Rebuilding myself. rebuilding my preps.

[Magus]

Well, the gun collection is gone, so we're back to basics.
AR-10. Mossberg 500. 92F. done!
Some camouflage that actually works in this area.
actual quality ammo, the surplus stuff is gone anyway.
more reliance on 22 LR, I plan to try to turn my last "safe queens" into a mini-14 ranch rifle.
No more canned food preps. One cold night without power wrecked half of what I had. From now on it's dehydrated ONLY for long term! I intend to devote 1/3rd of my disability check once the last bills are paid to dehydrated foods, Mountain house is going to love me, Knorr too!
Multiple heat and power sources, water sources as well!
Another short-wave radio. I'm getting out of this leaky camper as well, there has to be something I can do to fix my trailer! it was almost unlivable, but it did not leak.
I'm getting back on my spiritual path, it gave me an anchor and an outlet for my aggression! Watch this spot as I rebuild from noob level!

 

[randyt]

Well dang, I have to ask. We're you caught up.in the hurricane in the southeast? Also frozen canned food in many instances is still edible,maybe not palatable though.

A gun safe didn't keep your guns safe, that sucks

 

[Magpie]

Not sure if this helps- but can you access metal hoops or the like? Over here we have them on mushroom houses. Cement them in buckets (easily moved then)
Make a polytunnel over your trailer to keep it dry until you can sort a different one?

 

[Pearl]

Well, the gun collection is gone, so we're back to basics.
AR-10. Mossberg 500. 92F. done!
Some camouflage that actually works in this area.
actual quality ammo, the surplus stuff is gone anyway.
more reliance on 22 LR, I plan to try to turn my last "safe queens" into a mini-14 ranch rifle.
No more canned food preps. One cold night without power wrecked half of what I had. From now on it's dehydrated ONLY for long term! I intend to devote 1/3rd of my disability check once the last bills are paid to dehydrated foods, Mountain house is going to love me, Knorr too!
Multiple heat and power sources, water sources as well!
Another short-wave radio. I'm getting out of this leaky camper as well, there has to be something I can do to fix my trailer! it was almost unlivable, but it did not leak.
I'm getting back on my spiritual path, it gave me an anchor and an outlet for my aggression! Watch this spot as I rebuild from noob level!

@jazzy will be glad you are getting back on your spiritual path! You have the want and desire to rebuild your life, it will happen!

 

[Cabin Fever]

Sorry to hear that you have to start over. Did your place burn down?

 

[Magus]

Not sure if this helps- but can you access metal hoops or the like? Over here we have them on mushroom houses. Cement them in buckets (easily moved then)
Make a polytunnel over your trailer to keep it dry until you can sort a different one?

hmm. good idea!

@jazzy will be glad you are getting back on your spiritual path! You have the want and desire to rebuild your life, it will happen!

I doubt she wants to hear about candles and incense and waving around a dull knife and talking to the Elder spirits.

Sorry to hear that you have to start over. Did your place burn down?

Nah, just a run of REALLY, REALLY bad luck.

 

[Magus]

I seem to have given the idea that I lost everything, but not so. just my collectibles, AKA the antiques and the war surplus stuff. the changing availability of certain ammo types is making me reconsider replacing ANY of them, including my AK and AR rifles. I'll miss them and my antique war surplus stuff, but I'm too old to rebuild that mess.

 

[Bacpacker]

Glad you are getting things moving along again.

 

[UserNameTaken]

I agree with your 3 gun choices. I'd like to see you with a back up 9mm pistol, perhaps more compact than the Baretta. I am curious why Mini14 over an AR, as both are .223? And why not .22's anymore?

I'm also reducing canned to only low or no salt only - I've had to toss a lot of long out dated food. If not eaten by 1 yr of 'use by' date, it goes into the decoy stash until 5 yrs, then I toss it. We have the opposite problem. Here it's heat we have to watch. Our food is kept in our coolest room, which can hit mid 70's in summer when it's 125 outside. If we can't keep AC on we could lose it all.

 

[Caribou]

I have eaten canned goods that are 20 years old. I found some smoked salmon that got lost at the back of a bottom shelf. The only problem was that there was only one jar, boy was that a good batch.

