The post Book Review – From Balkans to Babylon: Zastava AKs of Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Iraq first appeared on Forgotten Weapons.
Today is election day. Please get out and vote. I know that our votes don’t mean a lot in some instances, but in many mid-term races they still do. (For example, pro-gun candidate Brandon Herrera is running for Congress in Texas’s 23rd District.) Also, please pray for smaller and more responsible government. – JWR — Soon after last Tuesday’s blog was posted, I heard that Walter Koenig passed away. He will be missed. Ironically, he long outlived Anton Yelchin, who also played Ensign Pavel Chekov in the the much more recent Star Trek movies. (Yelchin was accidentally crushed to death …
The post Preparedness Notes — November 3, 2026 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
The short answer is maybe. To increase your possibilities of survival, read this article. As we were reviewing our food storage and other supplies, my Mom made an interesting observation which resulted in a conversation about why many people won’t survive and a potential solution. My mother is our chief logistician–meaning that she plans and coordinates the purchasing and storage of our food and other supplies. Most women are the logisticians for their family with sometimes over 90 percent of the food purchasing done by women. When our truck or a semi-truck needs to be unloaded, the men in my …
The post Will You Survive?, by Single Farmer appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
The following recipe for Hamburger A L’Italienne is from Good Housekeeping’s Book of Good Meals. This 1927-copyrighted book (now in public domain) is one of the 11 books that I paid to have professionally scanned that will be added to the extensive library of bonus books included with the SurvivalBlog 2027 Edition waterproof archive USB sticks. (Available for ordering in mid-January, 2027.) Ingredients 2 peeled onions 1 cupful salad oil 1 pound hamburg steak 2 cupfuls stewed tomatoes 1 cupful grated cheese 1 teaspoonful salt 1/2 teaspoonful pepper 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 cupful egg noodles Directions Brown the onions, …
The post Recipe of the Week: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
Today’s graphic is a map that shows States with a smaller population (in brown) than Los Angeles metropolitan area. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) The thumbnail image below is click-expandable. — If any SurvivalBlog readers have personally taken or otherwise hold the copyright to a particularly nice landscape photo or other photo of particular interest to preppers that is in a wide horizontal format (to match our blog template) then please send it in as an e-mail attachment, and I will consider posting it as a Graphic of the Week, or as a Top Note photo. I can of …
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In Economics & Investing Media of the Week we feature photos, charts, graphs, maps, video links, and news items of interest to preppers. Economics & Investing Links of Interest Binance hacked: Bitcoin exchange hit by ‘biggest crypto hack in history’ – $5bn. Binance hack: Investigators in a ‘cat and mouse game’ to recover $6.3 billion in stolen funds. Precious metals prices rebounded on Monday (November 1, 2026.) Gold was up 1.96% to $3,967.70, and Silver up 3.31% to $51.56. Mapped: Where Data Centers Have Raised Power Prices the Most. Published by the WSJ last Thursday (19/29): Alphabet Sheds Half a Trillion in …
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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, even more AI predictions. AI Safety Leader Says AI Will Kill Us All in the Next 10 Years Over at YahooTech: An AI safety leader says he stopped …
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Our weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. Pictured above is world travel adventurer Karl Bushby. — First up, in The New York Times: After 28 Years Walking Across the Globe, He’s Almost Home. A brief excerpt: “Earlier this month, he swam across the English Channel, arriving in his home country after spending half his life away. His trek began in southern …
The post SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
REDOUBT NEWS LINKS This weekly column features media from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. Idaho: Amazon Prime Air drone delivery launches in Nampa. Montana: Friday-night Eureka shooting leaves 2 injured, 2 dead including a deputy. Ambition Strikes: Finishing The Roof on our Abandoned Mansion. Inside Idaho’s Yankum Ropes: New Burley facility fuels off-roading growth. Wyoming Game and Fish speaks on “unusual” wildlife roaming in 2026. 3 dead after helicopters collide midair in Oregon. Montana Public Service Commission to take …
The post SurvivalBlog’s American Redoubt Media of the Week appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in the Odds …
The post Editors’ Prepping Progress appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: Sarah Connor Says: I Tried To Warn You 35 Years Ago, But Now You’re Using AI and You’re Thinking: “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks! Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.
The post JWR’s Meme Of The Week: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
“We must be as stealthy as rats in the wainscoting of their society. It was easier in the old days, of course, and society had more rats when the rules were looser, just as old wooden buildings have more rats than concrete buildings. But there are rats in the building now as well. Now that society is all ferrocrete and stainless steel there are fewer gaps in the joints. It takes a very smart rat indeed to find these openings. Only a stainless steel rat can be at home in this environment…” – Harry Harrison, The Stainless Steel Rat
The post Editors’ Quote: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.
