Most revolver shooters are familiar with Bianchi Speed Strips and the similar Tuff Products Quick Strip for carrying spare ammunition. Well, the .44/.45 size Quick Strips also work for .410 shells:
While this takes up more room than the 5-round box, it's easier to handle as a unit especially if you're wearing gloves.
A few weeks ago I got to shoot an old H&R folding .410 shotgun that belongs to a friend, and instantly got a bad case of the wants. I offered to buy it from him but he's not selling, and I can't blame him. He owns some property and it would be a perfect piece for taking care of varmints in his garden or to tote while he's walking his land.
So, I got to looking for a .410 break barrel on Gunbroker. I lost an auction for a nearly mint condition Stevens 94 but found a gently used Rossi SS4112811. I picked it up from my FFL a couple days ago and it's in even better shape than described in the listing. It's basically new old stock. The only thing that was missing was the OEM cable lock, which is no loss IMHO. This model is no longer listed on Rossi's website.
The gun weighs about 3.8 lbs. It feels like a toy but it means that you can carry it all day.
Rossi's method of takedown is good. The forearm is held on by the same screw which the front sling swivel is attached to. It's captured so it can't be lost.
Like the H&R single shots made in the past several decades the Rossi has a transfer bar, allowing it to be safely carried loaded with the hammer down. It also has a manual hammer blocking safety mounted on the left side of the receiver. At first my reaction was to regard this as superflous but it will allow me to hunt with the gun cocked, much as one would with a hammerless double or a pump gun. I'm left handed so the safety is easy to push off with my trigger finger. A righty could use his thumb, but for once this is a gun feature that's actually more southpaw-friendly.
UPS should be bringing a stock cuff for ammo and a repro M1 Carbine sling today.
I'm also planning to fireform some .303 British empties into all-brass shells, using instructions posted elsewhere by @Outpost75. The gun closes on the .303 cases but it's a little tight so first I'll sand a thou or so off the case heads. I also have a box of Magtech 2.4" brass shells on the way from Ballistic Products along with suitable cards and wads. Next weekend there's a gun show and I'll try to pick up some Lil-Gun and/or H-110/W-296 to reload with. Apparently, 2400 is also good for reloading .410 but lately it's pretty much unobtanium. And I can always use the Holy Black.
I have several 12 and 20 gauge shotguns so this acquisition wasn't a need, but it should be fun to experiment with.
I've had this Mossberg 500 Mariner 12 gauge shotgun for close to 20 years. It's pretty much a dedicated home defense gun, although I did use it in one or two action matches over 10 years ago. Recently, I've done a few mods to make it more useful for me.
Closeup of the fiber optic front sight and left side of the accessory rail, which is symmetrical:
HPG stock cuff:
When choosing these modifications, I kept Greg Ellifritz's comments in these posts in mind:
So, after a couple different configurations over the years, I think I've settled on my final set up:
I've been wanting to try out 1.75" mini shells due to their reduced recoil and because you can load more in the tube magazine. Mossberg shotguns are easily modified to run with the mini shells with adapters from either Op Sol or Defender Tactical.
Even if I keep the gun loaded with Federal 2.75" 00 Flitecontrol for now, the mini shell adaptor gives me the ability to use reduced recoil loads when I'm older. With 2.75" shells the Mossberg's capacity is 6 +1, but with mini shells it's 9 + 1.
Since I no longer have any small children in the house, the gun is kept in a closet "cruiser ready," i.e., full magazine, empty chamber, bolt locked forward.
Set up this way, the Mossberg will handle any home defense situation I can reasonably think of in my suburban location.
Yesterday I relased v4.0 of my free e-book, Guns for Jews.
Version 4.0 adds a new and extensive section about shotguns. Earlier versions of this text downplayed shotguns but I came to the realization that because of gun control laws where most Jewish Americans live, a shotgun may be the best gun they can buy for defense. For those of us who can readily get handguns or modern rifles, shotguns are great backups.
In v4.0, there’s also a new appendix with tips for helping to secure your home.
Please feel free to forward this link and share widely.
Shortly before the election I ordered a Zastava ZPAP92 Kalashnikov pistol from a Gunbroker seller and had it shipped to a local FFL to handle the transfer. I decided to pull the trigger on it (sorry) because if Harris had won, she'd be more able to mess with acquiring such a gun down the road since POTUS has more leeway to affect imports than domestically produced firearms.
