Category: Tacticool

August 13, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

August 13, 2020 /

Late summer (around here) starts to turn my thoughts toward hunting season. If you have ever gone to the rifle range between now and mid-October, it is a mad house of people checking their rifles and getting ready for the shortly upcoming season. Fall bear season is already open, archery deer season as well as doves start in two weeks.

My range as well as many around the country offer a sight in service, as a fundraiser. This is where the general public can come to the range and pay $5-10 and get help sighting in their rifles. Today I am going to offer some insight to the vocabulary and service.

It all starts with a few basic terms, the first is the bullet. The bullet is the projectile that leaves the firearm with the intent to hit the target. Ideally, it would hit in the same place consistently. Bullets have a whole set of terms that go along with them but let us talk about two in particular.

  • Caliber – the diameter of the bullet, typically measured in inches or mm
  • Weight – the mass of the bullet. Mass is measured in a unit called grains. It takes 7000 grains to equal 1 pound.

For caliber, the heavier the bullet the longer it is. It is the only way to get the same diameter of projectile with more mass.

Barrels on rifles have a series of lands and grooves inside. The lands are the bearing surface of the barrel touching the bullet as it travels to exit. The pattern is spiral inside the barrel to cause the bullet to rotate and therefore stabilize the projectile.

The number of twists in a the rifling impacts the stability of different weight bullets. So each firearm has some optimum bullet weight for the best potential accuracy because the number of twists do not change.

  • Rate of Twist – The number of inches it takes to make one full revolution in a barrel and expressed in a proportion.

For an AR type rifle a 1:7 to a hunting style rifle 1:16. Let us decode a little bit further. 1:7 means one full revolution in seven inches. The faster the twist rate, the better heavier bullets will stabilize, but not necessarily the light ones. Hence, the rifle is optimize to shoot a close range bullet weights based on the twist rate.

Sticking with one caliber, 0.22in nominally AR type rifles typically have a 1:7, 1:8 or 1:9 twist rate. This is going to shoot a 55-65 grain bullet accurately. Using the 22LR, another 0.22in bullet, the twist rate is 1:16 for a Ruger 10-22. Those bullets are ranging from 30-40 grains typically.

We have already gone deep for the uninitiated and we have just touched the surface. What I am trying to get across is that once your rifle is setup and sighted in for a particular load, it is best to use that load for the season. People really in the weeds with ballistics would recommend sticking with the same manufacturing lot because you are likely going to have consistency of the components leading to the most accuracy.

I don’t worry so much about keeping the same lot, but I do understand the principles. Knowing your skillset, how your equipment performs and the territory that you plan on hunting should give you the controllable variables of the hunt. The rest is up to you.

July 30, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

July 30, 2020 /

I am sure that people that read this topic are frequently disappointed that this weekly segment has been week on the ‘Mall Ninja’ or even the hardcore gear scale. That is not really my intent, I do want to get more into gear and gadgets when I have a little more time to plan. But, it illustrates a point that far more important than a whizzbang, zombie laser is skills and objectives. Surf around YouTube and you can find people that make art or musical instruments with a machete. You can find people that dig a pool out of the ground with sticks and materials found around the site.

It is likely the case that with thirty other tools, that instrument could look 100% better or maybe last twice as long. The point remains that 90% of the objective is knowledge and desire and the remaining ten percent is the rest. We tend to get stuck in the ten percent and lose track of what we can do versus what we are able to do.

Growing up pre-internet, I got interested in building furniture. At that time, the only real consistent and available information that I was aware of was the ‘New Yankee Workshop‘. It definitely taught one approach to woodworking but I noticed a theme. Being sponsored by Delta/Porter-Cable, some of the projects were built to showcase specific tools rather than the tools complimenting the work. Of course, knowing nothing I thought it was the only way something could be accomplished. That lead to some dubious purchases early on.

