Been too long! I apologize for taking my sweet ass time, but life has been busy lately.
Soccer season has wrapped up for my oldest daughter, finishing a book on self-leadership, just took a hunting trip to Africa with a close friend, and we are in the process of closing on our first rental property.
I’ve been itching to write this post for a while so today I decided to sit down and get it done.
If you have read my previous posts, you are getting a better understanding of how I view preparing for future crisis.
The most recent example of this is Covid. But let’s just be honest, we are living in a post covid era. But ramifications of our nation’s response haven’t even been fully realized which still concerns me to this day.
People are getting crazier as inflation eats up their budgetary comforts, the layoffs have begun, and we are seeing an all-out attack on normal everyday decent people being able to defend themselves.
Every day I see something on twitter from meltdowns in Starbucks, road rage incidents, and more criminal activity than any decent nation can sustain before a powder keg goes off.
The central theme of my posts is always preparing for the crisis before the crisis. But also, be practical.
Below you can see the trend for ammo in google searches. Look at the timeline of the spike.
What you won’t see is that around that same time period ammo prices alone rose 2-3x as people began to rush to Academy, Bass Pro, and every online bulk ammo retailer.
I admit I also did this.
I buy a few thousand rounds every year. I practice with my carbine and pistol regularly.
Even with thousands of rounds in possession, I fell victim to bidding wars on Gunbroker to load up more on 9mm and 556. Bulk retailers were drained and people were making a killing on reselling.
As I’ve matured as a gun owner and shooter, I’ve learned a lot of costly lessons. Let me share these with you so you avoid them.
-
Buy quality guns that cover different applications. Then stop.
I have spent a lot of money on guns. I have a weird tendency to get into a new hobby and then go all out trying to achieve above average proficiency and then move on to something new. I grew up with guns but never really got into them until later in life.
When I bought my first AR it was off to the races on buying up gun after gun. In the end, I had just acquired a bunch of mediocre guns that I was constantly looking to upgrade or change things out on.
Here is the most important thing about a gun- it goes bang when it is supposed to- reliability.
Ergonomics are important too. I gave up on Berretta because the safety lever on their pistols isn’t ergonomic in my opinion.
There are a lot of options and a lot of price points. I’m a Glock guy. My buddy is a Sig guy. We both prefer Striker fired pistols.
Find a buddy that has one you are interested in or go to a gun shop and hold one to see how it feels. Test without commitment. Find what you like and then go with it.
All this to say, you can get quality without breaking the bank and acquiring guns you don’t shoot. Stick with big names and for the most part you won’t go wrong.
I’ve seen great shooters shoot budget guns and make dudes on the range look silly.
So, what guns should you own?
IMO, 4 is all you need.
Get these 4 and you are prepared.
-Handgun
-Semi-auto carbine (AR-15, AK47)
-Bolt gun
-Shotgun
I can defend my family and hunt with these guns and calibers in any scenario.
-
Avoid the urge to load them out with useless shit.
I spent a lot of money buying dumb useless shit for my guns as I started off. When I should have been chasing training, I was chasing a new gimmick.
What cured me of this? Training.
Every item you put on a weapon is a potential failure point.
Every item you put on your gun is added weight.
When you start training in tactical settings and it’s 105 degrees outside and your guns weighs 20 lbs, your mind is going to change.
When you start trying to manipulate your gun, laying down/kneeling stuff starts getting in the way.
This led me to be a minimalist. But also learn where I wanted to put my money on a gun.
Today, I primarily run my own builds.
On my rail you will only find 4 things.
Mlok finger stop, rail mounted light, a QD sling mount, and BUIS.
I upgrade my triggers to Geissele and prefer red dots.
I add BAD levers and upgrade my stocks to Magpuls with integrated QD attachments.
This is why building can be net cheaper than buying a gun stripping it and then adding your preferred railing system, stock, etc.
My pistols only get night sights if they aren’t on there to begin with. I tried red dots on my pistol but hated them.
No upgrades on my bolt gun or shotgun.
All this to say simplicity is perfection.
Economies of scale are found with consolidated platforms and calibers
Like everything else, you can get carried away with platforms and calibers.
All this will get in the way of mastering a platform and building a surplus of your ammo.
If you focus on your AR-15, you are going to be able to build great proficiency focusing solely on that platform.
When you stick with 556/223 barrels, you can easily build up your ammo and magazine stash because you aren’t having to distribute resources across different platforms.
All my rails are MLOK so I can strip from another gun if needed.
My handguns are all the same caliber and accept the same magazines.
The calibers I stick with are 556, 9mm, 308, and 12 gauge.
This has allowed me to build up interchangeable magazines and build bulk ammo.
No amount of gear replaces proper training.
Don’t chase a new gimmick, chase training.
I have been blessed to have friends in the military who have gone shooting with me. I’ve learned a lot from them.
My proficiency really took off when I discovered a man who was Delta Force in a town 45 minutes away. He’s well known, has shooting DVD’s and books, but I didn’t know of him until my friend recommended him to me.
Training with him is a blast but challenging. T-intersections, inward and outward opening door room clearing, active shooter response, etc. But before that we worked on natural point of aim, breathing, grip.
The basics made me better.
I would leave the range with a feeling of accomplishment and desire to get better that I never got from buying a new gun.
If you own a gun, it’s your responsibility to be proficient. To seek training so you are prepared to protect yourself and family but also make sure you don’t harm an innocent in the process of that.
In a crisis, ammo is a necessity and luxury.
But one of the most important things is that if SHTF, common calibers can be bartered.
Everyone I know owns weapons chambered in 308, 9mm, 556/223, and 12 gauge. There is a practical reason I run these.
These are some of the most popular calibers in the world and will be more readily available in times of crisis.
I need some antibiotics and my friend needs 9mm. Now we are helping each other instead of pillaging each other.
Know where you live and what people shoot. If deer hunting is popular, maybe you 270/30-06/243 is more popular than 308.
That’s going to be more coveted than .458 socom where I live.
Depending on how much you shoot will determine your need but always buy bulk. The cost savings per round are worth it. BulkAmmo.com is my favorite vendor. Great prices, quick shipping.
As always, thanks for reading and I hope this helps you.
If you enjoy, consider becoming a paid subscriber.