Tomorrow is a state holiday in Louisiana. The schools are closed and the mail won't run. The polls will be open, though. Tomorrow is the last day for voting in Louisiana. Early voting was several weeks ago and mail-in ballots are due no later than COB today.
The Democrats are hoping for a blue wave that will flip the House and the Senate. We'll see. They have the history of the midterms, but several of their candidates are batshit crazy. Here in Louisiana we have a machine Republican that not a lot of people are happy with, versus an old-style Democrat. The Democrat is a farmer from North Louisiana. The Republican is a white woman; the Democrat is a black man. It is an interesting conjunction, and many people say that the race is close.
I voted early, which is a lot easier than going to the poll on voting day. I'll be watching tomorrow, paying attention to Michigan, Texas, Alaska and Louisiana. Will Congress change hands tomorrow?
Reloaders have made their own dippers for measuring powder charges for decades. I made a dipper from an empty .22 Long Rifle case and some copper wire, and tried it out with three different fast burning pistol powders: Accurate No.2 (AAC-2), Alliant Bullseye, and Hodgdon Titegroup.
I was hoping to get a dipper that would throw very small charges suitable for use in small, low pressure cartridges like .32 S&W Long. However, the charge weights are a bit higher than I'd wanted.
To measure, I threw 10 charges of each powder and weighed them individually on a Frankford Arsenal digital scale. I then took the average of those 10 charges.
My results (It is likely that yours will vary, see below!):
To put these into perspective, with AAC-2 or Bulleye, these charges are good for loading .38 Special 148 grain wadcutters. They'd be light loads under a 158 grain semiwadcutter or round nose bullet, because those aren't seated as deeply in the case, thus lowering chamber pressure.
In .32 H&R Magnum, 3.0 grains of AAC-2 would be a mild load with a 100 grain lead bullet. Likewise, 3.0 grains of Bullseye would be a mild load with 96 - 100 grain lead round nose bullet.
The Titegroup load would approximate a .38 Special (not +P) 158 grain service load. It could also be used to load 85 grain JHPs in .32 H&R Magnum.
VERY IMPORTANT WARNING:
Before you rely on this data consult with one or more loading manuals. Use at your own risk.
If you try this make sure to create your own charge table. The amount of powder a dipper will measure will vary depending on the case used, the manufacturing lot of the powder, and your technique.
Since this dipper measures out charges larger than what I was after, I plan to make another one with a .22 Short case to see what that gets me.

Pulsar has just released the Thermion 3 LRF, the third generation of its classic-design thermal riflescope.
In mid-October an apparently mentally ill sixteen-year-old entered an elementary school in Bend, Oregon and murdered three children and an adult and wounded two more victims. His murder spree was cut short when a thirty-something father of two young students there happened to be passing by, saw the gunman approaching the school, and stopped his […]The post Unique Prototype FN FAL in .30 Carbine first appeared on Forgotten Weapons.
Charles County Sheriff’s detectives are investigating a homicide that occurred early this morning, October 31, at The Cut Bar & Restaurant, located at 2570 Business Park Court in Waldorf. At approximately 1:46 a.m., officers responded to the establishment for a reported stabbing and shooting. The preliminary investigation indicates an altercation occurred between two men inside the bar. During the confrontation, one of the men produced a knife and threatened the other man. A private security guard assigned to the business attempted to intervene and gain control of the suspect’s hand and the knife. As the confrontation continued, the suspect stabbed the victim once in the abdomen. As the suspect appeared to make another attempt to stab the victim, the security guard discharged his firearm, striking the suspect once in the chest. The suspect walked outside the establishment and collapsed in the parking lot. Responding officers located him with the knife still in his hand. Officers and emergency medical personnel provided medical assistance; however, he was pronounced deceased at the scene.
According to court filings described by The Columbus Dispatch, officers who arrived found Cusmaan lying partially inside the right rear passenger seat of a 2016 Chrysler 200 with a gunshot wound, and he was later pronounced dead by Mifflin Township medics. Investigators reviewing surveillance footage allege Ibrahim got out of the Chrysler from the rear driver’s-side door and began firing a handgun before fleeing, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Court records also state that Omar, an employee of the mosque, was inside the building while a funeral service was being held before he followed several juveniles involved in the incident, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Omar was then seen pulling a handgun from beneath his thobe and firing at one of the juvenile suspects, according to those records as reported by The Columbus Dispatch.