One Christmas, I received a book called ‘The Encyclopedia of Woodworking’. When I first started reading through the pages I was really out of sorts and shocked because Norm didn’t do anything like what was being presented. The majority of the book was working with hand tools, saws, planes and chisels in the traditional way. My eyes were open to the possibility that there could be more than one way to do something.

Stay with me people… not every post is home improvement or woodworking related, I painting the background first. Back to ‘Tacticool’. The reason to do any of these things, have gear, etc is to have something to protect or worth using the gear for. Why would you want to bother searching for holsters and belts and making sure that your shirt doesn’t ride up if nothing could ever happen. It is a lot of extra hassle.

If you don’t have a family or friends or a desire for a better future, then preparing and training and learning is all a Red Dawn type fantasy. So, my last week was the usual marathon of birthdays and family gatherings (more about that some other time). Added to that was grieving for the loss of my wife’s uncle and the funeral preparations. I unplugged to be there where I was needed most.

Protecting what is important in your life is rarely guarding it with menace and force. It is being attentive to the needs of your spouse, children, friends and extended family first. It is imperative that those relationships are nurtured otherwise you will end up wiping down your rifles and counting ammunition alone. I am encouraging a change in mindset to define what is important and what it takes to keep those things safe. We will get to gear and firearms soon.

I also have another camping trip scheduled for next week but one way or another, my future is going to change. I will finish this project I am working on. I will intensify my efforts to refine what I have started here as well as put out more effort on job search. I will also spend time building my relationships, sometimes at the exclusion of other things.

June 17, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday and the previous week

July 17, 2020 /

The reason I was gone was that we were ‘bugging out’. This is our first camping trip in several years. One of the reasons is that I drag my feet when it comes to camping is that my wife and I differ on how and what to do. She tends to only want to go to large parks with showers and such which drives me nuts. I have more solitude at home. Another reason is that, I really prefer a minimalist gear experience, but for the family is a day’s worth of prep on both sides to get all the stuff together.

Nevertheless, we went Monday through Thursday with some friends to a more primative and smaller campground in the middle of the week. It was mostly young families, pretty quiet. But let us get back to the subject at hand, bugging out.

Bugging out is a prepper term for leaving your primary residence on short notice. It would be the opposite of bugging in which is sheltering in place with minimal outside contact (kind of like what we have been doing since March). Depending on the length of the journey, you are ‘living off the land’ as you move to get to your final destination.

Why the heck would you bug out? Well some good reasons would be localized flooding for instance Hurricane Katrina or more likely in our case wildfires or you don’t want to be caught in the middle of a daily BLM riot. When the option to leave is better than the option to stay, you would bug out.

Now is a good interlude to inject some reality into the mall ninja line of thought. ‘I’ll just go into the back woods and take what I want. All I need is a rifle and knife.’ First, you are going to be competing with all the other idiots that think this way. Second, during the whole time, I saw nothing larger than a chipmunk so if you don’t have skill and knowledge of the area your chances of success are quite slim.

Camping is a good way to test your gear, skills and mettle. I have really tried to make my life easier by creating containers with dedicated gear so that it is an easier preparation to go. The problem is the stuff seems to grow more and more. Some of the stuff in the back of the photo we didn’t even use, like the generator (nor did we really need). It is kind of nice to have nearly a full kitchen without having to steal from the kitchen.

The way our cache has grown is over the years, if we needed something on the trip, we added it to stay with the camping gear. It is the little things that are probably the most helpful such as tin foil (for our hats), zip lock bags for leftovers and cooking utensils. Sometimes old cookware got rotated out the kitchen and into the the camping pile. We had an amount of basic spices that stay with the gear like onion, garlic, salt and pepper which is nice to not have to remember such things.

It can also be good to work on your improvising skills and not have everything you need. Cooking over a fire is a good example where often it is an exercise in doing with what you have on hand be it cooking surfaces or utensils. I cant say that we had everything we wanted on this trip. Had we been alone and not with another family, we would have done a few things differently but it worked out.