As we now know, the American people resoundingly rejected her flavor of Marxism, so I now consider it a celebratory purchase.
The gun is essentially a "pistol" version of a "Krink," chambered for 7.62x39 with a 10" barrel.
This ZPAP is fitted with "Serbian red" wood furniture and an SB Tactical TF1913 brace attached to a Picatinny rail attached to the rear trunnion.
It came with a single 30 round polymer magazine with metal reinforced locking lugs. Like other mags from the former Yugoslavia it has a bolt hold-open follower, which I'm not really a fan of. Most of my shooting with the gun so far was with Hungarian 20 round "tanker" mags.
A nice feature is that the safety selector has a notch in it for use as a bolt hold-open. It's a little awkward to use but simple and works.
The receiver cover is hinged at the front, with a two-leaf open rear sight graduated for 200M and 400M mounted to it. There's a short section of Picatinny rail mounted between the rear sight and the hinge.
The front sight base has left hand 26mm thread, instead of the more common 24.5mm threads. It's fitted with a Krink-style booster.
Because the short barrel has a lot of blast I also picked up a Midwest Industries Blast Can, which is designed to redirect blast and flash downrange.
Yesterday I put 80 rounds of Vympel 7.62x39 through the gun for a basic function check. As expected it ran perfectly, but shot about 8" low at 15 yards. I used the front sight adjustment tool from an AK cleaning kit to raise the point of impact, but I will do a final zero at 50 yards.
I also tried both the Krink booster and the Blast Can to see if there was any difference from the shooter's perspective. I didn't notice much of a difference. I'll try them side by side again but for now I have the booster on the gun.
The Vympel ammo has corrosive primers so I wanted to do a basic cleaning before packing up. So, I hosed everything down with DRNCH (pronounced "dirnch"), which is imported by Zastava USA from Serbia. It's a CLP type aerosol cleaner with a mild smell. I don't know if it's specifically rated to clean corrosive primer residue, but if that residue is saturated with oil it won't be able to absorb atmospheric moisture to cause rust. I'll do a thorough cleaning today.
So why a Krink? Because:
The bag is a Sarma assault pack, which is a knock-off of a Maxpedition bag.
Going forward I need to zero it at 50 yards and put some kind of a dot sight on it, and run a pile of ammo through it.
Yesterday I patterned some Prvi Partisan Stars and Strips 12 gauge 2.75" 9-pellet 00 buckshot. It's made for Prvi in Italy by Cheddite. I shot them through my Mossberg 500 Mariner pump action shotgun, which has an 18" cylinder bore barrel with a bead sight. It also wears a Magpul SGA buttstock setup for my short length of pull.
With the factory bead the gun shot a little high, so last week I added a Hi Viz clamp on fiber optic front sight that clamps onto the barrel. It has a notch at the front that mates with the factory bead and keeps it from rotating. It just clamps onto the barrel but is tight enough that I have no concern it will come loose.
Aside from better visibility, the Hi Viz bead lowered the point of impact so that it coincides with my point of aim out to at least 20 yards.
Anyway, here are the patterns with the Prvi buckshot.
5 yards:
While the Federal Flitecontrol patterns much tighter than the Prvi, it's a lot more expensive which may be important for people on lower incomes. Regardless of cost, the Prvi patterns well enough for inside the home engagements. A 10 yard (30 feet) shot would be a long shot inside most homes.
Indeed, at typical inside the home range, the wider patterning Prvi buckshot may cause more severe wounds to an assailant than Flitecontrol, due to the more dispersed wound channels.
The 5 and 10 yard patterns also demonstrate the necessity for aiming a shotgun, in contrast to the myth of pointing it in the general direction of a threat.
If you are in need of a portable power station with a built-in inverter, this Anker unit is 50% off today at Amazon.
The last couple of days I've been putting together/revising get home bags/bugout bag to keep in all four of our vehicles, because of the state of the country and potential for post-election unrest.
The bags are more urban/suburban focused than "head for the hills." My wife works in the city, one daughter commutes about 30 miles to a suburban college, the other daughter works a couple miles away but sometimes goes on short road trips, and I work about 25 miles away. We are in SE Pennsylvania near Philadelphia.
