By Ourselves, For Ourselves: Part 1

Originally posted on December 14th, 2004

This will be the first of what I hope will be a long running series titled “By Ourselves, For Ourselves”.
While some are satisfied to discuss and/or complain about how poor of a job the fed and state governments are doing to “protect us”, I am not.

I firmly believe that Americans do everything better when they do it for themselves, and I would like to share any knowledge I may have gathered along my way of trial and error by doing things for myself.

And since the current topic is about the “protection” of citizens, I am going to start with the items that the Founding Fathers had the stability of mind to realize was a birthright in order that we can actually protect ourselves.

Please follow me below the fold

Firearms

I’m going to assume for the sake of discussion that the situation is safe enough for the hunkering down in the home and an evacuation is not on the list of things to do. We will cover that in later posts. Aside from a dirty nuke going of close enough to your home to make it hazardous for residence or massive flooding, home is pretty much the best place to be, since that is where all of your stuff is located. The transport of supplies is both dangerous and time consuming. Freak weather and/or random terror attacks at shopping centers, electrical substations, etc., are not cause enough to run to the hills, and those are the most likely scenarios that will be faced.

This will be quick and easy, but possibly not painless (especially not to the wallet).

To start, count the members of your household who are over the age of 14. You will need one handgun and one long gun, rifle or shotgun, for each of these people.

All others between 10 and 14 become ammo bearers/magazine loaders. The rest learn how to get low and stay there until told. These are relative ages: Meaning that if you don’t think your 14yr old is ready to pack around a firearm, then don’t give them one until they are. Likewise, if your 9yr old can hit pop-cans all day long at 50yds with their .22, you could possibly consider them ready for duty. Thirty round mags in a 10-22 shouldered by a kid who can shoot accurately and is trying to keep people from taking his PS2 makes for good covering fire while you move.

Next, make note of the calibers and buy a minimum of 200 rounds for each handgun and a minimum of 500 rounds for each long gun. Those are the bare minimums to have on hand. Doubling or tripling the numbers when you can is an even better idea.

I keep mine in boxes like this 105 arty crate.

Though for smaller ammo bearers or just ease of supplying multiple locations, .50cal or 20mm ammo cas would be smaller and lighter. 

Done.

OK, maybe not.

While you do not need to train family members to the point of them being expert marksmen, sight function and mechanical function of each firearm needs to be taught. Make it simple, fun and interesting, but not a game.

Remember, the point here is to prepare the household without frightening them. All of the measures in this series are “Just In Case” measures. Hopefully, you will never have to worry about turning your home into a firebase and your family into a combat team, but “JIC”, having the basics down early will make the transition to defending the home fort with arms go a little more smoothly.

I’m not going to start a drawn out ramble on which guns you should own or use, although notations of what you prefer to use will, of course, be welcomed in the comments for a discussion arena. Likewise, if you have any questions on a particular make, model, caliber or type, feel free to drop them in there as well. My personal preferences lean towards SKSs and 870 scatterguns in the long gun category, with 1911s and S&W revolvers filling in the handgun category. I’m not a wealthy guy, so I buy the best reliability and accuracy (in that order) for my budget.

You know what you do best with, and if you haven’t already, you should learn what your family members do best with. Living in a suburban neighborhood such as mine, a shotgun or carbine rifle will do nicely for me. My longest available shot is 425 yards, and I’d have to be on the roof for that; and if I’m on the roof, I’ve grouped up with the neighbors (which we’ll discuss in a later post).

While I do have rifles that can make accurate hits at 400-plus yards, they aren’t my first-thing/go to guns. My distance worries start at my door, then go across the street, then up and down the street in front of me, and then go down the long street leading into the neighborhood. Some folks who live in semi-rural locations have the need for a little more reach, and some really rural living folks have a need for a lot more reach, and they should arm and train themselves appropriately.

Some would say that 200rnds of pistol ammo per pistol and 500rnds of rifle ammo per rifle may seem a bit much, but how long are you going to be without available re-supply? A week? Two? A month? Being buttoned down makes hours seem like days. Being buttoned down worried about running out of ammo seems to last forever. So as the old adage goes, buy it cheap and stack it deep.

After a week or so of no food or water, people start to do strange things and if you are the one who has readied themselves with the proper supplies (we will speak of these later), they will want what you have and will be looking at your door. If ten to fifteen of these hungry folks get together, they probably won’t be very interested in knocking, hence the need for firearms. We’ll discuss things to warn you of their arrival in future sections as well.

One thing I would highly suggest is that you put a light of some type on every one of those firearms. During the recent windstorm caused blackout I discovered that tritium sites only work well in low light conditions. This storm took place at the lowest quarter of the moon and even though the skies were clear, there was little to no moonlight to assist. Very dark conditions such as those make it very easy to lose your front site at arms length. The firearms accessores market is making lights that will attach to just about everything, including 1894 Winchesters. The equipment is out there, you just have to look for it. Let us know in the comments if you are looking for something and absolutely cannot find it. We’ll see what we can do for you.

Notice: There will be little to no anti-personnel tactics spoken of here or in any future essay. Tactics are very hands-on and nearly impossible to relay via the written word. But I recommend taking at least the “Basics” courses from places such as Gunsite, Thunder Ranch and Yavapai to learn what you need to practice.

When you buy your ammunition, make sure that you date either the outside of the case or the individual boxes. You will want to rotate out your ammo supply every five to eight years, if for no other reason than “JIC”. I’ll buy vintage milsurp really cheap, but I’ll only use it to plink with, not cover my ass. Buy quality and recently manufactured ammo.

Remember, we’re talking about being prepared here.

Along with the firearms and ammunition, you will need two other things:

Gun Parts

When I am contemplating the purchase a new firearm, I not only factor in the cost of the gun and a few magazines, but also how much it will cost me to keep the gun up mechanically. I try to make sure that within a month or so of the purchase, I can have most, if not all, of the parts necessary to rebuild the gun if it goes click-no-bang. While it is true that a gun is a tool, I do not plan on using mine as a club after it breaks and I can’t fix it.

Springs are the most common breakable part. Wolff Gunsprings makes good quality and reasonably priced parts for a good variety of different firearms. I have two complete spring kits for every gun I own. I also keep firing pins, extractors, ejectors, trigger groups, pins, etc, in plastic sorting bins like this one.

Brownell’s is a very good source for both replacement parts and accessories. And though some of their stuff can be of ChiCom quality, Numrich is another decent source. Make sure to look and ask around first, though.

Cleaning Supplies

They are a must, if for no other reason than to provide you with an activity to keep away the doldrums of being bunkered (clean only one firearm at a time, of course, JIC). Cleaning rod/Boresnake, brushes, patches and solvent. Really simple. I have one for my pistols and one for my rifles, each get their own stackable and easy to carry toolbox..

Knives

I would also recommend that you have a fixed blade knife for everyone above the age of 14 as well.

Pocket knives and clip knives are OK for those who know what they’re doing, but a good all around knife that hangs on the belt can’t be beat.

And don’t forget a set of sharpening stones, sticks or pads.

And that about covers it for weaponry, next time we’ll discuss supplies (food/water/clothing/etc).