This year, it is particularly difficult. More people are ‘staycationing’ or staying close to home. I read that records are being set for boat sales this year, supporting that trend. The large parks always fill up fast and reservations usually need to be made in the spring time for summer weekends. But, I think that if you get off the beaten path a bit or are willing to travel a few hours, camping can be done on short notice.

June 25, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

June 25, 2020 /

When I started this category a couple of months ago, I had visions of lots of fun. I would measure since the beginning of the year, I have been super involved in two projects that have consumed most of my time seven days a week. However, I have been thinking of this since the fall and that is what is known as the ‘quarter drill’.

Last fall, when my son was on the trap team, the coach had the kids do what she called the quarter drill. The basics of this drill was to put a quarter on the barrel and mount the shotgun without the quarter falling off. They were supposed to do this ten times a day or so with the idea that the mount would become more consistent.

Before we get too far, in trap the shooter generally starts with the gun mounted, so I am not sure what the overall purpose was other than getting used to handling the gun. However, when hunting this can be a very valuable skill. I think that it was also helpful for my son who really didn’t have a lot of firearm familiarity.

I couldn’t quickly find an example video of the quarter drill and I didn’t have time to make one. But I did find this one which uses a flashlight and is of the same end goal of a smooth mount.

Shooting clay targets is fun. I have heard it described as golfing with a shotgun. I won’t go into all of the disciplines today, but it is the kind of activity that you can find a place to rent all of the equipment if you have an interest, but not the gear. There are leagues and tournaments for like minded groups like women or youth.

Just be forewarned that you can get started with a $200 shotgun but there are a lot of $5000 guns out there when you get into these clubs. That being said, don’t be afraid to be and say that you are a new and you will get all the help you want. Have fun and be safe.

June 18, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

June 18, 2020 /

‘Gun guys’ are acutely aware of the history and politics of firearms. I am probably a gun guy, but I am too young for some of the most pivotal moments in recent history. I will summarize in layman’s terms what I am talking about.

The Gun Control Act of 1968.

  • Firearms required a serial number on each unit
  • New firearms could only be sold through a dealer network although private party (used) sales were permitted
  • An official prohibited persons criteria was created
  • Imported firearms are prohibited, they must be assembled in the USA

The Gun Control Act of 1993

  • All new firearms have a mandatory background check
  • Five day minimum waiting period on new firearm purchases
  • All new manufacture of detachable magazines were limited to 10 round capacity
  • Stocks could not have a pistol grip

There has been lots of activity before during and after those two landmark points. But, today I don’t want to talk about laws so much as I want to talk about magazines. Magazines are arguably the most vulnerable part of a firearm from a legislation change as well as a functional point. In other words, the firearm is nearly worthless without a magazine (when designed to use one).

There are states today that limit magazine capacity. Fortunately, my state is not one of them (yet). However, I am convinced that it is a matter of time. There is an extreme left leaning agenda in today’s state government. There has already been talk of introducing such bills but the walk out prevented it this session.

My angle today is to buy magazines if you can. Many are available and reasonably priced. I try to have 5-10 magazines per firearm and I will give you some practical reasons why, not just hiding from the boogie man.

  1. Magazines are mechanical. They foul, break and jam. They can be imperfect and cause functioning problems. If you don’t have more than one or two then you may not be able to determine malfunction issues. Without a magazine, the firearm is a single shot.
  2. I like to have enough magazines to at least load a box of ammunition. That way I can spend time on the range shooting rather than loading magazines.
  3. As I have stated above, laws can change regarding capacity or availability. There is nothing saying that new legislation will grandfather the ‘standard capacity magazine’ but why not have the option.
$10 magazine

I think that when you consider the investment in the cost of additional magazines, it also makes me want to be able to justify owning the firearm. So, for instance magazines for one firearm is $35 ea. I have more into the magazines than I actually do in the firearm itself. Since that one is used often, so I think it is justifiable.