Note that the links below are Amazon Affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking through I'll get a small commission at no additional charge to you.
I already had the bags. Mine is a 5.11 Rush 12 (https://amzn.to/47SU17Q), one is a Maxpedition Falcon II (https://amzn.to/47QTUcR), one is an older REI Trail 25, and the last one is an older Nike daypack.
I already had a lot of the contents in my accumulation of camping gear. Some of these are on the way and should arrive in the next few days. The bag in my truck will have some variances but I wanted to ensure the girls all have some basic survival gear.
Each vehicle has a blanket and a spare hoodie or coat, and a knit cap. I also want the girls to keep spare boots in their trunks. Each vehicle will also have a 6-pack of bottled water.
All vehicles have a Noco Boost Plus GB40 Jump Packs (https://amzn.to/3ZRJjw8) in case of a dead battery. The Nocos are in hard cases (https://amzn.to/3zMOgf8). They also provide USB out, so I'm including a multi-plug charger cable (https://amzn.to/4ePGv7d).
Is this a comprehensive, end-of-world survival kit? Of course not. The idea behind these is that if any of us are stuck away from home and need to hoof it we have some basic supplies for a day or two of walking.
First of all, "Yom HaBiperim" is one of the funniest things I've read in the past 24 hours. Mad props to @RUOC90177786 on X for coining that one.
On a more serious note, Israel's amazing strike on Hez'balless yesterday should give everyone in security field pause. It demonstrates that if you don't own and control your entire supply chain you are incredibly vulnerable to attack. This applies to pretty much everything that security breaches can impact. It's not just an issue for NGO terrorist organizations, in the age of globalization it's also a major vulnerability for nation states that depend on a vast array of items from other countries. E.g., IT assets, software, or munitions.
The pager attack was a respin of Project Eldest Son. This was an operation during the Vietnam War in which various types of small arms ammunition were modified to explode when a Communist soldier attempted to fire his gun. It was done by replacing one cartridge in a box of ammo with one that was loaded with C4 high explosive, instead of smokeless gunpowder. This caused pressure in excess of what the gun was designed to handle and it would then explode in the user's hands.
Further back, the British did this in the 1890s and 1930s against tribes they were fighting.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Eldest_Son
Even when buying equipment from supposedly reliable vendors, the problem of counterfeit products is severe enough that even Cisco has a web page about it. See https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/about/legal/brand-protection/identify-counterfeit-products.html
If I was a nation state, I'd look at augmenting IP-addressable hardware with a chip that periodically phones home to a controller, or maybe even sniff network packets for things of interest. It wouldn't have to be a computer or router. It could be a network printer, webcam, or any other device connected to a network. IoT devices in particular are notably insecure out of the box which allows millions of them to be coopted into botnets.
But it's not just network and telco gear.
In the past 10 years or so, China has flooded the world with dirt cheap handheld VHF/UHF transceivers. The Baofeng UV-5R is the most well know of these. They've seen use in Ukraine, Syria, and are extremely popular in the US amongst various groups ranging from Antifa to right-wing militias. They're also popular with ham radio operators. Heck, I have three within arm's reach right now.
The Baofeng is a software defined radio (SDR). That means that much of the RF signal processing that would traditionally be done with hardware is actually done by software running on the radio's chip. That means that within the limits of the hardware, functionality can be added or removed with a firmware update.
For example, until the FCC mandated that Baofeng remove the capability to transmit on FRS, GMRS, and MURS frequencies, the UV-5R could do so even though it is type accepted in the US only for ham frequencies. Baofeng modified the firmware to block transmission on these frequencies on new radios sold in the US, but this didn't affect existing radios.
The problem from the FCC's standpoint is that because of how that Baofeng implemented the frequency restriction, the radios can be unlocked so that they're capable of transmitting on the forbidden frequencies. A search on YouTube for "Baofeng unlock" gets you the info needed to do so. The actual unlock procedure takes about 10 seconds. I've confirmed it myself.
These radios can be programmed using a special USB cable that connect to a computer and a free, open-source software package called CHIRP. This is probably the most common and definitely easiest way to program in frequencies in the radio's memory channels.