I have recently purchased dried vegetable flakes. I was almost out of canned mixed vegetables so I opted for something lighter. I put mixed veggies in my chicken stew. I replaced the canned mixed veggies with the product below, for the first time, and I’m very pleased.

https://www.amazon.com/Kosher-Veget...43115&sprefix=dried+vegetable+,aps,194&sr=8-5

 

[d_marsh]

Well, the gun collection is gone, so we're back to basics.
AR-10. Mossberg 500. 92F. done!

A quality trio that will get the job done.

Good luck with restoring your prepping glory!

 

[Magus]

I agree with your 3 gun choices. I'd like to see you with a back up 9mm pistol, perhaps more compact than the Baretta. I am curious why Mini14 over an AR, as both are .223? And why not .22's anymore?

I'm also reducing canned to only low or no salt only - I've had to toss a lot of long out dated food. If not eaten by 1 yr of 'use by' date, it goes into the decoy stash until 5 yrs, then I toss it. We have the opposite problem. Here it's heat we have to watch. Our food is kept in our coolest room, which can hit mid 70's in summer when it's 125 outside. If we can't keep AC on we could lose it all.

I had a very nice Taurus g3 that I might get back. I even gutted my GHB, so something else to watch me rebuild...
I'm A HUGE fan of the M-1 system of rifles and the mini-14 will be shooting long after an AR locks up, what with the military changing rifles and calibers in the next few years, the AR rifle will become as outdated as my old FAL. I may build another one, I may not, time will tell.
You misread, LOTS more 22-reliance! a Ruger 10/22 dressed for success is hardly a bad gun if you have to go fast and light. and I can make a suppressor for one in half an hour or less depending on available materials. back when I was still in good shape, my load out was an FN-FAL, a Remington 870, a 45-automatic, a 357 2" snubby, and a K-bar + ammo that's thirty pounds of steel + ammo this cripple can't hump anymore. My current load-out is slightly over half that.

 

[Magus]

I'm also reducing canned to only low or no salt only - I've had to toss a lot of long out dated food. If not eaten by 1 yr of 'use by' date, it goes into the decoy stash until 5 yrs, then I toss it. We have the opposite problem. Here it's heat we have to watch. Our food is kept in our coolest room, which can hit mid 70's in summer when it's 125 outside. If we can't keep AC on we could lose it all.

I think I can help you there, are you familiar with the concept of a root cellar? cover an old van body in roofing tar, close off the windows, and bury it in a hillside with a roof over the entrance. 65 degrees even in August and by nature, hard to flood.

 

[Magus]

Hey, while we're here, let's scope out some alternate kits for stashing and different areas!
I still have my FAL, stash it with a Remington 870 and a good revolver or 45 Auto.

A Mini-14, pair it with a 10/22 an 870, or Mossberg 835, and a Browning high power or 45.

A tuned AR-15 with a 22LR conversion kit, Mossberg 500, and a Glock.

And my dream kit, an M-14, an 1100, and an Uzi mini, not the micro.

 

[montanabill]

We love our freeze drier...after doing a winter in a old 23 ft trailer in -30F montana we dug a root/fallout shellter...The floor of the trailer would be frosty when the ceiling was 85 degrees. Lost the root cellar in a forest fire so now down the road we are freeze drying anything and everything....low salt and it only gets up to 125 during processing so the food keeps it's nutrients.
Too bad we aren't closer geographically I could certainly do some trading of good freeze dried meat etc for other interesting hard goods.
I don't care what the experts say I love my mini 14.....and I still remember the manual of arms from long ago.

 

[UserNameTaken]

@Magus - Ah, I stand corrected, I did misread about the .22, sorry. I thought that didn't make sense. Love my 10/22, except now that I have a silencer I need to have the barrel threaded, which costs as much as I paid for the gun.

A root cellar would be nice. But here in the Wasteland the ground temp is well over 100 deg, as far as 6 ft down. We don't have cold water from June to Oct as the pipes cook. It gets so hot in summer it literally cooks the roots of plants. What really sucks is I live on top of a steep 250 ft hill. I can't dig into it without destablizing the house, one reason we don't have a pool, plus it belongs to the HOA. But next house, root cellar (and armory bunker) for sure!

 

[montanabill]

"A root cellar would be nice. But here in the Wasteland the ground temp is well over 100 deg, as far as 6 ft down. We don't have cold water from June to Oct as the pipes cook. It gets so hot in summer it literally cooks the roots of plants. "

sure sounds like the start of that book "Canticle for Liebowitz".