Not all magazines are created equal. I really lean toward OEM manufacture even though considerable savings can be made buying aftermarket. The one exception is in the Military Specification (mil-spec) realm. Mil-spec means that things are made to a minimum specification and to work across platform or brand. In those cases, aftermarket may be considerably better than OEM. They can offer additional features like dust caps or sight windows or just better construction.

So, maybe Dad’s a shooter and you are not or you are one of the millions of new gun owners that has decided to take a step in your own wellbeing. These are the reasons I believe in having extra magazines around. I am looking forward to not working seven days a week and twelve hours a day so that I can get out to the range again.

June 4, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

June 4, 2020 /

There is a concept in the preparedness and concealed carry circles about this idea of ‘Everyday Carry’ or EDC for short. The idea is to evaluate what you have on you or with you, always. Those are the things that you will most likely have if something goes south and we are not talking about a zombie takeover, but a car breaks down, you are notified that a loved one was transported to the hospital or the power goes out at the library (or a zombie apocalypse).

I have run the gamut between less and more stuff. Right now, I definitely lean toward the less end of the spectrum. I am talking about things such as keys, wallet, phone, etc. (add facemask for now). Since I have not been working and have been primarily home this last year, I haven’t had a normal ‘get ready in the morning’ routine which now makes me grab and go when I leave.

Example of EDC loadout

There are forums on the subject and some people get really into their gadgets. There are keychain wrenches and gizmos, some people carry USB drives or battery packs for their phones. I have even heard of someone carrying another cell phone from a different carrier as back-up.

What I find is that there is a limit on reasonable amounts of stuff in your pockets. I have literally had my pants falling down from weight at times. This is particularly true when your pants are too big or too small. Women can put a lot of stuff in a purse but I really dont want to carry a ‘man purse’. There is a different level of gear called a ‘get home bag’ for another post.

The concept of EDC is not supposed to change with circumstance. For instance, don’t go to a bad area of town. You want to avoid a gunfight at all costs. However, we are all human. Elastic waste band shorts just don’t hold enough weight to pocket carry a 12oz firearm and phone and keys and flashlight, etc. Unless you are prepared to look like Batman, adjustments have to be made. Cargo pants can help without looking too out of place.

In the past I have enjoyed perusing the forums to see if anyone has had a better idea or some new piece of gear. I always end up enjoying the pictures but not changing anything because there is limited space so it needs to be pretty high value.

There is one more term that is fairly common and that is minimalist. This is the idea that functions are combined and/or reduced to the minimum. Truth be told, I rarely use most things in the picture outside of my wallet and keys. Therefore, I don’t carry most of those things.

Just remember, with all things urban survival, you want to be the ‘gray man’. You don’t want to stand out in any situation.

May 28, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

May 28, 2020 /

I grew up in a thrifty family. I also grew up in an era (so I am told) where reloaded ammunition could be significantly better than factory purchased. For years, I saved every piece of brass that I ever shot for that one day that I would reload myself.

I think around 2010, I purchased my reloading setup. But first, I had to build a bench to use it. Well that took me three years of barely working on it. I started on a good streak, with a simple idea. Then, the cat had kittens in my shop and you know how projects go… I put it down for a couple of years.

After that, I had to invest in components to actually reload. There are a dizzying amount of powders, primers and bullet combinations. I guess that it took me forty years to start. One of the very useful companies that make products for this niche is MTM. They make a lot of inexpensive but high quality, plastic boxes, holders, cases and accessories for shooting and reloading.

For around $4, a box can be purchased that hold 20/50/100 rounds. They are caliber family specific but not specific to a caliber. What does that mean? The box that I have 45 Colt could also be used for 41 magnum, 44 special, 44 magnum, 454 Casull or 460 Smith and Wesson. So, the same box works for any of those choices. I have quite a number of them and I am going to give some reasons to own them even if you are not a reloader.

They come in multiple different color combinations as well as each box has a set of colored, marking stickers on them. The OCD in me uses different colored boxes for similar cartridges as well as different colored stickers to keep everything organized.

