Purchasing inexpensive military surplus ammunition when it was available was one of the best investments I have made. If ammo was gold you can call me Rockefeller.

This is typical of gun shows across the entire country. The price on those AKs was sky high. Not too long ago they were $350 but the demand is there and people are willing to pay through the nose rather than not be armed. Here where I live certain people have gone into the used brass business, going...

Yes sir, thats sky high. Not too many working stiffs can afford that. I use to shoot up a 500 round brick every Saturday when it was cheap. I keep hearing rumors about the manufacturers starting to make more 22 ammunition but its still scarce and expensive. Glad I have a supply from yesteryear.

None of the stores here on the left coast have any 22 on the shelves. Once in a while wally world does get some but its sold as fast as they unload it from the truck. I saw some Aguila 22 ammo at a gun show and they were asking $85 per brick of 550 rounds. Needless to say they didn't sell any at tha...

We have had sesame seeds go bad but this occured after sitting on the shelf for 12 years. When we opened the can the aroma would give you a nose bleed and the seeds on the bottom were grey and all stuck together. Didn't eat any of them, tossed them out for the birds to eat and they refused to consum...

Copper prices spiked about 5 years ago, a roll of 12 AWG Romex wire, used in wiring houses, went from $12.00 to $120. Copper pipe made a similar upward swing. I plan for future events, have a site selected for a large solar panel array and also have enough #4 copper stranded wire to connect the sola...

Right now, just before Christmas and the first of the year, most of the mail order ammunition sales businesses are having sales to unload ammunition so as not to pay the inventory tax on it. Midway, Midsouth Shooters Supply, Wideners, Brownell's, Natchez Shooting Supply are all having sales and the ...

Deer hunting season started yesterday here in Oregon. During the last 3 weeks the local rifle range has been busy with hunters sighting in their rifles at the hundred yard line. Many of these hunters don't reload and leave their empty brass at the range. Yesterday I picked up 2- 5 gallon buckets of ...

Southern Oregon and Northern California are in a severe drought. Last winter we only received 25" of rainfall (56" is normal) and virtually no snow pack in the mountains and now its taking its toll as local springs and wells are drying up. Some wells dried up last January but now many more...

Does anyone have any reloading data for the new Hodgdon CFE powder? Hodgdon's site lists 2 loads for the 45 ACP but they start at 6 grains minimum charge but that seems like a lot of powder for a starting load and I don't trust this information. Don't want to ruin my 45 with an overcharge. This powd...

Update: I have been experimenting with different rifle powders reloading the 223 to find out which powders to use during this powder shortage, as a backup, in case rifle powder remains hard to get. The mildest recoil and tightest groups came from 22.5 grains of IMR 3031. This is a hard powder to rel...

Yes, that would work fine but I want a complete solar backup system eventually and this is just the first phase. I have the panels and the 40 amp charge controller hooked up with an amp meter to monitor the solar panel input and a volt meter to determine the charge condition of the batteries. Next p...

Widener's is having an on line bullet sale, they have 62 grain SS 109 type military surplus bullets for sale. These have been hard to get. I suspect we will be seeing lots of these on the civilian market in the near future as the new M855A1 penetrator projectile has replaced the older style SS 109 b...

Good quality solar panels have dropped in price because of the downturn in sales so I picked up 2- 140 watt 12 volt panels for the price of one. This is enough power to keep a small 12 volt battery bank topped off and ready to power some 12 volt SW radios and CD players I have accumulated over the y...

Well, I guess the handgun reloading will be curtailed until powder becomes available once again. I can't find any pistol powder of any type anywhere in this country. None, nada, zero. On Memorial Day I received phone calls from friends in Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, Nevada, Washington State and Te...

So, do you think this pistol is too large to carry concealed? It may take some time and practice to get accustomed to firing it accurately. To eliminate the cost of ammunition and not deplete your stockpiles, you can always dry fire the pistol in the privacy of your home. This is a good cure for fix...

Nope, no 22 here either. None in the gun shops, big box stores or at gun shows. Powder is scarce and people are using different powders instead of their pet loads because they can't get the powder they like. I'm out of pistol powder but just reloaded 2000 rounds of 45 caliber which I will save for a...

This year I decided to cut up and burn some Douglas Fir saw logs I took down 2 years ago. Couldn't sell them as fir prices are in the toilet due to no new construction. I had split up about 3 cords of fir and have been burning it along with madrone all winter. Last week the woodstove started blowing...

I guess we are all paranoid because I do all of the above, plus, I don't own a cell phone or have "On Star" in my pick up truck so its going to be very hard to track me.

I have VA medical and so far they have never asked me if I have guns. They DO always ask, every visit, if I have felt like hurting myself or anyone else recently. That is the new protocol and if you respond with a yes they must notify the authorities, then, If you have a CCW permit they will take it...

With the current situation happening in the Crimea, our president and the State Department are considering trade restrictions against mother Russia as a punitive action for their unruly show of force. What effect will this have on the price of 7.62x39 and 7.62x54 Russian ammunition? Eastern block AK...

First there came the ammunition shortage, then the reloading components shortage and now its the RCBS tools and and dies shortage. Spent an entire day and drove 200 miles round trip searching all the big box and mom & pop gun shops looking for a large primer crimp removing tool to fit on my RCBS...

Here where I live, no one has the money to prep or purchase gold or silver, just get by from week to week. The chief dictator has closed off another hundred and fifty thousand acres to logging to save habitat for the marbled murolet (bird) so now even more people are out of work. The Round Prairie S...

I hope you can find silver or gold as its getting scarce. Many dealers want to sell gold "futures" contracts as an investment. No thanks, I have enough toilet paper, I want the actual metal in my hands.

I noticed at the local 3 gun shoot that I was the only participant using a sling on my 12 guage. People ask me why bother with a sling? My primary reason for the sling is so it can be removed in an emergency and used as a tourniquet if someone gets shot in a limb by accident, despite all of our prec...