WARNING AND GUNS

Well, I have stuck my nose out and may get it chopped off, but I have called the economic collapse as underway. I have been on this subject for 40 years. I have watched and waited with some sort of patience. Over the last two years I have prepared as best I can with practically no money. But by hook or by crook I have gotten some things together. And I am saying that the dollar will collapse within the next three to four weeks. America will not understand what is taking place but the preppers will. I have never seen a citizenry so unaware in my life. It is amazing how much the general public does not know. Have you seen the price of gold on the mainstream media? Well, you can get it from CNN but you have to dig for it and they won't tell you a damn thing. Strictly hush hush. Does the general public know that there is a move afoot to replace the dollar on the world market? Not so you could tell. The cheering section for the fedgov, the media, doesn't talk about that nasty shit in front of the consuming public. But it is all about to happen, folks, and you better be ready for it. And I know this is big talk. And I know this is all in the hands of God. But I think I feel it coming. It is the honor of God to hide a thing and privilege of Kings to search it out. I am not taking the honor of King to myself but I am a child of the greatest King.

Big old fat America has her tit in the wringer. The greedy ones, the politicians and the bankers and the stock brokers, have bled us dry. There is still some money to loot in the pension funds but they will go after that real soon. There is no mercy in a savage beast and that is what the leadership of this country has become. We are hated around the world. And while we are in this weakened state from the Vampires of business, the other guys who have had to kiss ass for so many years will take this opportunity to rip us a new ass. And I ain't gonna stop them. We are fighting all over the place and we have no business doing it. These wars have helped bleed us dry. And they have made the military/industrial complex rich as all get out. Time to cut and run, as far as I am concerned. Let's bring home our gallant warriors and let them live in peace. Let them die no more for the idiocy of our foreign policy. Our sons and daughters are dying on foreign shores fighting people who have never attacked our country. Let us forget about nation building. It doesn't work anyhow. Now I have a guest post from Mike Kemp.
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I'm going to make some comments ahead of the article.I own a 'match' AR15. It has a PWA receiver and what is evidently built with a military-type very heavy barrel, with a very fast, 1 turn in 7 inch, rifling. This allows it to fire and stabilize the very heavy, thus very long bullets required for long range match shooting.

I have loaded and fired everything from 40 grain to 69 grain bullets for it, as well as probably 1000 rounds of military 55grain full metal jacket ammo.

I have never had a stoppage. It has always fed, always fired, always cycled and ejected.But I have never had to really put it to the test, in a firefight and pouring out more rounds in 5 minutes than it has ever had fired through it, total, lifetime.

I have also a 'shortie', a CAR version of the AR15. I misremember the brand of receiver, but it is also an 'assembled from parts' rifle, as is the one described above. Someone with an FFL just bought parts and assembled them and sold it as an AR, back in the early 90s.I have fired probably 2000 rounds through it. Always fed, always fired, always ejected. Same as the above, I have never put it to the test.

These are precision rifles. The receivers are 'close-packed' with a lot of precision parts, the integral 'trigger group assembly'. They don't tolerate dirt very well. And when you are firing a lot of rounds, 'dirt' in the form of soot from burning powder accumulates,particularly since the burning gunpowder is vented through a tiny tube directly back into the receiver to operated the bolt/bolt carrier, and thus cycle the rifle's action.

I also own SKS and AK-style rifles. The SKS, with the standard 10round factory 'captive' mag is an extremely rugged and reliable piece.It is not particularly accurate, an 'average' could well be 4 to 6inch accuracy at 100 yards, though there are obviously some rifle and ammo pairings that could produce one or two inch accuracy. The stripper clip loading system can be a pain, not typically as easy and simple as swapping magazines, as on ARs and AKs. And M1A1 (M14) as well as FN/FAL and other styles. It also, sometimes, has a disturbing habit of just 'going off' when the bolt is cocked and released. And it has been known to fire on full auto until it empties the magazine.This is not good. It opens whole new vistas in 'always point the muzzle in a safe direction'.

Let me take this opportunity to mention that I own no full auto weapons. Mine are all semi.

The AKs are simply magnificent. They always feed, they always fire,they always eject. They are tough rifles, obviously built from the outset to operate in dirty, zero maintenance conditions. It is likely that you won't get much better accuracy than with the SKS, though it is certainly possible. It is designed from the outset to produce a high rate of fire, with 30 round replaceable magazines. And the burning gunpowder gases directly impinge only on a fairly long rod, in a very loose housing away from other moving parts, and that rod serves to cycle the rifle's action. The burning gunpowder residue does not accumulate in the critical moving parts.

The round typically fired by the AK is a 30 caliber, instead of the AR style rifle's 22 caliber. It weighs more. Therefore, more difficult to carry as many rounds. The magazines for the AK are curved, and are 'lumpy' and thus take up more space. The AR magazines are smooth and straight. They store very well on the soldier's body, allowing him to more easily carry more loaded mags. But the heavy, clunky design of the AK magazine makes them more durable in the field against damage to the 'feed lips' where it fits into the rifle's action.

Accuracy is almost moot-- if the fight is taking place inside 100yards, the 4to 6 inch accuracy of the AK is sufficient. The typical AR style American design may be able to reach out and touch a bit further, but that would matter only if the shooter is in a position to take the slower and more careful shot at two to three hundred yards. In a close range firefight, 4 to 6 inches at 100 yards is good enough.

Given my druthers, I'd rather have the luxury of a bolt action scoped 'deer rifle'. I am then assured of lethal accuracy with every shot I fire out beyond a quarter of a mile. Slow rate of fire means nothing when you're operating at that range, accuracy is everything.

A bolt action is the most reliable there is. And they can fire rounds of devastating power.

But you have to have the luxury of using it to advantage. That is not possible in a short range fire fight of great intensity. From a very protected firing position, it would be possible for a very few riflemen to effectively use bolt action rifles, but they would need to be supported by other soldiers with automatic weapons. In fact, it would seem to me, that in the situation described below, what they needed were a few 50 caliber machine guns instead of the 'M249',firing the lightweight 22 caliber round used by the M4s (very similar to the CAR which I own).

The 50 cal speaks with authority. It will pulverize 'cover' used by the assaulting force. The gun and tripod are heavy, the ammo is heavy.But sometimes, you just need to send the very best. And that is the50. To not have even a 308 caliber machine gun amongst that large a contingent is to my mind borderline criminally negligent. You can't always depend on air support for 'heavy weapons'. It would be nice to have something akin to RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) or some other seriously powerful weapons to defend outposts. As well as a 50. You can't always depend on air support for heavy weapons. I am repeating myself for a reason. I want the point to be made and emphasized.

And my last points-- as accuracy is everything at long range,reliability and durability are everything at close range.

And if there are to be firefights such as the one described below, the military damned certain better make sure that the rifles issued to the troops are up to the task of high sustained rates of fire. And it would help if whoever sited that outpost where it could be snuck up on learned his lesson. Pick your terrain better. And I would think that having to take your ass to the field and live.... or die.... with the troops would wonderfully focus your attention.

Mike Kemp

See http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091011/D9B8SUPO0.html for more info.