Tag: survival kit

September 18, 2025 – Really… Is It Worth It?

September 18, 2025 /

This is the post that derailed the train. I had penciled this in to come out in mid-July. I moved it to late July and then late August and then I gave up. These were all range trips scheduled that got superseded by something more important. While it is not critical for me to go to the range and certainly not for the purposes of taking pictures and gathering information to write here about it, it has been rather frustrating to plan on doing something and to get overridden by someone else’s poor planning agenda.

I am leaving that all behind now. What are we looking at? It is effectively a 20 gauge shotgun firing 9mm ammunition. This is accomplished by the device in the middle called a barrel adapter. The basic idea is that the adapter fits into the shotgun chamber and that has it’s own chamber for some smaller caliber.

Barrel adapters are not new but they are unique. There are several boutique manufacturers that seem to machining operations at their core. The biggest knock is that they are expensive and made to order. It tends to be $200 per adapter. That is actually double what I paid for the shotgun and so I have held off for a long time. It wasn’t until I discovered this four pack of adapters for a little over $200 that I made the decision to buy.

I have one break action shotgun. It happens to be a single barrel but these things do work in doubles. In theory, you could have one barrel loaded with shot and one barrel loaded with a pistol caliber. Assuming the premise of all of this is good, that is a pretty compelling amount of versatility for situations like small game hunting.

The devil is in the details here. Barrel adapters come in different lengths and you can even get them rifled and unrifled. It would be much better to have a rifled adapter from an accuracy and repeatability standpoint. Mine are 8″ long and rifled. I think it is ideal for the situation, not too long but yet some of the benefits of a longer barrel, kind of like shooting a long pistol. Considering that the chamber is included in the overall length, it effectively makes it a 7-7 1/2″ barrel.

The big thing to consider is that barrel adapters are an ad-hoc situation. I found it helpful to have a prying tool to remove the spent casing. The shotgun shell ejector/extractor will not reach the smaller diameter pistol casing. I imagine that a finger nail would work but you also risk putting you fingers into sharp, hot metal.

Just for benchmark purposes, I shot 115gr 9mm at about a 10 yard target. I found it to shoot about 6″ higher than the aiming point. There are of course many variables that could change all of that. Would a different brand perform differently? What about 124gr or 147gr bullets instead of 115gr? Given that kind of discrepancy, it seems like a 50 yard shot might be closer to dead on. That is good news from a hunting standpoint but this is a shotgun and lacks rifle sights which would make a big difference in accuracy as well.

This kit came with adapters for 9mm, 357 magnum, 45acp and 45 colt. Most shooters know that 45 colt is the same diameter as the 410 bore shotgun, so in this case the chamber is actually 3″ to accommodate for the shot shell. Believe it or not, I do not own a 9mm pistol and so the rest of the calibers I will be interested in comparing velocity data between effectively a 7″ pistol (the adapter) and a regular handgun. That is future work to do.

The first thing a new firearm gets from me is a function test. Does it actually work? I know that this is not a firearm but essentially it is. In fact it is a non-branded use and so function testing is definitely more important. I am happy to report that everything worked like it was supposed to. I am now going to go on the process of testing all the calibers an permutations for future range trips.

This shotgun is part of a set that is no longer made. I originally purchased it to haul around in a survival kit. It is a youth model and I was originally going to start my kids on it but I had several very unpleasant recoil experiences that I would not let them use it as it was too light. That being said, I kind of wish that I did not own it. It was so inexpensive that it really is effectively worthless. Hence the desire to seek more utility from the setup.

End Your Programming Routine: Let me bottom line it. I would not go out and purchase a break-open shotgun to then buy adapters for versatility. I still have a lot of testing to do but I don’t see the accuracy with the sights and the difficulty to reload as better than a 9mm handgun. It will also never replace my 870 as a shotgun. But, since I already own it I might as well have some fun and try something different.

October 14, 2021 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

October 14, 2021 /

I think that I wrote about this early on. If I did, I guess that I will repeat myself a little bit. But if not, I will talk about my journey into self-sufficiency.

I think that the tendency was programmed into my brain when I was a youth. I was a Boy Scout for a number of years and the motto as you should know is “Be Prepared”. That was all fine an dandy, I thought that I was from a camping gear standpoint. When I was in college, I bought some reloaded ammunition at a gun show and the second round was a squib which got the bullet stuck in the barrel. At that time, I had a Leatherman, a small adjustable wrench, a four in one screwdriver and a hammer.

I remember distinctly the moment when I thought to myself that I didn’t have enough tools to do most jobs around the house, the car or anywhere else for that matter. I bought a 3/8″ dowel at the local hardware store and pounded the bullet out from the muzzle and then set about buying lots of tools. With my graduation money, I bought my first socket set from Sears so that I could work on my (now) wife’s car.

After I had mostly one of everything, I started putting together bags that were task oriented. I have an electrical bag and a plumbing bag and then I started adding duplicate tools like screwdriver sets and hammers. Once those were largely complete I started thinking about adding tools to the car so that I wouldn’t get stuck somewhere without tools. That is when I started changing my thinking from just tools but also survival gear.

One site that influenced me early on was Doug Ritter’s site. I definitely looks 20 years old at this point but it started me thinking about assembling ‘survival kits’. One big thing back then was the ‘Altoid tin survival kit’ which was all about having stuff with you when you need it because it is small and compact. This is a long way at arriving to the point that I carry a survival kit in my hunting pack. Today I will take a look at what is in there.

From left to right and top to bottom.

  • paracord – It is said that cordage is one of the most difficult things to build in the wild. This is the stranded core which can be separated into individual strands if necessary
  • bandana – can be used as a bandage, tourniquet as well as traditional handkerchief usages.
  • quart zip lock bag – keep things dry and well as temporarily hold water
  • clip-able flashlight – has a lanyard but could also be clipped to a hat bill
  • small first aid kid
  • Knife sharpener
  • 25# fishing line – Along with the sewing needles, this is primarily for field repair. but it could be put into service for fishing as well
  • zip ties – the biggest use is securing tags to antlers but also field repairs
  • kit bag
  • garbage bag – poncho or shelter
  • signal mirror – making yourself visible from the air
  • fire starters – matches and lighter
  • tinder – wood shavings and cotton balls with Vasoline in a water tight container
  • cable saw – hand operated saw for wood cutting
  • steel fishing leader – fishing or snares
  • Leatherman Wave
  • Small length of duct tape

While this isn’t a course on wilderness survival, you can see that my kit is oriented toward the basics primarily first aid and shelter. Fortunately I haven’t hardly ever needed anything in here. Some of them cross the line between use in my normal hunting and survival, like the knife sharpener. I have used the needle and fishing line before to fix a tent.

Part of the nice thing about this is that the kit can be moved from bag to some other location, car, daypack, etc. Knowing me, I would probably just build another one if that happened frequently. When I started out, I was thinking that I would add one to each scenario that I build but I came to the realization that not every situation is a wilderness survival situation and that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. What I am trying to convey is that building modularly is efficient and convenient when it comes to this sort of thing.

End Your Programming Routine: When I was in Boy Scouts, I was taking the wilderness survival merit badge. Part of the requirements was to build a survival kit, so I already have done this before. When evaluating the kit, he said it should contain whatever you think you need. Looking back today on that statement, I feel like that was kind of a disserve. I think that I need a lot of things more than this. But remember that each added item comes with a weight and bulk penalty. If I were to add anything, I think a way to purify water and more shelter would be in order.