By Dave Workman On the eve of a historic vote on whether Massachusetts citizens will keep or repeal onerous Chapter 135 governing gun law in the Commonwealth, the executive director of the Massachusetts Gun Owners Action League (GOAL) got a startling surprise when he tried to download gun laws already in effect in the Bay […]
The post On Eve of Historic Vote in Mass., GOAL Exec Stunned by Gun Law Search appeared first on Liberty Park Press.
The post New Headstamp Book: The Real Schmeissers (MP18 to MP41) first appeared on Forgotten Weapons.
POLK COUNTY, Fla. - A knife-wielding Kissimmee woman who is in the country illegally was arrested after threatening customers with a knife and being held at gunpoint by armed citizens at a Polk County Dollar General, according to the sheriff's office.
The affidavit reveals Gray pulled out a mini-AK-47-style rifle from his backpack and pointed it at Guerrero, and then Guerrero allegedly tried to pull out his own gun from his waistband, but Gray shot first and then quickly ran off.
Gray left behind a trail of evidence, including his phone in a parking lot, his clothes in a creek, and his Red Toyota Corolla abandoned in Southeast Oklahoma City.
A nearby business, Mears Engineers, also caught the suspect leaving the scene in his car on their surveillance cameras and gave it to police.
(snip)
“He also had a gunshot wound, had a gunshot wound to his hand that apparently happened during the botched robbery attempt,” said Msgt. Gary Knight, Oklahoma City Police Department.
Last month I put several guns on consignment with a local gun store. Yesterday I went to the shop to get the payment for the final gun I sold but I decided to take it in store credit.
I'm a fan of compact .22 autoloading pistols. They often can be easily used by all sizes of shooters, if reliable enough can be secondary defensive arms, and are simply fun to shoot.
So I came home with a Smith & Wesson M&P22 Compact. It is a 10 shot semiautomatic .22 pistol, intended to serve as an understudy to the S&W M&P centerfire pistols. It came with an adjustable rear sight and a thread adaptor to accept a silencer.
The gun weighs about 1 lb. loaded with 10 rounds.
Additionally, it has an ambidextrous manual safety which as a lefty I appreciate, a magazine disconnect, and a Picatinny rail on the dust cover under the barrel. There is a built-in lock with 2 keys supplied, and it also came with a cable lock.
The rear sight is adjustable for windage and elevation, while the front sight is dovetailed into the slide so if you wanted you could replace it with something else like a fiber optic (it has a white dot).
The aluminum slide is not cut for an optic. This may matter to some folks but not to me.
Unlike the centerfire M&P pistols the M&P22 is not striker-fired. It has an internal hammer.
Something I always do when I get a new-to-me gun is field strip it, clean off whatever preservative was put on in the factory, and then lubricate it. On the M&P22 Compact you need to first remove the barrel nut so you can remove the slide.
However, some idiot at Smith & Wesson thought it would be a good idea to put copious amounts of strong threadlocker on the barrel threads, so even with the supplied wrench I couldn't get it to budge at first. I applied Kroil and let it sit for about an hour, then locked back the slide, clamped it in a vise, and used a mallet to smack the wrench to get it turning. WTH, Smith & Wesson? Why would you do this?
The vise jaws are lined with copper sheet. The slide was not marred.
The recoil spring is captive on a plastic guide, which makes removal and reinstallation easy. Racking the slide is very easy.
After getting it apart I cleaned off the threads as much as possible, cleaned and lubed the gun, and when I reassembled it I covered the barrel threads in Shooter's Choice grease as an anti-seize.
Today I took it to an indoor range and put 91 CCI 40 grain Mini Mag solids and 100 Remington Golden Bullet 36 grain HPs. The gun functioned perfectly and none of the ammo misfired. The gun feels smooth when cycling.
The trigger is meh but I’ll put at least 1000 rounds through it before thinking about a trigger job. Unfortunately, couldn’t get any good groups because the windage adjustment screw on the rear sight -- which should've had blue threadlocker -- kept loosening and thus it would lose zero. I put blue Loctite on it after I got home and plan to zero the gun at 10 yards.
I've ordered 5 more magazines for it, and a barrel thread protector to replace the thread adaptor, since I will be mostly shooting it unsuppressed. I'd rather not have to remove the adaptor every time I want to strip the gun for cleaning.
It fits in the El Paso Saddlery M-1942 tanker holster I bought for my S&W M&P9 2.0 Compact, with a little room to spare.
Once I get the M&P22 Compact zeroed it'll make a nice kit gun.