Now imagine that the firmware has a backdoor in it that allows features to be modified or cause the radio to transmit, after receiving a specific RF signal over the air. For example, suppose you are fighting an opponent known to use Baofengs. You want to locate enemy fighters. Broadcast a signal that triggers any Baofeng receiving it to transmit a reply. Because it's an SDR you can write the firmware so that the radio's transmit light doesn't come on, so the user is none the wiser. The force that initiated the ping then uses direction finding equipment to locate the radios and then drone strikes their enemy.
I really don't think this is far-fetched.
On the eve of the Holocaust in 1939, the world Jewish population stood at about 16 - 17 million. By 1945, it was 10 - 11 million.
In 2024, it's at about 15.7 million. In 80 years we still haven't recovered the numbers lost due to the Nazis.
We currently make up about 0.2% of the world's population and about 2.4% of the population in the United States.
Antisemitic trope is that the Jews control the world. Just going by the numbers this is laughable, smooth-brained thinking. Sure, we're prominent in many fields, but that's due to our culture which emphasizes learning and hard work. There are plenty of Jewish losers, too.
If the events of the past 11 months have taught us anything, we are a very small part of the world and that a vast number of people don't like us and don't want us defending ourselves. Thus, Israel must become independently able to defend itself. Likewise, Jews in the United States must embrace their Second Amendment rights so they can defend themselves against modern day Nazis, especially those being imported wholesale by the Democrats from assorted third world countries.
If you're a Jewish American looking to get equipped to defend yourself, check out my ebook "Guns For Jews" to help you get started. Get arms and training.
I mentioned this in my post the other day but want to call it out for greater exposure.
As far as I know this originates in a 2013 post at the RadioMaster Reports blog.
Essentially, it's a basic communications plan explaining when, where, and how to use your radios in the event of an emergency where other forms of communication fail.
Last week I took advantage of the most recent Harbor Freight Parking Lot Sale and picked up an Apache 3800 hard case to use with my Yaesu FT-817ND. The Apache case is a Pelican knock-off at around 1/3 the price. It's plenty good for my needs.
The label on the bottom of the case:
This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
After a couple years away from doing anything with ham radio, a coworker has rekindled my interest in the past couple of weeks. He has a GMRS license and is studying for his Technician license. His primary interest is backup comms with family and friends who are within a few miles.
That said, we're hoping that after he gets his Tech license we'll be able to communicate via simplex on 2M with the use of directional antennas at a distance of about 20 - 25 miles. Several years ago a ham friend and I did just that, over a similar distance. I may need to go to a higher elevation, however.
Aside from all that, the state of the country worries me and has had me wanting to setup emergency backup comms with my brother and mom, who live in the same subdivision that I do. It's unlikely that both our Internet and cell service would both go down, but the possibility is non-zero.
Since GMRS covers immediate family regardless of whether they live with you, I've set them up with an unlocked Baofeng UV-5R programmed for GMRS and MURS, for emergency use only. (I am well aware that the UV-5R is not type accepted for GMRS or MURS, so it will not be used for non-emergency commo.)
The variant of the UV-5R that I've owned for years is the discontinued UV-5RA. As far as I know the guts are the same but the case is shaped differently so some accessories like higher capacity batteries are incompatible.
Therefore, today I got a 2-pack of current production UV-5Rs. The package I ordered included:
Additionally, I have order in with Amazon for an additional programming cable, 2 battery eliminators (that allow you to power the radio off a 12 VDC outlet), and a 4-pack of speaker/mics.
Much of this will go into a radio go-bag along with extended patch cables and various coax adapters. I'll keep one my old UV-5RAs in my truck, where I also have a Tram mag-mount antenna.
Earlier this week I received one of Ed Fong's J-Pole antennas to improve performance in static situations. J-Poles are one of the more popular options for HT users seeking to improve the performance of their radios, and Ed Fong's has been well-regarded for years. It's very well made. It worked well for reception in my brief test but I've yet to transmit on it.
I also picked up a 1/4 wave 2M ground plane antenna from Zulu Delta Antennas on eBay. The "Jungle Antenna" is similar, except that this has 4 ground radials instead of the Jungle Antenna's 3. I bought it mainly as a curiosity but from my understanding, J-Poles and 1/4 ground planes perform roughly comparably.