 

[Hardcalibres]

@Magus - Ah, I stand corrected, I did misread about the .22, sorry. I thought that didn't make sense. Love my 10/22, except now that I have a silencer I need to have the barrel threaded, which costs as much as I paid for the gun.

.......

It may actually be cheaper to buy a threaded aftermarket barrel and install it yourself.

It will probably also involve less risk of the thread not being properly aligned with the bore......and at least some of the options will also improve the accuracy of your rifle.

 

[Magus]

@Magus - Ah, I stand corrected, I did misread about the .22, sorry. I thought that didn't make sense. Love my 10/22, except now that I have a silencer I need to have the barrel threaded, which costs as much as I paid for the gun.

A root cellar would be nice. But here in the Wasteland the ground temp is well over 100 deg, as far as 6 ft down. We don't have cold water from June to Oct as the pipes cook. It gets so hot in summer it literally cooks the roots of plants. What really sucks is I live on top of a steep 250 ft hill. I can't dig into it without destablizing the house, one reason we don't have a pool, plus it belongs to the HOA. But next house, root cellar (and armory bunker) for sure!

https://shopruger.com/10_22-Threaded-Barrel-Blued/productinfo/90567/

 

[Magus]

that book "Canticle for Liebowitz".

I loved that book!

 

[UserNameTaken]

https://shopruger.com/10_22-Threaded-Barrel-Blued/productinfo/90567/

Exactly! Thanks! And yup, it's about $10 less than I paid for the gun new 20 years ago. I saw a new stainless threaded 10/22 somewhere (Midway??) with the nice wood stock, but it was some ridiculous price, like $350-450 that I didn't even look beyond the catalog page.

I'm in no hurry.

 

[Magus]

I paid 400 for my last 10/22

 

[Haertig]

I prefer bolt action 22 rifles. It's not like they're tactical where you might want rapid fire. OTOH, 22 handguns - I prefer semi-autos. Due to the trigger pull on 22 DA revolvers. Every one of those I've shot (admittedly, not many, and not expensive ones) has had a heavy and unappealing DA trigger.

 

[montanabill]

I prefer bolt action 22 rifles. It's not like they're tactical where you might want rapid fire. OTOH, 22 handguns - I prefer semi-autos. Due to the trigger pull on 22 DA revolvers. Every one of those I've shot (admittedly, not many, and not expensive ones) has had a heavy and unappealing DA trigger.

I too appreciate the bolt action 22. I picked up several used many years ago. Long barrels and pretty accurate. Just this year I happened on a cool looking hefty scope....and it had the old skinny mount for the narrow mount point on one of the 22's.
I also have a tube fed bolt action 22 with a scope.
I tell the kids I show how to shoot they are shooting a sniper rifle...
People with their tacticool guns and tripods look askance at me on the 100 yard range till I start making those pinging sounds on the steel targets..

 

[Magus]

I prefer bolt action 22 rifles. It's not like they're tactical where you might want rapid fire. OTOH, 22 handguns - I prefer semi-autos. Due to the trigger pull on 22 DA revolvers. Every one of those I've shot (admittedly, not many, and not expensive ones) has had a heavy and unappealing DA trigger.

The Marlin 81ts is hard to beat!

 

[Haertig]

The Marlin 81ts is hard to beat!

I looked up the Marlin 81TS because I wasn't familiar with that model. And it looks identical to my Marlin 981T. I can't tell the difference between them from the pictures.

You're right - the Marlin bolt action 22 is a decent gun. When I decided I wanted one, I had to have it special ordered because none of the local gun shops handled it. I specifically wanted the tubular magazine and as I recall, the 981T was the only bolt action 22LR tubular mag rifle that Marlin made at the time. I could be wrong about this. It was a while ago when I bought it.

 

[Magus]

The "S" means stainless. If you can only afford ONE gun, there you go.
Did you know the largest polar bear on record was killed with a 22? a14 year old girl shot him right through the eye!

 

[Magus]

Teachable moment:
Any accurate 22 + a good scope+ 100 rounds of CB or gallery ammo+ 500 rounds of hollow-point HV ammo+ a reasonable hunting knife like a Buck 110 and a sharpening stone will feed you a year if you do your part.