It also should be noted that there are competitors as well, but I do not own any of them as the MTM product is the most available in my market. Another reason is that all of the MTM products stack nicely with each other with interlocking feet to lid connection. I have stacked other brands without as secure of connection with the MTM, so I stick to the same brand because I feel like the organization is better.

To find these things in the store, they are usually around the reloading section or supplies. What I have done is pick-up a couple at a time until I have the number that I want for a particular caliber. Many stores do not stock a high number of these things, so if you want 10 at one time then you are going to want to order them. The most I have seen at one time is six in any store.

The most common variety that I see at the store is the black with clear green top. If you want to color match a particular caliber, my experience is that those are less stocked. I have seen them out at a box store for months in good times. So, you might want to order less common colors, if you are in a hurry to get organized.

If you are a reloader, it seems pretty obvious why you would use these. It is a place to store your product. MTM provides a load card or sticker so that you can reference your box to your particular load that you made. I also occasionally pick up brass at the range and I batch up the brass until I have a full box to reload. But why would you use them if you are not a reloader?

The first thing that I use them for is to break-up bulk pack ammunition into range size quantities. That is unless you are going to shoot 250 or 1000 rounds at a session, I don’t. This is part of the way that I keep track of round count through my firearms.

Another use I have found is a place to put leftovers. It isn’t so much my trips to the range, but it seems like there are always leftover shotgun shells after trap or sporting clays. I have also had days where things are not going so well and I just pack it up for the day. Another leftover scenario is that when you load a six shot revolver for self defense purposes, there is one or two rounds leftover by the time you load up a couple of speed loaders as well. This keeps leftovers from just rolling around.

If you like organization like I do, then give them a shot. They wont break the bank and they are quite useful.

May 21, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

May 21, 2020 /

Today’s subject is the ‘tactical dresser’. It is a place to store your ammo, holsters, (maybe) handguns, magazines and other gear.

Of course, I am being a little tongue and cheek. This dresser is something that we bought and used. It was in the apartment and in the way with all of the renovations currently. I am on the fence about whether to refinish it and resell it or donate it. However, with the purchase of a new refrigerator I had to reconfigure a bit of plumbing. Because of that, I had to move a bunch of stuff to access the piping in the basement and consequently, I stuck it in the dresser to get it out of the way,

Everyone needs a place to organize their junk and accoutrement that goes along with their hobbies and interests. For myself, I find a lot of joy in everything having a functional home. I have probably spent as much time building benches and storage furniture than I have actually pursuing the hobby that they were for. The bench that has appeared in multiple ‘Tacticool’ Thursdays posts was designed and constructed as a fly tying bench. It actually has been used as a reloading bench, but not yet to tie a fly.

I have constructed custom pantry, camping and propane storage shelves. I have made pegboard racks, ammunition shelves and potting benches. Maybe they will make it into future posts. I guess that it is the frugality in me, but I am always thinking about how ‘junk’ can be repurposed to into something that be used to further my organization and make life better. Because as much as I think it is good to clean out old stuff, I worry about donating unwanted stuff is still junk in the end.

The dresser pictured is something that we purchased second hand. It is a quality piece of furniture that was built in the 1980s and is made of ‘real’ materials like American Oak. It is dated, no doubt about it but it is well made and well built.

The dresser we used for twenty years was something that was garbage when I started. Contact paper wrapped the entire piece. There were cigarette burns and scars on the top. When I refinished it, it revealed a mahogany veneer. It turned out to be beautiful and I hated to replace it when we did. But there is a saying, “you cant polish a turd”.

Let’s bring this all around. Look at your cast offs, look at you needs. Make sure you are not making your problem someone else’s. Make sure when you are donating something that you are asking yourself, “would you buy this?” Can you integrate this into something that would benefit you? Make your life better by organizing and utilizing material that would otherwise end up in the landfill.

May 14, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

May 14, 2020 /

Back when I was a youth, I was in Boy Scouts. One of the things we did quite a bit of was rafting, mostly white water. There was a friend of the troop that was an outfitter in the summer time and he would let us use his rafts for short excursions in the offseason. I have gotten the opportunity to raft the Deschutes, John Day, North Santiam, Mackenzie and the the Willamette.

