warehouse and just forgotten about.

I don’t have any opinion about them Howard, after all I’ve only shot three Mosin’s. All three were accurate as all hell. The bolts were stiff and grainy, the triggers just plain sucked. Nothing that a little elbow grease and some polishing compound couldn’t fix though. So I am thinking that with a little work these rifles could be really good shooters.

Perhaps my biggest problem with the 7.62X54 is the lack of availability here in the U.S. In the Denver area the only place that ammunition could be found was at Prairie Arms and it was pretty expensive. Granted, that was a couple of years ago and with Mosins going for around a hundred a piece the market may have improved to the point that ammunition is costing less as well as being more widely available.

Still, the theme on this blog is last ditch survival. In light of that, I still cannot recommend any caliber that is not available just about anywhere.

Comment on AK 47, AR 15, and Mosin Nagant by Howard

Howard — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 16:00:03 +0000

I am not sure what part of the United State you reside, but your information on the Mosin Nagant seems a bit inaccurate. I live in the intermountain west region and Mosin Nagants are very common, as far as condition goes, you will most likely find them in arsenal refinish condition(restored bluing,etc) and though I agree that the Finnish models are far superior, I do not see anything wrong with the Russian models. I am curious if you have ever fired one, as you seem a bit biased against them. As far as Mausers are concerned, I am quite fond of them, but the 8mm civilian rounds are quite underpowered here in the US and are rather weak in comparison to the 7.62×54

Comment on Making wet wood burn: 1st in a series by Stick & String

Stick & String — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:35:29 +0000

The key to making wet wood burn is making it no longer wet. Unless it’s thoroughly soaked, usually wood will be wet on the outside only. Being exposed to the temperature of the fire will dry it out where it will burn. That’s why best results are obtained by using long burning materials to start with such as firestarter sticks, or wood that’s been soaked in diesel. Warning-if you pack flammable soaked fire starting materials, made DAMN SURE it’s double packaged in tough plastic zip-loc bags, otherwise it WILL permeate everything with permanent odor and make it flammable as well.

Comment on Survival Firearm Calibers by Charlie

Charlie — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:13:49 +0000

In a survival (stranded or lost) type of situation I can’t leave out a .22/.22 Mag interchangable cyl revolver. S&S pointed out the benefit of the .22 Mag and we all know the benefits of the .22lr. I favor this because of the weight advantage vs. a rifle.

I will admit it is limited if we’re talking all out chaos, rioting or every man for himself type of thinking. Prior to this year I would have suggested that isn’t a realistic scenario. However as of late who knows… which is why I’ve got a S&W .357 too

870 is a good call for either lost/stranded or all hell broke loose. I would want an adjustable choke, I have one on my 870 and it can be set from slug to cylinder and everything in between with a quick twist, making any available shells usefull. If we’re talking all hell then we’ll be scavaging rounds for sure… so be prepared.

With regard to the adjustable vs. fixed sights, in a survival situation I favor fixed because if its your gun you should know where it shoots. Most important reason, obviouly, they won’t move on you. My friends Ruger BlackHawk .357 had a problem with this, and he tried everything ultimately his gunsmith reccomended new sights. We all know one good bump or drop could knock even the finest tuned sights out of whack on any gun, and his example shows getting them tuned again may not be possible in a survival situation.

Stay Armed & Stay Safe

Comment on Making wet wood burn: 1st in a series by Stick & String

Stick & String — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:25:52 +0000

The best combo I’ve ever actually used in an survival situation was 1 of the outdoor “torch” type lighters, and the firestarter sticks as commonly found everywhere-including discount stores such as Wal-Mart. When hunting, part of my standard kit is listed above for firestarting. I was deer hunting a couple years when it suddenly turned cold and pouring down rain in the matter of only a few minutes, getting me soaked and SERIOUSLY chilled. Needless to say, I was totally unprepared except for the tiny survival kit in my pack. There wasn’t any type of shelter or cave within at least 2 miles. I was able to start a fire and get/stay warm until I was able to dry out using a survival blanket to shield me from the rain until it was over. All you have to do is carve thin “chips” from the firestarter stick, and ignite with the lighter. It’s MANDANTORY to carry an extra can of butane as well as several sticks of firestarter. If I hadn’t had those items with me, I honestly feel I would have gotten serious hypothermia-maybe to the point of frostbite or worse.

Comment on A list of topics by Stick & String

Stick & String — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 04:18:58 +0000

I think it would be great to share info on

# Making fire; special circumstances, such as making wet wood burn.
# Primitive tool making.
# Land navigation, without a GPS unit.
# Organization of survival units (militia’s)
# Trapping for survival and self defense.
# Disappearing in full view, or, how to be hidden in a society that has crumbled.
# Expand on the library.
# Expand on proper shooting: mental attitude of survival.
# Advanced First Aid.
# Expedient weapons.

The other 2 catagories MAY get some people in trouble, and I don’t particularly care for big brother tracking me down via internet thinking I’m actively involved in stuff like that. Other than that, I’ll be delighted in sharing what little knowledge I possess. I’ve been told I do know a “wee bit” about certain things so you lead out with subject and I’ll chime in.