As an aside when I've tried to build a J-Pole I always had problems stripping the twinlead without cutting the conductor. As long as you have a SO-239 bulkhead socket and the ability to solder, I'd find a ground plane antenna easier to build.
But gear only gets you so far. Technology without knowledge is useless. I therefore went over how to use the Baofeng with my brother and gave him a reference card for the 3-3-3 radio plan so that we're both on the same page if we need the radios.
For anyone looking to really improve their commo game, ham or not, I highly recommend the book, The Guerrilla's Guide To The Baofeng Radio, by NCScout. While the book contains a large amount of information that is Baofeng-specific, the meat of it is about technique. Beware of and avoid other similarly-titled guides that are knock-offs.
NCScout's other book, The Guerrilla's Guide to Signals Intelligence, is also worth reading. This knowledge may come in handy if there's unrest following this Fall's election.
I urge everyone to get their communication plans in order well before the election.
It's been a few years since I played with a software defined radion (SDR). I have one of the inexpensive RTL dongles and on Intel based Macs or Windows and Linux machines, there's a variety of SDR applications you can use. I tried a few but they kept crashing on me so I settled on gqrx.
Gqrx is built for Intel CPUs but it runs OK under Rosetta 2 on my M1 MacBook Air.
To install Rosetta 2 from a terminal prompt type this and hit Enter:
$ softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license
(Note: The dollar sign is the prompt, don't type it.)
Then install gqqrx using Homebrew. If you don't have Homebrew installed you'll need to do so first.
Install Homebrew:
$ /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
Install gqrx:
$ brew install --cask gqrx
When you first start it up you'll need to select your device on this screen:
2M and 70cm were quiet in my area last night but I was able to receive the local NOAA Weather station clearly:
Continuing my post from yesterday, tonight I had another one of the KJ Poultry kosher long-term shelf-stable meals I got from Amazon. Tonight's entree was Chicken Meatballs with Rice and Mushrooms.
After heating in the microwave for about 2.5 minutes:
There were five of these meatballs in the dish:
So far, KJ Poultry is hitting it out of the park.
Something I'm trying to do is get more prepping info out to my fellow Members of the Tribe. Observant Jews will follow the laws of kashrut and only consume kosher foods. So, I decided to order some shelf-stable kosher meals and try them out.
I bought a six pack of Kosher meals by KJ Poultry from Amazon:
By now you're probably aware of the massive outages caused by a bug in Crowdstrike. The bug is the result of an update pushed out overnight, which caused Windows systems to become unusable. Unfortunately, Crowdstrike is very widely used by large corporations so the impact is immediate and widespread. A Symantec Enterprise Antivirus update had a similar effect about 12 years ago, but this one is much more widespread.
We are lucky that only Windows systems were directly affected. Crowdstrike also makes endpoint protection software for Mac and Linux. We use it on everthying. Several of my coworkers who use Windows were dead in the water this morning. The fix was to reboot into safe mode and delete the affected file. PCs with Bitlocker disk encryption enabled needed a recovery key from IT. I use a Mac so I wasn't directly impacted but because user authentication servers run on Windows I had trouble accessing some systems.
This could have been a lot worse. If this had affected Linux systems, it potentially could have taken out DNS and NTP servers, and the Cisco Network Registrar systems used to provision cable modems. That would have killed voice, video, and Internet service for any customer's device which rebooted. Recovery would have been greatly impeded because IT personnel wouldn't be able to communicate or get the fix easily.
AIUI, it's taken out several airlines, shipping companies, banks, and various point of sale systems.
It's a perfect example of the dangers of IT software monoculture where one bug can take out a huge swath of systems.
Consider it a sign to increase preparations for grid (power and Internet) collapse.
It's Prime Day at Amazon and something that's on sale is the Frankford Arsenal Hand Priming Tool. I bought one a couple months ago and have primed at least 500 cases with it. Compared with the Lee Hand Priming Tool I used for years, the FA is much better built, robust, and also allows adjusting the primer seating depth.
Using the Lee tool I'd usually lose 1 or 2 primers out of 100 due to them seating sideways. I haven't lost one primer yet with the Frankford Arsenal tool.
Normally it's priced at $79.99 but for Prime Day it's $59.99. It's worth it at the normal price. The Prime Day price is a great deal.
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