REI is a great source of preparedness gear. They are now running their Labor Day sale and has some really good deals. I just got back from the store and picked up two Freeplay Sherpa crank-rechargeable flashlights for about $19 each. Full list on these is about $36 each. You can also charge them via a wall wart. One will go in each of our vehicles.
The other good deal I got was a grey REI Lode waist pack for $15 (normally $20). I figure it'll be handy when traveling, and I think it'll work pretty well for CCW of a J-Frame or K-Frame in a holster.
If you don't have an REI locally check out their website at www.rei.com.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Marlin 336 .30-30
Last Fall I picked up a 1978-vintage Marlin 336 in .30-30. I bought it primarily for deer hunting, but it would make a formidable defensive rifle. I finally got around to taking some photos. Click on the thumbnails for larger pictures.
It's fitted with a Williams FP336 rear sight and Firesight red front bead. To allow more light onto the front sight I drilled a hole in the top of the front sight hood (not shown).
I finally got around to taking pictures of my 336 tonight. My rifle is a .30-30 made in 1978, before Marlin added the crossbolt safety. I bought it last Fall at a gun show in Valley Forge, for both hunting and SHTF.
It's fitted with a Williams FP336 rear sight and Firesight red front bead. To allow more light onto the front sight I drilled a hole in the top of the front sight hood (not shown). The sling is a British surplus L1A1 sling, which is basically a nylon version of the Lee-Enfield sling. Light, rugged, simple. It's attached using a set of Uncle Mike's QD swivels. I really wanted a butt cuff to carry extra ammo on the rifle. However, most cuffs don't work for lefties, the one I did find was $80. Instead, I picked up an Eagle Industries stock pack. Aside from 5 cartridge loops it has a zippered pouch which I put to good use.
Inside a Ziploc bag inside the stock pack, I keep the following items to help me maintin the gun in the field and to start a fire, in case I get stuck out overnight:
The .30-30 is well suited for hunting medium and big game. Ammo is relatively cheap, easy to reload for, and it's available pretty much everywhere in the US. It's very easy to scrounge once fired brass around the deer season, as long as you're not in a shotgun-only state. The round itself is quite accurate. Recoil in the Marlins isn't bad (I find Winchester 94 carbines to kick too much for my comfort, however). Hornady's new LEVERevolution® ammo extends the effective range of the round beyond 200 yards.
In my humble opinion, a .30-30 lever action, whether a Marlin or Winchester, is a very useful addition to one's survival battery.
It's fitted with a Williams FP336 rear sight and Firesight red front bead. To allow more light onto the front sight I drilled a hole in the top of the front sight hood (not shown).
I finally got around to taking pictures of my 336 tonight. My rifle is a .30-30 made in 1978, before Marlin added the crossbolt safety. I bought it last Fall at a gun show in Valley Forge, for both hunting and SHTF.
It's fitted with a Williams FP336 rear sight and Firesight red front bead. To allow more light onto the front sight I drilled a hole in the top of the front sight hood (not shown). The sling is a British surplus L1A1 sling, which is basically a nylon version of the Lee-Enfield sling. Light, rugged, simple. It's attached using a set of Uncle Mike's QD swivels. I really wanted a butt cuff to carry extra ammo on the rifle. However, most cuffs don't work for lefties, the one I did find was $80. Instead, I picked up an Eagle Industries stock pack. Aside from 5 cartridge loops it has a zippered pouch which I put to good use.
Inside a Ziploc bag inside the stock pack, I keep the following items to help me maintin the gun in the field and to start a fire, in case I get stuck out overnight:
- Swedish fire steel
- 35mm film container stuffed with petroleum jelly-saturated cotton balls, for use as tinder.
- Some .270 - .35 caliber cleaning patches
- A couple of pipe cleaners
- A pull-through made from the orange pair stripped from a piece of CAT5e cabling
- A bottle of Ballistol (originally a RemOil bottle)
The .30-30 is well suited for hunting medium and big game. Ammo is relatively cheap, easy to reload for, and it's available pretty much everywhere in the US. It's very easy to scrounge once fired brass around the deer season, as long as you're not in a shotgun-only state. The round itself is quite accurate. Recoil in the Marlins isn't bad (I find Winchester 94 carbines to kick too much for my comfort, however). Hornady's new LEVERevolution® ammo extends the effective range of the round beyond 200 yards.
In my humble opinion, a .30-30 lever action, whether a Marlin or Winchester, is a very useful addition to one's survival battery.