Comment on Stashing, or rolling your own..? by stick&string

stick&string — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:46:46 +0000

You asked for my comments-here you go-katy bar the door! I’ve been a reloader since the ripe old age of 12. That’s when my mom & dad got me my first “real” rifle (centerfire) on my 12th birthday,and very shortly afterward,learned quickly how expensive centerfire cartridges were at a WHOPPING 3.40 per box of 20. Compared to what I had been used to paying for .22LR “shells” at about 45 cents per box of 50,these were extremely expensive. The ONLY thing saving the local groundhogs from total extinction was my lack of money for ammo. After discussing this with my fullblooded native american great uncle who was the “gun nut” of the family,I decided that reloading would stretch my ammo dollars. I got the “stuff” and a simple lee loader.
Basically,all metallic reloading has same functions-deprime empty case,reprime case,load powder,and seat bullet. The devil is in the details(as always). Now when reloading,it’s essential to clean the case inside so that it’s exactly same as new,otherwise,you would have powder fouling buildup and the primer wouldn’t seat in primer pocket. That’s where a tumbler and primer pocket cleaner comes in. If neccesary,or in survival situation with no power,you can do without tumbling,but primer pocket cleaning is a MUST and can be performed anywhere.
Now that the cases are cleaned and primed,we need to dispense powder in the cases. There’s 2 ways to do this,weighing the powder charges,and using a measure. Since I’m an ex competition shooter and accuracy freak,I weigh ALL powder charges for rifle. This is not neccesary or desirable when loading bulk,service rifle,or handgun so we’ll concentrate on measuring your powder for reloads. Also,scales to weigh powder charges have to be exactly level and are incredibly sensitive to any wind or vibration. In a survival situation,you won’t be needing match winning accuracy except perhaps in extreme long range “tactical” precision rifle and even then you can get by with good,consistantly loaded ammo. As far as powder measures,the adjustable kind is vastly superior to the fixed amount little “cup” sets. Now be aware that extruded powders,such as the majority of rifle powders,won’t measure properly due to the length of the individual grains.
So it’s still handy to keep a powder scale when loading for rifle if you intend to use “stick” powder.
As presses go,I found out long ago that while single stage presses do have their uses,I HIGHLY prefer turret presses. Single stage presses only hold 1 loading die at a time,while turret presses hold all the dies you need for loading a certain caliber/cartridge + the powder measure. The thing I don’t like about single stage presses is not only does it take longer to load,especially for different calibers,but it IS possible for your dies to go out of the correct adjustment of sizing or bullet seating. I’ve seen this happen many times,usually to others-regardless of loading die brand. That’s the reason I only use turret presses. You can still load single stage “batch” style,but all your dies are securely seated in turret head. In that way,I have a different turret head for each cartridge I load for with all the dies adjusted and locked down,never to go out of adjustment or loosen. The absolute best turret presses in the type where the case holder (bottom of press) remains stationary while the turret revolves.
Bullet seating is fairly straightforward in that you seat the bullet at the proper depth in the case for correct overall length. In handguns,it’s simplest of all because usually,most handgun bullets have a cannalure,or slight depression around case,indicating proper seating depth,where rifle bullets,except for factory style usually don’t have them.
Once you adjust seating depth on 1 bullet,it will change if you decide to use a different bullet later of course. That’s another reason for finding a perfect load and sticking with it.
Componet choices,especially bullet choice,are many and bewildering unless you pick what style/weight/brand/and type of bullet that performs best in your firearm for the uses you expect to use it for. Choose the bullet you want,work up a good load for it,and stick with that bullet once you find the 1 you want. Bullets keep pretty good by simply storeing them in airtight container.
Powder should be bought from same lot either by the 8 pound keg,or several 1 pound containers. Smokeless powder’s #1 enemy is moisture,so remember that when storing or using,leaving powder cannisters open as short as possible while using sliica gel. Store the powder in larger airtight container putting factory containers in it. Again,find a miminum amount of powders that will work in as many different cartridges as possible. Examples would be an fast burning powder for semiautomatic pistols,magnum powder for all magnum handguns and also rifles chambered for magnum handgun cartridges such as .357,.44,etc. Next would be rifle powder for smaller cartridges such as the .223 that everyone seems to be in love with,and larger rounds such as deer/game cartridges like the previously mentioned .308,30-06,etc. If you have rifles chambered for obscure or uncommon calibers like I do,it’s a MUST to have plenty of all componets on hand.
Primers can easily be purchased by the 5,000 case and is highly reccomended because primers are still very reasonable compared to everything else. There are small pistol,large pistol,small & large rifle. The magnum rifle primers are only neccecary on magnum rounds only,and even then you may subsitute regular primers for magnum.
Primers HAVE to be stored in airtight containers,and preferably even temp controlled if possible. Reloading componets may safely be stored this way for YEARS without deterioration-longer than you’ll be alive. I think I’ve about covered most of it for now.