My first trip, was on the North Santiam and when the rafts were all blown up and ready to go, we were handed a fifty caliber ammo box for our valuables. This was our boats’ dry box. Military ammo boxes have a water tight construction and a durable seal that allows the box to float (as long as it is not full of lead).

It seems to me that in today’s world the surplus boxes have all dried up. I think for the one pictured, I paid $3 in the early 1990s. I remember distinctly paying $5/ fifty caliber box in the late 1990s. They can definitely be found online, but you will be paying $20 plus shipping. Fortunately new, non-surplus boxes can be found for around $12-20 if you are interested in picking one up. MTM makes a plastic ammo box for $10. It doesn’t quite stack the same with the metal ones.

I thought that I would talk a little bit about what they can be used for. Well, first of all you can put ammo in them. I like to put reserve ammo in them so that when there is a run, like now I know that it is safe and sound for when I want it. I already talked about using them for a waterproof container, very good use. You can buy trays to put inside the fifty caliber box, that turns it into a toolbox or parts box. I have seen them strapped to ATVs for that purpose. I know that there are plans so that you can build a self contained ham radio w/battery for grab and go use.

Surplus ammo cans come in a variety of sizes. Some of them are very large. Rafting companies on the Colorado have built mobile toilets on the largest of the boxes. They have to pack out waste to minimize the environmental impact of raft tours. I think that the most useful size is the fifty caliber. It seems to be the best compromise between size and weight.

I am always interested in what other people are doing or have seen. So let me know what you have done.

April 23, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

April 23, 2020 /

There is a saying in preparedness “two is one, one is none”. What does that really mean? It means, have redundancy in your life. Because if you count on one item/system and it fails, and you have no ability to fix it or work around it then you are in trouble. The other reason to look at redundancy gives you the ability to breathe and assess the situation. There is nothing more desperate than someone that has nothing to lose… so to speak.

During the pioneering era, it was said that an ax was life. With an ax, you could grow food, contain livestock, cook, build shelter, etc. Without an ax or the ability to use it you were in a tough situation. Looking out a bit farther than that consider a file to sharpen the ax, tools to replace the handle. That is the kind of planning that redundancy leads to.

If there is nothing that this pandemic situation could have taught us, that is having income that is resilient to the economy or multiple sources of income. This can be an intricate and deep subject however, having savings is one way to weather the storm. That is not redundancy per se but using this gap time to build redundancy would be a good idea. If you can get a little bit of traction going, then you have the ability to ebb and flow into making more or less of an income when you need it or want it.

To get a little ‘tacticool’, there is a saying that goes “There aren’t many situations that $5000 and Glock cant get you out of”. I am sure that you are not dense but you can only buy or force your way out of tough situations. I really don’t recommend force except for the gravest extreme self defense. As we all know, we live by exchanging money. It is the number one redundancy to have in place.

In today’s society, it is hard to justify items as a place to focus. Most people have enough in the way of clothes or cookware or even critical tools. I would say a vehicle is maybe the only ‘necessity’. It allows us to work, obtain food or seek help for medical or security reasons.

Nevertheless, examine your situation. You may have others that depend on you such as livestock or pets. What do you need to do to ensure their safety and security. Is fencing critical to protecting them? You might need to have the ability to repair a fence in the middle of the night. Having lights and wire and staples makes your fence redundant.

Municipal systems are fairly robust. In most cases water, gas and electricity will be the last systems to fail. But they do. Having a generator to run your freezer in the meantime so a year’s worth of meat isn’t ruined seems like a good idea. Having alternate ways to cook or heat and now you have the ideas to evaluate.

I hope that this makes an impression on your needs assessment and encourages a look at redundancy. Focus on the things that really matter in your life like food, water, shelter, safety and sanitation. Having a backup Xbox is great but you might get a little thirsty.